Romantic Comedy
Conventions of Romantic Comedies:
- A funny movie, TV program or play about a love story that ends happily
- Basic plot points include: two characters meeting, parting ways due to an argument or other obstacle, then ultimately reuniting
- Often the two leads meet and become involved, then must confront challenges to their union
- These challenges can include social pressures or existing partners, which keeps the two leads apart
- Almost always include a 'meet-cute', where scriptwriters often create a humorous sense of awkwardness between characters by depicting an initial clash of personalities
- Voice overs are sometimes used to familiarize the viewer to characters and their personalities
- Smooth cutting makes the viewer feel comfortable
- They are feel-good and very lighthearted
- Doesn't focus on comedy elements, focuses on romance
- Close ups to focus on emotions and individuals
- Voice-over introduces characters
- Cross-cutting shows points of view of other characters
- Feelgood
- Focuses more on comedy
- Introduced a lot of characters and locations
- Music and font suggest target audience as younger more urban and 'hip'
- Subverts expectations of female characters in the girl, with the run down vehicle and music choice
- Track and dolly used to 'follow' a character's view
Rom-Com Mock Opening
Our practice
Strength:
Weaknesses:
- A good blend of romance and comedy elements
- Some shots are very effective. A personal favourite of ours is the reveal of Charlie (me) as the female lead's partner
- The script is effective in creating a believable premise with an interesting twist and likable leads
- Initial music choice provides enough tempo to feel effective but does not battle the dialogue to be heard
Weaknesses:
- A bit of a rip off of 'Friends With Benefits'
- The script and acting isn't always as good as it needs to be in a romantic comedy
- Some dodgy shots that take us out of the action
- The ending feels slightly out of place with the change in music and quite bland titling