An Introduction to Film

116 CHAPTER 3TYPES OF MOVIES

Analyzing Types of Movies

This chapter’s broad survey of the different types

of movies should make clear that movies are

divided into narrative, documentary, and experi-

mental (and animation) categories, and that each

of these has evolved a great variety of ways to

express ideas, information, and meaning. What’s

more, the longer cinema is around, the more ways

filmmakers find to borrow, reference, and blend

elements from other types in order to best serve

their own vision. Now that you have studied the

various ways that movies are differentiated and

classified, you should be able to identify what

basic type or genre a movie belongs to, recognize

how the movie utilizes the elements of form and

content particular to its film type, and appreciate

and understand those times when the filmmakers

incorporate styles and approaches rooted in other

film types.

✔Remember that experimental filmmakers often

seek to defy expectations and easy characteri-

zation. So consider effect and intent. How does

the movie make you feel, think, or react? Do

you think the filmmaker intended these effects?

If so, what elements of form and content con-

tribute to this effect?

✔When watching an experimental film, be espe-

cially aware of your expectations of what a

movie should look like and what the movie

experience should be. If the movie disappoints

or confounds your expectations, do your best to

let go of what you’ve been conditioned to

assume, and try to encounter the movie on its

own terms. Remember that many experimental

movies, unlike documentaries and narrative

films, are open to individual interpretation.

✔Since most of the movies that you study in your

introductory film class will be narrative films,

you should ask whether a particular film can be

linked with a specific genre and, if so, to what

extent it does or does not fulfill your expecta-

tions of that genre.

✔Be aware that many movies borrow or blend

elements of multiple genres. Look for familiar

formal, narrative, and thematic genre elements,

and ask yourself how and why this film uses them.

✔If the film is a documentary, is it factual,

instructional, persuasive, or propaganda—or a

blend of two or more of these documentary

approaches? Consider the movie’s relationship

with the spectator and with relative truth.

Does it appear to be attempting to present

events and ideas in as objective a manner

as is cinematically possible, or does it make

a specific persuasive argument? What

elements of form or content lead you to

this conclusion?

✔Look for ways in which the documentary

employs narrative. Are the events portrayed

selected and organized so as to tell a story?

✔Ask yourself how this movie compares to other

documentary films you’ve seen. Think about

your formal expectations of nonfiction movies:

talking-head interviews, voice-over narration,

archival footage, etc. Does this movie conform

to those expectations? If not, how does it con-

vey information and meaning in ways that are

different from a typical documentary?

✔To analyze an experimental movie, try to apply

Fred Camper’s criteria for experimental cinema.

Which of the listed characteristics does the

movie seem to fit, and from which does it

diverge?

Screening Checklist: Types of Movies

Questions for Review

1. What are the four related ways we can define
   the term narrative?


2. What are the main differences among the
   three basic types of movies?


3. What are the four basic approaches to
   documentary cinema? How are these
   approaches blended and reinterpreted
   by contemporary documentary filmmakers?


4. What is direct cinema, and how does it
   differ in approach and technique from