A romantic comedy (also known as a rom-com)is a hybrid genre where in a romantic plot usually emerges and is presented in a comedic way. In terms of narrative, rom-coms tend to follow a archetypal method and can be observed in three typical parts, such as;
- Boy meets girl, whether this by accident, or most likely in a rom-com with a target audience of teenagers they either meet at school, university or college. Take the romantic comedy 'She's all That' starring Freddie Prince Jr, his character Zach Siller meets love interest Laney Boggs meet from different cliques at school. In which it is based on the storyline of Romeo and Juliet, as Laney goes from an ugly duckling to a swan and begins to fall in love with Zach, much to his ex girlfriends dismay.
- They are torn apart for a certain reason, based on the plot.
- As the film progresses they will realise they were meant to be together/try and get back together again and resolve there differences. Like Bridget Jones from 'Bridget Jones's Diary' goes back and fourth between Mark Darcy and Daniel Cleaver until she realises that Mark Darcy is the one for her in a love story combined with a lot of humour.
Most rom-coms end with a happy revolution. However it is becoming increasingly poplar to end on a more real life prospective because things don’t necessary work out the way we want them to, it’s a different but more realistic note to end on.
The Theme of a rom-com is love or true love and fate; these are the themes that dominates the plot. There are some other surrounding themes like tragedy or loss but importantly the plot is centred with aspects of moral or life lessons being learnt. The main characters are purposely opposites whether in social class, interest etc; this is because their difference is one of the main obstacles to tackle in the majority of films. The audience don’t necessarily take any side of the two main characters, because they are introduced as likeable people we can relate to or people we can sympathise and relate to as the film goes on.
Humour in such films are imported by other characters who are introduced to us as Best friends, otherwise some family members of the main two characters. They are there for support and usually as a main source of humour; They are also supported by other roles, especially best friends such as '27 Dresses' were Jane, played by Katherine Heigl is in love with her boss, who becomes engaged to her centre of attention sister Tess whilst Jane must tackle her relationships with her boss, journalist Kevin Doyle, Tess alongside not so supportive best friend Casey, played by Judy Greer.
Romantic comedies like to frequently be set in well-known big cities, such as London for British otherwise New York for American rom-coms. These are well known places and full of possibilities; so how ever ambitious the plot is, set in a big city makes the events in the film more believable to actually happen. The Time of year it is set in is just as important. Some films are set around Christmas or Valentines Day, one of the most popular ones is Love Actually, where the film is focused around a group of friends love lives and relationships, which are intertwined to create the plot. These are times of the year when friends, family and people come together however it can be a very lonely time when a character is single.
There is a rather varied atmosphere in romantic comedies. Lighting and soundtracks are chosen to support and used to reflect meaning to the emotions in certain parts of the film. Dark lighting is not used very often in rom-coms because of the happy sentiment they create, a swell as colours including red and pink which signify love.Music used is very rarely by a score especially in modern day films Songs such as pop or hip-hop are used as it give an insight as to whom the film a aimed at (the audience can recognise the songs) as well as adding to the mood/ emotion of the film. The soundtrack/song must relate to what’s being told in the film; The songs can even assist in the story-telling process.
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