The students propose a short romantic comedy film that demonstrates their understanding of genre and narrative theory. They choose the hybrid genre of rom-com because it appeals to a wide mainstream audience. The film will follow a linear narrative and include conventions of the genre like stereotypical characters and settings. However, it will also challenge conventions by having the male character subvert expectations of dominance and featuring everyday locations rather than romantic cities. Camera shots, editing, music and costumes will be realistic to match the genre.

1. Advanced Portfolio Ideas Generation – Amy, Morgan
and Olivia
For our A2 Advanced Portfolio we want to produce a short film that clearly demonstrates our
understanding of key aspects of genre and narrative theory. Our idea has been broken down
into these key aspects: Genre, Conventions of Genre, Settings (visual style, lighting, props
and costumes) Cinematography, Editing, Characters and Iconography.
We have chosen a Hybrid genre of a Rom-com (Romance and Comedy) for our Short Film.
We have chosen this because it targets a mainstream audience and will be viewed by a
variety of people who enjoy different genres. A Rom-com targets a mainstream audience
because it has different elements within the genre, an element of Romance would target a
female and some men because they can relate to the film. An element of Comedy included
in the film targets a wide mainstream audience. Bringing the two together would then target
a wider mainstream audience. By including conventions of a rom-com in the film, this will
straight away attract an audience who enjoy this genre of film. By doing this, this uses
Chandler’s conventional definitions theory.
The film follows a linear narrative which means the film follows a chronological order which
leaves the audience in suspense because they don’t find out the ending of the story until the
end of the film which gives the audience time to make their own conclusion of the film. The
music used in the film would be a popular genre of music e.g. Pop/Chart music that is well
known by the mainstream audience so it is then easy to relate to.
The settings used in the short film will be specific to the genre of the film which is a
Romance Comedy film. It will be realistic; it will be in an everyday basic location so it is as
close to real life. This could challenge the conventions of rom-com films because many
romantic films are set in places such as romantic cities, beaches. This uses Neale’s
repetition and difference theory because it uses the conventions of a rom-com genre by
including stereotypical characters and storylines but challenges the conventions of a rom-
com by using a diverse mise en scene. The costumes used in this short film will be typical of
what you would expect to see in a “realistic” film, very basic clothing and everyday clothing.
The camera shots used in the film will also match the realistic genre. Basic close-up shots
will be used to keep the film seem as real to life as possible to the audience. Editing will be
used to make the film flow more so it doesn’t just jump from scene to scene. Continuity
editing will be used in the short film because it keeps it close to reality, this is the most
common type of editing, this aims to create a sense of reality and time moving forward.
The type of characters used within the short film is stereotypical of a romance comedy genre
except for the male character within the film who challenges the stereotype of male
characters within Romance/Comedy films. Stereotypically a male character is usually
dominant over the females whereas in this film the female characters have the power over
him. He is portrayed to be quite geeky, and isn’t as confident around girls as some other
boys would be portrayed in this genre of film. He is desperate for some female attention but
his action around girls brings the comedy to the film making it humorous. The first female
character is a quiet girl who doesn’t understands the male characters jokes she is portrayed
as uncomfortable around him, perhaps stuck up as she doesn’t speak much around the

2. characters. The second female character used in this film is a character that doesn’t really
want to be on the date with the male, she is bored and uses any excuse to get out of the
date. The third female character used is a bubbly character who, and from first impressions
you would expect the two to go on a second date but she then stands him up on a date, this
could perhaps shock the audience because they would expect to see the two together. The
final female character is the girl who ends up with him at the end of the film. She is portrayed
as a stereotypical attractive, blonde female she is polite and down to earth. These
characters use Neale’s theory of repetition and difference because although an attractive
female is used as one of the main characters, the male character challenges the stereotype
of being a dominant, masculine character.