Genres

So what is a genre.

Well this genre is a type or a kind of something that’s what it is.

We use it not for everything.

We don’t say a genre of fruit for example.

We don’t use it for objects.

We use it usually for movies.

We use it for TV.

Similar entertainment videos online literature books other types of other types of literature and we use it for music.

Now the ones that we use for literature and movies or literature and TV series they’re often the same not in every case but they’re often the same or similar music.

Of course the genres are very very different.

You do not have for example rock and roll literature.

That would be very silly.

That would be a genre of music.

OK.

So let’s talk about some of the common movie genres and we can we can use them in different ways.

Let’s just go through what they mean and what kind of movie they represent.

OK so let’s first talk about action.

One of the interesting things about genres is sometimes one part of a genre can stand by itself but you often see them put together for example if we look at action and adventure you can have an action movie a movie with a lot of car chases for example maybe a car chase a movie with maybe explosions or war.

This would be an action movie maybe a lot of kung fu or fighting but an action adventure movie is a little bit a little bit more than that.

It maybe has a maybe a story where the characters go somewhere far away and do something crazy.

So there’s action but there’s also adventure pop action adventure so we mix these up in fact now romantic comedy is similar.

So if we said a romantic film a romantic film that could go by itself sometimes romance.

But that’s usually used for literature then a romantic comedy is also very common which is funny.

Comedy means means it’s funny and you can have comedy by itself.

So if it’s just supposed to make you laugh and that’s the point of the movie it’s a comedy.

OK but if it has a love story as well and it’s funny then it’s a romantic comedy.

Now if it’s just a love story and it’s a very serious and it’s not funny at all.

Well maybe maybe it’s a drama.

So we often hear TV drama a drama is usually more serious.

It’s not supposed to be funny.

Maybe there are some funny things in it but that’s not what it’s about right.

All right thriller and horror.

So what’s the difference between these these are two types of what we would call Scary scary movies a movie that makes you feel scared might make you feel scared in different ways.

If there’s a lot of blood and violence and torture and terrible things horrible things then we call it a horror film a horror film.

These are often a bit more maybe disgusting said Gee you’re a bit more disgusting maybe there’s a lot more blood a thriller may just be exciting.

So if you are watching a thriller movie maybe something suddenly jumps out and you go wow that’s very exciting.

But it’s not horror.

Exactly.

So they’re both scary movies but they’re kind of different in the style right sometimes maybe they’re mixed.

But a movie is usually either called a thriller or a horror movie.

So what’s the difference between sci fi or science fiction.

This is also called science fiction and fantasy.

What’s the difference.

Well science fiction or sci fi and it usually is called sci fi for movies although for maybe a novel it’s often called science fiction.

The full name if it’s a sci fi movie or a sci fi maybe novel it’s about something that may be possible but it’s either in the future or it doesn’t exist now.

And it’s some amazing technology or it involves space travel which again may be possible but we just don’t see it around us now.

So crazy technology.

Technology like laser guns and all that stuff.

Alien space travel.

This is usually sci fi fantasy is different because fantasy has magic in it.

Maybe fantasy is about a very old world but it involves something magical.

For example Harry Potter would be considered fantasy or maybe its action adventure fantasy.

You could put all those together because it has magic.

It’s not about technology.

So that’s the difference between sci fi and fantasy although they sometimes are mixed and it’s difficult to tell which one it is.

Usually it’ll be called either a sci fi movie or a fantasy movie even though sometimes they might be close to the line.

Then a documentary is anything that’s about real life.

That doesn’t mean there can’t be anything not real in it.

So for example if you watch a documentary maybe it’s about a historical event something that happened in history.

Maybe it’s about a historical event and in the documentary there are some scenes that are done by actors right.

So we say it’s dramatized but it’s about a real event.

Or maybe it’s about animals.

If it’s a story about animals who speak then OK it’s not but if it’s about real animals and they’re saying all the animals this time of you that eat the grass and that kind of movie that is a documentary documentary TV series documentary movie.

I personally like documentaries very much because I think it’s a good way to learn about interesting topics that I can’t really see every day.

I can’t always go to Africa and look at lions hunting other animals in the wild.

Right.

So a documentary is a good way to kind of experience that and learn about it.

These are not all the genres that you’ll see.

You’ll see others as well and you’ll see them mixed around in other ways too.

But I want you to just be aware of some of the very common genres and how we talk about them.

Next we’ll talk about some specific phrases we can use when we’re describing movies and the people who are in the movies.