Looking at Genre

Genre: A style or category of art, music, or literature. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/genre

I chose to look at Period Drama’s, as this is not a genre that generally appeals to me, so I thought I would find out more about it. It is defined as ‘a television or film production set in a particular historical period and characterized by the use of costumes, sets, and props that are typical or evocative of the era.’ This is an interesting description when trying to define when a ‘historical period’ is, as technically the 1980’s was an historical period, but films set then are not straight away thought of as a period drama.

What makes a period drama is usually down to the costumes and being historical accurate to the past, but of course these widely differ depending on what period you are portraying. Quite often they are based on literature, but not always. For example, the 2005 film of Pride and Prejudice set in 1797 would be a standard example of what a period drama is, but more specifically a historical period drama, as these are generally what people think of.

This concept has been toyed with, for example in 2016’s ‘Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies’. It still stays faithful to the time it is set, so is still a period drama, but also combines elements of the more modern trope of a zombie comedy-horror.

In contrast, 2016’s ‘Stranger Things’  is set in the past (1983) and has historical accurate sets, props and costume. Although overall it would probably be considers a fantasy/horror, it is still classed as a period drama as it as all of the correct elements.

The time a period drama is set can be very specific or quite general, for example set in the middle ages or victorian times. As an audience we get an idea of what the date is through the imagery used. Through this research I have found that what I thought of as a period drama is not entirely accurate, Downton Abbey and Pride and Prejudice are what I assumed it was, but this is more historical period drama. It covers a wide range of film and TV. Simply put it is a show or film that faithfully depicts a specific time period of the past.