1. Some Stylistic Terms

2. Pastiche
A pastiche is a work done in the style of another artist. It may reflect a single work by a single artist, or a body of work by one or more artists, or even an entire genre. The difference between a Fan Fiction, which reuses characters or settings from another work, and a pastiche, is that the pastiche copies the tone and flavor of its original. A work can, of course, be both a Fan Fiction and a pastiche, but pastiche is all about the style.

3. A pastiche may be created as an homage to the original artist, or it may be intended as a gentle parody. The distinction is not important—although an exaggerated parody that did not actually reflect the style of the original would not be a pastiche. A pastiche which doesn't show some respect for the original would be a very difficult thing to pull off.

4. Most pastiches are created in a spirit of fun, which can often make it hard to determine whether the creator intended parody or homage—or even, possibly, both. (An exception to the just-for-fun rule is in Academia, where a pastiche may be created as a Deconstruction of the original, but such works rarely reach—or are intended for—a broad audience.)

5. "The Artist" is a huge tribute to silent films, as well as Hitchcock, Ford, and other early black-and-white filmmakers.
Quentin Tarantino's films are generally pastiches of their respective genres.

6. Parody: