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Genre identification through convention analysis

Drama

This genre can sometimes overlap with the action/ adventure genre but it still has some unique conventions within trailers.

For example, dramas usually have more dialogue driven trailers. This is different to action/ adventure as those trailers are more likely to let the action do the talking but drama focus more on character development.

However a more specific convention that is used in drama trailers is overlapping dialogue. Dialogue could continue or start during different clips/ shots, either because the shots link to what is being said or just to keep the trailer fresh and flowing whilst the character speaks. This helps set up the characters and show different shots at the same time.

This is used frequently in the 'Steve Jobs' trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEr6K1bwIVsparticularly at 0:45, which is when the dialogue starts but we don't actually see the characters speaking until 0:48

Another convention used mostly in drama trailers is the variation in editing pace. To convey the sense of drama and suspense in such a film the trailers are normally very fast paced however this can suddenly be broken at some point in the trailer for effect. The pace is usually broken or at least slowed down to introduce a key character or emphasize a key line of dialogue which impacts on the protagonist and the plot.

This convention is used in the same trailer for steve jobs where a cut to black at 1:14 (see right) breaks the fast paced editing and immediately after, a shot of someone close to the main protagonist is introduced. This helps introduce a key character and emphasize one of the major problems faced by the main protagonist in the film, his family.