Assignment 8
- 1. Assignment 8: Synoptic Research of Drama genre Judy Noor Leticia Katia
- 3. History and context • • • • • • • • • • The term drama comes from a Greek word meaning ‘action’, which is derived from the verb meaning ‘to do’ or ‘to act’. The two masks associated with drama represent the traditional generic division between comedy and tragedy. Drama is when characters deal with emotional themes. Themes such as : alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, sexuality, poverty, class divisions, violence against women and corruption which places them in a difficult place against themselves, others and society. Drama is one of the broadest movie genre. As an example ‘Ordinary’ people goes deep under the skin of everyday life to ask big questions and touch on the deepest emotions of normal people. In the 1950’s the arrival of stage actors like Marlon Brando, trained in the area of more naturalistic techniques, which was slowly changing drama to a more realistic progress. By the 1970s melodrama was nearly finished being a knowledge genre, as the need for realism dominated film in groundbreaking movies like Martin Scorsese’s mean streets. Drama was seen as a way to teach the audience. Dramatic films focused on characters relationships and development. Drama was born around the 1950s which evolved from melodramas to mainly drama containing realistic context that related to the audience as well as the characters always leaving a message for the audience to think about at the end.
- 4. Purpose The purpose of the drama genre is to move the audience emotionally and to revolve around everyday life. This genre has this purpose because the director wants the audience to be engaged with the story and relate to it. The effect on the audience is they go through the same emotions as the characters are going through. However, some films contain conventions of multiple genres. Therefore the purpose of the comedy-drama genre is to make the audience laugh at matters that could be seen as dramatic. And the purpose of the romance-drama genre is to revolve around romance that the audience can relate to and the struggles/drama they go through. (eg: Titanic)
- 6. 30 Drama films list Film name Year Rating Subgenre 1) White House Down 2013 12A Action 2) Elysium 2013 15 Sci-fi 3) Four Lions 2010 15 Comedy 4) Dirty Dancing 1987 15 Romance 5) Magic Mike 2012 15 Comedy 6) Marley & Me 2008 PG Comedy 7) Boys Don't Cry 1999 18 Biography 8) The Vow 2011 12A Romance 9) Eat Pray Love 2010 PG Romance 10) Sex And The City 2008 15 Romance
- 7. Film name Year Rating Subgenre 11) The Notebook 2004 12A Romance 12) Gladiator 2000 15 Action 13) Brokeback Mountain 2005 15 Romance 14) The Shawshank Redemption 1994 15 Crime 15) Good Will Hunting 1997 15 Drama 16) Goodfellas 1990 18 Crime 17) Pride & Prejudice 2005 U Romance 18) Love Actually 2003 15 Romance 19) American Beauty 1999 18 Comedy 20) Air Force One 1997 15 Action
- 8. Film Name Year Rating Subgenre 21) Ben-Hur 1959 PG Adventure 22) The Other Eden 1959 U Comedy 23) Human Desire 1954 Approved Crime 24) The Apartment 1960 Approved Romance 25) The Great Dictator 1940 Approved Comedy 26) The Graduate 1967 Approved Romance 27) Raging bull 1980 18 Biographical 28) Scarface 1983 18 Crime 29) The Godfather 1972 18 Crime 30) Rocky 1976 PG Sport
- 9. 10 Contemporary Drama films Film Name Year Rating Subgenre 1) ‘12 Years a Slave’ 2013 15 Historical 2) ‘Never Let Me Go’ 2010 12 Science Fiction 3) ‘The Place Beyond the Pines’ 2012 12A Crime 4) ‘The King’s Speech’ 2010 12A Historical 5) ‘The Town’ 2010 15 Crime 6) ‘The Descendants’ 2011 15 Comedy 7) ‘Drive’ 2011 18 Crime 8) ‘Blue Valentine’ 2010 15 Romance 9) ‘We Bought a Zoo’ 2011 PG Comedy 10) ‘Rush’ 2013 15 Action
- 11. Drama The main drama convention in this film is that the audience don't know until the very end what is going to happen, in this case who was going to win and survive until the very end, this keeps the audience wanting to watch the whole film. Romance It has romantical conventions as it is stereotypical that there is always a third person involved in the relationship, the main characters usually end up together and there is nearly always a happy ending. Action The action conventions are the long fight scenes which keep the audience intrigued with the film. Subgenre Analysis 2 Fantasy It has fantasy conventions as there are mystical creatures that don’t exist in real life, such as the ‘Unknown Beast’. Sci-fi Its sci-fi conventions are its set in the future with all these new digital technologies. The arena in the film is a convention as it is able to produce blood rain and fire from a computer. Thriller The convention of a thriller film is there’s a lot of suspense and this is true in The Hunger Games as through all the fight scenes you want to know who is going to survive and who won’t.