Conventions of Drama genre

 Conventions of the drama genre

In the drama genre, meaning is created through the use of micro features such as editing, mise en scène, cinematography and editing, among others. These features  are used to create a specific meaning to the spectator through dialogue, facial expressions, location, types of angles, non digetic sound, etc.

One of the key themes in a drama film is realism, in almost every case, the story will focus on real life problems, such as racism or alcohol and drug abuse (instead of dragons and unicorns), and the characters in it will be people the audience or spectator can relate to. To achieve a realistic sense, a drama film will normally have very long shots, and a very slow pace editing, in contrast to the fast editing in, for example, action films. This can also build up suspense.

Drama films and short films  are based on the character’s own emotions towards a situation or situations. This is interesting, because in almost every other genre, it’s the other way around; the characters will go through something, which will make the film, and then they will feel different. Or not. Whilst in drama, the main focus is on the character and what they are feeling. This is why lots of drama films will use  close and extreme close-ups to let the audience or spectator see the emotions the character is feeling. This is why, normally, dramas will develop the characters’ emotions more than any other genre of film.

In a drama film, lighting is often used to create a certain feeling in the audience or spectator; low key lighting may create an unsettling or confusing feel, whilst high key lighting might be used to accentuate a certain location, or to create a sense of happiness among the viewers or characters.

The use of non digetic sound is not so popular in drama, as it is in, say, a fantasy film, or a romantic comedy. The reason for this, is that background music makes the film less realistic, which contradicts the first statement about the drama genre. A lot of drama films will avoid, or get around this problem by using music as a digetic sound, for example, when a character turns the radio on, and a song starts playing. Sound in the form of music, in a drama, can be used to add emotion or rhythm to a specific scene or even to portray an aspect of certain character. This also can be used throughout the film, once the viewer can associate a musical theme with a character or situation, to give the audience a hint of what might happen to that character in the film.