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Searching for films by form
Guide to major film forms used in the Lafayette Library Catalog that are searchable as genre headings.
The Library of Congress' Moving Image Genre-Form Guide defines forms as "the basic categories indicating a moving image work's original exhibition and release parameters (such as length and medium), and which are separate from its actual content, not necessarily implying a particular narrative construction." Examples of forms include feature films and performances.
The following list includes major forms used in the Lafayette Library Catalog that are searchable as genre headings. It has been adapted from the Moving Image Genre-Form Guide, which also includes a more expansive discussion of the topic. Click on the links below for descriptions and links to titles in the library catalog.
Animated films
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Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for animated films. Titles are subdivided by country for films produced outside the United States.
Description:
Work created by recording a series of still images, such as drawings, objects, or posed people; when played back, the static images combine to simulate motion, creating the impression of movement.Examples:
Snow White (1937)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Toy Story (1998) Feature films
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Search Lafayette Library Catalog for feature films. Titles are subdivided by country for films produced outside the United States.
Description:
Work, usually originally released theatrically or direct to video, with an original length of at least forty minutes (or four or more 35 mm. reels).Examples:
Casablanca (1941)
The Godfather (1972) Performances
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Search Lafayette Library Catalog for films and television programs documenting performances.
Description:
Nonfiction work documenting a performance, event, or concert of dance, music, opera, operetta, theatrical stage productions, magic, circus, stand-up comedy, burlesque, or other vaudeville or variety stage acts. Although the work being performed may be fictional, as with a stage play, the intent of the work in hand is documentation of that performance rather than a fictional narrative about it.Examples:
The Last Waltz (1978) Short films
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Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for short films. Titles are subdivided by country for films produced outside the United States.
Description:
Work, usually originally released theatrically or direct to video, with an original length less than forty minutes (or three or fewer 35 mm. reels).Examples:
Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) Silent films
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Search the Lafayette Library Catalog for silent films.
Description:
Work, usually originally released theatrically or direct to video, with no or very few spoken words. Titles are subdivided by country for films produced outside the United States.Examples:
Birth of a Nation (1915)
Modern Times (1936)
