Genre research

 Hi guys! This week, we are learning about genre theory. I was tasked with exploring a film genre of my choice and analyze how its characteristics engage the target audience. I chose to explore one of the most emotionally powerful film genres: Drama. This genre intrigues me due to the fact that it focuses on real people and emotions. They make us reflect, empathize, and sometimes even cry, because we see pieces of ourselves in ever story. 

Genre 

The drama genre focuses on storytelling that feels authentic, emotional, and human. It centers on characters navigating complex life situations such as love, loss, family, identity, or personal growth. The goal of drama is to move the audience through empathy and emotional connection.

Content

Drama films revolve around realism, emotional intensity and human conflict. Their stories often explore themes like love, betrayal, family tension, personal identity, or redemption. Instead of relying on fast paced action or humor, dramas emphasize the internal struggles and complexity of characters. These films focus on ordinary people dealing with challenges, allowing audiences to connect and relate to them. The dialogue is usually natural and heartfelt, revealing character emotions in subtle ways. Conflicts are often personal or moral rather than physical, and the tone of the film remains serious and emotionally impactful throughout. 

Production techniques

Drama films aim for realism and emotional intimacy. This is achieved by using natural lighting, close-up shots, and subtle camera movement to draw viewers into the characters' feelings. The music used is often minimal, with gentle piano or strings accentuating emotion without distraction. The editing is slow and intentional, letting emotional moments breathe. The costumes and setting reflect everyday life to heighten authenticity.

How are drama films marketed?

The marketing process of these films is very emotional and authentic over spectacle. Posters and trailers highlight expressive performances and powerful relationships, often using quotes or climactic moments to evoke empathy. Studios like Netflix promote these films during award seasons, appealing to audiences seeking meaningful, character driven stories.

Sample 1- The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

This film perfectly represents the drama genre through its focus on perseverance, love, and fatherhood. Will Smith's performance as Chris Gardner, a struggling father determined to provide for his son, brings raw emotion and humanity to the screen. The story is grounded in realism: tight camera shots, natural lighting, and heartfelt music that highlights emotional highs and lows. It makes us feel every moment of frustration, exhaustion and hope, which is exactly what a drama is intended to do.

Sample 2- Marriage Story (2019)

Marriage Story captures the painful reality of love and separation. Its a quiet but powerful film, focusing on two people trying to end their marriage while still caring for each other. The intimate cinematography and emotionally charged performances by Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson make viewers feel like they're a part of every argument, silence and tear. Its realism and empathy make it a perfect modern drama.

More drama examples!!

Moonlight (2016)

Forest Gump (1994)

A Star Is Born (2018)

12 Years a Slave (2013)

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

The Whale (2022)

Drama films are the heart of cinema. They remind us of what it means to be human. To feel, fail, hope, and grow. Whether it's a single father chasing his dreams of a couple learning how to say goodbye, drama films show that even the smallest stories can reveal something profound about life.

Sound- reflection

 During the sound lesson I learned about how sound can tell a story, adding to the emotional impact and realism of a scene. The lesson highlighted the importance of paying attention to every detail of sound and how it's in our day to day life. The sounds that we may not notice need to be accounted for when creating audio for a film. Foley sounds (sounds created with every day objects) are key to making audio as realistic as possible. Watching a video on foley artists and the process behind it helped me to understand the detail and work that goes into the sounds I used to think were created in the film process itself, and also how creating your own sound can make scenes more realistic. We also touched on the topic of soundscaping, which layers sounds to create an atmosphere to immerse the watcher/listener.

After this lesson I was tasked with creating 2 of my own sound projects... here's what I did!

Sound Project #1

My task was to create a 1-2 minute soundscape that tells a story only using sound effects. We were to use no video, conveying our story solely through sound. 4 of these sounds needed to be original foley sounds made with every day objects.

Approach

My partner and I decided to create a soundscape of a knight riding a horse, venturing to a cave. He then goes into the cave and fights with a dragon, defeating it and getting the gold coins it was guarding. The four foley sounds we used were the knights armor (keys jangling), the sound of the knights sword being drawn out (knifes being rubbed together), water dripping (water faucet dripping into a plastic cup), and the picking up of the coins (actual coins for realism).

Brainstorming

In the brainstorming process, we decided on our scene, ensuring it was action packed and exciting. We wrote the types of sounds you might hear during this scene, taking background sounds into account. Then we created an outline, separating the scene into sections and matching up the sounds to each scene to ensure the most realistic representation possible. Our brainstorming sheet and outline guaranteed organization during the editing process, helping us keep track of what sounds need to be used and how.

Editing

We used clip champ to edit our project.

Click here to see my project! 

Sound project

Sound Project #2

Revisiting the topic of my last post, my "One Word Film" project where I was tasked with making a silent film using the topic of only one word, this project tasked me with adding sound to it. Using our knowledge of sound layering and timing, I now had to add this to our silent film. 

Brainstorming

While brainstorming, my partner and I worked together to carefully think out what sounds needed to be included in our One Word Film. We considered which sounds would make the scene stay realistic and express our word with the true feeling of the characters.

Editing

We used clip champ to edit our project.

Click here to see my project! 

Sound Project #2