Drama films focus on developing realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. The author chooses drama as their genre because it allows for a range of shots from abstract to naturalistic. Effective drama title sequences set the emotive atmosphere through music, images, and editing style without including narrative text. Key aspects of drama titles include interesting locations, props, costumes, font, soundtracks, cinematography using jumps cuts, and editing to control tension. These elements must be used to reflect the time period and create the right dramatic mood.

1. Drama
A drama film is a film genre that
depends mostly on in-depth
development of realistic characters
dealing with emotional themes.

2. DramaI decided to use drama as my genre, as it opens the door to a range of both abstract and
more naturalistic shots. It is quite a broad genre, which means that I can choose and
alter the atmosphere within my opening titles. It can either be dark and mysterious
such as the opening sequence of ‘Schindler’s List’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=24fwJMLsyNs). These titles have a simple, yet dark undertone which successfully set
the emotive atmosphere of the film. The background music of this sequence is a man
singing a Jewish prayer, and it not only introduces some of the films key themes, but
also makes the watcher feel unsettled.
A film which when looking at opening titles contrasts to this but still comes under the
drama genre is the 1962 film ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wwf96OEaYBg). This sequence is shots of an
eclectic collection of items and a small child drawing a picture. This also has someone
singing as part of the background music, however the fact that it’s a child makes the
audience feel relaxed, however this film has a dark plotline, making it again come
under the genre of drama. Another option would be to do a historical drama such as,
‘Downton Abbey’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLqsNFQPdgo). This opening
is effective as it sums up the period of time by filming simple objects that tell us what
period the drama is set in. The music tells us that the program has a serious nature, but
the aesthetically pleasing images make us as watchers feel comfortable. It is also a
genre which I have always enjoyed watching, which means that I understand which
titles are effective and which are not because I have experience in watching this variety
of sequences.

3. AspectsandReflectionoftheDramaGenre
There are several key aspects of this genre that should be added to my title sequence if they are to fit with
the drama genre:
•Interesting and relevant location- This is essential if you wish to portray a sense of drama, as it can
intensify what you are filming by adding a dramatic backdrop to the shots.
•Props: depending on the time period of your sequence, the props used could seriously effect the style of
your opening titles. By using angles to make the props more of a feature, you play to the drama genre.
•Costume: This is again something that depends on the period, and it depends on whether or not you
wish to have actors involved in your titles. Some dramas only use objects/furniture in their opening titles,
so that they do not have to use costume to try and set the atmosphere of the piece.
•Interesting font: In ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, the titles are simple but effective. They are white in colour
and a simple bold font, this means that the watcher focuses more on the images behind the font as
opposed to the text itself. However in ‘Schindler’s List’, the writing is more elaborate because the images
behind are minimal. This is based upon the directors intentions for the opening credits.
• Sound effects and soundtrack: In this genre, because of it’s eclectic nature music can be quite varied.
In Schindler’s list the simplicity of the man singing the Jewish prayer in the background makes it seem
quite eerie, which sets the right tone for the film/program. However in ‘Downton Abbey’ the dramatic
music is more typical of the drama genre, and is a feature I am interested in for my opening titles.
• Cinematography: A common feature of drama cinematography is using a jump cut. Quickly cutting
from one image to another is also something I wish to put into my piece. This is used in both ‘To Kill a
Mockingbird’ and ‘Downton Abbey’. This has a very dramatic effect in order to fit with the genre.
• Editing: This is a key element to get right in the opening titles of films/program’s within the drama
genre. This feature can have significant effects on the atmosphere and pace of the opening titles, which
can effectively set the atmosphere for the whole film. Depending on the type of drama, eg period or
romantic, the editing will be either gradual changes of shot by using zooms and fade, however jump cuts
and flashes of images would set a more exciting and dramatic tone.

4. Narrative: All three of the examples used in previous slides do not have narrative during their opening
titles, which indicates that a typical feature of the dramatic genre is to just have sound effects or a
soundtrack over the titles and not narrative. This gives way to the opportunity to let the music set
the mood of the film, and the director is therefore able to control the levels of tension and drama
within this opening section of the film or program.
AspectsandReflectionoftheDramaGenre

5. Conclusion
All of these aspects are essential in order to correctly approach the creation of
a sequence within the genre of drama. The idea of location is a key element of
Mise-en-scene which will set the necessary atmosphere for my film. Whether
diegetic or non-diegetic, sound is also vital in creating atmosphere and is
something I will have to experiment with when creating my sequence as it
could be open to misinterpretation. Unsettling music is traditional for this
genre. Another feature which is open to misinterpretation is the use of props
and costume. These elements I have discovered through my genre research,
must reflect perfectly the time period of my sequence, as getting this wrong
could potentially confuse my watchers. I now understand that font is essential
in delivering the right impression to my audience, and certain types of font
such as simple and white are popular within the drama genre. This is
something which I wish to add to my final sequence. I have also discovered
that narrative during the opening titles is not common within the drama genre,
in order to leave the watcher in suspense of both plot and character. This is
something which I would not want to add to my opening titles. Finally, I have
learnt that editing is also key in projecting a clean and stylish finished piece to
my audience. The editing can not only increase or decrease the tempo of my
piece (eg jump cuts to increase, slow fades to decrease) but can also effect the
atmosphere of my piece and by editing the tempo, I can control the amount of
tension within each frame. Tension is a traditional feature of a dramatic
opening sequence, and is something I want to explore when creating my final
piece.

6. Conclusion
All of these aspects are essential in order to correctly approach the creation of
a sequence within the genre of drama. The idea of location is a key element of
Mise-en-scene which will set the necessary atmosphere for my film. Whether
diegetic or non-diegetic, sound is also vital in creating atmosphere and is
something I will have to experiment with when creating my sequence as it
could be open to misinterpretation. Unsettling music is traditional for this
genre. Another feature which is open to misinterpretation is the use of props
and costume. These elements I have discovered through my genre research,
must reflect perfectly the time period of my sequence, as getting this wrong
could potentially confuse my watchers. I now understand that font is essential
in delivering the right impression to my audience, and certain types of font
such as simple and white are popular within the drama genre. This is
something which I wish to add to my final sequence. I have also discovered
that narrative during the opening titles is not common within the drama genre,
in order to leave the watcher in suspense of both plot and character. This is
something which I would not want to add to my opening titles. Finally, I have
learnt that editing is also key in projecting a clean and stylish finished piece to
my audience. The editing can not only increase or decrease the tempo of my
piece (eg jump cuts to increase, slow fades to decrease) but can also effect the
atmosphere of my piece and by editing the tempo, I can control the amount of
tension within each frame. Tension is a traditional feature of a dramatic
opening sequence, and is something I want to explore when creating my final
piece.