Drama

The drama genre is one of the most popular genres in film and has dominated the film industry for many years. Drama contains a wide spectrum of films and encompasses many sub genres ranging from teen dramas to biopics. With such a wide variety of films the drama genre has easily remained one of the top genres in the film world, clearly shown by the film Green Book, a comedy-drama which won Best Picture at the 2019 Oscars.

Ex: 2019 Best Picture winner Green Book

-Genre Conventions:

Content:

Almost all drama films portray a story involving a serious and emotional conflict with a character and either themselves, others, or nature. Dramas are character driven and use characters to move the story along. The center of a drama revolves around the conflict, which includes mental and physical hardships. Dramas involve realistic situations and settings with believable characters that usually cause the audience to empathize and connect with the characters. Through this connection, these films are able to convey an emotional and powerful narrative. Along with this, dramas often involve realistic stories about societal issues such as mental illness, corruption, racial prejudice, etc. 

12 Years a Slave

Steve Mcqueen, 2013

For example, 12 Years a Slave (2013) was a historical drama that followed the story of a free African American man in the 1840s who is kidnapped and sold into slavery. This film embodies the drama genre through its realistic depiction of societal ills like racial prejudice and segregation. Chiwetel Ejiofor’s depiction of Solomon Northup provides a deeply emotional and intense experience for audiences which is present in many drama films. Like most dramas, 12 Years a Slave centers around the conflict, which in this film is Solomon's struggle to survive his new life as a slave and find a way to return to freedom. In the film the main character experiences physical and mental conflict, characteristics of the drama genre.

Production Techniques:

Dramas are only effective in depicting a compelling and emotional story when they are produced well. Drama films often use the same techniques and avoid relying on special-effects and action like other genres. Lighting plays a key role in many drama films and is used to move the story and enhance the dramatic effect of a scene. Several lighting techniques are used in these films, but usually use realistic lighting with a focus on shadows in some films to emphasize the gritty nature of the real world. For example, The Godfather (1972) used a light above the character Don Vito Corleone so that the shadow would cover the character’s eyes and add to the drama and mystery of the character.

Ex: Lighting technique used in The Godfather.

In addition to lighting, dramas manipulate shots in order to progress the story. One common use of shots in the film genre is the close up shot, specifically on a characters face, which displays the characters emotion to the audience. For example, Mulholland Drive (2001) uses this technique in an extreme close up shot of Betty’s (Naomi Watts) eye and conveys her sadness and horror in order to leave the audience with an emotional and impactful scene. Along with these shots, angles are used to convey meaning in a drama. High angles and low angles can show strength or weakness in a character, which helps to emphasize conflict in the film, a central part of a drama film.

Ex: Close up shot in Mulholland Drive

La La Land

Damien Chazelle, 2016

La La Land (2016) is a romance-drama that follows the story of Mia (Emma Stone) an aspiring actress and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) a pianist who dreams of opening a jazz club. This film embodies the drama genre through its use of production techniques like lighting and shot types. Lighting is used in this film to emphasize the emotions of the characters, which is a common technique used in drama films. As well as this, La La Land uses many close up shots to provide a clear glimpse into the emotions of the characters throughout the film. For example, at the end of the film a close up shot Sebastian’s face shows in great detail the subtle yet powerful expressions of sadness and acceptance that leave the movie off in a deeply emotional conclusion, capturing the focus of drama films.

-Institutional Conventions:

The marketing of drama films can vary extensively due to the wide spectrum of films the genre encompasses. Dramas don't have a particular target audience as sub genres like teen dramas are aimed for teens while a sub genre like crime-dramas are usually aimed for adults. Despite this, the marketing of dramas share many similarities. Since dramas are mainly plot driven, trailers for dramas usually focus on the plot of the movie as well as the characters to appeal to the emotions of the viewer. For example, the trailer for Fight Club (1999) shows the main plot of the movie and introduces the main characters in order to establish a connection with the viewer and get them to want to watch more.

Ex: The trailer for Fight Club is a great example of a trailer for a drama film

In addition, movie posters for dramas share a similar style in their design. Most posters for drama films use close up shots of a character or multiple characters. This design offers a glimpse into the emotions of a character or characters and is used to peak the interest of viewers by evoking an emotional response. For example, the poster for Moonlight (2016) shows the main character in a close up shot that adds a level of mystery that causes the viewer to be interested in the film.

Ex: The poster for Moonlight