Film Genre Vocabulary

Narrative

a cinematic structure in which content is selected and arranged in a cause-and-effect sequence of events occurring over time

Narrative movie

a movie that tells a story – with characters, places, and events – that is conceived in the mind of the film’s creator

Documentary movie

a nonfiction film that presents the filmmakers’ perspective on actuality

Factual film

a documentary film that, usually, presents people, places, or processes in a straightforward way meant to entertain and instruct without unduly influencing audiences

Instructional film

a documentary film that seeks to educate viewers about common interests, rather than persuading them with particular ideas

Persuasive film

a documentary film concerned with presenting a particular perspective on social issues, or with corporate and governmental injustice

Propaganda film

a documentary film that systematically disseminates deceptive or distorted information

Direct cinema

an approach to documentary filmmaking that employs an unobtrusive style in an attempt to give viewers as truthful and “direct” an experience of events as possible

Experimental movie

a type of movie that is usually unfamiliar, unorthodox, and/or obscure, defying easy classification

Avant garde

a type of film that is “out in front” of traditional films; experimental

Hybrid movie

a type of movie that blurs the distinction between narrative and documentary style

Genre

the categorization of narrative films by form, content, or both

Genre conventions

aspects of storytelling such as recurring themes and situations, setting, character types, and story formula, as well as aspects of presentation

Theme

a shared, public idea, such as a metaphor, an adage, a myth, or a familiar conflict or personality type

Gangster

a type of film deeply rooted in the concept of the American dream, which states that anyone, regardless of how humble their origins, can succeed

Film noir

a style or genre of cinematographic film marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, and menace

Science fiction

a type of movie genre based on imagined future scientific or technological advances and major social or environmental changes

Horror

a film genre concerned with arousing feelings of terror

Western

a film genre about cowboys in the western US, especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries

Musical

a film genre in which singing and dancing play an essential part

Generic transformation

the process by which a particular genre is adapted to meet the expectations of a changing society

Animation

drawings or other graphical images placed in a series photography-like sequence to portray movement

Digital animation

animation that employs computer software to create the images used in the animation process