Movie is “a sequence of photographs projected onto a screen with sufficient rapidity as to create the illusion of motion and continuity” (The Free Dictionary). In modern society, people watch movie because one of the favorite activities in their leisure time. Following the development of film industry, more and more film genres appear.
There are about 10 main movie genres. They include action, adventure, comedy, drama, historical, horror, musicals, science fiction, war and westerns. Each kind of movie will has its distinctive characteristics to let people distinguish it and others. Action movie usually has a lot of non-stop motion and physical stunts. It adopts the technique of battles, fights or escapes to show movies’ motif. And it usually includes two kinds of characters – one for good people and one for bad people, so sometimes this kind of movies have heroism. Action movie usually shown by violence and danger, but behind these, it also shows love and ambition.
Once Upon a Time in China and The Killer both are action movies, their sound, lighting, camera technique and editing are have some similarities.
Once Upon a Time in China talks about the Chinese national hero Huang Feihong how to protect his family and country. Huang Feihong was born in Canton in the late Qing dynasty. At that time, China was bullied by the other western countries. Huang is the boss of Po Chi Lam and the coach of civil corps, he often teach people Kung-Fu and expect people could use it to protect themselves and country.
The Killer talks about a story between the professional killer and the policeman. Zhou is a professional killer but he is not cold-blooded as other killers. In one time when he was taking a task, he accidentally harmed a singer’s eyes. During the time of protecting the singer, the policeman knew that Zhou is a responsible and sympathetic person. So their relationship
Films that are classified as being in the film noir genre all share some basic characteristics. There is generally a voice-over throughout the film in order to guide the audience's perceptions. These movies also involve a crime and a detective who is trying to figure out the truth in the situation. This detective usually encounters a femme fatale who seduces him. However, the most distinctive feature of the film noir genre is the abundance of darkness.
Film genre is a distinctive collection of comparisons in the narrative aspects from which the films are produced. Genre denotes the characterization of narrative films, through the stories the literature tells and the way it presents these stories (Barsam and Monahan, 2013.) Film genres are often described by a set of conventions of storytelling such as themes, conflicts, situations, setting, character types, story formula, presentation, visual style, and even movie stars associated with particular genres (Barsam and Monahan, 2013). These conventions are not always enforced as filmmakers incorporate only some of these elements within any particular film. A few commonly recognized film genres include the Western, musical, horror, science fiction, and etc. A genre-bender film steps outside some of the defining features of its genre in terms of its conventions but is easily identified when it has been blended with another genre. The gangster film genre concentrates on stories whose principal struggle is between criminals and the society they live in. This genre typically emphasizes a cautionary tale that is demonstrated by the main character who commits crimes (Barsam and Monahan, 2013.) Also, this genre is often blended with film noir, a distinct genre made discernible by its mood of pessimism, and fatalism. The film, Bonnie and Clyde directed by Arthur Penn in 1967, is an example of a genre-bending gangster film due to its distinct genre conventions of story formula, setting, and character types that step outside of the typical gangster film genre conventions.
Stanley, Robert H. The Movie Idiom: Film as a Popular Art Form. Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc. 2011. Print
The genre of the film is how we know what kind of film it is. Genre is a French word which literally means type; it shows what category a film comes under. There are certain factors in a genre which will identify it. Things like settings, characters and themes can all be similar in one specific genre.
In Classical Hollywood Cinema, the plot moves forward mostly by the conflict between order and chaos. This is the case for most of the Film Noir movies, a popular genre that started in the 1940s. In The Big Sleep (1946) and Chinatown (1976), the two main characters, private investigators, are associated with order while all of the “femme fatale” characters bring chaos to the narrative of the films.
Defining a film genre is in some ways difficult and simplistic. Every genre has stated what would define its boundaries. The difficult part is finding one that is solidified by the movies in the genre. The stated definition that this paper will digest and regurgitate is that a Western is a film which is set in the American frontier west. The typical time setting is somewhere in the mid to late 19th century and early 20th century(Dirks, 1). They glorify the past-fading values and aspirations of the mythical by-gone age of the American West(Dirks, 1). Over time, however, Westerns have been redefined, re-invented and expanded, dismissed, re-discovered, and spoofed. This actually makes the definition more lucid, making other films flexible enough to fit quite nicely into the genre.
There are three major types of movies: narrative (a fiction story being told), documentary (nonfiction recording of reality, educating of the audience, or political and social analyses) and experimental
“Types of films are commonly referred to as genres (pronounced “zahn-rahz”). The word genre is originally French and simply means kind or type.” (Bordwell & Thompson, 2004: 108). Genre groups films, which share similar filmic qualities and themes, into various subsections according to the type of film they are associated as.
Friedman, L., Desser, D., Kozloff, S., Nichimson, M., & Prince, S. (2014). An introduction to film genres. New York, London: W.W. Norton & Company.
The Reasons Behind the Popularity of Action Films In this essay I am going to explore the conventions of action films and their popularity. People love action films, and when they go to see one there are conventions you would expect to see in the film All plots of action films are based on the same outline, Hero and villain meet, there's a disruption of order, and mission, then everything is sorted out when the villain dies and everything returns to normal. There are Stock characters that you expect to see in this genre of film, the hero, the villain and two attractive ladies. The main action is around a male hero, however, modern films have featured female heroines for example Angelina Jolie in 'Tomb Raider'. If the hero is male he is always good looking, intelligent, brave, chauvinistic, and manages to escape from life threatening situations, however the hero will always have a weakness, and if the hero is male the weakness is normally women.
A genre is a type or category of film (or other work of art) that can be easily identified by specific elements of its plot, setting, mise en scène, character types, or style. (Goodykoontz, 2014) The gangster film is a sub-genre of the broader genre of crime film. A genre main objective is to classify the depiction of entertainment. The genre of my movie is a gangster film. My movie I chose was Scarface. Directed by Brian De Palma.An update of the 1932 film, Scarface (1983) follows gangster Tony Montana and his close friend Manny Ray from their trip on the Cuban Boat Lift for refugees to their arrival in Miami. (Scarface, 1983a)
Film genres are categories, classifications or groups of films that have a similar, familiar or instantly recognizable patterns, techniques or conventions that include one or more of the following: setting, content, themes, plot, motifs, styles, structures, situations, characters, and stars (filmsite.org and notes). There are many categories of film genre. These categories can cover practically any film ever made by man, although film categories can never be precise. By isolating the various elements in a film and categorizing them in genres, it is possible to easily evaluate a film within its genre and allow for meaningful comparisons and some judgements on greatness. Some genres are considered period-specific, occurring primarily in one time period. One such example is film noir (filmsite.org).
Many people go to the movies. The movies are an escape into a fantasy world. Everyone has a different preference on what kind of movie is the best. Romance, horror, action, and comedy are different types of movies. The kind of movie someone goes to see can give clues to what kind of person they are.
Many people don’t think about it so much, but movies (or just film in general) have become such a big part of our lives that we don’t think much of it because it just feels like a usual part of living. But have you ever wondered why this is, and how far back film started? Movies and film have been around for a long time, have developed in big ways throughout time, and has advanced in such a big and new way to this day.
With the explosion of technology today, access to the media is at your fingertips, anytime, anywhere, and almost 24/7. Video games, movies, cartoons, daily news, websites, music videos, and even in commercials, violence is everywhere, and it becomes harder and harder to avoid. Violence in the media has been increasing and reaching dangerous proportions. According to Report of the Media Violence Commission, the effects are remarkably consistent regardless of type of medium, age, gender, or where the person lives in the world (336). Many studies and researches reveal the empirical evidence that links violence in movies and television shows to aggressive behavior in children, teenagers, and adults. Increasing aggressive behavior, desensitization to violence, and fear are three types of negative effects contributed to by violence in movies and television shows. The article, “The Influence of Media Violence on Youth” emphasizes that violent television shows, films, and music reveal unequivocal evidence that media violence increases the likelihood aggressive and violent behavior in both immediately, and in the long term (Anderson, Craig A., 81). Violence now has gone into the mainstream. The Hunger Games, one of the top grossing films in 2013 replete with blood, gore and violence. The Walking Dead was once voted highest-rated entertainment program on TV with horrific violent scenes, killing from stabbing into the heads, bloody corpses, and disturbing, haunting images shown in most of the scenes. CBS’ Criminal Minds is television show with series of scary scenarios showing the violent murders of psychopath people. Worst of all, Silence of the Lambs deals with a psychopath who ...