Genre research : romance

Genre Research: Romance

My group and I finally decided that the official genre of our film would be romance. We came to this conclusion due to how we came up with an excellent plot which we think will get us a high grade. Also, the romantic genre is one of the most popular in the film industry and there is a range of people that watch it that varies from adults to teenagers, even though it could be argued that romance is mainly targeted at a female audience.This might be because females are seen to be the more "emotional" gender in a relationship and therefore can connect with the story easily. The reason we chose it is because romance is something the audience can relate to. In addition,this genre isn’t often chosen; people always tend to choose horror/thriller as it is easier and more convenient and general.

I have done research and looked at the typical conventions in a romantic film. First of all, there is always a female and a male character: the "boy meets girl" scene is always found somewhere in the film. These would be the main characters who eventually meet and fall in love sooner or later due to how they get attracted to each other for some reason. This genre would include sexuality status, gender and relationships. Sometimes, they are the complete opposite in terms of personality or looks which makes the plot really interesting because the audience would not expect them to fall in love, therefore it exceeds their expectation. In addition, there is always something in between that might break the two lovers apart, usually it is a third person, an accident, one of the characters have to move away or even a tragedy, like one of them dying. The following cases are the ones that would usually tend to break them apart. In fact, we sometimes see that the characters go their separate ways due to an argument or disagreement but they reunite afterwards. However, viewers would prefer a happy ending as it less emotional and it is more likely to appeal to them. We can find that the director uses voice overs (e.g. Twilight film opening where Bella talks about her life) to  introduce one of the characters and how their life is like. This actually inspired me and my group because we want to do a voice over of the girl in our film opening. We think it is a good idea due to how it could introduce the girl and her life which reveals parts of the rest of the film. By doing this, we are allowing the viewers to guess how the rest of the movie will be. This enforces the theme of love and romance. The story line normally involves a variety of emotions such as sadness, depression, happiness, love and pain. This is directly engaging the audience due to how it is involving them to feel the same emotions  from the narrative of the film. The director also always uses shots like close ups that frame the characters well, which is essential due to how it portrays how they are emotionally connected with each other. This allows the audience to understand their relationship further more.

There are also environments where the characters might meet or make memories. The film is usually set in a well known city or a realist setting. Typical settings are cinemas, schools, parks, parties, restaurants, even streets or other public places. All these places are typically found in romantic films if noticed carefully. Places such as cinemas, parks or restaurants are usually where the characters meet for a date due to how romantic these settings are. We often find that if there are young teenage characters in a romantic movie, the boy tends to take the girl at the cinema and slowly approaches her by putting his arm around her shoulder and then goes for a kiss. We also see other typical romantic scenes such as the characters kissing during the sunset. This is particularly romantic due to the lighting and the calm environment: the sun has orange/red lighting and red is the colour that symbolizes love. There are certain props that are commonly seen in romantic films such as flowers, hearts, love letters or even wedding bells. All these symbolize the theme of love which is why they are effective.

Some of the most popular films within this genre are Titanic, The Notebook, The Vow, The Fault in Our Stars, Twilight etc.… If we take a look at one of these, for example Titanic we can see the plot of the movie and how the director chose to portray their love story.Titanic is really well known and it is an iconic romantic film. The plot is particularly interesting as it is starts off the a woman (Rose) talking about how she lost the love of her life and the whole story is shown afterwards. It is set in a rather unusual place, which is the Titanic ship. We can find the "boy meets girl" scene where the characters, Rose and Jack meet each other. It is quite an unusual way of meeting as Rose was trying to kill herself by jumping off the ship and Jack stopped her. Later on we can witness how they both have a connection and something between them sparkles, regardless of the difference in their classes. Rose comes from a rich, high class family and Jack on the other hand comes from a poor family with no class. This however does not stop them from falling in love, which is what the audience would normally expect. In addition, there are scene that include sexuality which deepens the meaning of their love, as they are shown to be more physically intimate, other than emotionally. The film ends with a tragedy, with Jack's death after the sinking of the ship. This is an excellent film that inspired me and my group for our film opening. The fact that Jack and Rose are from different classes and still fall in love is a powerful message as it shows that anyone could fall in love with any person, regardless the circumstances. The boy and the girl in our film will be really different personality wise.

Some of the limitations that might stop us from doing certain things are the fact that the characters will not be able to be as intimate as the real actors of a film. They might find it uncomfortable. Also, we might not have enough props to emphasize the theme of love. Props are essential to complete the mise en scene and further emphasize the genre. We will still try our best to get as much props as possible. Another issue that might get in the way is the time. We might not have enough time, however we will try to get everything done before the deadline and give our best.