Film genres

Category: Topics in the syllabus

Characteristics and examples of film genres

Action

Characteristics:

• ​The hero battles with villains - El héroe lucha con villanos.
• It includes a lot of action like fights, car chases, stunts, rescues and escapes - Incluye mucha acción como peleas, persecuciones de autos, acrobacias, rescates y escapes.
• It usually features superheroes - Por lo general, presenta superhéroes.

Examples:
Marvel movies, The fast and the furious, Superman, Transformers and James Bond.

Adventure

Characteristics:

• It features exciting stories in exotic, far away, or unfamiliar places -  Presenta historias emocionantes en lugares exóticos, lejanos o desconocidos.
• The protagonist is in dangerous or risky situations - El protagonista se encuentra en situaciones peligrosas o de riesgo.
• The protagonist save others from danger - El protagonista salva a otros del peligro.
• The antagonists tend to be extremely evil - Los antagonistas tienden a ser extremadamente malvados.
• It's usually built around a quest - Por lo general, se basa en una misión.
• There are treasure hunts, expeditions, hidden maps and traps - Hay búsquedas del tesoro, expediciones, mapas ocultos y trampas.

Examples:
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Lord of the rings, Pirates of Caribbean,  and Tomb raider.

Comedy

Characteristics:

• It's funny and entertaining - Es divertida y entretenida.
• It makes the audience laugh - Hace reír a la audiencia.
• The protagonists are usually in challenging, amusing, or humorous situations they're not prepared to handle - Los protagonistas suelen encontrarse en situaciones desafiantes, divertidas o graciosas que no están preparados para manejar.

Examples:
You don't mess with the Zohan, Zoolander, Wedding crashers, Meet parents and There's something about Mary.

Drama

Characteristics:

• ​It features realistic characters, settings, stories, and real-life situations - Presenta personajes reales, escenarios, historias y situaciones de la vida real.
• The characters deal with struggles of everyday life - Los personajes lidian con conflitos de la vida cotidiana.

Examples:
12 years a slave, Bridge of spies and Casablanca.

Horror

Characteristics:

• It's designed to frigthen and to invoke hidden fears - Está diseñado para asustar e invocar miedos ocultos.
• Scary visuals and sound effects add elements of horror - Los efectos visuales y de sonido de miedo añaden elementos de terror.
• There are supernatural beings such as haunted houses, ghosts, vampires, zombies, etc. - Hay seres sobrenaturales como casas encantadas, fantasmas, vampiros, zombies, etc.

Examples:
The exorcist, The ring, Bram Stoker's Dracula and The conjuring. 

Romance

Characteristics:

• ​Two characters fall in love, but face conflicts - Dos personajes se enamoran, pero enfrentan conflictos.
• There's a happy period of time - Hay un período de tiempo feliz. 

Examples:
Titanic, Pretty woman and The notebook.

Science fiction

Characteristics:

• ​It's set in the future and there are some imaginary scientific developments - Está ambientado en el futuro y hay algunos desarrollos científicos imaginarios.
• It features extraterrestrial lifeforms - Presenta formas de vida extraterrestres.
• There are time travels, teleportations, mind control, space travels, and fictional worlds - Hay viajes en el tiempo, tele-transportaciones, control mental, viajes espaciales y mundos ficticios.

Examples:
Star wars, Star trek, Terminator, Maze runner, Ex Machina and The fifth element.

War

Characteristics:

• It ​features warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes - Presenta guerras, generalmente sobre batallas navales, aéreas o terrestres, con escenas de combate.
• It includes battles that involve tanks, fighter planes, warships, firearms, and hand-to-hand combat - Incluye batallas que involucran tanques, aviones de combate, buques de guerra, armas de fuego y combate cuerpo a cuerpo.​
• It explores the psychological aspects of war, including the mental strain that combat exerts on soldiers - Explora los aspectos psicológicos de la guerra, incluida la tensión mental que el combate ejerce sobre los soldados.
  

Examples:
Saving private Ryan, The thin red line, Platoon, Schindler's list and 1917.

Western

Characteristics:

• The main character is usually a cowboy or outlander armed with a revolver and a rifle who rides a horse - El personaje principal suele ser un vaquero o un forastero armado con un revólver y un rifle que monta a caballo.

Examples:
Tombstone, 3:10 to Yuma, Brokeback mountain, Django unchained, Unforgiven and Back to the future part III.