Planning:Film Genres' Descriptions

In this Post I will be describing the different film genres I could pick to do the opening two minutes on.

A lot of genres cannot be done well on a low budget, and some require a very experienced and refined filmmaking ability to be able to execute effectively. The obvious film genres are:

• Action - An action story is similar to Adventure, but the protagonist usually takes a risky turn, which leads to desperate situations (including explosions, fight scenes, daring escapes, etc.) E.G. Die Hard, The Dark Knight Rises.
• Adventure - An adventure story is about a protagonist who journeys to epic or distant places to accomplish something. It can have many other genre elements included within it, because it is a very open genre. The protagonist has a mission and faces obstacles to get to his destination, searching for lost continents, "jungle" and "desert" epics, treasure hunts, disaster films, or searches for the unknown. E.G. Indiana Jones.
• Animation - ones in which individual drawings, paintings, or illustrations are photographed frame by frame (stop-frame cinematography). Usually, each frame differs slightly from the one preceding it, giving the illusion of movement when frames are projected in rapid succession at 24 frames per second. E.G Toy Story, Up, Shrek.
• Biopic - dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character’s real name is used. They differ from films "based on a true story" or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their lives. E.G. the Social Network.
• Comedy - Comedies are light-hearted plots consistently and deliberately designed to amuse and provoke laughter (with one-liners, jokes, etc.) by exaggerating the situation, the language, action, relationships and characters. This section describes various forms of comedy through cinematic history, including slapstick, screwball, spoofs and parodies, romantic comedies, black comedy and more. E.G The Hangover.
• Crime - developed around the sinister actions of criminals or mobsters, particularly bank robbers, underworld figures, or ruthless hoodlums who operate outside the law, stealing and murdering their way through life. Criminal and gangster films are often categorized as film noir or detective-mystery films - because of underlying similarities between these cinematic forms. This category includes a description of various 'serial killer' films.
• Documentary - are non-fictional, "slice of life" factual works of art - and sometimes known as cinema verite. For many years, as films became more narrative-based, documentaries branched out and took many forms since their early beginnings - some of which have been termed propagandistic or non-objective. E.G March of the Penguins.
• Drama - Dramas are serious, plot-driven presentations, portraying realistic characters, settings, life situations, and stories involving intense character development and interaction. Usually, they are not focused on special-effects; comedy, or action, Dramatic films are probably the largest film genre, with many subsets. E.G The King's Speech.
• Fantasy - A fantasy story is about magic or supernatural forces, rather than technology, though it often is made to include elements of other genres, such as science fiction elements, for instance computers or DNA, if it happens to take place in a modern or future era. E.G. Ghostbusters, Marvel's The Avengers.
• Historical - costume dramas, historical dramas, war films, medieval romps, or 'period pictures' that often cover a large expanse of time set against a vast, panoramic backdrop. Often share elements of the elaborate adventure films genre. Epics take an historical or imagined event, mythic, legendary, or heroic figure, and add an extravagant setting and lavish costumes, accompanied by grandeur and spectacle, dramatic scope, high production values, and a sweeping musical score. Epics are often a more spectacular, lavish version of a biopic film. Some 'sword and sandal' films (Biblical epics or films occurring during antiquity) qualify as a sub-genre.
• Horror - Horror films are designed to frighten and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while fascinating and entertaining us at the same time in an energizing experience. They are often combined with science fiction when the menace or monster is related to a corruption of technology, or when Earth is threatened by aliens. The fantasy and supernatural film genres are not usually synonymous with the horror genre. There are many sub-genres of horror: slasher, teen terror, serial killers, Satanic, Dracula, Frankenstein, etc. E.G. Scream.
• Musical - Musical/dance films are cinematic forms that emphasize full-scale scores or song and dance routines in a significant way (usually with a musical or dance performance integrated as part of the film narrative), or they are films that are centred on combinations of music, dance, song or choreography. Major subgenres include the musical comedy or the concert film. E.G Grease.
• Romance - Traditionally, a romance story involves chivalry and adventure. In modern writing, a story about character's relationships, or engagements (a story about character development and interpersonal relationships rather than adventures). It has produced a wide array of sub genres  the majority of which feature the mutual attraction and love of a man and a woman as the main plot, and have a happy ending. This genre, much like fantasy fiction, is broad enough in definition that it is easily and commonly seen combined with other genres, such as comedy, fantasy fiction, realistic fiction, or action-adventure. E.G The Notebook.
• Science Fiction - Sci-fi films are often quasi-scientific, visionary and imaginative - complete with heroes, aliens, distant planets, impossible quests, improbable settings, fantastic places, great dark and shadowy villains, futuristic technology, unknown and unknowable forces, and extraordinary monsters ('things or creatures from space'), either created by mad scientists or by nuclear havoc. They are sometimes an offshoot of fantasy films (or superhero films), or they share some similarities with action/adventure films. Science fiction often expresses the potential of technology to destroy humankind and easily overlaps with horror films, particularly when technology or alien life forms become malevolent. E.G. Back to the Future.
• Thriller - uses suspense, tension and excitement as its main elements. Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewer's moods, giving them a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and/or terror. Films of this genre tend to be adrenaline-rushing, gritty, rousing and fast-paced. A thriller provides the sudden rush of emotions, excitement, and exhilaration that drive the narrative, sometimes subtly with peaks and lulls, sometimes at a constant, breakneck pace. It keeps the audience on the "edge of their seats", akin to a sensation of hanging from a cliff, as the plot builds towards a climax. Literary devices such as red herrings, plot twists and cliffhangers are used extensively. A thriller is usually a villain-driven plot, whereby he or she presents obstacles that the protagonist must overcome. Common sub genres are psychological thrillers, crime thrillers, erotic thrillers and mystery thrillers.
• War - War (and anti-war) films acknowledge the horror and heartbreak of war, letting the actual combat fighting (against nations or humankind) on land, sea, or in the air provide the primary plot or background for the action of the film. War films are often paired with other genres, such as action, adventure, drama, romance, comedy (black), suspense, and even epics and westerns, and they often take a denunciatory approach toward warfare. They may include tales, stories of military operations, and training. E.G Saving Private Ryan.
• Westerns - Westerns are the major defining genre of the American film industry - a eulogy to the early days of the expansive American frontier. They are one of the oldest, most enduring genres with very recognizable plots, elements, and characters (six-guns, horses, dusty towns and trails, cowboys, Indians, etc.). Over time, westerns have been re-defined, re-invented and expanded, dismissed, rediscovered  and spoofed. E.G Unforgiven.