A dramatization is the creation of a dramatic
performance
A performance is an act or process of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function.
Performance has evolved glo ...
of material depicting real or
fiction
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...
al events. Dramatization may occur in any media, and can play a role in education and the psychological development of children. The production of a dramatization presents potential legal issues, arising both from the use of elements of fictional works created by others, and with the depiction of real persons and events.
Usage
Dramatization may occur in many circumstances, and be presented in many forms of media:
In television, a dramatization is "the preparation of a television drama from a work which was not previously in dramatic form, for example a prose narrative". The form is often used in
television commercials
A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...
depicting the benefits of using an advertised product, "because dramatization is a form particularly well suited to television". Although dramatization and
adaptation
In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...
are sometimes used interchangeably, the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
distinguishes a dramatization from an adaptation by the criteria that an adaptation is a preparation derived from a dramatic work. When the events being dramatized are historical, this may also be considered a form of
historical reenactment
Historical reenactment (or re-enactment) is an educational entertainment, educational or entertainment activity in which mainly amateur hobbyists and history enthusiasts dress in historical uniforms and follow a plan to recreate aspects of a histor ...
, and occurs within the genre of
docudrama
Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television show, television and feature film, film, which features Drama (film and television), dramatized Historical reenactment, re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of docu ...
. In some cases, in conveying the lives of historical figures "dramatization is a necessity due to lack of documentation".
[Rebecca Monhardt, "Reading and Writing Nonfiction With Children", in Jodi Wheeler-Toppen, ''Science the "Write" Way'' (2011), p. 219.]
Dramatization has been described as "a primitive instinct and very early people expressed their thoughts and emotions through this medium, or at least through that of pantomime, which is so closely connected with it".
[Grace Evelyn Starks, "Dramatization", ''Primary Education'', Volume 22 (1914), p. 529.] In particular, "
en children identify with the various characters in the story, it is natural for them to want to imitate those characters".
[Nancy E. Briggs, Joseph Anthony Wagner, ''Children's Literature Through Storytelling & Drama'' (1979), p. 81.] To a degree, any attempt to describe an event other than in a clinical sense requires some dramatization:
Children, through play, unconsciously begin to act out the dramatization of events in their lives and events of which they learn.
Research has shown that "with a variety of students from different grades and socioeconomic backgrounds, through expression of feelings and thoughts in story dramatization and creative drama, self concept is improved".
Legal issues
Legally, the creation of a dramatization may infringe on the
intellectual property
Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...
rights of the work from which it is derived. A dramatization of real events might infringe the
personalty rights of the individuals involved. However, it is also understood that the dramatization itself maybe entitled to its own intellectual property protections:
See also
*
Novelization
A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book, or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent ...
References
External links
{{wiktionary
Drama