Whiplash is a psychological drama film from 2015 directed by Damien Chazelle. It follows the story of Andrew, a jazz drummer student at the fictional Schaffer Conservatory of Music who is pushed to his physical and emotional limits by his abusive instructor, Terence Fletcher. The film exhibits many conventions of the drama genre through its focus on realistic characters and settings, chronological narrative that builds tension to a climactic performance, and themes of personal struggles and emotional pain. However, it also challenges drama conventions by prioritizing intense, fast-paced musical sequences over emotional interactions between characters. As a film centered around jazz music, it can also be considered a musical drama hybrid genre. The director has stated

1. SECTION A: TEXT
Genre, Narrative & Representation
Case Studies: Whiplash, The Theory of Everything & Jurassic World

2. GENRE-
WHIPLASH
(2015)
Answer questions 1 and 2 in the booklet
http://sjd-a2-mediastudies.blogspot.co.uk/

3. Q1: What is a Drama? Define this genre:
Drama; as a stand alone genre would be
classified as a genre which:
‘Exhibits real life situations with realistic
characters, settings and story lines’
(Burton, 2012)
Throughout a narrative we are presented with
the journey of a character’s development
(usually emotionally) alongside intense
interactions and climactic sequences.

4. Q2: What is the purpose of this genre?
Relate to audiences…
The purpose of a drama is to move
the audience emotionally through the
relatable characters, familiar (or
recognisable) settings and believable
scenarios.
Texts of this genre will position the
audience to feel emotionally attached
and invested in the ongoing plot- keeping
them interested.

5. SUBGENRES AND HYBRIDS
SUBGENRE:
Where the elements of one genre have
developed to form a more niche genre.
Sub-genres have the tendency to indicate the
mood and tone of the drama based on its
additional themes.
For example:
A crime drama contains themes of criminality,
law enforcement and the legal system.
A comedy drama will suggest an equality of
serious and humorous content.

6. SUBGENRES AND HYBRIDS
HYBRID:
Where the elements of two or more genres
have combined, but are not as common.
For example:
Western / Sci-fi
This is where the definitive identification of
genre within a text can be difficult and more
complex, as it can be argued that most texts
have some degree of hybridity, combining
elements of multiple genres within the same
text.

7. EXAM QUESTIONS ON GENRE
1. Explore genre conventions in your 3 main texts
This question is inviting you to ‘explore’- to look into,
inspect or scrutinise in detail- the genre conventions of
your 3 texts; considering the following:
• Key Conventions / Signifiers- Iconography, Settings
& locations, characters, stars / celebrities, plots /
storylines, themes.
• Techical & Audio Codes- Use of camerawork,
editing, sound, dialogue, language and music.

8. EXAM QUESTIONS ON GENRE
2. How typical are your 3 main texts of their genre?
This question is not too dissimilar from the previous
question and is again inviting you to explore the
‘typicality’ of your text in relation to its genre.
In addition to the previous question, here you should
begin to explore:
• Key codes and conventions which are typical of and
thus reinforce the genre
• Any codes and conventions which open the
discussion of a challenge to the genre

9. EXAM QUESTIONS ON GENRE
3. To what extent do your 3 main text’s challenge genre conventions?
Now this isn’t to state that all of your texts WILL challenge genre
conventions; the question is merely asking you to examine the degree to
which your texts may challenge genre conventions.
To state that a text challenges genre conventions ‘to some or to a certain
extent’, is to imply that it is partly, but not wholly, true. In your answer you
should consider:
• Offering an opinion; ‘to what extent?’
• Discussing the text’s typicality as well as it’s subversion of conventions
• Hybridity and subgenres

10. EXAM QUESTIONS ON GENRE
4. ‘Most texts today mix genres’. How true is this of your three main
texts?
Similarly to the previous question, in this answer you may offer an opinion
on the hybridity of your 3 main texts.
Since it can be argued that most texts have some degree of hybridity, it
would be expected that you would be able to provide a coherent
discussion which refers directly to the quote, rather than simply describing
the different conventions of genres in the texts.
*In all cases, you should always begin your essay by defining genres,
sub-genres and hybrids*

11. ANALYSING GENRE IN WHIPLASH
Whiplash is credited in different sources as belonging to the genres of
drama, musical drama and psychological drama; suggestive of hybridity.
Use your worksheet to complete task #2.
Consider:
Key signifiers- Mise-en-scene: Iconography, Costume, Settings &
Locations, Colours, Characters, Stars / Actors, Storylines, Themes etc.
Technical and Audio Codes- Use of Camerawork, Lighting, Editing, Sound
(Dialogue & Music), Special Effects etc.
You have 15
minutes!

12. DRAMA CONVENTIONS
THEMES
CAMERAWORK LIGHTING
NARRATIVE
STARS
Conflict
Hardships
Struggles
Emotional Pain
Physical Pain
Mostly
Chronological.
Usually ends with a
hard hitting climax to
leave a lasting
impression.
Typically ends on a
positive note.
Binary opposition to
reflect themes-
Costume, Lighting,
Camera Angles
As with most genres;
use of stars can
reflect the genre of
the text. Actors,
directors and studios
can all be
synonymous with
certain genres e.g.
Tom Hardy with
Action or Christopher
Nolan with Sci-Fi
Investments and
contribution made by
distribution & production
companies can be
reflective of genre. High
concept blockbusters will
have substantially larger
budgets than independent
films- often suggestive of
genres which require
higher budgets.
Steady pace. Typically
increasing with a build
up in the tension leading
to conflicts and climactic
sequences.
Reflects mood and
emotion of scene. Cool,
often low key lighting to
indicate conflict, sadness
or antagonistic
characters. LK also used
to reflect often gritty and
bleak scenes. Warm,
high key lighting to
indicate a sense of
equilibrium or connection
to character.
Reflective of tone/emotion.
Close ups indicate emotion,
position the audience to
respond- typically shorter in
duration. Wider shots used
to show depth / physical
connection between
characters / conflict- longer
in duration.
Characters often wear
understated, simple
costumes. Authentic.
Reflective of setting.
Parallel music used to
indicate emotions. Pace of
music reflected in editing.
Characters will typically
have interesting, plot driving
back stories. Often relatable
(Uses and Grats- Preferred
Reading).
BUDGET
EDITING SOUND/MUSIC
COSTUME
CHARACTERS
SETTING & ICONOGRAPHY
Settings- realistic, recognisable. Authentic. Cities /
Towns. Schools / Homes etc.
Sometimes harsher settings evident to reflect often
gritty storylines, such as urban environments,
hospitals or police stations.
Props are usually minimal & reflective of story or
setting.

13. WHIPLASHTHEMES
CAMERAWORK
LIGHTINGNARRATIVE
STARS
Conflict
Hardships
Struggles
Emotional Pain
Physical Pain
Chronological.
Ends with a hard
hitting climax and
nail biting
performance by
Andrew despite early
objections from
Fletcher. Ends
ambiguously- is it a
happy ending?
Binary opposition:
Teacher Vs Student
Hands Vs Sticks
Writer, director and Teller
relatively unknown at time of
film’s release. JK Simmons
known mainly for Juno,
Spiderman, Oz: Often plays
similar characters – snappish but
harmless cranks- recognisable to
fans.
Budget was relatively small in
comparison to high concept films
and was shot with $3.3m.
No special effects used, merely
some practical like sweat &
blood. Shot in 19 days reducing
additonal pay to cast and crew
for longer shoots.
Steady pace. Typically
increasing with a build up
in the tension leading to
conflicts and climactic
sequences such as ‘chair
throwing’ scene.. Pace
also reflects fast pace
style of Jazz played.
Reflects mood and
emotion of scene. Cool,
often low key lighting
indicates conflict with
Fletcher- intimidation.
Warm lighting used in
more positive scenes or
scenes when
humanising the ‘cold’
Fletcher- e.g. Bar Scene.
Darker lighting helps
connote the
psychological intensity in
the rehearsal studio.
Reflective of tone/emotion.
Close ups indicate emotion,
position the audience to
respond- typically shorter in
duration. Wider shots used
to show depth / physical
connection between
characters / conflict- longer
in duration. Authentic. Reflective of
setting. Plain outfits for
students. Fletcher wears all
black, tight-fitting shirts to
indicate physical strength
and heighten muscles.
Sense of physical threat
always there. Black Vs
White in first scene to
reflect binary opposition.
Parallel music used to
indicate emotions e.g. tone
of music in Bar Scene.
Genre specific music- Jazz,
along with references to
existing Jazz artists and
drummers to reinforce
believability.
Backstories:
Andrew’s desire to
succeed to
challenge his
‘average’ father.
BUDGET
EDITING
SOUND/MUSIC
COSTUME
CHARACTERS
SETTING & ICONOGRAPHY
Settings- realistic,
recognisable. Fictional Schaffer
Conservatory of Music.
Practice Rooms. Some
external shots to establish
setting- New York.
Props: Instruments and sheet
music. Even Andrew’s
bedroom is cleared to make
room for his drums. Reflective
of the focus of the film and
Andrew’s increasing desire to
succeed regardless of anyone
else in his life.

14. GENRE
Chazelle’s work typically revolves around the theme of
music, in particular Jazz, since Chazelle himself used to
be a Jazz drummer at Princeton High School. The
expectation is that the film is therefore going to feel
authentic and realistic, offering themes based on true
stories.
Much of this storyline has been written as a reference to
his own life, therefore can be argued as somewhat
biographical, where he references the constant fear and
anxiety he felt. He based Fletcher on his former band
instructor but exaggerated his persona, reflecting
existing band leaders known for their harsh treatment of
students.
Chazelle’s previous film: Guy & Madeline on a Park
Bench (2009) and follow up film: La La Land (2016) are
both music orientated, focussing on the genre of Jazz.

15. “I like genre movies, and this fits pretty squarely into the
sports-film genre. You’re building up to the big fight, or
the big game. In this case, it’s the big performance.
There are certain kinds of narrative rules in terms of
how you do that, where you have to bring the character
really low before you bring them high, and you have to
do another microcosm of that within the big fight. Even
if they’ve had their low point, you can’t just have them
show up to the climax and immediately knock the guy
out. You still need to have another mini low point. There
are narrative rules that you don’t have to follow, but I
actually thought since this is not a sports movie, they
would be fun to follow. It gave me the leverage to
wholeheartedly embrace some of those tropes.”
(Damien Chazelle, 2016)
GENRE

16. HOMEWORK
Using your notes, consider and write
out / type up the answers to the
following questions:
• In what ways can we determine that
Whiplash belongs to the genre of
Drama?
• In what ways do you consider the
text challenges the genre
conventions of Drama?
• Can you evidence hybridisation in
this text? If so, how?