An Introduction to Film Genres

A genre is a promise to the audience

A genre is less a label for filing films into drawers than a promise made in advance between a film and its audience. Hear horror and you expect to be scared; hear romantic comedy and you expect two people to end up close. The recurring elements that build these expectations are called genre conventions. Conventions are not another word for cliché. Because the audience knows the promise, a film can keep it and satisfy, or twist it slightly and surprise. Knowing a genre means knowing the rules of the game.

Thrillers and crime: who holds the information

The core of a thriller is how information is distributed. When the audience knows more than the characters, you get the tension of watching danger approach; when you know exactly as little as they do, you get the fun of working it out together. When you know less, a later reveal gains force. Crime films often show the people and social structures around a case more than the case itself. Ask yourself whose eye level you are receiving information from, and the filmmaker's intent comes into view.

Horror: waiting and sound

Most of horror's fear comes from the time before something appears. Long silences, empty space at the edge of the frame and sounds behind a door put you on edge in advance. A sudden loud jolt works instantly but dulls with repetition, and the horror that lingers is often the kind that builds unease slowly. Thinking about what a monster or ghost stands for is part of the fun. Real fears such as loss, guilt or conflict within a family often appear in another form.

Romance and romantic comedy: designing obstacles

In a love story the audience waits for two people to come together, but what drives the story is what stands between them. Differences in status and circumstance, misunderstandings, timing and existing relationships: how convincingly these obstacles are placed decides the quality of the work. Romantic comedy draws laughs from the clash of two seemingly mismatched people, while melodrama treats the same obstacles with more weight. A predictable ending can still be enjoyable because what the audience wonders about is the process, not the outcome.

Action: space and rhythm

A good action scene never lets you lose track of where you are, who is doing what. The clearer the conditions of the space, such as a narrow corridor, a staircase or the inside of a moving car, the more tension the movement carries. Action also has rhythm, like music. There need to be moments to catch your breath between the fast passages for the next clash to feel bigger. Cutting the image too finely or shaking it too much actually makes it harder to follow. It is worth noticing whether an action scene also reveals character or relationships.

Sci-fi and fantasy: the rules of the world

Science fiction and fantasy build worlds that differ from ours. What matters is less how spectacular the world is than whether its rules are kept consistently. Only when it is clear what time travel, magic or future technology can and cannot do does a crisis feel like a real crisis. Sci-fi often raises questions about technology and society; fantasy tends to deal with choice and growth. If the exposition feels long, pay attention to how the setting limits the characters' choices.

Films that mix and bend genres

Many films do not stay in one genre. A crime story may blend in romance, or a family drama may turn into a thriller halfway through. The moment the genre shifts, the audience's expectations wobble, and that wobble itself becomes part of what the film expresses. Judged by the standards of a single genre, such films can seem scattered or off. Watch with the conventions in mind and you can see which promises the director broke on purpose and what they meant by it. That is why these films get more rewarding the more genres you know.

Finding your taste through genre

A genre name alone rarely explains taste. Two people who both like thrillers may love different films, one for the puzzle and one for the suspense. Working through these steps makes choosing your next film much easier.

• Write down the genre conventions shared by three films you recently enjoyed
• Note whether you liked them when the conventions were kept or when they were broken
• Watch a classic of the genre back to back with one that twists it
• For films that did not work, pin down which convention was the reason