As an artform, film can be found in lots of different formats and styles; learn more by reading through this write-up

Generally-speaking, it is very difficult to determine how many types of movies there are since film styles have advanced and changed multiple times during past history, as experts such as Tim Parker would certainly know. Prior to diving right into this topic further, it is necessary to recognize the difference in between film style and film genre. Many individuals use these 2 terms interchangeably, but they are in fact not the same thing. A movie's genre is a clear-cut classification based upon its narrative elements, like horror, action or romance for instance. Whereas film style refers to all the various strategies that a director utilizes to create a motion picture and the key elements of film style include things like motifs, sound, dialogue, cinematography and lighting effects. Although there isn't a direct relationship in between these terms, there are numerous instances where film style and film genre overlap with one another. For example, movies of particular genres might have a lot more common film styles that movie directors use.

There have been many different film style examples in movies throughout history which oftentimes correlate with the socio-economic period that the film was produced in, as experts like Daniel Katz would certainly understand. Among the most iconic and advanced types of film styles was called 'film noir'. So, what is film noir? To put it simply, film noir refers to a cinematic style of black and white Hollywood flicks from around the 1940s and 1950s. These movies were marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, and menace that had certainly not ever been observed previously. In other words, films before this period focused on light-hearted entertainment and slapstick comedy; film noir was the very first time where movies truly explored darker and a lot more macabre themes and motifs; more than likely sparked by the significant instants in history like WWII and the Great Depression. Movies took on a much more critical tone and sombre feeling, which was reflected through filming methods such as high-contrast lighting, spooky music and dark shadows. Commonly, these movies involved crime or detective storylines where the protagonist is a little bit of an anti-hero and the starlets played the part of the 'femme fatale'.

Through the history of film, several different film styles and techniques have gone in and out of fashion, varying from styles like Italian neorealism to German expressionism. However, some styles of film have actually absolutely stood the test of time. For example, one of the most popular film style is documentary. Essentially, the main aim of documentary filmmaking is to chronicle a genuine depiction of reality. In these films, the video camera commonly works as a passive onlooker, where techniques like face to face interviews and observations are used. Ultimately, documentaries are incredibly crucial due to the fact that they are a way of maintaining historic record and can be pivotal in teaching and informing individuals, as specialists like Nicky Bentham would know.