Portfolio Project Genre #1

For my upcoming portfolio project, I am definitely considering the Romantic Comedy genre.

Better known as romcoms, it is a sub-genre of comedy and romantic fiction. It's the idea of a film being both humorous and love centered while still maintaining a voice and a plot. The two contrasting genre's come together for a very likable and entertaining plot with scenes that revolve around the idea of dating, break ups, or just true love in general.

Typical Target Audience

While both liking the genre, the typical target audience are mainly women, them being about 74% more likely than men which would be around 62%. The main age range would be 12-25 years old, and the secondary age range would be 26-45 years old. It is ultimately a very popular genre so anyone with who has a love for very youthful and fun films and has a very outgoing personality would particularly love this genre.

Genre Conventions with Content

The highlight of this genre is the term "meet-cute" which better explained is where a couple first meets and first falls in love in a aesthetically pleasing way. This genre is specifically built off comfort, escapism, and the idea of a fairytale ending. This genre heavily relies on a structural rhythm along with a variety of tropes to better satisfy their target audience. There is a lot of underlying self discovery the main character usually has in these movies that isn't talked about enough. Often, the main character will feel held back and will feel the need to be sure with themselves before being sure with someone else.

Genre Conventions with Techniques

The color theory often heavily influences the film, usually utilized for when a happy moment is going on and bright warm lighting is used, vs. the breakup or sad scene where it tends to be more blue and darker looking. This is supposed to represent the character's emotional shift so the audience can feel it as well. Another huge technique has to do with the framing of specific shots. When the character begins the film single, they are often framed in a single shot and as they fall in love they are more frequently placed in two-shots.

Institutional Conventions

Rom coms tend to be marketed as a "feel good" movie, so when being promoted, it often involves trailers that give a quick glimpse into how the two main character's love story is going to unfold. The narrative image of rom coms are usually that everything is like a fairytale, that there is essentially going to be a happy ending. Often rom coms can be portrayed as cliche but the marketing for more modern rom coms poke fun at that. The narrative image also wants to come off to the viewers as relatable, or as if the audience feels like they know the characters.

Two Film/TV Productions That Represent The Genre

-How to Loose a Guy in 10 Days

-Notting Hill

This shot here (from the film How to Loose a Guy in 10 Days)

represents the idea of a two shot to show the characters slowly falling in love