GENRES OF

DRAMA/FILMS
 TRAGEDY
• Tragedy is the game of theatre were the main character sacrifices his or
herself for a loved one or as a mark. Good examples of this is Hamlet or
Romeo and juliet both of which are famous play written by William
Shakespeare.
 ACTION
• Usually include high energy, big budget physical stunts and chases, possibly with
rescues, battles, fights, escapes, races against time and crises featuring non-stop
motion, break-neck rhythm and pacing.
• Examples: Mission Impossible, James Bond, etc.
• Sub-genres:
Spy
Espionage
Political thrillers
Martial arts films ( Jackie Chans’ movies)
Races against time
 ADVENTURE
• Exciting stories with new experiences or exotic locales, very similar to or
often paired with action film genres.
• Sub-genres:
Swashbucklers
Seriliazed films
 COMEDY
• Comedy in the contemporary meaning of the term is any discourse or
work generally intended to be humorous or to amuse by inducing laughter
especially in theatre, television, film, and stand-up comedy
 EPIC
• Take an historical or imagined event, mythic, legendary, or heroic figure, and add
an extravagant setting and lavish costumes, accompanied by grandeur and
spectacle, dramatic scope, high production values, and a sweeping musical score.
• Sub-genres
Historical drama
Costume dramas
War films
Adventure film
Religious film
Medieval romps
 HORROR
• Designed to frighten and invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a
terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the
same time in a cathartic experience.
• Sub-genres
 CRIME
• Feature the sinister actions of criminals, mobsters, bank robbers,
underworld figures, and ruthless hoodlums who operate outside the law,
stealing and murdering their way through life.
• Sub-genres
Gangster films
Detective films
Film noir
Mysteries
Serial killer films
Suspense films
Thrillers
Courtroom dramas
 DRAMA
• Dramas are serious, plot-driven films, portraying realistic characters, settings, life
situations, and stories involving intense character development and interaction.
• Sub-genres
Melodrama
Romance
Biographical flms
Adult films
Sports film
Road movies
Guy films
 ROMANCE
• Romance film can be defined as a genre where in the plot revolves around
the love between two characters. This genre usually has a theme that
explores an issue within love, including but not limited to: love at first
sight, forbidden love, love triangles and sacrificial love. The tone of
Romance film can vary greatly. Whether the end is happy or traggic.
Romance film aims to evoke strong emotions in the audience.
 MUSICAL
• Cinematic forms that emphasize full- scale cores or song and dance
routines in a significant way, or they are films that are centered on
combinations of music, dance song or choreography.
• Sub-genres
Broadway musicals
Musial comedy
Concert films
Performance films
Music biographies
 HORROR
• Horror film is a genre seeking to elicit a negative emotional reaction from
viewers by playing on the audience’s fears. Horror films have for more
that century featured scenes that startle the viewers. The Macabre and
Supernatural are frequent themes. Horror films often deal with the viewers
nightmares, hidden fears, revulsions and terror of the unknown.
• Sub-genres
Slasher
Science fiction
Supernaturaal
Teen terror
Serial killers
Satanic
monsters
 FANTASY
• Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other
supernatural phenomena as a primary plot element, theme, or setting.
Many works within the genre take place in imaginary world where magic
and magical creatures are common.
 SCENCE FICTION
• OFTEN QUASI-SCIENTIFIC, visionary and imaginative- complete with
heroes, aliens, distant planets, quest, fantastic places, new technology, and
extraordinary monsters, and often feature multiple film genres.
• Sub-genres
Futuristic films
 Visssionary
 Horrific
Graphic novels
Medical myseries
Devil machines
Mad science
Space invaders
 WAR
• Acknowledge the horror and heartbreak of war, letting the actual combat fighting
(against nations or human kind) on land, sea, or in the air provide the primary plot or
background action for the film.
• Sub-genres
War dramas
Military operations
Anti-war films
POW stories
Military training
 WESTERNS
• Major defining genre of the American film industry- a eulogy to the early
days of the expansive American frontier. They are one of the oldest, most
enduring genres with very recognizable plots, elements and characters.