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a category of artistic composition, as

 Action
 Action movies require stunts, set pieces,
explosions, guns, and karate. They are usually
about a clear hero and a clear villain. Action
movie stakes are huge, like saving the world or
the universe. They're often bombastic and
Film Genres move quickly. Their pacing and structure are Action
built around scenes like car chases and their
climaxes often have the biggest set pieces.
 Tropes and Expectations:
 A clear division between good and evil. Lots of
fighting and set pieces.

 Animation
Action Film Genres  Giving life to objects or inanimate things.

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Animation Animation

 Sci-fi
 Science fiction needs to shine a light on the
world the way it could be or the way we think it
might happen. It takes us on adventures into
the near and distant future. The problems in
science fiction can be extraordinary and take us
for a ride with new gadgets and vehicles.
Film Genres  Tropes and Expectations:
Sci-fi
 Aliens, spaceships, time travel, and technology.
This genre needs to tell us if we are worth
saving or maybe the machines need to take
over. Science fiction addresses our society and
its problems. It seeks to tell us about the way
we can handle it if we only listen in the present.

 Comedy
 Everyone loves a laugh. Comedy films usually
are written with a few laughs a scene. The
stakes are usually much smaller or
interpersonal. Comedy films can vary in their
Sci-fi Film Genres darkness and the way they deal with life and
death. They tend to be shorter films, spoofs and
can have broader casts.
 Tropes and Expectations:
 Light-hearted fun, often blended with romance
stories, and ensemble casts.

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 Drama
 These are serious stories that hinge on events
that regularly happen in everyday life. They
usually focus on character and how these
people arc over time. Drama is regularly
mashed up with other genres because most
movies and TV rely on character-driven stories
Comedy Film Genres to keep the audience involved.
 Tropes and Expectations:
 Dramas frequently follow characters you'd see
as your friends, neighbors, and family dealing
with the struggles of everyday life. They usually
take place in a home, office setting, or with a
group of characters forced to interact day to
day.

Drama Drama

 Adventure
 Adventure movies are usually built around a
quest. They take place in faraway lands or
jungles. Many adventures may be period pieces,
although more contemporary adventure stories
are coming back to the forefront. They can be
Film Genres swashbucklers or treasure hunts. Adventure
 Tropes and Expectations:
 Characters like explorers, native people, and
even pirates dominate these plots. They usually
involve ancient cultures, hidden maps, gold,
and traps. Characters usually have to rely on
both their wits and their strengths.

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 Thriller
 What would you do when you were over your
head? This is usually linked with horror, action,
and drama, but thrillers are about exciting
situations that have constant danger. They're
about stressed characters, corrupt investigators,
Adventure Film Genres and criminals living on the edge.
 Tropes and Expectations:
 If you go to a thriller you want excitement, peril,
and edge of your seat situations. Thrillers need
to be...thrilling. So make sure the suspense,
mystery, and anxiety rule your pages.

 Horror
 Ghouls, ghosts, slashers, creatures, and body
disfiguring. Horror film and television focus on
adrenaline rides for the audience that dial in
the gore, scares and creative monsters. Horror
is always re-inventing old classics, like adding
fast zombies, and CGI creatures. It also is seen
as the most bankable genre with a huge built-in
Thriller Film Genres audience.
 Tropes and Expectations
 The final girl, the "not dead yet" scare, and the
dystopian endings. Horror is famous for having
story beats that we come to expect like jump
scares. Lean into them and find ways to subvert.
You have subsets like haunted houses, slashers,
zombies, evil creatures, and other subgenres.

Horror Horror

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 Fantasy
 Romance
 Mythic Realms, talking creatures, swords,
 Love is a universal language. Romance movies
magic, and knights. These movie and television
are about people coming together, falling apart,
series take place outside of earth or at a time
and all the hurdles in between. They can be
when magical things roamed the earth or
paired with comedy and drama, but a
Middle Earth. They are usually combined with
straightforward romance focuses on two
an adventure or drama, but often involve the
Film Genres Film Genres characters or an ensemble falling in love.
traditional hero's journey.
 Tropes and Expectations
 Tropes and Expectations:
 The meet-cute stands out the most, followed
 These kinds of movies and TV shows usually
closely by the breakup scene. There are always
have mysticism, some sort of royalty, humanoid
friends counseling the protagonists in question
creates like Elves, Orcs, and Hobbits, and lots of
and even tempters and temptresses trying to
magic. You can expect sorcery and some great
woo them away.
set pieces.

 Music/dance
 People sing in every scene. That's pretty much
it. But Musicals usually attach themselves to
another genre on this list. They can be dramas,
comedies, horror, or anything. But if they're
Romance Film Genres singing, it's a musical.
 Tropes and Expectations
 Huge dance numbers, excellent choreography,
and bellowing vocals. You can even throw in
concert films here.

Music/Dance Music/Dance

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 Documentary
Music/Dance Film Genres  A question or problem to be solved.

 Crime
 We often see a courtroom scene, gunplay,
Film Genres violence, and ruthless tactics. There are times Crime
the law can be seen as good and bad,
depending on who you root for and when the
movie was released.

 Western
 You know what a western is. You just do. They
have cowboys, draws at noon, and are about
 Experimental
the taming of America. Westerns were a staple
of early Hollywood but have evolved over time.  This is a non-narrative expansion of what you
They'll always be a stable genre that talks about can do within the medium. Experimental film
Film Genres society and the way we fit together. Film Genres and television don't conform to what we
normally see in any of these genres. They are
 Tropes and Expectations:
purely artistic achievements meant to elicit
 Westerns are built on the idea that some parts emotion and thought from the viewer.
of the country need to be pacified. We get used
to lone gunmen, mixed teams, and sweeping
cinematography.

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 Watch on YouTube:
 1. Confusion (Experimental SHORT FILM)
Experimental  2. Exposed – Student Experimental Film
 3. Angst – experimental short film