Research On Dramas

Changing my actress has caused my entire production to turn around completely. Now that my mother will be playing my main character, I have made the decision to completely change my project and the premise of my opening. I wanted to make the opening more mature and serious to compliment her age; people above 35 tend to be cast in non-comical, sophisticated roles and felt as though my past idea could not have been well adapted to a more mature character. Additionally, my mother laid out a couple of conditions for me, if she was to agree to film: #1. I did her make-up before and got her best angles. #2. She did not want to speak or have dialogue (English is not her first language and she was adamant that she did not feel like memorizing any lines). The first one was easy; even though I don't often wear it, I am pretty good at creating the no-make-up, natural make-up look. The second one... made me get a little creative. I looked at various non-dialouge scenes to get a feel for what I wanted to do; they were mostly dramatic, action-related, and rely heavily on music. For that reason, I officially decided to change my genre one last time to a DRAMA. I know last time I said it was official too but this time I'm serious. It is the last time. I promise.
I am kind of sad that I spent so much time and energy on my past idea, but I don't think I would have gotten to my new one if it weren't for the experience of coming up and endlessly considering how I would render my past idea.
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Okay, now that I have updated you guys on the major change I have decided to make, I will redo some of the research that is necessary for me to move on.

 Genre:
-Drama

"Serious presentations or stories with settings or life situations that portray realistic characters in conflict with either themselves, others, or forces of nature. A dramatic film shows us human beings at their best, their worst, and everything in-between."          -https://www.filmsite.org/dramafilms.html

Subgenre:
-Psychodrama/ physiological drama

"A type of drama that centers on the characters' inner life and psychological problems. Oftentimes, this formula dictates that characters strong in their convictions are usually pitted against each other. In Hollywood, psychological drama is usually used as an approach, merging with other larger genres that stress mental struggles over the physical"          -https://www.allmovie.com/subgenre/psychological-drama-d542

Typical Target Audience:
Gender:
-Preference strongly skews towards women
-Drama films are often marketed towards women; however, since the genre is so large a lot of men still watch and enjoy dramas.

Age:
-Scores almost equally across age groups 15-65
-Gradually more popular amongst older generations

Genre Conventions:
Content:
-realistic settings, plot, characters
-emotional journey (ups and downs)
-inner conflict/struggle
-Overcoming psychological pain, tragedy, challenges, etc.
-Audience can sympathize and relate to struggling character
-develops the character dynamically, includes multi-faceted individuals that add to the plot
-protagonist is relatable
-plot twists/ intricate plot
-women typically have a love interest
-Overall goal: Move the audience, change the way they see something, leave them thinking about an issue, make them feel different/ charged after watching

Production techniques:

Shots/Angles	-Low/High angles show superiority -Close-up shots create intimacy with the viewer and allow them to more clearly see their expressions -2 shot: lets the audience understand the relationship between two people/characters -long shot: establish the setting or let the audience see the character's full range of motion or what they are wearing -Iconic imagery used to make the location obvious
Mise-en-scene	-settings and costuming is oftentimes used to portray the inner feelings of the character -creates shapes/lines that have emotional meaning -Low key lighting is used to pack a punch/ create a very dramatic and strong atmosphere -realistic costuming (nothing over the top) -Regular 3 point lighting
Editing	-the pace of the editing depends on the energy and movement of the character -shot-counter-shot for conversations       *fast-paced when there is a conflict or argument       *slow-paced when a low-energy interaction takes place -Eyeline match to show important objects/ actions to the plot -editing pace can also be adapted to the energy or psychological state of each character
Sound	-music that matches scene energy -ambient noise -diegetic and synchronous /asynchronous sound creates a sense of realism and depth -sound bridges that smooth transitions -narrations that tell the inner thoughts of a character

Common Themes:
-drug use
-romance
-love triangles
-grief
-death
-illness
-inequality
-crime
-good vs. bad
-coming of age
-perseverance

Dramas that have inspired me to make my opening-
Here are 4 scenes of dramatic movies that inspired my film opening idea. I tried to pick scenes that were art related, heavily reliant on classical music, and had little to no dialouge.

Film Opening #1: Call Me By Your Name- Luca Guadagnino

All

Film Opening #2: Fake- Gregory Friedle

1:30-2:40

Scene #1: Pollock- Ed Harris

1:30-4:53

Scene #2: Basquiat- Julianne Schnabel

All
P.S. I also watched the opening of 3 billboards outside of Ebbing Missouri (it did not let me embed it for some reason) and LOVED it. I want to recreate that same kind of abstractness in my film, where you know something powerful just happened, but still know nothing about the movie. I hate when you can tell the whole movie from the very beginning. 

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“Subgenre - Psychological Drama.” AllMovie, www.allmovie.com/subgenre/psychological-drama-d542.

Gould, Marianna. “Target Audience.” LinkedIn SlideShare, 21 Sept. 2015, www.slideshare.net/MariannaGould/target-audience-53013766.

Claindelune, By: “What Is a Genre Convention, My Proposed Genre and What Makes a Drama Film.” Collettealevelmedia, 20 Jan. 2012, collettealevelmedia.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/what-is-a-genre-convention-my-proposed-genre-and-what-makes-a-drama-film/.

Red Rock Entertainment Ltd. “How to Uncover the Proper Target Audience for Your Film.” Medium, Medium, 12 Dec. 2018, medium.com/@red_rock_films/how-to-uncover-the-proper-target-audience-for-your-film-bfbb101d078.

Wühr, Peter, et al. “Tears or Fears? Comparing Gender Stereotypes about Movie Preferences to Actual Preferences.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 8, 2017, pp. 7–13., doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00428. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/82882411.pdf. 

Dirks, Tim. “Drama Films .” AMC Filmsite, 2012, www.filmsite.org/dramafilms.html.

Statista Research Department. “U.S TV Show Binge Watching by Genre and Age 2015.” Statista, 23 Mar. 2016, www.statista.com/statistics/431170/most-binged-tv-show-genre-by-age-us/#statisticContainer.

Tripp, Poppy. “Generic Conventions of a Drama.” Prezi.com, 6 Oct. 2016, prezi.com/fopljvvnn_cr/generic-conventions-of-a-drama/.

Ward, Caleb. “How Low-Key Lighting Can Instantly Make Your Film Dramatic.” The Beat: A Blog by PremiumBeat, 7 July 2015, www.premiumbeat.com/blog/how-low-key-lighting-can-instantly-make-your-film-dramatic/.