Genre Research Blog Activity

 Everything there is to know about the best sub-genre there is: Romantic Comedy

    The sub-genre of romantic comedy is a very niche part of the film industry that has been shown lots of love, and has provided lots of money to box offices. Certain streaming services like Hallmark or Netflix thrive off a sub-genre like romantic comedy because they are known for putting out good quality movies of this specific genre.

    The typical target audience has to do with why this sub-genre is so huge. The main target audience are particularly females. The age range aims to a mostly younger audience, but can still have a wide variety. A specific range in age would be around 13 to 40 years old. A smaller target are people who love the bigger genre of comedy, and even couples.     

   The real deeper meaning to why these movies do so well are the aspects of genre conventions. To be more specific, the content aspect of these films.What is seen in almost every film that is a romcom are a leading female and male. The film usually expands or takes the audience on that journey of how the two leads met or fell in love. There are also different tropes that characters could be in like enemies to lovers, or childhood best friends or even fake dating. A perfect example of the fake dating idea take place in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Andie and Benjamin fake date so Andie can write a section in a magazine that ties into the concept of loosing a guy in 10 days, so the film takes you along to watch their story develop even though the characters obviously can’t see that far into what their relationship ends up being. When it comes to enemies to lovers, the two characters can have an opposing feeling towards the other but the whole point is that they end up seeing a connection between them. In 10 Things I Hate About You, the entire concept of the film is developed around how different the two leading characters are. There is a relationship already to built to truly emphasize how unlike it is for the two characters to fall in love. In the picture below, having certain camera shots like this perfectly emulate their dynamic, two opposing forces.

    Production techniques is another important genre conventions. This includes how techniques like soft lighting, montages, parallel editing, etc., all come in to create a certain affect. An interesting technique to cast light on his montage. Montage is an heavily used tactic in romantic comedies. In 13 Going on 30, the montage is used to show the development of Matt and Jenna. It beautifully captures the reconnection and spark of feelings that were always there. Below is a captured picture from the moment, the love is just beaming off the screen. Each technique plays a valuable role in putting together a beautiful creation overall. The soundtrack of a film also plays a huge role in conveying feelings because it gives a clear insight to what the character is thinking, why they are thunking that way, what they are feeling, etc. A very iconic example of this is utilized in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before when the song “Lovers” by Anna of the North, play when there is huge relationship shift between the two leading characters, Lara Jean and Peter. It perfectly timestamps when the characters notice something different in the other.

    Institutional conventions are another aspect of a film. It includes things like narrative image which often markets the two leads in front, usually with romantic body language and sometimes may a pastel color palette. The idea of marketing conventions are huge because it is was you are doing to get people to watch your movie. A huge strategy used for this is social media. A perfect example of this had to do with the movie Anyone But You. In all honesty, when this movie was first an idea, it was trashed on harshly. Not many thought it would do well, they thought it didn’t look good, but with the use of social media that quickly turned right around. When the team of this movie created a social media account, fans quickly got engaged and tuned in. The stars of the movie, Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney, were also accused of offscreen chemistry. This accusation alone, caused so much buzz around the movie and made everyone interested. With the help of trailers, ads, posters, and more, this movie is now well worth over $100 Million dollars. Romantic comedies already do very well with engagement since they are so popular, but the convention of marketing just takes it to that next level.

    Notting Hill is a film about William Thacker (Hugh Grant) and Anna Scott (Julia Roberts). It follows William who is a bookstore owner in London whose normal life is suddenly taken by storm when he meets the beautiful and famous actress Anna Scott. Their romance slowly blossoms overtime as an awkward regular guy and world-famous celebrity fall in love. Their relationship doesn’t come all that easy though as the media and much more create obstacles throughout their relationship. Even though not entirely realistic, the movie captures everyone’s one hope to meeting their celebrity crush, so this story really beautifully captures the reality of what that would look like. In the main poster for the movie, you see William walking past a huge poster of Anna. This is a perfect capture of their dynamic, it portrays what the movie encapsulates. There are lots of lighting techniques incorporated throughout the film as well. William has a bit of a more earthy color scheme with blues and browns and greens, while Anna is more sleek and fabulous with silvers and whites. When the two share a romantic moment, the lightning often softens to emulate what they are experiencing in that moment.

    Clueless is a movie about a girl named Cher (Alicia Silverstone) and Josh (Paul Rudd) who is her stepbrother that moves in with her. Cher often focuses on trying to play matchmaker for her friends, but slowly realizes that she may start developing a little crush on Josh. Ultimately, Cher and Josh fall in love. The overall lesson for this movie is about self discovery. Cher is so busy focusing on everything that’s going on around her, but ultimately has the self check because of Josh. He helps her realize how misguided she has been and how that affected her life. A convention that is heavily tied into this movie is the idea that opposites attract. Cher is the bubbly popular girl while Josh is the nerdier more grounded guy. By having this dynamic and building tension, it helps create a more passionate ending to their relationship. Narration is also heavily incorporated throughout this movie. Cher voices over very often throughout this movie, this helps give the audience a firsthand of Cher’s through to and through the mind of a teenage girl. It makes the viewers feel like they are experiencing this journey with her.