Alejandra V. Krisbel D. Period 3

What exactly is Melodrama(weepers)? Melodrama Films are a type of drama (Chick Flick) which tends to cause emotions towards its audience, especially the female audience. Melodrama is the mixture of drama and Melos (music). The music is usually use to intensify the viewers emotions. Melodrama has also been describe as the type of genre that usually evokes sadness and pity through topics of romance or family situations. They tend to appeal the female audience through the themes that use often deal with crises of human emotion, failed romance or friendship, strained familial situations, tragedy, illness, or emotional and physical hardship.

Characteristics Of Melodrama

Themes/Storyline: The medical melodrama, in which a traumatized or disturbed female character tells her story to a sympathetic doctor/friend. Message:(Memories of the past) The maternal melodrama, whose plot centers on a mother-daughter/son relationship and which is typically narrated from the mother's point of view. Message:(Mother’s Love is unconditional) The love story, which focuses on impossible choices, misunderstandings, and consequent loss endured by a woman in love. Message: (Love Hurts, but in the end it has a happy ending) The paranoid gothic woman's picture, in which the central character is troubled by fear and suspicion of the motives and behavior of her husband Message: (Men Cheat, but in the end you’ll be the main women he loves)

Tone of a Melodrama The tone of melodrama film are usually determine by the music that is playing in the background and its called a "melody”. In a melodrama these musical will be used for the structure, and the characterizations of characters. An Example: When good people make their entrance the music will be like heroic-sounding and nice music; bad people make their entrance the music is usually dark and mysterious.

Style: Movement: Melodrama uses camera movements typically in three ways: horizontally, vertically or in combination. -For horizontal movement they use pan or dolly tracks. (Dolly tracks are useful in moving in or out, too). -For vertical movement they use a tilt up or down. -To combine vertical and horizontal movement they use a crane. Melodrama also use zoom-ins and zoom-outs to capture on particular person’s mood or the mood of everyone in the room Edits: In a Melodrama film they use lots of jump-cuts(lack of continuity by leaving out parts of the action.) and shot reverse shot cutting (alternates between over-the- shoulder shots showing each character speaking). Lighting For melodrama the lighting depends on the mood of scene, but it's typically natural or candle lighting. Soft Focus

Settings: The setting for a Melodrama film is basically anywhere such as: Small Towns Big Cities Schools Foreign Country Hospitals Memories

Melodrama Protagonists: Are usually facing problems of some kind in which the character(s) work through their difficulties or overcome their problems with determinate tolerance, sacrificial acts, and bravery. Problems/Antagonist that are that usually Protagonist have: Problems with friends Romance (usually about to break up or cheating) Family problems Tragedy/ Illness Physical/emotional hardship Ex. (Casablanca). Rick chooses to give up the chance to be with Ilsa by coming to terms with his civic responsibilities.

Number One Must see: All That Heaven Allows Director: Douglas Sirk (best known for his work in Hollywood melodramas in the 1950s) Released: 1955 Actors: Rock Hudson and Jan Wyman Plot: An upper-class widow falls in love with a much younger, down-to- earth nurseryman, much to the disapproval of her children and criticism of her country club peers. Trailer!

Director: Douglas Sirk Year of release: 1956 Actors: Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack, and Dorothy Malone. Plot : Alcoholic playboy Kyle Hadley marries the woman secretly loved by his poor hard-working best friend, who in turn is pursued by Kyle's nymphomaniac sister. Sirk films were the first to provide an early exposure to "dramas of swollen emotions”” Trailer

Third Must See: Some Came Running Director: Vincente Minnelli Director: Date Released: 1958 Date Released: Actors: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Shirley Maclain. Actors: Plot: Dave, a writer and army veteran, returns 1948 Parkman, Indiana, his hometown. His prosperous brother introduces him to a local teacher. But the more flamboyant Ginny has followed him to Parkton, where he also meets a gambler. Dave must come to terms with his roots and with his future. Plot: Trailer!

Fourth Must See: Casablanca Director: Michael Curtiz Date Release: 1942 Actors: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid Plot: Set in unoccupied Africa during the early days of World War II: An American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications. Trailer!

Fifth Must See: A Walk to Remember Director: Adam Shankman Date Released: 2002 Actors: Mandy Moore, Shane West Plot: The story of two North Carolina teens, Landon Carter and Jamie Sullivan, who are thrown together after Landon gets into trouble and is made to do community service. A Walk to Remember “Love is like the wind. You cannot see it but you can always feel it.”