Sir, – Modern drama has reached a curious homogeneity of style. In the cinema or on the television screen, very many films and series look the same, even down to individual scenes.
There is only one way to film now, it seems – with constant close-ups, with simplistic dialogue which bashes the viewer over the head with a narrative, and with “mood” lighting which is reminiscent of, and scarcely more cheerful than, the chiaroscuro style of Caravaggio. God forbid that a wide-angle lens or natural light might be used.
And as for dialogue, if a character joins together more than two contiguous sentences, it is a rare thing.
The scenes themselves can almost be predicted: a dark room which is suddenly lit by the flicking of a light switch; a transition of picture preceded slightly by the audio before the camera switches, and the intense yet uncompelling breakdown in front of a bathroom mirror, complete with heavy breathing.
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As well as mirrors, the modern protagonist is also a fan of mysterious reflections in windows which convey the strong and mysterious emotions at hand. Just as the camera takes up close quarters, so too does the microphone, recording with undue interest the sound of a jumper being removed, the whispering and throat-clearing of characters, and the solemn clanging of a bowl onto wooden tables.
And to cap it all off, we will always be treated to the inevitable and often penultimate slow-motion scene, complete with muted ambient sound and an overlay of tense and dramatic music, to help the viewer to understand the great tragedy of it all.
Tragedy indeed. – Yours, etc,
HELEN McCLELLAND,
Ballsbridge,
Dublin 4.