Drama Conventions

Drama conventions.
As my production genre is drama, I must follow the conventions associated with the genre. All drama filmsare serious presentations or stories and have a variety of characters which the audience consider ‘real’ and the problems which they face must be easily identifiable with the audience, dramas deal with problems such as drug addiction, poverty, political unrest, the corruption of power, alcoholism, class divisions, sexual inequality, mental illness, corrupt violence towards people or issues. These films have successfully drawn attention to the issues by taking advantage of the topical interest of the subject. There are many ‘sub genres’ associated with drama such as; Crime drama, Characters can be developed with themes based on crimes, criminals and policemen. legal drama’s, which are similar to crime drama’s.
Tragedy where the character is destroyed by a combination of a personal failing or a error in their judgement. Docudrama, Actors play characters which relate to a current event, real events are dramatised. comedy drama, melodramas and romance. The other sub genres are; political dramas, social problem dramas, mental illness dramas, sports drama’s and war dramas etc.
The problems which the characters in my film deal with are, Alcoholism and addiction, love and divorce. This fits in mostly with the sub genre, tragedy. This also relates to a broad audience as many people face such difficulties in there life of know someone who has, This could be a result of the current climate (the recession and the state of the economy will affect peoples jobs which will then affect their life’s) The audience can relate to such simple ideas and would not get too confused with the concepts which I put forward with my production. The sequence which I will take from the film would be a meeting between two friends discussing the problems and issues of their life’s and how this affects their friendship as the two lie to hide the truth. This will then be interrupted by a phone call which will change the life of the character and will result in the other character finding out the truth of the other person’s predicament.

On the Internet movie database, there is a list of the top ten drama genre films, I have chosen to talk about three of them to show how the drama genre changes and varies with it’s issues it puts across to the audience.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994) This is about young and successful banker whose life changes drastically when he is convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife and her lover. Set in the 1940's, the film shows how Andy, with the help of his friend Red, the prison entrepreneur, turns out to be a most unconventional prisoner. This deals with so many different issues such as; crime, suicide, police brutality, wrongful conviction, freedom and friendship. This gained so many awards and it was a hit in the box office, many people could relate to it’s tough but loveable characters.
Schindler's List (1993) Schindler's List is based on the true story of Nazi Czech business man Oskar Schindler, who uses Jewish labour to start a factory in occupied Poland. As World War II progresses, and the fate of the Jews becomes more and more clear, Schindler's motivations switch from profit to human sympathy and he is able to save over 1100 Jews from death in the gas chambers. This film is a moving true story which tackles many heartbreaking issues such as the holocaust, corporal punishment, cruelty, heroism and hope. This also gained awards and is a film that most people watch because they are a bout factual events and brings you closer to a man who saved over 1000 people from death.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
This was originally a film which an insane asylum stands in for everyday society, it is a comical reflection of the Establishment urge to conform. Playing crazy to avoid prison work detail, manic free spirit Randle P. McMurphy is sent to the mental hospital for evaluation. This film deals with oppression, compassion, euthanasia, mental illness and human rights. This film gives the audience conflicting emotions, it gives the audience a view on how institutions work as it depicts the institution as something far more similar to a prison than a hospital.As my production is short I will use simple themes, which are easy to scrip and film, I will try and take note to the conventions when watching drama films so I can get it just right when I’m filming.