The Film Rules

19 Sept 2016

HIGH FANTASY RULES - The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Film genres have formulas and rules, but how well do High Fantasy films follow their formula?

The Wizard of Oz (1939) is a High Fantasy film, as well as a Children's Film featuring High Magic as well as being a musical.

The following analysis may contain spoilers for

THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)

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16 Sept 2016

POLL - COMEDIES & MUSICIALS

Rules, tropes, cliches all films have them, what sub-genres should I test?

Help decide on future film sub-genres to be tested by doing the following poll (explanations for sub-genres appear after the poll.)

Black comedies - Films that find comedy in dark themes, especially death. [Weekend At Bernie's]
Farces - Films that use buffoonery and absurd situations for comedy. [The Dinner Game]
Gross-out comedies - Films that use toilet humour and sex for comedy. [There's Something about Mary]
Mockumentaries - Films that pretend to be documentaries to heighten the comedy. [This is Spinal Tap] Serious mockumentaries exist, and especially for horror films are often "found footage" films, but will not be tested by this category.
Musicals - Films that include songs that replace character's dialogue or thoughts in some scenes. [The Sound of Music]
Parodies/Spoofs - Films that make fun of other films and popular culture. [Airplane!]
Screwball comedes - Films that use fast-paced repartee and heightened situations. [Bringing Up Baby]
Sex comedies - Films that find humour in sexual relationships, including attempts to get sex or cover up affairs. [The Seven Year Itch] Sub-genres of this type of film are Teen Sex Comedies and the Carry On film series, both of which appear on the Sex and Romance poll.
Slapstick comedies - Films use exaggerated physical humour. [The Pink Panther]
Stoner comedies - Films that find humour in people who are high. [Any Cheech & Chong film.]

There may be a lot of crossover between these sub-genres, farces and screwball comedies usually include slapstick, etc. Films may be tested in multiple genres.

There are comedy or musical sub-genres not included here that appeared on previous polls.

Action films - includes: Buddy Cop films.

There are comedy or musical sub-genres not included here that will appear on later polls

Dramas, Historical films & Epics - will include: Sex Comedies.
Sex & Romance films - will include: Carry On films, Teen Sex Comedies.

Any sub-genres of comedy or musical films you feel are missing and need to be added to the list? Any films that need to be tested? Please comment below.

~ DUG.

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[Rules Explained][Schedule][Films List]

7 Sept 2016

HIGH FANTASY FILM RULES - The Rules

Film genres have formulas and rules, but how well do films follow those formulas?

High Fantasy is a sub-genre of Fantasy set on a "Secondary World" (a fictional universe, as opposed to the real or "Primary World.")

But wait, there's more »

31 Aug 2016

POLL - The ACTION genre.

Rules, tropes, cliches all films have them, what sub-genres should I test?

Help decide on future film sub-genres to be tested by doing the following poll (explanations for sub-genres appear after the poll.)

Action comedy - Action films with a strong comedy element. [True Lies]
Buddy cop film - Two cops are forced to work together to solve a crime. [Lethal Weapon]
Chase films - Someone is being chased. Usually it's by law enforcement and they're being chased for a crime they didn't commit. [The Fugitive]
Die Hard-in-a - An overlooked hero kills off bad-guys one-by-one while trapped in a limited area. [Die Hard]
Disaster films - A natural or man-made disaster is occurring and a hero has to help a small group survive and escape. [The Towering Inferno] 10 films have already been tested for this genre.
Inspirational sports films - Underdogs in life achieve success in sport. [The Mighty Ducks]
Martial Arts films - A martial artist must fight many other martial artists, usually to achieve revenge. [Enter the Dragon]
Spy films - Action films involving espionage, with a hero who is a spy or an civilian pulled into the spy game. [Any Bond film] Not to be confused with Espionage/Spy Thrillers which will appear on the Suspense & Thriller poll.
War films - Films about combat soldiers during a war. [Saving Private Ryan]
Western - Films set in the American old west. [Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid]

There may be a lot of crossover between these sub-genres, Buddy cop films usually include a lot of comedy, etc. Films may be tested in multiple genres.

There are action sub-genres not included here that will appear on later polls.

Dramas, Historical Films & Epics - will include: Epics and Swashbuckling films.
Exploitation films - includes many films that are also action films.
Horror - will include: Animal Attack films, Alien Attack and other horror genres that include some action.
Science Fiction & Fantasy - includes many films that are also action films.