2013 Post 7B- Genre

In order to obtain a clearer understanding of the Drama genre for our film, I have analysed a selection of short drama films.



I chose to look at 'Love of Mine' as it portrays the memories of a teenager which relates to my short film.
I really admire the slow-motion used as it sets a continuous, slow pace for a dream-like feel that is at first relaxing and then dramatic as it drags out the moments when the story twists. This is accompanied by a slow, calming piano soundtrack that sets the mood before becoming orchestral and dramatically increasing in volume to emphasise the sudden negative emotions.

The focus on her notifies the audience that she is the main character

 What is most intriguing is the lack of dialogue, the film instead relies on close-ups of expressions to tell the story through body language, which I believe has a more profound impact on the audience as they relate with the character's emotions. The constant, subtle camera movements and natural lighting provide a sense of realism, yet the frequent fade in and outs indicate flashbacks of the past and echoes inform the audience that the film is a memory.

I created a timeline that shows the beats for this short film so that I could have an idea of beats for the Drama genre:

0:18+0:31- The two environments for the film are introduced, one is outside and the other is inside with a pair of lovers as our focus
0:45+0:55- The main character is introduced as a teenage girl, she appears at first with her lover but then alone which signifies the problem
1:00- The second character, the boyfriend, is introduced, he links to the problem
2:36+2:39+2:46- The main character smiles as she finds her boyfriend, the problem is resolved as they are together
4:18- Music changes to signify new problem arising, the boyfriend is unhappy and moves away
4:34+4:42- New problem recognised by main character, she becomes confused as to what he is doing
5:06-5:17- The problem is clear; the boyfriend is leaving and the main character tries to resolve this by following him
5:50+6:19- The main character wakes up and newspaper shows it was all a dream, problem is not resolved as they are not together



I chose to analyse this short drama film as it is quite different from the one before. 'Collisions' is devoid of any soundtrack, unlike 'Love of Mine', but this provides the audience with a powerful sense of realism.
The short film fades in from white with black text, a stark, dramatic contrast that shows a glimpse of an emotional scene; immediately setting the 'drama' tone for the audience to recognise. The lack of soundtrack is made up for in the form of diegetic sounds, such as the heartbeat monitor in the beginning and end that signifies an unstable life and provides a sense of drama.

An interesting shot from ground level depicting the aftermath of the collision

The long takes and hand-held camera pace the scenes in a natural and realistic manner, when combined with the camera's close attention to detail, of character expression and significant props such as the struggling with the money, the audience is instantly immersed within these miniscule actions thus making the crash scene very dramatic.