Research into the drama genre

As technology has become more accessible and convenient for the public, thanks for digitalisation, children now have easier access to films that have high age ratings. That means that audience members now have higher demands, when it comes to the extremity of the content, with an example being the controversy surrounding ‘Casino Royale’s age rating being a 12A in cinemas, despite a graphic torture scene, leaning it more towards the conventions of a 15 rating. It is this extremity that has caused older dramas, such as ‘The Godfather,’ to now have a lower age rating than they did when they were originally released. This differs from ‘Casino Royale’ because, although they’re both subgenres of drama, ‘The Godfather’ elaborates more on the gangster and crime elements, whereas ‘Casino Royale’ focuses more on the action orientated aspect. The drawback of this new need for extremity is that a higher rating means a smaller target audience, directly resulting in a smaller profit margin for the film companies involved. To avoid this, well-established directors, such as Christopher Nolan and Ben Affleck, use more subtle techniques to convey these darker themes, compared to pre-2000 films that were more visually extreme, with exaggerated uses of blood and violence.

By contrast, ‘The Dark Knight’ is a good example of a modern drama, being commended for its darkly-themed writing and in-depth character development, still conveying an adult tone, but also appealing to children, with the use of an iconic superhero. This picture of the film’s antagonist displays stereotypical traits of a drama by taking something kids find humorous (clowns) and turning it into something more psychologically intimidating, because of this contrast.  It follows the structure of a drama with the use of binary opposites (hero vs. villain), characters that evolve and have a change in dynamics with others, to represent a sense of progression. An example of this change can be seen in the character Harvey Dent, starting off as a loyal and determined lawyer and gradually becoming more sinister and vengeful.

This is a picture our group constructed to visually summarise the drama genre, through symbolism, and some of the consistent conventions that can be seen in them. The distressed man shows the confusion and lack of clarity, the scales relate to the binary opposites and moral judgement, the path refers to the choices the characters make, the sun rise symbolise hope and the central man in the suit visually demonstrates mourning. These are all the generic conventions that can be seen in most examples of the drama genre. These conventions help to identify the genre, which is why they're used so often, and quickly informs audiences of the mood and tone that can be seen throughout that particular drama. Here are some pictures from films that relate to these conventions and therefore the genre:










Here is a trailer of the film 'The Town,' which carries similar guidelines to the film we have constructed, from a narrative perspective, and is a good example of a modern drama:



'The Town' is a good example of a modern drama because it's dramatic events within the narrative, such as bank robberies and loyalty issues that result in a distinctive sense of progression that can be seen in the characters and their behaviour. The fact that this film is rated 7.6/10 by the public and 74/100 from critics on I.M.D.B., as well as making $154 million at the box office indicates that 'The Town' is an iconic and enjoyable example of the drama genre.

In conclusion, the drama genre has lengthy history and diversity, with numerous subgenres that each elaborates on different elements of drama to make a more memorable and unique narrative.