Biopics are films that depict the life of a historical or present-day important person. They dramatize key events and moments in their life through varying degrees of historical accuracy. Fictional biopics tell the story of a fictional character's life. Biopics typically follow the narrative arc of a character's rise to fame or importance and their eventual demise, focusing on life-changing moments and people who influenced them.

1. • B I O P I C F I L M S ( O R B I O G R A P H I C A L P I C T U R E S ) A R E A S U B -
G E N R E O F T H E L A R G E R D R A M A A N D E P I C F I L M G E N R E S .
• ' B I O P I C S ' I S A T E R M D E R I V E D F R O M T H E C O M B I N A T I O N O F
T H E W O R D S " B I O G R A P H Y " A N D " P I C T U R E S . " T H E S E F I L M S
D E P I C T A N D D R A M A T I Z E T H E L I F E O F A N I M P O R T A N T
H I S T O R I C A L P E R S O N ( O R G R O U P ) F R O M T H E P A S T O R
P R E S E N T .
• S O M E T I M E S , H I S T O R I C A L B I O P I C S S T R E T C H T H E T R U T H A N D
T E L L A L I F E S T O R Y W I T H V A R Y I N G D E G R E E S O F A C C U R A C Y .
• F I C T I O N A L B I O P I C S O N T H E O T H E R H A N D T E L L T H E S T O R Y O F
T H E L I F E O F A F I C T I O N A L C H A R A C T E R .
Codes of convention: Fictional
biopic

2. Narrative Conventions:
 Tells the story of a character, his/her struggles and how they overcame them, focuses on
the key points of the characters life such as life changing moments, meeting people that
play influential roles in the characters life and often displays the tragic death of the main
character.
 Often include narrative of the characters life from either their perspective or narrated by a
friend.
 Are usually historically accurate, with a character with a memorable personality, and often
focuses on an important story within the larger persons life.
 Those that show large attention to detail in historical accuracy (from era specific clothing
to background events) are often more successful.
 The conventions of film Biopics are difficult to define due to the fact that the subject
matter (life) is incredibly unpredictable, and this unpredictability can often affect the
conventions drastically, for example, a character can go from an emotional
high/happiness, to extreme emotional lows/depression in the blink of an eye.
 Simple and highly defined narrative arc e.g. characters rise to fame and their demise.

3. Technical Conventions;
 Use of handy cam., use of close up shots to emphasize emotion/ emotive dialogue
 Tracking shots, as if it were a connotation; ‘following’ a characters life
 If biopic is focused on a musician, the soundtrack will be mostly composed of music by
the artist, and will be used throughout, and may often feature actual performances by the
actor playing the part.
 Often uses long, still, wide shots to paint the picture of the setting that the character
belongs to.
 Use of flash-backs, montage, voice-over and varied film aesthetics to compress time and
to convey a sense of truth.
 Artistic license in portraying certain events in a characters life is often used to emphasize
the emotions that are felt by the character.
 Low angle shots are used to often portray the status of the person on screen in the
characters life.

4. Narrative Arcs:
 A narrative arc is the chronological construction of a plot in a story. a biopic is the telling
of the story of the main character, for example, in Cadillac Records, we follow the story of
Leonard Chess, following him from his early adulthood of poverty, to rise to an influential
record company executive, to his untimely demise after losing his family and dyeing of
heart failure.
 narrative Arcs are an essential part of biopics because in that way the chronological order
of the events in the characters life become much more clear, and the choices that the
character makes are explained so we can understand their motives better.
beginning fall
Rise
T.C: as Characters life progresses and
changes, different styles of filming
are used, deeper shadows and more
shaky camera movement