A Zeitgeist film captures the spirit or mood of the time in which it is released. Certain genres like action, comedy, horror, or thriller are more likely to be Zeitgeist films during different months or times of hardship. Films about current widely discussed events like the Olympics would be Zeitgeist films. Movies that reflect popular ideas or beliefs of the period, such as one about the end of the world in 2012, are also more likely to resonate with audiences and hit the Zeitgeist of that moment in history.

1. Media studies James O’Connell 06/12/2012
Zeitgeist films
A Zeitgeist film is a certain film that hits a big portion of people by it being something that
everyone would want to watch, it could be a new idea for a film or just something that
everyone knows about. A zeitgeist is a spirit or mood of a particular period of history as
shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time in a movie in different times of the year different
zeitgeists will be made and the genre that they are in will differ. For example in a certain
month an action or comedy will hit the zeitgeist and in another month a horror or thriller
will be the film to watch.
Another reason why some films may hit the zeitgeist is because in this particular month
times may be hard and a comedy film could hit the zeitgeist as it would make people feel
happier in this time.
A film that would hit the zeitgeist is the Olympics film of
what happened throughout as in this year the Olympics is
very well talked about and publicised so for there to be a
film made about this it hit the zeitgeist.
For example the film 2012 even though it is not a
British film it still hits the zeitgeist as everyone
would want to watch it as the danger in this time
was that the end of the world that was supposedly
would be in 2012 which the film is based around so
everyone in this time would want to watch it as it
appeals to what is happening in reality. This is also
hit the zeitgeist is because it is an action thriller and
for the time of year people could be interested in
watching this type of film.