The World of Film Genres of Film

The Golden Ages  1930s and 1940s  Majority of films created in Hollywood by major actors

Why make films? 1. To make money 2. To entertain 3. To educate 4. To be creative 5. To preserve memories *each reason for filming creates a different type, or genre, of film

Films that ENTERTAIN  This is the most popular type of film  Mrs. Doubtfire, Transformers

Films that TEACH  These are the films that are produced for use in business and schools  Often referred to as ‘educational’ films  The American Revolution, Improving your Punctuation  Axiom  Educational films can be---but are not always— entertaining; entertaining films can be—but are not always-- educational

Educational Films  Have 3 primary purposes 1. To Persuade 2. To Educate 3. To Teach

Genres

How many genres are there?  Many  14 common forms, to be specific 1. Sci fi8. Experimental 2. Western9. Educational 3. Comedy10. Foreign 4. Fantasy11. Nature 5. Cartoon/animation12. Historical 6. Adventure13. Documentary 7. Musical14. Industrial

Cartoon vs. Animated Film  Is there a difference?  --cartoon is computer generated  --animation blends in live action

How about those Documentaries…  The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines documentaries as  “those that deal with historical, social, scientific, or economic subjects, either photographed in actual occurrence or re-enacted, and where the emphasis is more on factual content than on entertainment.”  Term first used by English filmmaker John Grierson in 1926

Newsreels: introduced as short breaks between features in a movie theater Social Action: type of propaganda film expressing a specific point of view Propaganda : emotionally appealing, persuades viewer to form a conclusion Naturalist: concerned with unexplored parts of the world, including relationship of primitive people and nature Biography: depicts a subject’s life Historic: catch-all term for a film about something that happened in the past

Propaganda  Consider the effect of beer ads or car ads during a televised sporting event  Typical commercial is 30 seconds  Effectively persuade the audience to buy or do something  Most commercials apply three approaches  1. persuade  2. inform  3. entertain all at the same time

Animated Films  How does it work?  Make a flip book  Run through a projector  At high speed  Creates the illusion of movement Walt Disney is most famous for this technique

Fun Fact  Snow White and the Seven Dwarves is the first feature length animated movie (1938)  Traditional Disney animation calls for ‘on-one’ shooting—24 drawings per second of film on screen

Misc.  Computer Graphics  Special affects  Saves time and money over traditional cel animation  Faster and cheaper than human artists  Toy Story first completely animated film made by Disney in 1995  Claymation  California Raisins

Independent Film  Refers to a personal film made by an independent filmmaker  These films have small audiences  Not shown in major theaters  Many become cult classics  Most independent films have their first major showing at Film Festivals

U.S. Domination in Film Market  American made products dominate the film market for three major reasons  1. economics  2. high production quality  3. international popularity of American movie stars