Genre
Romantic comedy/drama
Forms and conventions of this genre include:
RELATIONSHIPS: boy and girl meet, their relationship is a significant aspect of the storyline, if not what the entire film is about
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| Ruby Sparks; Silver Linings Playbook; The Perks of Being A Wallflower; 50/50; Juno; About Time; It's Kind of A Funny Story; Adam |
The opening ends with Christopher and Naomi walking off together after they meet, so the audience knows their relationship will be essential to the narrative.
WHERE OUR FILM CHALLENGES THIS: "I disliked it, to say the least…"
- unlike many romantic comedy-dramas, our protagonist is NOT the one to fall in love
- he is actually initially frustrated by the love interest: "Please, just stop."
EXAMPLES:
(not all of these examples fit the genre of romantic comedy-drama exactly, e.g. they may be simply comedy-dramas without a strong emphasis on romance, or dramas with a few comedic aspects - but they more or less fit with the genre)
Silver Linings Playbook
(mental illness)
In the trailer, the theme is established at the start: "Can I do an interview for a school project about mental illness?". The door slam and the light-hearted music (bass guitar, piano, drums) establish the comedic elements of the film, as does the dialogue, e.g.
"I will apologise on behalf of Ernest Hemingway."
"She is my friend with an F." "A capital F." "For friend."
The more uplifting music at the end indicates that this is also a drama.
It's Kind of A Funny Story
(mental illness)
This film establishes the genre in a similar way to Silver Lining's Playbook - a serious issue is mixed with humour, e.g. "What's wrong with you?" "I don't smoke." "No, I mean why are you in an ER at five o'clock in the morning?"
The Perks of Being A Wallflower
(mental illness, sexuality issues)
In this example, the audience is introduced to the fact that Charlie, the protagonist, has problems making friends - like Christopher. Potential problems are hinted at with the dialogue:
"Do you think if people knew how crazy you really were, no one would ever talk to you?"
"Let's go be psychos together." The shots of more dramatic moments towards the end also suggest this, but there is also upbeat music (guitar-sounding instrument, like in our opening) and humour: "Write about us." "Call us slut and the falcon."
50/50
(cancer)
The comedy is established at the start of the trailer: "What do you use these for?" "…my body", but then is immediately juxtaposed with the mention of a "tumour". The warm colours and music in the first half of the trailer are later replaced with a moment of silence and low-key lighting. The serious issue of cancer is interspersed with moments of humour, with the music and the dialogue.
Juno
(teen pregnancy)
The music at the start of this trailer establishes the light-heartedness of the film, and the dialogue indicates comedy: "That ain't no etch-a-sketch. This is one doodle that can't be undid, homeskillet." But later on we see the serious aspect of the film, for example, with the shot of Juno crying in the car and the dialogue such as "...dealing with things way beyond my maturity level."
Little Miss Sunshine
(dysfunctional family, overdose, suicide)
The warm colours and music as well as the dialogue establish the comedic side of the film, e.g. "Everybody, just pretend to be normal" - this quote also subtly gives the impression that there are problems explored in this film, also suggested by the shots of characters crying/feeling insecure etc.
Struck By Lightning
(sexuality issues, divorce, depression, death, school)
Comedy is established with dialogue such as:
"I have got to get into Northwestern." "Never heard of it."
"Vicky, you have your weather report ready?" (looks out of window) "Yeah, it's cloudy."
"You were on ADD medication as a kid. I hid it in your food." This quote also suggests possible darker/more serious themes, as does the line "What grade do we stop believing in ourselves?"
Adam
(Asperger's)
The soundtrack (guitar, singing) is relatively light-hearted but not too upbeat, suggesting the film is partially a drama/romance as well as just a comedy. The dialogue demonstrates both humour and sadder moments, e.g.: "…in approximately 196,000 years." "Adam, I'm having lunch. Speak English." vs. "You don't make my decisions!" and more darkly lit, dramatic scenes.
Inside Llewyn Davis
(suicide, drugs, violence)
Inside Llewyn Davis uses less warm colours and more low-key lighting than the other examples, and this as well as the dialogue and slower music indicate that the emphasis is more on the drama aspect than the comedy. The comedy is still there, however, established right at the start with the dialogue: "I've heard many nice things about you, from Jim, from Jean and from others." "You have not heard one nice thing about me from Jean."
Forrest Gump
(learning difficulty, death, war, racism)
Dialogue such as "You're the same as everybody else" and shots of war and important historical events indicate that major issues are explored in this film, but comedy runs throughout, e.g. when the President says, "How does it feel to be an all-American?" and Forrest replies with, "I gotta pee."
These kinds of films are popular because:
- by framing a difficult or sensitive subject in a humorous (not the extent at which it is offensive) way, it is made accessible to people so they can understand it
- an important issue can be explored without it becoming the film's sole focus or making the film too dark/depressing
- people dealing with these issues themselves can see them presented comfortably, and can find something happy but honest that they can relate to (an important reason as to why this genre is popular with our target audience of 16-24 year olds)
Our media product uses this convention with Christopher's OCD:
(CUs are used here so audience can focus on his habits - they are clearly an important issue…
dialogue explains them further so it is clear what he is doing, and he is talking to the audience
so it feels more personal)
…and his social anxiety:
…established in the opening in a relatively comedic way, as connoted by the:
SPECIFIC EXAMPLES FOR MUSIC:
(this clip is the whole movie since the opening is not on youtube - just watch the first couple of minutes)
(this was our main inspiration for the music, as explained in our research and planning:
like our opening: acoustic guitar and harmonica-sounding instrument, connoting genre/mood
MISE-EN-SCENE
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Brightly coloured outfits connote youth and the comedic aspect of the film, as with It's Kind of A Funny Story: |
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| Coloured murel in the background also suggests light-hearted element |
Narrative
OTHER THEORIES USED
Barthes: five codes
Enigma code: this means any posing of questions. In the case of our opening:
- Why does he have OCD and social anxiety?
- Is he happy living in this routine?
- "…clean up my roommate's dishes" - who is his roommate? Will we meet him/her?
- "That morning, my routine changed…" what happened? Why?
- Journey: where is he going?
- Naomi: who is this character?
- Will they get together?
Action code:
- Christopher walking: we expect him to arrive somewhere
- "My routine changed…" - we expect this to happen in the opening
Levi Strauss: binary opposites
Christopher's socially uncomfortable nature juxtaposes with Naomi's confident, overly friendly personality. It also challenges the convention often seen in romantic comedies/dramas of the two love interests being similar in some way, e.g. Pat and Tiffany in Silver Lining's Playbook.
Titles
A convention of our genre is to use white/black, simplistic titles that don't interact too much with the sequence. Our main inspiration for this was Struck By Lightning:
A convention of our genre is to use white/black, simplistic titles that don't interact too much with the sequence. Our main inspiration for this was Struck By Lightning:
This ensures that the titles are not distracting - romantic comedy-dramas aim to focus more on story and character than titles that are too visual or flashy. The simplicity of these titles also reflects the fact that the film is about someone's ordinary life, set in the real world. The sans serif font also demonstrates that the film isn't too serious.
The actual content of the titles also conforms to the conventions of independent films. Usually with independent films individuals have a lot more control than they would in a studio-owned production. Our last title reflects this: "Produced and Directed By...", demonstrating the extent of creative control that the director/producer has as they have been able to do both jobs.
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