 in film theory, genre ( or ) refers to the method based on similarities in the narrative elements from which films are constructed. most theories of film genre are borrowed from literary genre criticism. besides the basic distinction in genre between fiction and documentary (from which hybrid forms emerged founding a new genre, docufiction), film genres can be categorized in several ways. the setting is the milieu or environment where the story and action takes place. the theme or topic refers to the issues or concepts that the film revolves around. the mood is the emotional tone of the film. format refers to the way the film was shot (e.g., anamorphic widescreen) or the manner of presentation (e.g.: 35 mm, 16 mm or 8 mm). an additional way of categorizing film genres is by the target audience. film genres often branch out into subgenres, as in the case of the courtroom and trial-focused subgenre of drama known as the legal drama. they can be combined to form hybrid genres, such as the melding of horror and comedy in the evil dead films. ==definition== martin loop contends that hollywood films are not pure genres, because most hollywood movies blend the love-oriented plot of the romance genre with other genres.keith, barry. film genre: from iconography to ideology. wallflower press: 2007 staiger classifies andrew tutor's ideas that the genre of film can be defined in four ways. the "idealist method" judges films by predetermined standards. the "empirical method" identifies the genre of a film by comparing it to a list of films already deemed to fall within a certain genre. the apriori method uses common generic elements which are identified in advance. the "social conventions" method of identifying the genre of a film is based on the accepted cultural consensus within society. jim colins claims that since the 1980s, hollywood films have been influenced by the trend towards "ironic hybridization", in which directors combine elements from different genres as with the western/science fiction mix in back to the future part iii. genre is often a vague term with no fixed boundaries, and many words also cross into multiple genres. recently, film theorist robert stam challenged whether genres really exist, or whether they are merely made up by critics. stam has questioned whether "genres [are] really 'out there' in the world or are they really the construction of analysts?". as well, he has asked whether there is a "... finite taxonomy of genres or are they in principle infinite?" and whether genres are "...timeless essences ephemeral, time-bound entities? are genres culture-bound or trans-cultural?&qu
Cinematography Film_genres Film_theory Genres