Short Film: Genre Research

TV show NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service)

The genre I feel myself attempting in the short film is drama. I've always appreciated the drama genre because the way a story is told is very inspiring and evokes the proper emotions in the viewer when done right. I generally watch a lot of action movies; however, the model I will be using for the short film is from a TV show called NCIS. This show is a very successful with around 200 episodes which is a testament to how successful the producers are at piecing together the proper pieces for the genre. Additionally, NCIS is ranked the number one drama on TV.

Dramatic plots introduce interactions that produce some sort of conflict between two characters or a character and an event. Throughout the narrative, the conflict will usually intensify until it reaches the climax of the story. From there, the story will then become resolved. The basic story line goes from exposition, rising action, climax and then falling action. From there, the drama then reaches its final conclusion. The characters in movies are usually a small centralized and focused group. There is one protagonist who is always having a group of friends or some source that connects them to the real world. The antagonist is the character that comes to disturb the balance of the protagonists life. He is first represented on a minor scale but becomes more predominant as the plot progresses.

Like every movie, the setting depends on what the script has to offer. For instance, in NCIS, the settings involve an office and other locations depending on what the murder is. Based off the narrative in NCIS, it seems that the settings in drama revolve around one hub that the plot keeps returning too in order for the characters and the audience to come back to one location to evaluate new pieces of information that have been introduced in the plot. The lighting as the genre suggests is very dramatic and is aimed to intensify the facial expressions because a lot of the communication occurs with facial expressions. The lighting works together with cinematography because they both work to select what is most intense on a visage. There are a lot of close ups and is sure to always provide a shot of a character. Additionally, there is nothing to fancy because the camera work is supposed to match the genre. The genre is relaxed so camera work is stable and does not shift from position to position.

LOGLINE: A man is betrayed by all his friends during a time of mourning for the loss of his wife.