Essay

Lindsey Servold
Mrs. Boresen
Expository Writing
Period 4
Classification Essay
1/27/09


Types of Movies

Have you ever seen a movie that is so captivating, you watch it dozens of times to the point of memorization. Or perhaps it’s a line from a movie that grabbed you, so you use this line constantly in everyday conversation. Movies, besides being just entertaining and amusing, are an influence our daily lives. Without movies our world would probably be bored let alone lost on a date. Think about it, couples usually get dinner and a movie; movies are one of the most common forms of entertainment. There are many genres of movies, for varied occasions, Comedies that make us laugh, Tragedies that make us cry, Thrillers that surprise, and films the whole family can enjoy together.

Comedies generally catch the viewer’s attention and are amusing. Not surprisingly comedies cover a wide broad range of sub- genres. Comedies are often combined with dramas, tragedies, and even thrillers. The most widespread types of comedies are tragic and romantic comedies. They use witty lines and comical sequences to catch viewer’s attention. Comedies convey humor by,” exaggerating the situation, the language, action, relationships and characters.”(Movie Genres). Comedies are so varied that anybody can watch them from a child to an eighty year old grandma. A comedy’s humor can be directly tied into a certain period of time or it can be timeless.

Tragedies are often classified as Dramas, these films focus on the main character or an event in history. These films are somber, represent realistic characters, and are driven by an unfolding plot with an under laid theme. These movies are very realistic often the settings and situations are plausible or actual places and proceedings. Tragedies have a very wide array of sub categories, including epics, melodramas, and romantic tragedies. Although they have many sub categories tragedies shy away from intense action scene, instead using mild action and powerful dialogue. The film Casablanca is a true romantic tragedy, it was set during World War II and is tinged with melodrama and intriguing dialogue.

Family films are simple films with an easy to follow plot and dialogue. They regularly have an idealistic moral to their plot. These films are often more geared toward children but if made well are interesting enough to engage adults. There is one sub category of family films that tower over the others, Animation. Companies like Disney, Warner Brothers, and Dream Works have large divisions dedicated to animation. Disney’s Pixar Animation is one of the most accomplished studios with films like Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, and most recently Wall-e. Family films are oriented around fantastical characters, plots and themes. Usually the main character faces a moral conflict of some kind and the movie follows this character through a sequence of events that teach or help the main character learn his moral lesson. Some family films are based on best selling book series like the Harry Potter saga and Lemony Snickets a Series of Unfortunate Events.

Thrillers are the last common category; as with the previous categories there are many sub sets
to this genre, each set is vastly different than the previous. A very popular sub set is Crime; Crime films focus on a struggle between good and evil in the eyes of the unwavering law. These movies,” revolve around a main character or characters trying to solve a crime. These whodunit (sic) movies leave you in suspense usually giving up the perpetrator at the conclusion of the movie.”(Movies.com.au). These movies contain violence and suspense, with intense stunts. The dialogue, although not as crucial as the action scenes, is important; dialogue in movies is the glue with out well written phrases and lines the characters would not be quite as impressive. Another sub-set is sci- fi, these films are focused on fantastical events that may seem improbable and unlikely. sci- fi films tap into undiscovered mysteries, theories, and conspiracies. Following the definition of thrillers sci-fi films have intense action scenes, use special effects, and have an intense plot.

Movies are as varied as the people who watch them, every year more directors, writers, and artists are adding more sub- genres. This means now more than ever people all over the world have a choice as to what will entertain them. There are four main genres that the sub categories fall into; Comedies, Tragedies, Thrillers, and Family films. Comedies are as their names suggest, funny, Comedies have two main sub categories Romantic and Tragic Comedies. Tragedies are sober films that that often contain well written dialogue and can be based off real events or at least plausible events. Thrillers also know as suspense films have both dialogue that is intriguing and intense action scenes with skillfully coordinated stunts. Family films if well written and produced can be entertaining for both adults and children. Movies are more than just entertainment they are complex pieces of history.