The drama genre typically portrays real life situations with realistic characters and settings. Its aim is to keep the audience emotionally involved and the tension ongoing therefore is structured with climaxes and anti-climaxes and the main story revolving around the conflict (inner/outer struggles, hardships, pain and difficulty) to achieve this.
Dramas will often include intense social interaction and the audience should expect to see a compelling and gritty story line. However drama can also be interlaced with other genres such as romance, comedy or action therefore doesn't have to be completely drama. The story should explore relationships, emotions and tension, include relatable characters and an external or internal conflict.
Storylines (sub genres) could include: social dramas, mental illness, alcoholism, youth rebellion, civil rights, war drama, sports drama and religious drama. Typical camerawork used would include close-ups of characters to show facial expressions. long shots to show a setting and high/low angles to explore the power balance between characters.
Examples of Drama Films:
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Titanic (1997)
Fight Club (1999)
The Help (2011)
Gone Girl (2014)
The Theory of Everything (2014)
From looking at a wide range of drama films, I was able to observe that they tend to interweave other genre elements. Titanic for example can also be classed as a romance and The Shawshank Redemption is also referred to as a thriller. This may come in useful when deciding on a genre because it allows us to incorporate other genre conventions to make an interesting and original hybrid genre.
Conventions of drama:
Typical, realistic setting
Regular, every day costumes
Natural lighting
Cinematography tends to keep the realistic element - not many dynamic shots are used
Slow pans draw out tension
Continuous editing
Fast paced editing can reflect panic or anxiety whereas slower paced editing is used for the opposite effect
-Emma
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