Researching Codes and Conventions of Romantic Comedies

 As part of my research and planning, I took a deep dive into the world of rom-coms, to better understand the codes and conventions of one. It is essential for me to know these things as I was creating a rom com opening sequence of my own. 

What is a Rom-Com?

Rom Coms are a hybrid genre combining both romance and comedy. These films have lighthearted plots, centered around ideals such as true love, and love can overcome all odds, and have humourous plot lines. Typically, rom coms center around two characters with very different personalities, falling in love with each other.

Source - https://static1.colliderimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/best-90s-rom-coms.jpg

Characters

Romantic Comedies typically center around a female character, as the primary target audience is women. There are many different character archetypes, such as 

Popular mean girl: Regina George from Mean Girls

Source - Google Images

Introverted Artsy Girl: Lara-Jean Covery from To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Source - Google Images

A rich girl who has much to learn about life: Cher Horowitz from Clueless and Elle Woods from Legally Blonde 

Source - Google Images

Source - Google Images

Popular Jock: Peter Kavinsky from To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Source - Google Images

Mis-En-Scene of Romantic Comedies

Locations

• Typically takes place in a school or college
• Locations where the main character can spend a lot of time together such as coffee shops, libraries, homes, and parties

Costumes and Makeup

• Normal everyday modern clothing or casual clothing that suits the time period 
• Aims at making the characters conventionally attractive and some rom-coms go on to influence pop culture and fashion as a whole 

Cinematography 

• Use of Camera shots such as two shots, OTS shots, establishing shots etc...

Lighting and Editing

• Lighting would be high key lighting or natural lighting as rom-coms are typically lighthearted and fun
• Editing styles such as cross cuts and fade out is typical, and it's not fast-paced. The use of split screen editing can be seen to light up the tone especially when the character is doing a lot of different activities.

After doing this research and analysis, I developed a better understanding of romantic comedies, which opened my eyes to codes and conventions of the genre that I hadn't given much thought to, and found it really useful for my own film opening task.