Drama Genre Research

Drama

Drama is a genre the attempts to generate emotion and relational development of these realistic characters. There are many sub genres within drama so its characteristics such as character development, and storytelling method. The four main sub genres in drama are: tragedy, comedy, melodrama, and tragicomedy. This genre was traditionally intended to be performed out on a stage live so a drama brings a story to life right before your eyes, may it be live or on a screen. The story is told with a series of dialogue and actions as well as different settings and scenery. Moreover all dramas bring these 5 characteristics: idea/plot, characters, language, music, performance. With all of these characteristics it reflects human behavior in form of a story through acting and in some cases dancing. When people hear a film is a drama they tend to associate it with words such as impactful, real and attractive.

Even though there are so many different sub genres in drama most of them still have similar production techniques. For example the lighting, music, special effect, and sound all have a big importance in drama as this is used to develop the understanding of the atmosphere, the character, theme and conflict. Another technique used often to make an action seem more dramatic is putting it in slow motion. Many dramas also play with the dialogue by either adding a narrator, using an ‘aside’, or soliloquy. An ‘aside’ is when the directly addresses the audience during the film. A soliloquy is when one character speaks to give insight of what he/she is thinking.It is also seen used frequently in dramas that they use music to underscore the drama. Also the great majority of dramas use basic symbols as a lab coat which means medicine or science, a dove to represent peace, and torn wedding pictures to show a divorced couple.

Marketing these big name drama films they need to go through many different marketing strategies. For almost all of the film has a trailer that highlights all the best part or most dramatic parts of the film. Also there is usually more than one trailer and it is played on social media such as youtube. Once the film comes out and continues to grow many times these companies begin to make posters for fans to buy.

The film “Boyhood” which is a drama directed by Richard Linklater was released in July 11, 2014 and follows many characteristics of a drama. This film you grow up in the eyes of this boy named Mason for 12 years. It takes you through all the real moments in life, may it good or bad. It takes you on a ride through the ups and downs of this boys life and the audience can relate to this as they were a child once as well. It also uses music to underscore the drama and throughout the film you can hear is “Yellow to Arcade Fire’s Deep Blue” by Coldplay.Lastly throughout the film you can find symbols that show family and growth.