Genre, Style and Type.

Note to teacher (Important):

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One of the first questions we were asked at the onset of the semester was to differentiate genre, style and type. I remember thinking that I had never before considered any of these terms separately, having confused all three as words that ultimately meant the same thing.

Little did I know. It quickly became obvious that all three have their own place in cinema. It's not terribly important to know these terms, but I do believe it'll help clarify some misunderstandings.

Genre

Genre is what most of us would normally associate all the others with. In fact, this is the one that we understand. It describes a category of film such as science-fiction, horror, drama, comedy and so on.

Style

Style is sometimes confused with genre. It's not something we think much about because it pertains directly to the director. It refers to a director's personal touch on a film, their signature. It's what demarcates or what makes a film so easily identifiable with its director.

Type

The type is a bit muddied. It's often confused with genre, and to some extent it is almost acceptable to believe that genre defines a type. Nevertheless, a type classifies movies that are stamped-out and fit within a recipe, such as the 'action' type.

I hope this has cleared up a few things. I might have more coming up.