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Film Genres [Screenwriting Fundamentals]

Film genre is an important element to consider when you start working on a project. We all have our favourite types of movies; I personally love 1970s "New Hollywood", thrillers, spy movies and gangster films. A genre can describe a number of different aspects of film: these include the films geographical setting, the mood and emotions it evokes and the format in which it is presented (i.e. feature film, digital video, clay animation etc.). The main types of thematic genre are:

Action - Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, The Fast & The Furious.

Adventure - Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones.

Comedy - The Royal Tenenbaums, Blues Brothers.

Crime/Gangster - City of God, Sexy Beast, Layer Cake, The Long Good Friday, The French Connection, Heat, Goodfellas.

Drama - All About My Mother, Magnolia, Adaptation.

Epics/Historical - Gladiator, Gangs of New York, Dr. Zhivago.

Fantasy - Lord of the Rings, Brazil, Pan's Labyrinth.

Horror - The Shining, Texas Chainsaw Massacrae, The Blair Witch Project.

Musicals - Singin' In The Rain, Westside Story.

Science Fiction - Superman Returns, 2001 - A Space Odyssey, Terminator.

Thriller - Memento, Rear Window, Jaws, The Third Man, Taxi Driver, Fight Club.

War - The Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, Paths of Glory.

Westerns - Once Upon A Time In The West, Red River, Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, High Noon, The Unforgiven.

When starting work on a new project it is helpful to watch as many films in the same genre as possible. By doing this you can identify any cliches that tend to be associated with a particular genre and make sure your film steers clear of them. For example, British gangster films tend to over use the cockney accent, similarly action films seem to make up for weak stories by using explosions, car chases and awful one liners. Each genre has its own cliches, try hard to either avoid them or to turn them on their head and give them a new twist. However, subverting cliches has even become a bit of a cliche in itself - for example, following Anthony Hopkin's performance as Hannibal Lector, we have been given a slew of likeable, camp monsters.

Test Your Knowledge

To test your knowledge of this subject, why not attempt one of the assignments? When making a film, it is essential to make something that you would want to enjoy, so we have designed these assignments to help you think about what you like about films and how you can apply this to the films you want to make. Chances are, if you like your film, someone else will too!

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