Genre - Drama

Drama
I have decided to create two extra research posts on two specific genres of film: drama and post-apocalyptic. This is because these are the genres I am considering pursuing for my coursework. 

Drama is a genre of film that focuses on the emotional and relational development of realistic characters. Dramatic themes often play a large part in the narrative of drama films and are often to do with real-life, relatable issues. For example, alcoholism, grief, heartbreak, depression etc. Drama films often follow a character through a conflict with either themselves or an outside party and aim to tell a story of human struggles.

Conventions of the Drama Genre
Conventions of a drama film focus mainly on character development, but often features conventions that rely on realism.

• Setting - Settings do not play a huge role in drama films as the key themes revolve primarily around the character and their ordeals, even if the character's conflict is with their environment. Drama film settings are often defined by the sub-genre (especially if the sub-genres are generally defined by their setting eg. science fiction) of the film, e.g. courtroom dramas, sci-fi dramas etc. This means there aren't particularly conventional settings in drama films. This being said, because drama films follow a character and their emotional journey, incorporating a setting that suits the character's situation realistically and where a realistic situation can occur is important, especially seeing as realism is a key feature in drama films. Settings that capture the gritty life of people to show human struggles are common, as are ordinary settings eg. houses, workplaces etc. The era in drama films is, again, not important so long as it's a realistic time period to the character's situation. Weather may play a large part in drama settings, however, as pathetic fallacy (mood reflected through weather) is a common technique used to heighten the emotion portrayed in the film. 

• Technical Codes - Camerawork in drama films is important as it's often used to reflect on a character's mood or state of mind and even help the audience to interpret relationships onscreen in a particular way. For example, using intimate shots such as mid-shots and close ups are a good way of showing a character's emotions through their facial expressions. Furthermore, using intimate shots allow the audience to feel connected to them, meaning they can empathise with them and their struggles better throughout the film. Long shots may be used to reflect a state of mind in the way that they make the character look isolated in their background and disconnected. High angles are often used to depict the characters in a state of vulnerability. Moreover, high and low angles can be used to reflect on the character's strengths and weaknesses. Two shots help depict a relationship between characters. Tracking shots are commonly used to follow a character, and may even reflect on the structure of the film and the actual journey of a character. Zooming to show a character's face from their surroundings is a common technique to show the characters reaction to their surroundings and even just a tense look at their expressions. Lighting can be used to reflect the mood eg. flat/dull lighting can be used to reflect on gritty and bleak nature whereas high-key lighting can be used to reflect on a moment of joy. Colour grading is used similarly, flat colour grading is commonly used in dull scenes whereas warmer grading is used to reflect on a happy moment. 

• Characters - Characters are one of the main focuses in drama films and it is principle that they are realistic and relatable. They're often portrayed as struggling and in a conflict. They can be typically strong willed to really show the extent of their troubles when they are feeling down. The protagonist will either 'win' or 'lose' at the end, depending on the structure of the narrative, the moral of the story and the sub-genre of the film. For example, in tragic dramas, the protagonist will usually die as these films often take the form of classical Greek tragedies. The character doesn't necessarily have to be likeable/dislikeable, however, in dramas, because the audience sees them in a state of suffering, they'll often pity and empathise with them in spite of their dislikeable nature, a good example of this is in 'Filth' or 'Birdman'. 

• Sound - Diegetic sound such as dialogue is important to reflect on the character's relationships as relationships is a key theme in drama films. Non-diegetic sound like music is also important as music helps set the mood and tone for the film and can help heighten the emotion of a scene. This is important as shifting the audience's emotion is one of the key purposes of drama films. 

• Props - Props aren't a huge part of the drama genre, however, incorporating props that relate to the character's situation and environment is important to portray realism. Props that relate to the key dramatic themes in the film are important too. For example, if the underlying dramatic theme in the film is alcoholism then using props that associate to that issue is important to maintain realism, eg. empty beer bottles etc. 

Target Audience

Due to the heavier themes handled in drama films and the realistic or "gritty" portrayal of life, it can be argued that drama films are not appropriate for children because the heavy nature is too 'grown up' or they may find the lack of excitement and action boring. This is why drama films are best suited to young adults and adults, especially seeing as they would have experienced more in life or find themselves interested in adult themes and would be more interested or relate to the situations in drama films more, perhaps because they have experienced it too or just have more grown-up tastes to do with real life. Furthermore, stereotypically, men are more interested in action-packed films which is why dramas are often associated with women, as they, supposedly, are more empathetic and therefore will prefer the emotional nature of drama films. 

What Do Film Companies Do To Attract These Audiences In Terms of Marketing?

Film companies directly reach out to the target audience my placing advertisement in areas in which the target audience is likely to be. 

• Posters - Conventional posters of the genre will typically have the character's face on. This is done to, firstly, use the actor as a form of advertisement and secondly, to show what the film is about: the character. This is because drama films focus on the character and their ordeals. Some drama film posters are split 3/4 of the way to show another scene as opposed to just the characters, this helps the audience understand the context of the film a little better and therefore decide if they want to watch it or not. The text on the posters will be quite plain so it doesn't distract from the images. Furthermore, it may reflect on the ordinariness of the film features as realism is a key theme in dramas. The colours of the poster depend on the overall mood of the film eg. if the film ends tragically then the poster may have darker tones whereas if the film is generally happy then the poster will be more colourful. The poster for 'We Bought A Zoo' on the left below shows the cut off effect to give context to the films as well as show the protagonists face (as a way to advertise the cast). The text is plain white and the colours are quite bright to reflect the happy theme of the film. The poster to the right shows the same technique: plain, solid coloured font, the close up of the character and the cut off to show a different scene. 

• Trailers - trailers for drama films often depict a summarised version of a journey by showing multiple mood changes through change in music etc. This helps the audience realise its a drama through the emotions in the trailer. 

Example of a Drama Film Opening

American History X (1998, Tony Kaye)

This opening scene plays to the conventions of drama films because it establishes serious dramatic themes such as racism etc. and sets up the themes and moods for the film. It also establishes what the character is like and proves that despite the character's dis-likeable nature to begin with, the audience will still grow to support him in spite of his hateful past. The setting is an ordinary location in a house, so portrays realism and relatability. There isn't much dialogue which perhaps suggests how disconnected the characters are. A range of different shots are used to show each different character and show the relationships between the characters. The choice to make the scene monochrome is effective because black and white looks gritty and therefore reflects on the gritty life of the protagonists and character's in the area.