In Bram Stoker's Dracula, many different genre's crop up, such as drama and romance, which is due to the different elements displayed throughout the movie. This process also illustrates the continual change that genre transformations go through, and how they merge with other genre's to create entirely new forms which previously had not existed. In Dracula, many different plot elements allow for this splitting of genres, in which other aspects are demonstrated while it continues to terrify viewers.
In Dracula, different plot elements illustrate the different genre's being incorporated, as well as why different genre's ever come up in individual movies. “Film genres are instead 'the result of the material conditions of commercial filmmaking itself'” (Altman 16) Here we can see how Altman argues how film genres spawn simply from the commercial need for specific aspects in movies. This is exemplified by the quantity of romance in films today as well as other aspects from other genres. In Dracula, the scene in which Mina tells Dracula she loves him and wants to be with him forever, we see a strong aspect of the romance genre, and how it made its way into the film. Furthermore, from the dramatic entrance of Dracula at the end of the movie, we can see how the element of drama always helps play a role in movies and help elicit reactions from the audience. This shows how the audience helps form genre's and their uses in film making.
Essentially, the audience now looks for specific emotional and mental feelings to be fulfilled, and this is done through the use of romance and other genres which exist. The romantic aspect in Dracula, of which begins with Mina being Harker's fiance and then proceeds to Mina telling Dracula she loves him and wants to be with him, plays right into the audience's role of being engaged in a love triangle with which they themselves can identify with potentially. At this point, the audience is able to understand at least one characters side, and helps them fulfill feelings of anguish at love and the loss of it.
Furthermore, the dramatic entrance and introduction of Dracula helps the audience understand the magnitude of the role, and how important his character is to be throughout the film. Here we can see how incorporating specific aspects helps elicit specific reactions from the audience, which is important when considering how this helps the commercial success of the film. Ultimately, we can see that involving different genres into play within a single movie helps to gather a more eclectic audience and thus help the overall success of a film.
Works Cited
Altman, Rick. Film/Genre. London: BFI Pub, 1999. Print.
No comments:
Post a Comment