BY ALICE WEBSTER

What Are the Conventions of Periodic Drama?

What Makes A Period Drama?

A period drama can interact with several genres, however they often focus on historical fiction and romances and adventure films. Typically, the audience are attracted to the culture, costumes, and other content

Most commonly, period dramas are based on famous people and historical events. Other historical dramas are fictionalised tales that are based on real people, for example, “Braveheart” (1995)

A period film is a film that attempts to faithfully depict a specific time period. “Les Miserables” can be an example of this

Iconography in Period Dramas

Elaborate costumes and sets to show the particular time period

Classical music, horse and carriage, grand mansions and houses, large estates, castles, however these are generally related to 1800s dramas. But, they are the most common

Most period drama movies are set in England, so the historical English culture is most often shown in this genre.

Iconic Period Dramas Examples

The King’s SpeechThe Young VictoriaPride and PrejudiceJane EyreThe Picture of Dorian GreyThe Importance of Being EarnestAtonementSense and Sensibility

Character Types in Period Drama

The narrative of the film usually focuses on a woman, trying to overcome a problem.

This can lead to the film being romantic, and including other aspects of different themes

The men are usually courting the women, and the women is seen as strong...and yet also seem as fragile. This is part of the romance aspect.

Common Themes

ReligionOver-coming a problemBeing against societyRomanceSocietyEtiquette

An example...

Within the trailer of the movie “Sherlock Holmes” (2009), the most common iconography is the stereotypical London of when it would have been set. There are horse are carriages in the trailer, the costume is also elaborated, as well as the weapons that they had around in the late 1800s.