Drama Genre Research

   Week 2

            This post will be focused on the "Drama" genre. This seems to be the direction that Camila and I are taking so it makes the most sense to focus research on the genre. Some films I researched were "Whiplash", "Dunkirk", and "Everything, Everywhere, all at once" (with the latter being my favorite). As I previously have discussed, drama films are diverse in purpose and story. This is recurring in "drama" films as the genre can fit in many places. "Whiplash" by Damien Chazelle is a unique twist on musical drama. Instead of a "light-hearted" and predictable plot, Whiplash is "self-aware" with an unorthodox plot. Despite this, the film still manages to contain dramatic archetypes such as meaningful costume design and emotional lighting.

      The next film I studied was "Dunkirk". A reason why this film is conflicting with it's dramatic genre is that it is realistic. Most dramatic archetypes focus on how something feels emotionally, incorporating elements within a story that aren't realistic. Dunkirk rarely does this as it focuses more on accurately portraying war. An argument can be made that the tones used in the movie are cold and grey, representing the brutal unfeelingness of warfare. Christopher Nolan would go on to be praised for Dunkirk and be nominated multiple times for the film, despite it not being a 'conventional drama'.

    The final film I researched was "Everything, Everywhere, All At Once". This film truly blew me away. Unlike the other two films, Everything, Everywhere, All At Once exhibited the "Drama" genre perfectly. It used lighting and color to show feelings of characters, several costumes were used to represent characters personalities, and unrealistic elements were used entirely throughout the movie. The reason why this movie stands out compared to other dramas is that it is incredibly unique. Even though it has all these dramatic archetypes, Everything, Everywhere, All At Once is a cluster of many differing conventions. The creators were free to express an absurdist ideology throughout the movie through comedy, science fiction, action, and more. (It's hard for someone who never watched it to believe the pictures below are all from the same film). Essentially, It is a "swirl of anarchy" that works perfectly with the message the film is trying to convey.

         

            In the end, all this research helped me come to a conclusion. My film opening does not need to strictly follow the conventions of drama. The best directors create films with archetypes of it's genre within the movie, while also allowing the movie to be unique by not conforming to some common 'genre agenda'. This will aid me in my project to create a film opening that displays the "drama" genre, while also having individuality.

Sources: 

Lin, Summer. “Chazelle's Drama 'Whiplash' Throws Genre Conventions into Upset.” The Heights, 6 June 2020, https://www.bcheights.com/2014/11/02/chazelles-drama-whiplash-throws-genre-conventions-upset/.

Mike Scott, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. “'Dunkirk' Movie Review: Christopher Nolan's WWII Drama Is Both Stunning, Stirring.” NOLA.com, 20 July 2017, https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/movies_tv/dunkirk-movie-review-christopher-nolans-wwii-drama-is-both-stunning-stirring/article_9e928eb5-b4b6-54bc-a720-52e606b488cf.html.

Sherlock, Ben. “7 Movie Genres Seen in Everything Everywhere All at Once.” ScreenRant, 30 June 2022, https://screenrant.com/everything-everywhere-all-at-once-movie-genres-sci-fi-action-comedy/.