2. Conventions of a
RomCom
Happy endingVoice-over narration
Enigma codes about their
feelings for each other
Meet-cute Grand gesture
Two protagonists
Upbeat romantic music to create a sense
of romance and comedy
They part due to an obstacle
3. Conventions of a Rom-Com
In conventional teen romcoms, there are:
The geek
The new boy/girl
The average boy/girl
The rebel
The cheerleader/captain of the football team
Order of a RomCom:
Meet Cute/Equilibrium
This is when the two love characters
meet each other, normally in a work
based environment and everything is
as usual.
Disruption
This where conflict occurs between
the main characters, e.g. an argument.
Repair
This is when the conflict is being
repaired/fixed, e.g. a make up.
Resolution
The repair will end up in the main
characters being together in the end.
New Equilibrium
This when the couple are finally
together, happily ever after and
everything is back to normal.
- Typography:
The typography of a Rom-Com would tend be bright or colours
to possibly engage and to makes people aware of the genre.
The typography tends to drift on and off the screen
- Sound:
In Rom-Coms the sound is up beat unless it is during a difficult
moment of the relationship, which arrives around the middle of
movie.
- The female characters in Rom-Coms are normally the
ones that hold the power or have the better job (e.g
CEO, boss) this may be because the target audience is
predominantly female.
4. Made of Honor
• We are immediately shown the male protagonist and within the first 2-3 minutes,
the female protagonist is shown. She is represented as being ‘the geek’, as she
was supposed to be in the library studying, instead of joining the party. This is
also another example of some conventions of a romcom, as there’s often a ‘geek’
as one of the protagonists.
• The typography at the beginning is bold white writing that is made up of small
butterfly like shapes coming together and then breaking apart which fits the
conventions as it is a bright colour.
• We are immediately shown the male protagonist and within the first 2-3 minutes
the female protagonist is shown.
• Another convention of a romcom is used, as the music in the background is loud and upbeat.
This fits well with the comedy elements of the film.
• The meet cue for the two protagonist is a house party, where they don’t know each other.
They met through an accident, where the man thinks the woman is someone else and gets in
bed with her, which is some of the conventions in a rom com.
• The target audience of this movie would be for women aged 13 to 30
5. A Cinderella Story
• The film starts off with showing the main character's past. This doesn't follow many
conventions of a rom com opening sequence, apart from when a lady falls into the
arms of the main character's dad's arms. This was love at first sight for them, however
he died shortly after due to an earthquake. However, they aren’t the main protagonist
in the film.
• The main character is represented as being the average girl in a romcom, meaning
she’s just like a normal girl. However, she is also called a ‘geek’ in high school,
suggesting some conventions of a romcom. We’re are not introduced to the male
protagonist, until around 15 minutes into the film.
• There is a narrator, introducing the story. In the beginning, there was music that would
remind you of a fairy tail. This is because the movie is imitating the Cinderella fairy tail.
The font looked royal and gold, suggesting fairy tails such as princesses and princes.
There then was background music playing in the back, which sounds like 80s-90s
happy music afterwards. The font changed to bright pink italic font, which suggests that
the movie is more girly.
• The target audience for this film, I believe is around 13-18. This is because it is mainly
set in high school, which would appeal more to teenagers.
6. Friends With Benefits
• Friends With Benefits doesn't start the way most rom-coms start as both of the
protagonists are in separate relationships that fail. The characters are made out to
know each other but then there is a twist when it turns out they are meeting other
people. It shows the parallels between the protagonists.
• The music is very fast and upbeat which does follow the conventions and is suitable
for the comedy in the film.
• The typography is done in a creative way but it doesn't always appear in bright
colours, some of them are in black block writing whilst others are in white and are
worked into the scene
• Another convention that this movie follows is that the women is in a place of power
she is the one getting the man to join her business.
• The target audience for this movie would be women aged around 18-30 as it
contains many sexual references and has a depiction of oral sex
• The way in which they meet is shows a conventional romcom. This is shown by the
fact that they meet through work, and that it is equilibrium, as it is everyday work
and everything is just how it is meant to be. Another way in which it follows
conventions of a romcom, is that the male character, is the ‘new guy’ in this
workplace.
7. THE
END
Made of Honor - Lewis Smith
A Cinderella Story - Shokri Weheliye
Friends With Benefits - Harley Adlam
