the notebook - genre assignment

For the past few years I’ve always been dealing with romantic comedies as my main focused genre. I don’t know why I’m choosing to distance myself from what I love but I believe I need to focus on what I’ve been trying to make all along. A really heartfelt film that will capture any woman’s (and man’s I suppose) heart. That’s why for my short film I’d like to focus more on the genre of drama.

As for films I’ll be focusing mainly on the notebook.

As far as narrative goes, they are the quintessential backbone of any good drama. The art of making a successful narrative is the director’s efficiency in portraying a certain emotion. For example when Allie confronts Noah about him having not wrote her back in 7 years the audience can get a sense of her pain and sorrow. He replies by saying that he had wrote her every day but the letters never reached her because Allie’s parents intercepted them beforehand. The purpose of any dramatic story line is to move the audience emotionally and to propel the plot further. Themes may be expressed but are all based in reality because the story reveals real life scenarios with real characters, setting, and ideas.

Acting is of course important to every film and in drama it’s really the professionalism of the actor that sells the concept. Most dramas deal with self-renewal and exemplify the lone journey of a character’s development through personal interactions with other characters. This could go back to the “hero’s journey” as the protagonist triumphs over the sources of evil and learns from their revelation.  

Production design is a significant convention in dramas. Ever since the beginnings of early Holywood films dramas have involved lavish and elaborate set design. The entire story of The Notebook takes part in 3 time periods: current day, when the characters were teenagers, and when they were young adults. By having three different times the setting had to constantly change within context of the time frame. Not only that, in order to create more conflict in the story often the setting would reveal a large part of the emotional aspect in the scene…Such as the kissing scene in the film.

The sound design, in my opinion, was what made the film. Grab the tissues, hold down the sniffles, because an important convention in drama is where it breaks the cliché happy ending and gives off a bitter sweet conclusion that makes the audience cry rivers of tears.

In the scene as Allie begins to remember Noah, despite her advanced state of Alzheimers, a soft and subtle piece plays in the background. Had it not been this slow sad piano song the sorrow expressed by the actors wouldn't have been expressed. Considering that this was the last time the character recited their love for each other it shows it wouldn’t make sense to have a dubstep or happy song playing. Most dramas deal with large orchestral symphonies or classical scores within the film.

Log Line: Katherine, a shy young girl who wears a paper bag on her head, struggles to accept herself and to win the heart of her long-time crush.