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Conventions of a School-based Drama

Presentation Notes

Mise on scene

0 The positions of characters is often important in a school base drama as thisestablishes the various cliques within the school. For example within an

establishing shot of a school entrances often will be various shots or one

continuous pan shot of the character groups: Jocks, popular girls, nerds, the

bullies, goths and then often there is just a small group of outsiders. As theviewer we would expect the students to provide the main character with looks of

distaste or confusion, establishing the protagonist as a rookie and outsider.

0 There is a lot of hustle and bustle in order to portray the craziness andstereotypical school atmosphere.

0 For an opening sequence of a school based drama it is often set at the entrance tothe school, corridors, lockers, lunch halls or simply the classrooms. They are all

typical school environments as they help the viewer to instantly recognize the

setting of the film.

0 Depending on the type of school the film is set in, we can expect different lightingused for each. For example, in Dangerous Minds the lighting is generally dark

and dull in order to portray the rough area the school is set in but then changes

to lighter and more colourful shots in order to connote the many personalities

and varieties of people that attend the school. In contrast, The School of Rock is

instantly shown to be light yet monotone as it has a good reputation with high

standards and so is strict with great success.

Characters

0 Rookie: The rookie is often the protagonist of the film and this method is usedwithin many films including Dangerous Minds and School of Rock where inboth cases it is the teacher who is the rookie however, often the students are

the new-comers in films such as Twilight and Mean Girls. The main characteroften dresses differently to others in order to stand out, whether this be extra

geeky or over-dressed.

0 Popular/ Bully: These are often the characters of the antagonist. Being popular isoften an attribute many people aspire to have yet are always portrayed

negatively with their popularity getting to their heads and often being arrogant

which is portrayed through their perfect figures and expensive clothing. Bullies

are never a good thing, however, due to their intimidating ways often get their

way and constantly stand in the protagonists way of achieving their dreams.

They are normally shown through their dark clothes and evil stares.

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0 Teachers: Furthermore, school dramas often show the full spectrum of teachers:the dumb one, strict one, funny one and friendly one are all popular. They are

used as it makes the usual and repetitive day to day routine more interesting and

helps set up for interesting situations such as a crazy science experiment that

goes wrong. These teachers are shown through the colours of their clothing or ifthere is a mad professor then you should expect to see them wearing flamboyant

and unique clothing. The Harry Potter films use this technique frequently.

Sounds and Music

0 Diegetic and foley sounds play a huge part in providing a film with the correctatmosphere and environment. If a film was to have no sounds or music at all it

would be very boring, however, sometimes the lack of sounds or music can also

have a big effect.

0 For a school drama it is important for the film to capture the carnage anddifferent groups of people that are included in the shot. These sounds may

include: school bus screech/engine; whispering; shouting; chair screeches;

school bells; intercoms; paper rustling and doors. All of these are typical school

sounds or noises that people would instantly associate with a school.

0 Background music also plays a big role. This is harder to have a certain type ofmusic to associate with a school and therefore it again depends on the type of

film. Using Dangerous Minds as an example again, it cleverly uses the song

Welcome to the jungle as a sound bridge during the opening titles whichconnotes the havoc of the dysfunctional school and matches certain lyrics to

actions in certain shots. An example of this would be when the song mentions

getting high and the film cuts to a shot of a drug deal going on beneath a table.

In Summation

0 I hope this presentation has helped to convey the conventions of a School-baseddrama, and I now look forward to researching further and begin my own opening

sequence to a school-based drama.