A Theory of Film Tone and Genre

A Theory of Film Tone and Genre: From Aesthetic Mood to Ideological Structure presents a unified conceptual framework for understanding how values, ideology, tone, and genre interact within cinematic experience. The article argues that tone is not a stylistic or emotional surface, but an ideological structure emerging from the value fields that shape how viewers perceive the world of a film. Mood is treated as the affective layer within the same perceptual field, while genre is defined as the external crystallization of stable tonal structures. This framework proposes a vertical model of cinematic meaning:Value → Ideology → Tone → Genre,demonstrating how shifts in cultural or ethical value systems can transform tonal expectations and lead to new genre formations. The paper also situates this theory within contemporary discussions of film tone and mood, while offering a global, non-Western perspective through its application in a broader 7–28 genre taxonomy developed by Alireza Kaveh. This work serves as a foundational reference for film theory, genre studies, tonal analysis, and value-based approaches to cinematic interpretation.