Drama Research

Drama is a genre that depicts serious and intense stories that could realistically happen to people. It shows us stories that could even be relatable at times. The characters usually have conflict within themselves or others.

Content

Drama typically follows regular people dealing with conflict and struggling. Usually, they overcome these struggles.The stories have to be somewhat relatable to the audience. The genre usually shows us individuals at their prime time and at their worst time. The conflict in drama is more emotionally based rather then physically based. The characters in these films tend to try to better themselves or others around them internally, this evokes emotion to the audience because the emotional tolls these individuals go through can be very intense. There must be a journey imbedded within this genre. Many moments of climax are used throughout the entirety of these films to hook the audience to these stories.

Production Techniques

Close ups are often used within drama films in order to really show the viewers the characters emotion, this technique allows us to fully comprehend what characters are feeling and going through. The films usually also use dark and dull lighting in order to dramatize the situations, the lack of light creates a sorrowful tone that can be connected to what the people in the film may be feeling and experiencing. Low and high angles are often used to show us who has the power in drama films. For example, a high angle may symbolize a weaker character while a low angle may symbolize a stronger characters. The high angle illustrates that we are looking down at the character, signifying they are small and likely going through a sort of conflict. The low angle shows that we are looking up at a character, which could signify that a character is the stronger character with more emotional stability in a drama. Dramatic music is used to create a dramatic tone.

Marketing

Though all genders can enjoy the drama genre, the typical target audience for drama films are women from the ages 16-30. Women of this age range want to see dramatized situations and like to watch films that will allow them to feel a lot of emotion. Posters are used to market dramatic movies. Many of the posters include extreme close ups of a single character or a group of significant characters that show emotion. Many times, trailers for drama movies are narrated to draw the audience. Trailers show the conflict that occurs in the movie to hook the audience and make them want to find out what was happening in the trailer by watching the film.

Film sample 1

Girl, Interrupted (1999)

"Girl, Interrupted" is about a girl who is sent to a mental hospital, there she meets other individuals who have mental health problems. The main character has an issue where she becomes involved with these other individuals and her mental health declines. Eventually however, she works on her self and reaches a healthy state of mind. This film fits the description of the drama genre, we see a protagonist become involved in trouble and we get to see her journey. At the end she perseveres her struggle. The film uses techniques such as close ups to translate the characters intense emotions. The poster is an extreme close up of the main character. We can see the character's distress through her facial expression, which helps to draw the audience in by demonstrating the movie will include intense emotions.

Film sample 2

The Miseducation of Cameron Post (2018)

"The MisEducation of Cameron Post" is about a girl who has homophobic people around her and gets caught having a romantic relationship with another girl who had a boyfriend by the girl's boyfriend. She then gets sent to conversion therapy for her relationship. When she first gets sent to this therapy, she accepts herself for being queer, however, eventually she tries to change herself into someone she is not. However, by the end of the film, she accepts who she is meant to be. The characters moment of disapproval within herself is shown, which is the conflict of the film, but by the end of the film she embraces who she is. The poster also shows the main characters face with an extreme close up, we see the look of fear and questioning, demonstrating that the film will have a skeptical theme.

Other drama film examples

The Virgin Suicides (1999)