We watched films such as
- Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason
- About a Boy
- Music and Lyrics
- Rumour Has It...
- 50 First Dates
- Something About Mary
Each of these films had many things in common and very few differences. This gave our group an idea of what to use in our final piece and twists we could add in to make it different.
Our main discovery was that 90% of the films we viewed had voice overs in their opeing sequence. These included commentries about characters in the films, mostly from the main characters. They involved discussing either their situation or life so far or simply discribing love. We found that this may be a good idea to use in our final piece because its a great way to tell the audience what has happened so far, whilst allowing them to view the opening scene. We believe that commentry is a very popular technique in Romcoms, especially for Bridget Jones and About a Boy.
We also discovered that some openings showed a main event that occured recently, or a timeline of past experiences. This allowed the audience to be aware of what has happened already in the story. This has given my group an idea to use photos in our final piece to show our romantic couple through their life, all symbolising good times they have shared. This will also give us a good opertunity to include our credits into our two minute opening.
Lastly we noticed that each opening included music to tell the audience which genre it is. This could be a romantic peice of music (for example in The Holiday) or a song aimed at love (for example Music and Lyrics). This has also giving my group the idea to add in music in our final piece which will allow the audience to realise we are creating a Romantic Comedy.
This Research has improved mine and my groups knowledge but we still have a lot more to do until we begin our final piece.
Lots of good observations here Sophie - well done. What do you think are the key differences between British RomCom like "About a Boy" and "Bridget Jones" and American RomCom like "There's Something About Mary"?
ReplyDeleteI think the differences are that there British RomComs seem to focus on one characters life more than their love. For example, Hugh Grant plays many main characters in British RomComs and he always seems to explain his life story as that character before his love enters the story.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand American RomComs show love all the way through the story, including comedy at the same time. They also use different actresses and actors to play the role, unlike British, who always seem to use the same i.e Hugh Grant etc.
Interesting... I think there are also thematic differences. Do you think British and American RomComs present 'romance' in the same way, or slightly differently?
ReplyDeleteI think British RomComs try to create a love between the audience and their main character. For example they make the audience want the main character to find love because they like them or feel sorry for them as it's some how hard for them to find love (that's where the comedy element appears)
ReplyDeleteI think American RomComs present romance in a more romantic way as they look more on the love aspect that the funny, unlike the British who seem to go for more humour.