Research into Melodrama: Iconography

Relationships:

One of the key features of a Melodrama is the relationships between people. These relationships are often complicated and dysfunctional, whether they be family, friendly, or romantic relationships. There are often issues that two or more characters must revolve in order to turn their relationships around. The main type of relationship which tends to be portrayed in a melodrama is a romantic relationship. In our film, our main character has a boyfriend whom she is particularly close to. He struggles to come to terms with her death and their intimate relationship is a key feature of our film.

Affairs



Infidelity is very common in drama related films.This is a very common problem which many people have to deal with at least once in their lifetime. Because of this, the audience can relate to characters if they cheat or have been cheated on. This helps them empathise with the characters which also makes the film more appealing and realistic to them. In our film, Lola thinks that Tom is cheating on her. This is heartbreaking for her as she is young and Tom is her first love. This gets the audience more emotionally involved with Lola's character.


Emotions.


Dramas are filled with many emotional highs and lows. A film always has a balance of vibes of happiness and sadness throughout. This is to make the film realistic and to personalise the characters, making them 'come to life'. If a person is somewhat convinced of the realism of a character they are more likely to empathise with them. This makes the audience feel like they know a character on a personal level which emotionally draws them in to the film. In our movie, Lola shows times of happiness with laughter and colloquial conversation with her friend. However there are many themes of sadness too, particularly at the end.



Lighting.
Lighting is often paired with the emotions a particular character is feeling at a given point in a film. For instance, if a character is feeling depressed or angry, the lighting is often very dark. When a character is happy or excited, the lighting tends to be much more bright. This is to help the audience identify the emotions a character is feeling. In our film, the lighting will be very dark in the scenes in which Hannah is committing
suicide, and where the parents are arguing. But when the girls are running down the hospital stairs, the lighting will be bright as both characters are happy and having fun.