Genre Research: Psychological Drama

What makes a drama, a drama?

    Most of the movies made today are dramas. With some of the most recognizable including the Titanic, Hidden Figures, and Jaws, this is because dramas cover a spectrum of narratives, from romance to deeply emotional stories. Dramas are driven by intense plots that aim to portray realistic characters, settings, situations, and stories. These stories involve intense character development. There are many beloved subgenres relating to dramas, such as melodramas and biopics, but one of my personal favorites is psychological dramas.

       Psychological Dramas, or psychodramas, are dramas that place specific emphasis on psychological elements, using the original tropes of a drama to focus on the human condition and psychological effects. This subgenre overlaps with other subgenres such as psychological horror and psychological thrillers.

Content

    Thematic elements- The exploration of thematic elements is a prominent component of psychodramas. Some of these tend to include abandonment, dysfunctional relationships, mental disorders, and even disability. While this is only a short series of examples, this is one of the main fundamentals of the subgenre, being explored through realism most of the time (meaning the characters take a realistic approach to their situation, whether it is "realistic" or not, with the way of making the film prioritizing a realistic portrayal.).

        Tone- The naturally developed, common tone of psychodramas takes more of a serious and mature approach, as the themes being explored implicitly or explicitly are serious and impactful ones. While this ranges with the specific story, the tone of this type of genre would contrast greatly with a classic romcom, for example.

        Plot- While some psychodramas have a heavier plot, other's main focus is the character's mental state, being paired with less intense plots. The plots of psychodramas tend to be driven by a conflict and realistic portrayal of characters, with their actions and emotional/relational development driving the plot forward. Common plot points include a female or male protagonist who is going through a psychological problem or two leads who explore the common thematic elements or show emphasis on their psychological defaults through their relationship.

Production Techniques

    With psychodramas prioritizing capturing life how it really is, realism not only is a key technique used but also affects elements of production. The importance of dialogue as the driving force for transparency into the character's psychological state, and to simply move the plot forward is one that is taken advantage of. This is one subgenre of film that doesn't depend on big action elements or a lot of editing, as these types of movies are more concerned with getting accurate depictions and focusing intensely on the main character's state and using the situation the character(s) is/are in to show development. These types of movies are usually filmed on location. The soundtrack used is meant to say something about the character's state, as are most of the technical elements of production. While more specific elements of production are unique to the specific story, such as lighting and set design, the techniques utilized are meant to emphasize the psychological state of the character/focus inherently on what's going on inside the character.

  

Marketing

    The target age group for this subgenre is older than some other subgenres of drama. While psychodramas are more targeted at people in their mid-twenties to mid-forties, other more innocent dramas, like romance-based dramas, are targeted towards teenage girls. Because the themes are deep and intensely real, they are meant for older people who have experienced more things, as it makes the themes easier to understand/watch. Marketing for these types of movies, like for many, includes trailers, which are majorly exposed through social media. The trailers focus on the protagonist/antagonist of the movie (lead/leads) and showcase their situation. It introduces any important relationships and alludes to the character's differences. Overall, the trailer already starts a connection with the main character(s) and the audience, as the realistic approach can be personal. Having to do with movie posters, they usually include a closeup of the main character(s), with the emotions displaying a part of themselves and already alluding to an aspect of their situation/state. In general, marketing for this genre of movies is intriguing and pulls readers in without the use of exaggerated editing.

 Examples

 

  Joker is a 2019 film starring Joaquin Phoenix as the protagonist, the Joker, a clown, and an aspiring stand-up comedian named Arthur Fleck. Arthur suffers from a neurological disorder that causes him to have random, uncontrollable laughing fits, requiring medication for which he depends on social services to obtain, most likely caused by his childhood traumas. This character goes through constant public humiliation and disrespect until finally he kills in self-defense and begins to lose hope for his innocence. This movie shows the effect of not only abuse but of societal rejection, and all the feelings in effect of that, ultimately leading him to act the way he does. The tone of this movie is not strictly serious, as the Joker is known to be "comedic", but takes a slightly unconventional approach, as it portrays the classic Jokester as a deeply hurt and misunderstood person.

    Good Will Hunting is a 1997 film starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck (the two writers of the movie), Robin Williams, and Minnie Driver. The main character of the film is Matt Damon's character, Will Hunting, who's a natural-born genius who goes from being in jail to being wanted for his mathematic talents. The movie takes place in South Boston, where Will meets Dr. Sean Maguire, a therapist, through his agreement to avoid jail time if he studies mathematics and goes to Dr. Maguire's psychotherapy sessions. At the start, Will is stubborn and close-minded, not accepting the opportunities that could come with his talents. Although it's not explicitly stated, he suffers from PTSD, borderline personality disorder, mood disorder, and inferiority disorder, which could be explained by the abuse he went through as a kid. His childhood traumas made him guarded, which is challenged by Williams's character, as well as challenged back by Will. The reciprocated challenge leads to a father-son-like relationship in the end, as they take up the relationships each one is missing in their life. Overall, the film exemplifies a psychodrama, as the impactful dialogue moves the plot and allows the audience to see through to the character(s).

        More Examples

    

        

   

 

  

  

  

       

Sound Project

    The sound project assigned to me seemed simple at first glance but proved to be more complex than imagined. It showed me the true importance of editing and gave me insight into the job of a foley artist, and how when they do their job well, the audience won't even notice their work as everything will fit perfectly into place. Overall, it allowed me to notice and appreciate the importance of sound in telling a story, and how much work people put into providing a full, immersive experience by utilizing the power of sound.

    The project instructed us, my given partner Faye and I, to create a scene through and only using sound. With the help of editing software such as Adobe Premiere, we had to brainstorm an idea for a scene that could take place in 1-2 minutes. After doing this, we had to dissect the idea of our scene and break apart possible sounds it may include. This would be put into action, with the sounds being either created by us as "foley artists" or by being gathered from online sound effects databases. Some specifics of the project included the time frame (1-2 minutes), the fact that we had to create at least four of the sounds as foley sounds and that we could only use up to 7 words in the duration of our project. After having created/gathered and edited our project, we had to submit it along with videos of us performing our foley sounds along with a display of our editing timeline.

    To help us with the process of our final sound project, we had to complete a "Sound Project Outline" assignment. In this assignment, we separated our story into different segments and listed all of the possible sounds that would be in the scene. For example, we chose our scene to be that our character's goal is to go buy a book. In our scene, our character is in an outside mall where it begins to thunder and rain. Our character walks past some public stores/attractions, including a restaurant and a music shop, and even walks past a fight. Our character soon walks into the quiet library which she is already familiar with, where she buys a book.

     In our outline, we took all of these slight atmospheric changes into consideration. For example, we considered specific sound changes like our character opening her umbrella when it starts to rain (implying she saw the weather forecast earlier and saw the expected thunderstorm) and how that affects the rain sounds respective to her. Another example is the consideration of the contrast between the outdoor noises found in an open mall to the feel that comes from the noises of a library, ultimately determining factors in our sound choices/creations.

    The way we approached our project was supported by the outline, with the division of sound creations between my partner and I. I did two foley sounds (a broom swooping using paperclips and a paintbrush and a bathroom hand dryer using a microwave) and Faye did two more (cash register noises with a toy car and footsteps with a book).  While we both came up with specific timing of the editing together, Faye contributed more to the editing aspect of this project, with the utilization of Adobe Premiere Pro to have full control over creative decisions.

Sound Project Outline   

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hWg-DNa4UV_C52CJsB5HrjGanMt_vtbv/view?usp=sharing   

                                        

Camera shots/angles quiz

My first preliminary project for the AICE Media Studies class was a camera shots and angles quiz. In this class, a part of what we learn is the reasoning for the usage of specific shots and angles in film. So, it's important that we not only know the different types of shots and angles used but also why they are specifically being chosen.

The project asked us to create a story using specific shot types to illustrate our idea and develop a tone. We were given a list of ten specific shot and angle types to include, with the remaining five out of fifteen being up to us. We were also asked to choose specific objects, like a pencil or water bottle, and make them the story's characters, along with human characters if wanted. We were then instructed to make a PowerPoint or Google slide presentation, after having taken all the pictures, placing them in whichever order suits the story. We had to label each shot or angle type created, along with a short explanation of why the shot was used. Overall, the goal was to create a story through the arranged organization of images along with the specific choices of visuals we made.

As we were paired in groups, working with my partner we began to focus on which specific shots and angles we had to include, with some examples being a long shot and a point-of-view shot. This would be important to the story we wanted to create. With all the instructions in mind, we began creating the story. We chose a pen to be the main point, with its purpose towards the story having to do with how two friends can express themselves and collaborate with the use of the same pen, sharing ideas and ultimately connecting. We were organized and thoughtful towards the preparation of the story, as well as for the reasons why we were using specific shots and angle types, and made sure to have all aspects of the project completed. We created meaning in our story, which was interpretive, yet understandable through the creation of our visuals. Although we felt we did well in a lot of aspects of the project, I would say I could've been more organized with my time editing and completing the PowerPoint, as the explanations for each slide had to be well-thought-out, explaining why we made the choices we did and giving further context.

Camera Shots Quiz.pptx 

Introduction

 Hi, my name is Victoria, and I'm a high school student. I am making this blog because it's part of the AICE Media Studies class I'm currently taking, where I will be posting blogs occasionally. Aside from the mandatory aspect, I also love to write, so having this blog will be fun.