Initial research - chosen genre conventions

For the genre of our film trailer we have decide to choose romance; we did this because although many films contain an element of romance, we wanted to focus specifically on the genre and explore all of the ways in which we can create a product that either conforms or subverts from the stereotypical conventions of romance.

Generally romance films are aimed at a female audience as it assumes that this is type of film that women want to watch because stereotypically they have more emotions than men therefore romance would appeal to them. Equally men are often the hero in romance films, and it is presumed that women look up to men, so again will appeal to them when watching the film.
The mise en scene of a romance film commonly includes high key lighting to represent the idea of happiness and love within a relationship, along side a domestic location such as a home setting as it will help to portray the stereotypical location in which a romance film normally takes place; the domesticity of a home setting can be associated with romance as it mainly takes place in a private location. The colour red is often included throughout a romance film, for example a red dress, as the colour connotes love and passion; a stereotypical element of a romance film. An example of high key lighting is shown in the film trailer The Longest Ride (2015), a film based around the telling of two romantic stories separated by time. The shot above shows the two main protagonists sitting by a lake, with the natural bright light providing the high key lighting. The brightness of lighting represents a happiness surrounding the couple, and matched with the way that the male is looking at the female it signifies that they are in love. This is stereotypical of romance films, as well as low key lighting which can also be
referred to as mood lighting; this is often used in
sexual scenes because it creates a sensual
environment and represents the passion that the characters are feeling. A further example
of this is from the same film as above, with this
shot.





The narrative of this genre follows the same conventional structure in the majority of romance films; a boy meets girls set up, where the main male character and the main female character meet, and a relationship develops from then. Often there is a disruption to the equilibrium of the relationship, such as an argument or the introduction of a second male/female character, followed by a resolution. This is the type of plot that the target audience expect to see when they go to view a romance film.

The shots that are used in romance films can differ, but there is often a number of close up/extreme close ups to show the emotion that a character is feeling at the time of happiness or sadness in a relationship. It allows the audience to understand how the character is feeling and therefore they can empathise with the character and be more engaged in the film. Long shots are also used to allow the audience to locate themselves and also to view the characters clothing; this means that they can judge a characters personality through the things that the are wearing and doing. It may help to give them an insight into the narrative of the storyline as a characters personality could indicate the way in which a story unfolds.