Examples of drama films

The genre I am exploring has many sub-genres and therefore I have decided to look at 'Teen Dramas' as this is the genre I hope to reflect in my final piece.

The first film I looked at within this genre is Juno which explores issues of teen pregnancy and the issues of adoption, however the film keeps light hearted with comical ellements.



This is the trailer for Juno were it becomes clear that the genre is a teen drama and does reflect these type of issues. This trailer reflects my genre because it reflects real life situations such a teen pregnancy and adoption, the film also shows how different people cope with the situation. It also shows how many people view teen pregnancy, for example Juno is faced with the fact that she has to be looked at in a different way by people at her high school and in the trailer it's notable that she isn't quite sure who she is within herself 'I dont really know what kind of girl I am...' this shows how teen Mum's may find teen pregnancy hard to deal with and therefore feel like they've lost themselves. The film makes the audience connect with Juno as a character because of all the emotions she is going through and how her story is presented to the audience from the very beginning.

Also in the trailer we are shown how the issue of teen pregnancy is taken light heartedly within the film making it appeal more to a wider audience who enjoy a comedy, the one liners used make for a more entertaining viewing experience and the fact that Juno's character is quite un-aware of the seriousnesses of her situation adds to the comical element a lot more. The audience are almost draw in to her character because of the way she brushes the seriousnesses of her situation off and the way she is able to deal with her situation by pretending it's something normal, this makes the audience connect more with her character when there is a disruption within the todorov structure.




This next trailer is from the film Mean Girls were not fitting in is the main theme throughout the film. In this film we are presented with a girl who is finding it difficult to fit in within a new high scholl environment, she meets a group of popular girls named the 'plastics' because of there girly like qualities and there ability to 'bitch' about everyone within the high school. Lindsey Lohan plays Cady Heron who moves from Africa to America and joins a new school, here she finds herself a part of the plastics until she realises how there using her for their own selfish gain.

The film explores the main issue of not belong to a social group within society and in the film the main character is played by a girl as not fitting in within a social group is notable harder for teen girls and the main audience for Mean Girls was the teenage girl audience. At the end of the film the plastics loose the battle for populairty and therefore Mean Girls follows the ethic that 'the underdog always wins' and that people always get what's coming to them.

Other themes within the film are weight issues and boy issues which a stereotypical girl is known to have and therefore Cady fits within the stereotypical girl and is meant to reflect girls within society. Lindsey Lohan plays this role well mainly because of her laid back image which she has been given for the role of Cady.


 
This is the trailer for the hugely popular cinderella story were Hilary Duff plays a modern day version of the fairytale cinderella. In this film we are presented with the issues of not fitting in with society and not conforming to the social norms of a modern day high school. Also Hilary Duff's character Sam is also focred to live with a step parent after her Dad died at a youne age, this is also one theme that makes the audience connect more to her character.

In the film Hilary Duff plays her character well as she reflects the 'tom boy' of society and therefore isn't the usual type of girl that the popular boy would go for and this appeal to most of the target audience of teenaged girls. The appeal to the audience most is the character of Sam's love interest Austin Ames who plays the stereotypical America jock who's admired by the boys in school and is liked by most of the girls within the school.

This film folows the fairytale cinderella and trys to reflect teen issues into a modern day version of the fairytale making this appeal to a wider audience and appeals more to the teen girl target audience who enjoy the romantic teen drama.

This trailer is for the hugely popular Angus, thongs and perfect snogging which is made to appeal to the British teens. The film is set in the British seaside town of Brighton and therefore appeals more to the British teen. The locations within the film seem more realistic and therefore the audience will relate to the characters more. The locations also make the film seem more accessible and aren't the stereotypical California backdrop with perfect sunshine and amazing beaches but instead portray the more realistic storyline with the use of a British seaside as the backdrop. The audience like this more as it makes the film seem more realistic and therefore makes them believe that this type of story can happen to them.

Another element of the film is the use of actors. For example Georgia the main female protagonist isn't the stereotypical hopeless romantic who never gets the guy, she's more believable within her role as this character because she isn't the female ideal of skinny blonde with perfect hair and perfect facial features, instead she's average weight with short brown hair and her facial features aren't perfect but that's what makes the audience like her more is the fact that she is relatable to them and therefore they engage with her more and ultimately want her to end up with the films main heartthrob; Robbie. Robbie is what most typical teenage girls would see as perfect, he's good looking, romantic, sweet and kind and plays in a band, the appeal of Robbie targets the audience more because the female audience will be lusting after him while wanting a happy ending for the characters within the narrative. All these elements of these characters make the audience engage more with the narrative and become emotionally connected to the characters as the story progresses.

Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging is the ideal teen drama movie, it has the typical storyline which teens are known to love, it has the happy ending which teens are also going to love and it has characters which we see and develop and can realistically relate to making this my favourite of all the films I have explored.