Sticks and Stones CCR

Here is the link to my CCR!


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https://youtu.be/GDCdAsjT0Ak

Sticks and Stones Movie Opening!

This is the final draft for my movie opening! Hope you guys like it!!!!

https://youtu.be/jgUWIWH-EY0

Project Reflection

This movie was really somewhat of a look into my past. The bullying situation in which Andrea is in, was what happened to me. I know it may look like a dumb reason why basically ruin someones perspective of themselves, and I wonder whether or not the person who affected me this much ever realized it. Bullying affected my life for 5 excruciating years of my life, and while I am able to talk freely about my past, others find it extremely hard and specially so if they are currently going through it. Two years ago I had reached the point where I really thought there was no way to get better, which is luckily around the same time my parents realized something was wrong. I ended up being hospitalized, where I realized there really is so much to live for, and people have no right to ruin that nor the way you think about yourself.
When the assignment was first given to us, we watched a TED talk video that said to focus on what you know, and there is nothing I know more about than bullying and mental health. Although I never committed suicide, the thought was always in my mind, which is why I decided to start the film with the suicide scene. Many people know bullying is wrong, but most haven't experienced someone they loved commit suicide due to bullying. By including the suicide as the first scene I'm letting the viewer see first the consequence, then the actions.
The movie as a whole will focus more on the reactions. After Andrea's suicide, her parents will go to extreme lengths to find out what it is that happened to their daughter that her only solution was that. While her parents try to find the truth, Albany realizes the extent of what she did and feels guilty for the months of being so rude to Andrea. The movie will also be going back to the different times Albany bullied Andrea as her parents figure out the cause of her daughter's pain. 
No bully's intentions include their victim committing suicide, at least it could be hoped not, and bullying always has a root, but no past or present trauma is excuse enough to bully someone, to no extent.

CCR Production

↖FINISHED PUPPETS↗

 For my CCR, I decided I wanted to be creative and have fun with sock puppet interview. The CCR will be enacted by two sock poppets, an interviewer (right) and my "representative" (left.) I did not have many things to create great sock puppets, so I had to settle for the things I had here at home. I was able to find two different fluffy socks that I barely used anymore to build to bodies of the puppets. The mouths are red paper on the outside and cardboard on the inside for my hand not to be the whole mouth. The hair I cut from a mop, then dyeing it two different colors in order for them to be different. I wasn't able to find two more googly eyes, so I had to use the eyes from a stuffed animal I no longer cared for. I also added a bow on the black one in order to cover the hot glue was showing.

I think this will be a really fun video to make, and to watch, because it is something different. It will be seen as a YouTube interview to talk about the movie that just came out.



↑Hot gluing the cardboard onto the inside of the sock.

Here are pictures of the process of making the puppets. It was frustrating not to have enough materials, but I think I made the most of the items I did have.





←Mouth of "representative"

Media While Quarantine

During the quarantine, social media has been a huge benefactor in remaining connected to the world outside of the house.  Social medias like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook allow us to get informed about situations worldwide, as well as locally. Many are using their platforms to inform others about regulations, advises, and activities to entertain ourselves with.
A very good thing that came out of the quarantine is NetflixParty. Due to people not being able to be in groups, Netflix came up with a Chrome extension which allows a certain amount of users to watch the movie as a group. I loved this idea because it allows me to watch movies with my friends, and also talk to each other through the texting box.
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are also very big benefactors since they allow the sharing of information almost worldwide. Some of the people affected by this virus have used their Instagram and Facebook accounts to share information about the virus and the symptoms, many others are just using their platforms to advice people to stay inside.
This virus has scared many people, understandably so, but many others believe it is not so bad and are going outside, hanging out in groups, etc. not understanding that they might have the virus, even if they do not feel any symptoms, and might be transferring it to the people they care about. The virus might not be as bad as they say, but even so, it has killed many people and is being spread in an insane velocity, making it at least a little bit dangerous.

Quarantine :/

Due to the quarantine, I wasn't able to find a male to play Evan so I decided to include slow motion effects on 2 different shots that were already included in the film.
The first shot in which I included the slow motion effect was the shot in which Andrea looking down at the pill bottle, while the camera tilts with her. I think this is a great shot to include this effect in because it makes the situation dramatic and lets the viewer feel the tension and understand what is happening. I did not want to include a suicide scene that may be triggering to some people, which is why it is important to me to make sure the viewer can really understand and feel the situation.
The second shot in which I decided to include the slow motion effect was the ending shot. This shot includes Andrea walking away, after her encounter with Albany, feeling very upset and distressed. I believe this is also a great shot to include the slow motion effect in because it makes the shot more emotional. letting the viewer understand how she feels.

I also realized that my credits have to go at the beginning of the film (duh) and not at the end, which I have to fix. I wasn't really sure how to add a text while the film was playing, but eventually I figured it out. They begin after the title scene, and extend until Andrea is about to finish writing in her journal.

CCR answer-thinking

Drama films have characters with whom the audience can relate to, which doesn't necessarily apply in my movie because not everyone gotten bullied, bullied someone, or has a child whose being bullied but even though some part of the audience wouldn't be able to relate to Andrea's character, the audience would be able to empathize with the situation. 

In drama films, there is always some sort of realization at the end of the movie which leads the character to a form of journey or happily ever after. I challenged this in every way, Andrea's suicide at the beginning of the film indicates the viewer that that was the main event surrounding the film, and that there was not a happy ending for Andrea nor her family. Drama films, however, need to keep the viewer's attention on the plot of the movie, which I am doing by showing the viewer Andrea's suicide and then transitioning to the bullying scene.

In recent years, female protagonist roles have risen to more than 40%, which is considered a "historic high", according to "It's a Man's (Celluloid) World." In 2019, female protagonists appeared in 45% studio productions and in 55% independent productions, and only 5% of these women were Latina. My movie follows a Latina's suicide and the story behind it and after it. It'll represent the people with mental illness' and highlight the struggle of living while getting bullied, while also showing the consequences that bullying someone can lead to.  The majority of people who are bullied are ages 12-18, 23% of them being female and are 2.6 times more likely to attempt suicide, according to "PACER'S National Bullying Prevention Center". My movie will also represent those who are doing the bullying, people who engage in bullying are likely to have experienced a type of stress or trauma, or have been bullied themselves before. Bullies are also likely to have a low self-esteem, and instead of directing positive energy to themselves, they choose to direct negative energy to others. Major reasons as to why some kids engage in bullying behaviors comes from a difficult home/personal life and a personal issue with falling relationships with friends and family. 

Bullying is never okay, but people do have their reasons for acting in certain ways, and bullies are no different. Even though no one should direct that kind of negative energy to someone, it is important to represent the individual issues that the bullies have, which I will be doing for my movie. 

Sources ↘

"It's a Man's (Celluloid) World." - Dr. Martha M. Lauzen: https://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2019_Its_a_Mans_Celluloid_World_Report_REV.pdf

"PACER'S National Bullying Prevention Center": https://www.pacer.org/bullying/resources/stats.asp

More Changes

I have to add a few more seconds to the movie, as well as edit the credits because I have to add to creator of the royalty free music. Since the movie is missing about 20 seconds, I think I will add another scene in which Andrea's best friend, Evan, tries to comfort her after her encounter with Albany. Neither Andrea nor Evan knew why Albany was doing what she was doing, but Evan tried his best to help his best friend during this time in her life. Since Evan never told Andrea how he felt, he had no idea that the reason for Albany's bullying was because of his feeling for Andrea, nor did anyone suspect he had feelings for her. As the bullying progresses, Evan is left blindsided because he realizes what he does is not enough to help her and that the bullying is only getting worse. For this scene, Andrea will be arriving at Evan's house visibly upset. Evan asks her what is wrong and Andrea explains what had just happened. Evan then comforts her and even walks her home by the time she has to leave. I decided to make this the next scene because it shows that bullying affects the victim as well as the victim's friends and families. This scene will illustrate that even though Andrea had some support and was trying her best not to let it all affect her, all of it was affecting her in ways that neither her, Evan, nor her parents knew it could.

More Music!

For the second scene of the film, an emotional piano song will be playing in the background as Andrea and Albany approach their confrontation. I found this song on YouTube, copyright-free, and thought it was the perfect song for the scene. The song was done by  Mattia Cupelli. This scene happens three months before Andrea's suicide, and it was only the beginning of Albany's bullying. Bullying usually escalates because the victim gets ignored by their friends or hear their friends talk about them behind their back, or because more people take part in the bullying. This will shown during the rest of the movie as cutbacks in Albany's thoughts, as well as the rest of the kids who participated in the bullying. The movie as a whole will send a message to those who treat others poorly and to parents who may have a child going through this, or has gone through it. This movie will illustrate the effects bullying has on the victim and everyone around them, and the horrible consequence that can happen due to mistreating a person.






Sources ↘
Bullying Research Paper: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/eds/92/0/92_107/_article/-char/en
Youtube Royalty Free Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JYHk_D5A44

COVID-19

Due to the coronavirus, I have had more time on my hands to edit and fully work on my movie. Since I had a problem with the editing program, the virus, since it cancelled school, has given me the chance to finish editing the film once and for all. It took me a little bit longer than expected because I wanted to go through all of the new options I had before choosing which one I wanted to include in the film. Nevertheless, COVID-19 has cancelled school, which does not allow me to get feedback from my peers nor did it allow me to ask for help throughout the process of editing.
Although the coronavirus cancelled school, it has also cancelled most, if not all, activities worldwide, which is causing panic everywhere. There are three types of people right now, the ones who believe the coronavirus is being blown out of proportion and do not stay in nor take precautions, and there is the ones who are going to extreme measures to ensure they do not get the virus. The "middle-man" between both types of people is the person who is taking precautions and not going to crowded places, but are not leaving the house with a hazmat suit. My parents are those type of people, meaning that I am the one going to the grocery store, or getting anything they may need while they stay at home, protected from the virus. COVID-19 is no joke, and while many people here in Florida do not agree with that, I rather keep my family safe from the virus, hoax or no hoax, which is also why I have not been getting too much time to write on my blog.

Editing Complication

I ran into a complication while editing since I was editing on the wrong account. The school has accounts for their students on WeVideo, but I did not know it was the premium version of the editing program and I made another account, which did not allow me to export the film without the WeVideo logo appearing throughout the entire film. I contacted my teacher to see if there was something I could do, and she mentioned joining the two videos, therefore the accounts, but that was not possible since the account I made was not connected to a school, like the other one.
Since it wasn't possible to connect the accounts and pass the edited video to the school WeVideo account, I have had to edit the video from scratch on the school account. Although I had finished editing it, I did not have access to the premium features that I do now, so I decided to change some of the effects I had put on the other one.
For the title scene, there was a motion text effect which typed like a typewriter, which I decided to use as well as the font "Montserrat-Regular." I was also able to select another motion text effect for the transitioning text of "3 months earlier" which I chose the "Above The Horizon" motion, which brings the text up, with the font "CantataOne."
I was also able to edit sound more thoroughly, raising and lowering the volume of the independent shots, allowing me to create the ambiance I like. I lowered the volume of the first shot, raising the volume of the song to create a dramatic feel. I then raised the volume of the second shot, lowering the volume of the song to allow to audience to hear what Andrea's mom tells her as she is leaving the house, then raising the volume of the song to where you can hear the song as well as Andrea's sniffles/cries. Then, the volume of the song increases slowly, as Andrea finishes writing on her journal to create a sense of suspense and sadness as the scene finishes.
For the second scene, the volume of the song is steady until Andrea and Albany's collision since the audience has to be able to hear what Albany says to Andrea. The volume will then increase slowly until the finish of the closing credits when the movie ends.

Credits

The credits for a movie consist of the writer of the movie, the director, the producer, the cinematographers, the editors, the important cast, the less important cast (A.K.A. the extras), and lastly, any source where music involved in the movie was found. Some movies have the credits in the beginning of the movie, such as in the movie "Alien" (1979)( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jJRvZ72fLs ) and "Godzilla" (2014)( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBQJjqnG1iI#action=share .)

In the 1920's, producers went from having no credits, simply the title of the show/movie, to having opening credits including the main cast and the major technical helpers. This did not allow the rest of the actors/crew to get more jobs in another productions because it was not known they were in the movie/show in the first place. In the 60's, audiences began to see longer credits, at the end of the screening, including everyone who helped in producing the film/show. One of the first movies with closing credits was Saul-Bass' "West Side Story" (1961), which includes the names of the actors/crew in graffiti on street walls and signs.
With the evolution of technology, credits have been getting longer, some movies with over 2,000 names in their credits. Action movies such as Iron Man include even more names, "Iron Man 3" with over 3,700 names, since they have to also include special effects companies and people who helped with the special effects. Some movie companies/producers make their closing credits creatively, with animations or mise-en-scene that is iconic to the movie. "Guardians of the Galaxies Vol. 2," "A Bug's Life," "Wall-E," and "Big Hero 6" animated and toyed with their closing credits so the audience would not get so bored during them. Marvel is also popular for their post-credits scenes, which most people stay for once all the credits are done.

In my movie, the writer, director, producer and editor are me, as well as Andrea, the main character. My friend Ayshe Can helped me record the scenes, being the cinematographer, while her sister, Aleyna Can was acting as Albany, the bully. My sister, Antonella Criscola, was Maria Victoria, Andrea's mother's voice, as well as an extra walking her dog as Andrea gets bullied by Albany.

Source: ↘
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/26/movies/why-end-credits-in-movies-are-so-long.html

So Scripted

Scripts allow the producer, director, artists, and everyone else helping to create a movie, understand word-by-word what it is the story is about. Since only the first few minutes will be produced, the script doesn't incorporate much dialogue since there is not much of it in the first few minutes, although much of the dialogue is done by every other character in the story other than Andreas' the rest of the movie. In the rest of the movie, there would be a few more bullying scenes from Albany's and her friend's part and it would go back to what would be life without Andrea. Life without Andrea for her family and friends includes many fights against bullying and the strong desire to help those victims who feel things they should never be feeling, those feelings that they couldn't help Andrea overcome. 

Quick changes

  To fully demonstrate that Andrea, the main character, is suffering in silence, I decided to incorporate a scene where Andrea's mother, Maria Victoria, lets her know that she will be leaving for the night, and that her dinner is in the fridge. This allows the viewers to fully understand that no one knows she is suffering, which is what happens with most bullying victims. 

It is very common for bullying victims to suffer in silence because they are often ashamed of feeling how they feel or embarrassed for being treated the way they are. Other victims are afraid of speaking about being bullied because they are concerned no one would believe them, seeing as though some parents have never experienced what it was to be bullied, or don't believe that words could hurt someone so much. Many victims also feel like they deserve what they are feeling, thinking they are truly what they are being said to be. 

Parents aren't usually told by their children that they are suffering, which is why it is important to see the warning signs that indicate that a child could be being bullied. As a parent, it is important to listen to your child and pay attention to any of their friends you haven't see around much anymore. When bullying is happening, victims experience being called names and getting embarrassed, but they also experience their "friends" choosing sides and choosing to leave the victim by themselves. It is also very important to watch their moods and grades. Bullying victims could be anxious and withdrawn, and can seem sad, moody and depressed after school or after being online. Kids who are being bullied also struggle keeping their grades up and find it difficult to concentrate on school work. 

Target Audience

My film will be unique. It will illustrate the outcomes of bullying on the young minds and the effects of a suicide by bullying on the family of the victims. It's a sad but true story which involves a spoiled teenager who loves a guy that, unfortunately, loves someone else. Since the spoiled teenager did not get who she wanted, she was angry and decided to release her anger on the innocent girl who the guy liked. The story of a sweet girl who chooses to end her life due to the words being said to and about her, leaving her family to grief and desperation.

The targeted audience for my movie will be a mixed gender of people ages 11-45 because my movie will illustrate not only what young kids have to go through, but also how most adults don't even know something is wrong. 

Music Always Helps

Music does a pretty good job establishing the mood and theme of movies. Music allows the audience to feel the mood of the film as they watch what is happening, and can create the tension, drama, or suspense necessary for the audience to understand the theme of the movie. Below is a link to the audio I will be using for the first scene of the film, the suicide scene.

 Sense of Loss

This track represents exactly the mood I am trying to achieve from the first scene. The music will be diegetic because it will be playing from the record player Andrea will have on, and it will play during the entire first scene. The music will get louder as the black screen approaches, and will come to a stop once "3 Months Earlier" appears on the screen. I believe this audio will help the viewer understand the mood of the scene, and ultimately the movie.

Filiming process

After many tries of doing the first scene, I decided that it was best to do it once it was dark outside because it is too bright for the lighting I want to achieve, so I filmed the second scene of the movie. Since the color blue represents melancholy and isolation, Andrea is wearing a blue jacket and carrying books from the library. After introducing Andrea  three months prior to her suicide, we see Albany staring her down and shoving her while saying mean things to her. I wanted to include this because Albany's attitude and actions towards Andrea is what ultimately drives Andrea to believe that she is not worthy of living anymore.
  At the end of the scene, Andrea can be seen walking away from the encounter with her head low and fast footsteps because she was embarrased and hurt from what had just happened.

Detail Thinking

While producing movies, it is always important to plan every single detail, whether or not the audience will notice them is another story. I have been concentrating on the details such as lighting, mise-en-scene and music because those details are an important part in helping set up the theme of the story.

For the first scene, I decided to include a two-point lighting, one of which will be a candle that will appear on the screen. I will use low key lighting will to create a sense of drama and unease, and will include the candle to demonstrate that there is not that much light in the characters' life. I will also include a sad song that will be a diegetic song because it will be the song the character is listening to while writing her goodbye letter. I want the viewers to interpret the character's emotions without the character having to say what she is feeling, which is why lighting, mise-en-scene, and music/sounds are very important in producing a movie.
For the second scene, I want to include the main character carrying books she had to return to the library because it helps establish her character and what she does on her free time. I had thought about filming this scene once the sun was set, but I decided not to because I want to show the viewers that bullying can happen whenever, wherever. I had a hard time trying to figure out what Albany (the bully) would say to Andrea as she tried to make her feel bad about herself, when I decided to include Andrea with her bag full of books and knew it had to be something relating to books. Bullies can make someone feel worthless, humiliated, saddened, etc. and will not realize how badly they are hurting someone, that is why I decided to include Albany saying "What a pity you're wasting your time studying so much when you're going nowhere in life... HAHAHA," and walking away laughing as Andrea picks up her books from the floor, again humiliated by Albany.
Lastly, I am trying to find the perfect song that could match with the emotions being showed and inferred during the first scene. It is very hard finding the perfect song, but these options cut close. Just from the song, I want to the viewer to feel what Andrea was feeling, and acknowledge what she will do. I also want to include a song as Andrea and Albany walk down the street, but the right song is still being searched for.

Words CAN hurt like sticks and stones

Along members from other teams, I was able to set the title for the movie. Sticks and Stones was mentioned as being related to bullying victims urging each other to stay strong, that words can not bring them down. I decided to make this the title to my movie because my movie highlights the fact that words can, indeed, bring people down, sometimes to the point where they cannot come back up. 
Sticks and stones originates from the rhyme "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Although many people are strong enough to not let words affect them,, not everyone is like that. Nearly 21% (1/5 students) report being bullied, 59% of students report to being cyber-bullied.  Approximately 18% of teens report self-harming, impacting 1/4 girls and 1/10 boys, and about 1 in every 20 teens commit suicide. Suicide attempts have almost doubled since 2008 and it is now the 2nd leading cause of death for people ages 10-34. 
Even if words do not hurt as much, or do not drive a person to commit suicide, bullying and cyber-bullying victims are at a higher risk of low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, family problems, academic difficulties, delinquency, school violence and suicide attempts. 

Ana Cubedu, Sydney Surico, Jessica Briceno, Oliver Sulla, Robert Trela

Statistics gotten from : https://meganmeierfoundation.org/statistics

Shots and Angles

  Thinking ahead for my movie, planning the various shots that will make the movie in advance is an effective way to create the right shots and scenes. 

For the first minute of the movie, I decided to establish the setting in which the main character, Andrea, will take her life. The shot will pan through the dark room where a pill bottle will stand in the night stand. The scene will continue to a close up to Andrea's crying eyes to establish her emotions at that moment. A slow zoom to the letter will detail her emotions further, where she will be finishing the sentence "I can't do this anymore." A tilt up from the letter to Andrea's face followed by a pan, following Andrea's eyes, to the pill bottle on her night stand to establish what she will do..

  The movie will transition to the past by a black screen captioned "Three Months Earlier." A long shot of Andrea walking from her job to her house, carrying books in her bag followed by a mid-shot of Albany walking down the street. A two shot will establish their relationship, which will include Albany elbowing Andrea, making her bag and books to fall on the ground. Albany will then take this opportunity to make a rude remark at Andrea, making her stumble further.

Important Characteristics

Building the important character's personality and life history is important in building the story. The main character, Andrea, is a hispanic young teenager who lives with her mother and her father in Arniston, Arizona. Andrea had a hard time adjusting to her new life, but her parents were very supportive their first year there. Andrea met Evan, the school's football team captain, their freshman year of high school in biology class and have been friends ever since.
Albany is Andrea's bully. Albany has had a huge crush on Evan ever since she saw him at the football game freshman year, but has never had the chance to be with him since she, and all of the school, knows that Evan is in love with Andrea. Albany has always been jealous of Andrea because she has everything Albany ever wanted, a loving family with a mother and a father, a best friend who could be a great future husband, so Albany decides to transform her jealousy into anger, believing her anger could somehow relieve her of her own pain.

web-ly thinking

I have been focusing on the details of the film I want to produce. Although, I do not have a movie title set yet, the movie will concentrate on bringing awareness to suicide from bullying. A 16 year-old girl will make a decision that will bring tragedy into her family's life, due to kids from her school constantly hurting her. The movie will reveal the death of the young girl and will transition to show the audience why it is she makes the decision she does.
I have been focusing on the lighting and some mise-en-scene for both the scenes. I decided to create the first scene in a dark lighting bedroom where the young girl will be writing her goodbye letters for her loved ones. I decided on the dark lighting and slow music because the scene has to make the audience feel what the young girl is feeling. For the second scene, I decided on yellow-colored clothing for the bully because yellow represents madness and insecurity, while the young girl will be wearing blue-colored clothing because blue represents melancholy and isolation.

Movie-thinking in the process

I want to create a movie highlighting the fact that words can hurt as much as bullets from a gun. Very few people understand the effects that words can have on people, but others choose to ignore how powerful words can be. Bullying and cyberbullying causes many deaths per year, people suffering and thinking they are not worth living or loving end their lives due to the words that consumed their every day lives. Just as a gun is dangerous depending on the person holding it, words can be dangerous depending on the person saying them.

Bullying and Suicide

According to my research, and personal experience, bullying affects a person in a very negative way, most of the time leading us to feel unworthy of being alive.
Bullying is aggressive behavior repeated over time, and it includes threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or emotionally, or even excluding someone purposely. Bullying can have serious and lasting effects negatively affecting the mental health and overall well-being of the youths involved, some effects being depression, anxiety, involvement in sexual or physical abuse, substance abuse, poor social functioning, and poor school performances including lower GPA averages, standardized test scores, and poor attendance. Bullying, along with the negative effects it includes, can also cause youths to have suicidal tendencies and thoughts.
Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people, resulting in about 4,400 deaths per year, according to the CDC. For every suicide among young people, there are at least 100 suicide attempts. Over 14% of high school students have considered suicide, and almost 7% have attempted it. Ten to fourteen old girls may be at even higher risk for suicide, according to a study done in Britain.

Doppleganger-like movies

The movie Wonder is a family drama about a ten year old boy with Treachers Syndrome (a rare facial deformity), who struggles with fitting in with society. This would be a good example of a drama because it conveys societal ills such as prejudice towards appearances and overcoming the conventional norm of life. The movie portrays a boy who is enrolled in 5th grade, after being home-schooled. He encountered other kids staring at him which he overcame by discovering who he is.

The movie Cyberbully is a drama film about a teenager who deals with cyberbullying and tries to take her life. This film is a good example of a drama because it conveys a message about mental illness and how it affects relationships as well as the individuals. The movie portrays a teenager who attempts suicide and her mom takes on the school system and the state legislation to prevent other teenagers to go through what her daughter went through. The young girl becomes mentally stronger from the cyberbullying and her mom inspired the state legislation to pass a bill criminalizing cyberbullying, which is later signed into a law in honor to the victims of cyberbullying.

Drama-filled life

In everyone's day to day life, they encounter bits of drama every now and then. Drama represents human beings at their best, their worst and everything in-between. Drama productions are serious stories that portray characters dealing with conflicts with themselves, others, or natural forces. Drama is the largest film genre because it includes crime films, courtroom dramas, melodramas, historical dramas, biographical dramas, romantic genres, and more, that allow the dramatic genre to be more than just black and white.

Drama productions may highlight issues that have/are/may affect people such as societal ills, and problems, concerns or injustices, such as racial prejudice, religious intolerance (such as antisemitism), drug addiction, poverty, political unrest, the corruption of power, alcoholism, class divisions, sexual inequality, mental illness, corrupt societal institutions, violence toward women, etc.

 Mental illness dramatic films: One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975): about a rebellious institutional patient who feigned insanity but ultimately was squashed by Nurse Ratched and the repressive system. I Never Promised You A Rose Garden (1977): about a teenager who felt suicidal tendencies due to schizophrenia. Silver Linings Playbook (2012): about a man who left a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own.