The first is Forrest Gump.
This film follows sweet Forrest Gump and the charmed life he unintentionally leads despite having a below average IQ. It opens on a shot of the sky with a feather traveling through the air. It's also accompanied by the non diegetic sound of soft but hopeful music, which sets the tone for the scene. Through the use of a slow tilts and pans the camera follows the feather throughout the city and eventually ends up at Forrest's feet. These techniques help convey the sense that Forrest's life is determined by chance. As he bends down to pick the feather up the camera tilts upwards, introducing the main character to the audience, which is the purpose of the opening. The costume design (dirty sneakers and school-lunchbox-looking briefcase) give the audience further insight on Forrest's innocent nature as he puts the feather away in a book. Although this opening doesn't sound awfully serious it is still very much a drama because right off the bat it focuses on the main character and begins developing his personality. It also includes comedy elements that set it up to be a dramedy such as the act of having a grown man save a feather he found on the ground in his picture book.
Film numero dos: The Royal Tenenbaums
Sadly, the clip I found of the film isn't the full opening but it's still a good chunk of it and I remember this movie pretty clearly so we'll just have to make do. The Royal Tenenbaums is about the story of a very flawed father who attempts to reunite his dysfunctional family in order to make things right. The film starts off with a brief shot of a storybook titled "The Royal Tenenbaums" and bright red text that indicate that this is a prologue. The non-diegetic sound of a narrator telling the story of the family's history begins as the film reveals its highly produced art direction. This narration lets the audience know that the main focus is going to be on the family rather than the plot and the art direction in the costumes provide an offbeat comedic relief. For example, one of the children wears suits throughout the entire opening. Also, the blocking of the characters in the opening adds another aspect of drama because it reflects the children's relationship with their parents. In the scene where the father, Royal, is informing his children of his divorce, they sit at opposite ends of a long table but in the next scene all of the children closely surround their mother Etheline. This helps further establish the characters and their relationships, which is what the purpose of the opening is.
So, the main things I've learned here that many dramedies balance out drama with comedy by using mise-en-scene and sound design. This way, dramas still get to focus on the characters. I've also seen some concrete examples of how dramedies build their characters without depending on dialogue. They focus on making their characters likable and intriguing to keep the audience's attention and get them to care. Both films have differ greatly in their main characters but both focus on instilling key elements in their characters that make the audience want to follow their stories (Forrest is charming and the Tenenbaums are eccentric.) I can't wait to start developing my characters :)
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