Genre Research

The first step to coming up with my idea is to pick a genre. Last time, I tried to create suspense and anticipation in my audience with my film opening, Bungled. This time, being able to create a full short film, I’m more focused on creating a compelling, engaging film with a beginning, middle, and end. And this is extremely basic for a short film and kinda a given, but it’s still important to keep in mind. With this in mind, I’m leaning towards creating a drama, with a focus on a character-driven story. It’s what I have had the most experience in making with the short films I make every Saturday for STN.

A drama is defined as a film genre that tells a serious story about characters facing a conflict. So super broad. But it keeps me contained to a more serious plot and that’s what having a genre is important for, to create a structure to keep myself and my story organized.

A resource I often use when researching different aspects of the film is Studiobinder, which is what I used when researching the genre more in-depth to get a better understanding of what I would be making. A quote from the studiobinder article is:

“Through compelling narratives and vivid portrayals, drama not only entertains but also stimulates deep contemplation and introspection.”

I think this is an important idea to keep in mind moving forward as it encapsulates what a drama means. It’s not just a compelling story, but also a way to share my thoughts and ideas about the world and different concepts.


The Studiobinder article explains that there are different types of dramas, with some of the most prominent ones being tragedies, comedies, and melodramas. Although there are many more different sub-genres I can go down, tragedy and comedy are the ones that call to me the most. The article explains that a tragedy showcases a protagonist’s downfall, evoking strong emotions of pity and fear. I looooovee this idea and playing with how a character will go to extreme depths over some event/inciting incident. And comedy is pretty self-explanatory. Although I could implement elements of comedy, I want to keep a darker tone for my piece this time around. The comedy would have to be dark or dry.


This overview gave me a clearer insight into the genre of drama, and also gave me a few ideas for my short film, which is what I’m gonna talk about in my next post.