Evidence of genre conventions in Ferris Bueller's Day Off

In Ferris Bueller's Day Off there are a number of the drama genre conventions within the film. There is a wide use of the codes within the film. One of the main things is the use of a teenager growing up, as seen within the theme of 'Coming-of-Age'. There is also the use of regular, normal locations, such as the scene where the main three characters are in a museum:

Some Drama films with this ongoing theme within them use voice overs, or have scenes were the main character talks directly to the audience, facing the camera. This is another way of helping the audience relate to the character, and is often used by Directors in order to make the audience engage with the character and accpet them for who they are, when other characters may not. It's a very effective technique, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off also includes these. Ferris often updates the audience with his thoughts, so they constantly know what he is planning. The scenes where he talks to the audience enable the audience to hear and see the changes which this one day has made to Ferris, and also show that he's not always the joker that everybody thinks he is.

 

 

Ferris Bueller also has an unpopular character. Ferris's best friend Cameron is somewhat unpopular and is different to the other students at their school. This is another feature of this theme, as the audience also see how that particular character has changed throughtout the film, mostly due to the actions of the main character. In this scene from Ferris, Cameron explains how he is fed up of the way he is constantly treated by his father, and he tells Ferris that he has learned to take a stand and challenge his father, and tell him what he thinks of him. He explains that Ferris has helped him accept and realise that something need to be done, and this has all been done in one single day. This scene is similar to many other films like this, as it directly tells the audience through another character how the protagonist has developed and changed, but also how the protagonist has helped another character grow and 'come-of-age' themselves.