In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time. [1] The term is also used interchangeably to refer to a production (typically film) with a large cast or a cast with several prominent performers. [2]
In contrast to the popular model, which gives precedence to a sole protagonist, an ensemble cast leans more towards a sense of "collectivity and community". [3]
Ensemble casts in film were introduced as early as September 1916, with D. W. Griffith's silent epic film Intolerance , featuring four separate though parallel plots. [4] The film follows the lives of several characters over hundreds of years, across different cultures and time periods. [5] The unification of different plot lines and character arcs is a key characteristic of ensemble casting in film; whether it is a location, event, or an overarching theme that ties the film and characters together. [4]
Films that feature ensembles tend to emphasize the interconnectivity of the characters, even when the characters are strangers to one another. [6] The interconnectivity is often shown to the audience through examples of the "six degrees of separation" theory, and allows them to navigate through plot lines using cognitive mapping. [6] Examples of this method, where the six degrees of separation is evident in films with an ensemble cast, are in productions such as Love Actually, Crash , and Babel , which all have strong underlying themes interwoven within the plots that unify each film. [4]
The Avengers , X-Men , and Justice League are three examples of ensemble casts in the superhero genre. [7] [8] Those three films all focus on teams of five or more protagonists, instead of the standard one or two central protagonists. Referential acting is a key factor in executing this balance, as ensemble cast members "play off each other rather than off reality". [3]
Hollywood movies with ensemble casts tend to use numerous actors of high renown and/or prestige, instead of one or two "big stars" and a lesser-known supporting cast.[ citation needed ] Filmmakers known for their use of ensemble casts include Quentin Tarantino, Wes Anderson, and Paul Thomas Anderson among others.
Ensemble casting also became more popular in television series because it allows flexibility for writers to focus on different characters in different episodes. In addition, the departure of players is less disruptive than would be the case with a regularly structured cast. The television series The Golden Girls and Friends are archetypal examples of ensemble casts in American sitcoms. The science-fiction mystery drama Lost features an ensemble cast. Ensemble casts of 20 or more actors are common in soap operas, a genre that relies heavily on the character development of the ensemble. [9] The genre also requires continuous expansion of the cast as the series progresses, with soap operas such as General Hospital , Days of Our Lives , The Young and The Restless , and The Bold and the Beautiful staying on air for decades. [10]
An example of a success for television in ensemble casting is the Emmy Award-winning HBO series Game of Thrones . The fantasy series features one of the largest ensemble casts on the small screen. [11] The series is notorious for major character deaths, resulting in constant changes within the ensemble. [12]
Ensemble casts are also very common in children's television. Unlike in other television genres, children's shows make heavy use of non-human characters, such as animals, dragons, aliens (usually Martians), space cadets, monsters, fish and other marine creatures, fairies, superheroes (many of which are non-human), ancient and martial arts warriors, imaginary friends, ninjas, land, air and aquatic vehicles, vampires, witches, mummies, zombies, franken-people, pirates, cowboys, secret agents, insects, robots, dinosaurs, furry creatures, puppets, androids, humanoids, detectives, mutants and even human-animal hybrids, among other non-human creatures. The casting process is only involved when there is an occasion of humans interacting with non-human characters; for the non-human characters, creation is usually from scratch by a team of writers, then their sketches are sent to the creators for approval; in animated series, the characters are entirely created by writers (except for comic book and story book-based shows, as there is (usually) no need for creating new characters, though some are adapted to television audiences), and, not counting voice actors, there was no need for any casting processes; the Muppets that were intended for Sesame Street , and the title-character from Blue's Clues , were respectively created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Jim Henson, and Angela C. Santomero, Todd Kessler and Traci Paige Johnson, for edutainment purposes; Cartoon Network's Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends consists of a large cast of many different imaginary friends, including protagonists Bloo, Cheese, Coco, Wilt and Eduardo, many of which were created by Craig McCracken; Nickelodeon's Rugrats features a variety of characters, mainly the eight leading protagonists: Tommy, Dil, Chuckie, Phil, Lil, Kimi, Angelica and Susie; Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil and Angelica were featured since the show's inception in 1991, while Dil, Kimi and Susie were introduced in the second season of the series and the first two installments of the show's film trilogy, respectively; two fellow Nickelodeon shows, SpongeBob SquarePants and The Fairly OddParents , consist of large casts of marine life and magical creatures, respectively, including respective leading protagonists, SpongeBob, Patrick and Squidward, and Cosmo, Wanda and Poof; the first three seasons of Canadian cartoon series Total Drama consist of a large cast of characters, namely the show's hosts Chris McLean and Chef Hatchet, as well as a diversity of competitors commonly known as "Generation One": Beth, DJ, Gwen, Geoff, Lindsay, Heather, Alejandro, Duncan, Tyler, Harold, Trent, Bridgette, Noah, Leshawna, Katie, Sadie, Ezekiel, Cody, Sierra, Eva, Owen, Courtney, Justin, Izzy and Blaineley. Chris and Chef continued to appear as the hosts of every season, while many of the original characters only returned in a spin-off series, Total Dramarama (despite having yet to return to the game, they became the most well-known cast of the show); one other example of a children's show that involves human casting process and non-human character creation is Barney and Friends ; Other examples of shows that exclusively involve casting processes include Drake & Josh , iCarly and True Jackson, VP ; Other shows that exclusively involve non-human character creation include Tom Ruegger and Steven Spielberg's Animaniacs , Tiny Toon Adventures , and Freakazoid! , as well as Cow and Chicken , Hey Arnold! , The Proud Family and The Replacements.
A soap opera, daytime drama, or soap for short, is typically a long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored by soap manufacturers. The term was preceded by "horse opera", a derogatory term for low-budget Westerns.
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhanger is hoped to incentivize the audience to return to see how the characters resolve the dilemma.
A cold open is a narrative technique used in television and films. It is the practice of jumping directly into a story at the beginning of the show before the title sequence or opening credits are shown. In North American television, this is often done on the theory that involving the audience in the plot as soon as possible will reduce the likelihood of their switching from a show during the opening commercial. A cold open may also be used to recap events in previous episodes or storylines that will be revisited during the current episode.
Faraway Hill was the first soap opera broadcast on an American television network, airing on the DuMont Television Network on Wednesday nights at 9:00 PM between October 2 and December 18, 1946. A Variety article stated the Caples advertising agency bought time on DuMont for "experimentation purposes," and had "walked where other video programmers feared to tread," moving soap operas from radio to the "infant medium television."
Morgan Fairchild is an American actress. She began acting in the early 1970s and has had roles in several television series ever since.
Mark Derwin is an American film and television actor. Derwin began his career on Days of Our Lives in 1987 with a minor role as Jeremiah Brown. In 1988, Derwin appeared in the role of Adrian Hunter on The Young and the Restless. Derwin was featured in a high-profile storyline: the elaborate George Rawlins murder mystery as the scheming psychotic serial killer. Derwin is also known for numerous other soap opera roles. From 2008-2013 Derwin was a lead on the ABC Family teen drama the Secret Life of the American Teenager as George Juergens, a furniture store owner married to Molly Ringwald's character Ann, and the father of the main character Amy played by Shailene Woodley. The main plot of the show is Derwin's character's 15-year old daughter having a child after a one night stand at a summer band camp and the developments this event has on those around her.
Eden Sonja Jane Riegel is an American actress. She portrayed Bianca Montgomery in the daytime drama All My Children, and propelled the character into a gay icon, as well as a popular figure within the medium. Nominated previously on multiple occasions, she received a Daytime Emmy Award for the role in 2005.
Hollyoaks is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera Brookside. From 2005 to 2023, episodes have aired on sister channel E4 a day prior to their broadcast on Channel 4. In 2023, Hollyoaks was removed from Channel 4's early evening schedule, but remains on E4 and Channel 4's on demand service with episodes now uploaded to YouTube. At its inception, the soap was targeted towards an adolescent and young adult audience but it has since broadened its appeal to all age groups. Hollyoaks has covered various taboo subjects rarely seen on British television, for which it has received numerous awards. It has won the award for Best British Soap twice, in 2014 and 2019; its first win broke the 15-year tie between rival soap operas EastEnders and Coronation Street. Beginning with a cast of 15 characters, it now has upwards of 50 regular cast members. The longest-serving actor is Nick Pickard, who has portrayed Tony Hutchinson since the first episode.
A clip show is an episode of a television series that consists primarily of excerpts from previous episodes. Most clip shows include a frame story in which cast members recall events from past installments of the show, depicted with a clip of the event presented as a flashback. Clip shows are also known as cheaters, particularly in the field of animation. Clip shows are often played before series finales as a way to summarize the entire series, or once syndication becomes highly likely as a way to increase the number of episodes that can be sold. Other times, however, clip shows are simply produced for budgetary reasons.
Egoli: Place of Gold was a bilingual South African soap opera which first aired on M-Net on 6 April 1992. South African television's first daily soap opera, on 3 December 1999 Egoli became the first South African television programme in any genre to reach 2,000 episodes. As of 3 August 2007, 4,000 episodes had aired. Egoli: Place of Gold aired its final episode on 31 March 2010, after 18 years of acting from South African and international actors.
Alexa Carole Havins is an American actress. She first came to prominence in 2003, when she became the originating actress in the role of Babe Carey Chandler on the soap opera All My Children. Her role as the flawed but good Babe Carey earned her a Daytime Emmy Award nomination in 2005 and recognition as being half of one of the show's most popular soap opera pairings.
Sean Marquette is an American actor who is best known for his portrayal as Young Matt Flamhaff in 13 Going On 30, Johnny Atkins in The Goldbergs and Schooled, and for voicing Mac in the Cartoon Network series Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (2004–2009).
Eve Russell is a fictional character on the American soap opera Passions, which aired on NBC from 1999 to 2007 and on DirecTV from 2007 to 2008. Created by the soap's head writer, James E. Reilly, Eve was played by Tracey Ross for the series' entire run. In 2003, actresses Amanda Maiden and Kimberly Kevon Williams played the character in flashbacks to her childhood and her time as a nightclub singer. Ross was initially hesitant to audition for the role following her negative experience on Ryan's Hope, but was attracted to the show after learning about its supernatural and fantasy elements. Her casting was part of NBC's attempt to include a racially diverse ensemble on daytime television. She based her performance on Joanne Woodward's role in the 1957 film The Three Faces of Eve and Catherine Halsey from Ayn Rand's 1943 novel, The Fountainhead.
Chad Harris-Crane is a fictional character on the American soap opera Passions, which aired on NBC from 1999 to 2007 and on DirecTV in 2007–08. Developed by the soap's creator and head writer James E. Reilly, Chad was portrayed by two actors over the course of the show: Donn Swaby and Charles Divins. Swaby left the show to pursue roles outside daytime television and was replaced by Divins. The role was the first time that either actor had worked on a television series.
Imaginary Bitches is a web series created by Andrew Miller that premiered on May 2, 2008. It comprises thirteen short webisodes released on its website and YouTube.
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-genre, macro-genre, or micro-genre, such as soap opera, police crime drama, political drama, legal drama, historical drama, domestic drama, teen drama, and comedy-drama (dramedy). These terms tend to indicate a particular setting or subject matter, or they combine a drama's otherwise serious tone with elements that encourage a broader range of moods. To these ends, a primary element in a drama is the occurrence of conflict—emotional, social, or otherwise—and its resolution in the course of the storyline.
Days of Our Lives is an American television soap opera that aired on the network NBC from 1965 to 2022 and currently streams new episodes on Peacock. The soap is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday since November 8, 1965. A co-production of Corday Productions and Sony Pictures Television, the series was created by husband-and-wife team Ted Corday and Betty Corday. During Days of Our Lives' early years, Irna Phillips served as a story editor for the program and many of the show's earliest storylines were written by William J. Bell, who would depart the series in 1975 to focus full-time on The Young and the Restless, which he created for CBS in 1973. Following the 2007 cancellation of Passions, Days of Our Lives remained the only soap opera airing on NBC. On August 3, 2022, NBCUniversal announced that it would relocate the series exclusively to its Peacock streaming service beginning September 12 after 57 years on the network and leaving NBC as the only Big Three network without a daytime serial.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to fantasy:
Depictions of race in horror films has been the subject of commentary. Critics have discussed the representation of race in horror films in relation to the presence of racist ideas, stereotypes and tropes within them. The horror genre has conversely also been used to explore social issues including race, particularly following popularization of social thrillers in the 2010s.