Media genre

Satire is strictly a literary genre, but it is also found in the graphic and performing art. In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods, ideally with the intent to bring about improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be funny, the purpose of satire is not primarily humor in itself so much as an attack on something of which the author strongly disapproves, using the...

Mecha, also known as meka or mechs, are walking vehicle controlled by a pilot, often appearing in science fiction or other genres involving a fantastic or futuristic element. Mecha are generally, though not necessarily, bipedal. In most fiction in which they appear, mecha are war machines: essentially armored fighting vehicle with legs instead of tread or wheel (there are some exceptions). Some stories, such as the manga Patlabor and American miniatures game Battletech, also encompass mecha...

Martial arts film is a film genre that originated in the Pacific Rim. This genre is a type of action film characterized by extensive fighting scenes employing various types of martial arts. This genre has mainly been produced in China, peaking in the 1970s, and has been dominated by Hong Kong action cinema and its kung fu and wuxia films. Famous actors include Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li. This genre is no longer limited to Asian films - there are many action movies starring western...

Humour or humor (see spelling differences) is the tendency of particular images, stories or situations to provoke laughter and provide amusement. Many theories exist about what humour is and what social function it serves. Yet, people of all ages and cultures respond to humour and most people share a common sense of humour. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which stated that a mix of fluids known as humours (Greek: χυμός, chymos, literally: juice or sap,...

Non-fiction is an account or representation of a subject which is presented as fact. This presentation may be accurate or not; that is, it can give either a true or a false account of the subject in question. However, it is generally assumed that the authors of such accounts believe them to be truthful at the time of their composition. Note that reporting the beliefs of others in a nonfiction format is not necessarily an endorsement of the ultimate veracity of those beliefs, it is simply saying...

The field of music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is the highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies the composition, performance, reception, and criticism of music over time. Historical studies of music are for example concerned with a composer's life and works, the developments of styles and genres (such as baroque concertos), the social function of music for a particular group of people (such as music at the court), or the modes of...

Music theory is the field of study that deals with the mechanics of music and how music works. It involves identifying patterns that govern composers' techniques. In a more general sense, music theory also often distills and analyzes the elements of music – rhythm, harmony (harmonic function), melody, structure, form, and texture. Broadly, theory may include any statement, belief, or conception of or about music (Boretz, 1995). People who study these properties are known as music theorists. ...

Traditionally, the aesthetics of music or musical aesthetics concentrated on the quality and study of the beauty and enjoyment (plaisir and jouissance) of music. Aesthetics is a sub-discipline of philosophy, but in recent decades philosophers have tended to emphasize issues besides beauty and enjoyment. It is often thought that music has the ability to affect our emotions, intellect, and our psychology; lyrics can assuage our loneliness or incite our passions. As such, music's aesthetic appeal...

Fantasy is a genre that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting. The genre is usually associated with the overall look, feel and themes of the European Middle Ages (including architecture, dress and technology), while the actual setting is often a fictional plane or planet where magic and magical beings are commonplace. Fantasy is generally distinguished from science fiction and horror by the expectation that it steers clear of technological...

Bollywood (Hindi: ), is the informal term popularly used for Mumbai-based Hindi-language film industry in India. Bollywood is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the Indian film industry. Bollywood is one of the largest film producers in the world. The name is a portmanteau of Bombay (the former name for Mumbai) and Hollywood, the center of the American film industry. However, unlike Hollywood, Bollywood does not exist as a real physical place....

A sports game is a computer or video game that simulates the playing of traditional sport. They are extremely popular, the genre including some of the best-selling games. Almost every familiar sport has been recreated with a game, including baseball, association football, American football, boxing, wrestling, cricket, golf, basketball, ice hockey, tennis, bowling, rugby, hunting, fishing, etc. Some games emphasize actually playing the sport (such as the ''Madden NFL'' series), while others...

A massively multiplayer online game (also called MMOG or simply MMO) is a video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on general purpose computers; most of the newer game consoles (Xbox 360, PSP, PS3, Wii, DS, etc.) can access the internet, and thus can have MMO genre games. MMOGs can enable players to cooperate...

Adventure Film is a film genre. The adventure film reached its peak of popularity in 1930s and 1940s Hollywood, when films such as Captain Blood, The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Mark of Zorro were regularly made with major stars, notably Errol Flynn and Tyrone Power, who were closely associated with the genre. At the same time, Saturday morning serials were often using many of the same thematic elements as high-budget adventure films. The genre has undergone periodic revivals since the...

Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to "document" reality. Although "documentary film" originally referred to movies shot on film stock, it has subsequently expanded to include video and digital productions that can be either direct-to-video or made for a television series. Documentary, as it applies here, works to identify a "filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception" that is...

A textbook is a manual of instruction or a standard book in any branch of study. They are produced according to the demand of educational institutions. Although most textbooks are only published in printed format, many are now available as online electronic –books, or e-books. Texts specifically designated for educational purposes were written in ancient Greece. The modern textbook has its roots in the standardization made possible by the printing press. Johann Gutenberg himself may have...