The bottle drama is a genre I never thought existed. As discussed in class, it is still not a solid academically developed genre, since it is common in TV series when the production is running low on cash. However, it does not mean that there are no films that explore the concept of the bottle drama. I recalled watching a film about a man driving from one place to another, and the duration of the drive nearly took all night for him to reach his destination. While driving he made and received calls regarding his work, family, and his affair with another woman. And the whole film just took place in his car while he was driving. That film is called, Locke (2013), directed by Steven Knight. At that point when I was watching the film, I have just finished serving my national service with the military and, hence had no clue of such a concept or genre. I just thought it was a good film.
Watching the film screened this week, Coherence (2014), directed by James Ward Byrkit, cued some feelings or emotions that reminded me of the time I was watching Locke. And I was able to link the two films together even before the end of the screening. It is the same “claustrophobic, locked in, or trapped” kind of feel that I get while watching both films. Though they may be of different subject matter and in Coherence, the characters do leave the house, but I still get the sense of being trapped in and what are they going to do next to break the situation and tension they are in.
As mentioned earlier, the bottle drama is developed from television when a production is tight on budget, hence saves money on different locations, props, sets and more. We were shown a bottle episode from Community before Coherence was screened, and we can find other similar bottle episodes from various TV series such as The Fly episode from Breaking Bad, The Chinese Restaurant in Seinfeld, and Connection Lost from Modern Family. Though tight in budget, these episodes tend to stand out from the rest in the series for its strong storyline and emotional rollercoaster the characters face throughout the episode due to strong writing.
As a viewer, I certainly enjoy such episodes and films, and as a genre exploded, I certainly would like to explore this concept and maybe attempt to replicate some tropes in future.
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