Research on the drama genre throughout history for my AS Media coursework

1. Afshana Aktar

2. The genre of Drama can range to many
definitions commonly now known for being
emotional and having relationships developed.
Most of the time drama films are realistic, which
can either be made up or based on a true story.
Drama films present the struggles of society.

3. Silent Era
Films using the genre of drama can go back as far to
1914 during the times where silent cinema was only
available to the audience. For example a film called
Cabiria that was made at the time of the Second Punic
War, the narrative of this story is based on a young girl
who is kidnapped, sold as a slave, then rescued by a
Roman noble then abducted and rescued again which
then she finally returns home.
 This film is the very first understanding of the drama
genre which is based on a historical event.
 It became popular to the people at the time as they
could relate to the experiences of the Punic War this
made them interested to see how film makers
interpreted a historical event into an entertainment
product.


4. Early years to late 40s
Dramas during this time period were commonly used to educate
as well as entertain the audience for example:


The Grapes of Wrath(1940) to show how depression affected
society
Citizen Kane (1941) a composite of many people from that era

5. In the 1950s there became change from dramas being
usually historical and educational to relationships and
the development of the character.



All About Eve (1950) focuses on women and their
relationship with men.
Rebel Without a Cause (1955) displayed teenage troubles.
12 Angry Men (1957) and Anatomy of a Murder (1959) show
the workings of a courtroom

6. In the 1960s drama changed to being very focused on war, so the
drama based films became more political. For example:
 Judgement at Nuremberg(1961)
 Flashback(1969)
 The Manchurian Candidate(1962)
Drama films became more modern in 1970s some of these were:
 The Godfather (1972)
 New York, New York (1977)
 Rocky (1976) + Rocky II (1979)
 Apocalypse Now(1979)

7. Drama genre in the 1980s were popular known as
conventionally being emotional. Some of the films were:
 Do the Right Thing (1989)
 The Color Purple (1985)
 E.T the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
 The Accused (1988)
1990s drama explored crime, and racial issues like:
 The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
 Schindler’s List (1993)
 Fight Club(1999)
 American History X (1998)
 Forrest Gump (1994)
 Philadelphia (1993)

8. In 2000s the drama genre for films became more
diverse in a way which there were many sub-genres.
Still based on historical events like Remember
Me(2010) Futuristic films became a big hit too like
Day After Tomorrow (2004) & 2012 (2009).
Slumdog Millionaire (2008), a romantic drama, and
Brokeback Mountain (2005) were hugely popular at
the time too. Gladiator (2000) and The Last Samurai
(2003) were successful since they were epic dramatic
films.