Film genre

A film genre (/ˈʒɒnrə/ or /ˈdʒɒnrə/) is a motion picture category based on similarities in either the narrative elements or the emotional response to the film (namely, serious, comic, etc.). Most theories of film genre are borrowed from literary genre criticism. The basic genres include fiction and documentary, from which subgenres have emerged, such as docufiction and docudrama. Other subgenres include the courtroom and trial-focused drama known as the legal drama. Types of fiction which may seem unrelated can also be combined to form hybrid subgenres, such as the melding of horror and comedy in the Evil Dead films. Other popular combinations are the romantic comedy and the action comedy film.

Films can also be classified by the setting, theme, topic, mood, format, target audience or budget. The setting is the environment where the story and action takes place (e.g., a war film, a Western film or a space opera film). The theme or topic refers to the issues or concepts that the film revolves around (e.g., science fiction film, sports film or crime film). The mood is the emotional tone of the film (e.g., comedy film, horror film or tearjerker film). Format refers to the way the film was shot (e.g., anamorphic widescreen) or the manner of presentation (e.g.: 35 mm, 16 mm or 8 mm). Additional ways of categorizing film genres is by the target audience (e.g., children's film, teen film or women's film) or by type of production (e.g., B movie, big-budget blockbuster or low-budget film).

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