8.5.09
Genric Conventions
Generic Conventions
I have chosen 5 films to compare their generic conventions with each others. The genre I have chosen to follow is Romantic Comedy, which is what many of us girls would call a chick flick. This is very popular choice with teenage girls and women. Most films which are in the same genre have a certain way of presenting the context and characters of the film. Normally following the narrative of equilibrium, disequilibrium, equilibrium. Always having a happy ending!
The first film I have chosen to focus on is ’50 first Dates’. The beginning of the film starts with about 7 or 8 women (and one man-funny) talking about their holiday. Their story follows one another’s but really they are talking about their own individual experiences. This is done to show that the man who they are talking about obviously like women and is going to the main character in the film. Allot of up-beat music is used within the film making it seem happy and light. Allot of laughter comes from both of the characters and they obviously both seem to like each other. As if in real life the man tries to impress the woman therefore obviously embarrassing himself in many ways, which makes the film funny using slapstick. Verbal wit is also used allot and this is sometimes funnier than slapstick.
The second film I have chosen is ‘A Cinderella Story’. This film follows the narrative of a usual Rom Com film and has all the symptoms of being one too. A boy and a girl talk on an internet chat room, many teenagers can relate to this so they can enjoy it and find it funny. The two teenagers don’t know who each other are so we find it funny when they pass each other at school and don’t realise who they are. When they finally realise they fall in – love this is the romantic bit! Many of these types of films have teenager lovers meeting, and then something comes in between them. In this case it is the step mum, but they solve the problem and end up getting back together again.
‘Love actually’ is the third romantic comedy I have chosen to write about. I have chosen this one as it’s slightly different to the others; this one is between adults rather than teenagers so we see calmer emotions and less exited girls. We still have the same narrative and also the same falling in love theme. The man impresses the woman by ‘wooing’ her with elaborate gestures. Many men think this is the key to a woman’s heart, in films they usually are, in real life they are not. Verbal wit is mainly used in this film rather than slapstick.
The fourth film is ‘Wimbledon’ it is a great film, which isn’t solely about love. Its main subject is tennis obviously we follow the story line of a famous tennis player getting his comeback at being ranked highest in the world after eh feels to old and past it. The narrative again follows the right structure of a problem, no problem and then a problem again. This gives us the urge to watch on and see what happenes in the end. The man and the woman meet through tennis, she is a player with a strict father and allot of the humour comes from the couple trying to avoid him. Slapstick is also used in this film.
‘The Holiday’ is a great film for Rom Com. It is very funny with mainly verbal wit and just genuine humour. It is about two women who hate where they live and want to swap lives from the opposite sides of the world, they swap for 2 weeks. They find each other through a website. It follows the narrative as usual and is all made happily ever after in the end. Many different storylines arise, it keeps you watching as there’s lots to watch.
I have chosen 5 films to compare their generic conventions with each others. The genre I have chosen to follow is Romantic Comedy, which is what many of us girls would call a chick flick. This is very popular choice with teenage girls and women. Most films which are in the same genre have a certain way of presenting the context and characters of the film. Normally following the narrative of equilibrium, disequilibrium, equilibrium. Always having a happy ending!
The first film I have chosen to focus on is ’50 first Dates’. The beginning of the film starts with about 7 or 8 women (and one man-funny) talking about their holiday. Their story follows one another’s but really they are talking about their own individual experiences. This is done to show that the man who they are talking about obviously like women and is going to the main character in the film. Allot of up-beat music is used within the film making it seem happy and light. Allot of laughter comes from both of the characters and they obviously both seem to like each other. As if in real life the man tries to impress the woman therefore obviously embarrassing himself in many ways, which makes the film funny using slapstick. Verbal wit is also used allot and this is sometimes funnier than slapstick.
The second film I have chosen is ‘A Cinderella Story’. This film follows the narrative of a usual Rom Com film and has all the symptoms of being one too. A boy and a girl talk on an internet chat room, many teenagers can relate to this so they can enjoy it and find it funny. The two teenagers don’t know who each other are so we find it funny when they pass each other at school and don’t realise who they are. When they finally realise they fall in – love this is the romantic bit! Many of these types of films have teenager lovers meeting, and then something comes in between them. In this case it is the step mum, but they solve the problem and end up getting back together again.
‘Love actually’ is the third romantic comedy I have chosen to write about. I have chosen this one as it’s slightly different to the others; this one is between adults rather than teenagers so we see calmer emotions and less exited girls. We still have the same narrative and also the same falling in love theme. The man impresses the woman by ‘wooing’ her with elaborate gestures. Many men think this is the key to a woman’s heart, in films they usually are, in real life they are not. Verbal wit is mainly used in this film rather than slapstick.
The fourth film is ‘Wimbledon’ it is a great film, which isn’t solely about love. Its main subject is tennis obviously we follow the story line of a famous tennis player getting his comeback at being ranked highest in the world after eh feels to old and past it. The narrative again follows the right structure of a problem, no problem and then a problem again. This gives us the urge to watch on and see what happenes in the end. The man and the woman meet through tennis, she is a player with a strict father and allot of the humour comes from the couple trying to avoid him. Slapstick is also used in this film.
‘The Holiday’ is a great film for Rom Com. It is very funny with mainly verbal wit and just genuine humour. It is about two women who hate where they live and want to swap lives from the opposite sides of the world, they swap for 2 weeks. They find each other through a website. It follows the narrative as usual and is all made happily ever after in the end. Many different storylines arise, it keeps you watching as there’s lots to watch.
Evaluation - Real Film
Romantic Comedy Film
I chose the genre Rom Com as I enjoy these types of films. I have seen so many and thought this would help me towards creating my own.
In my preliminary task my shot types and editing were very basic I managed to create better and more meaningful shots which either reflected something within the script of explained characters, their emotions and relationships.
The editing was also improved from my preliminary task; I managed to use different motions such as dissolve to show the next bit of the film. The preliminary task was more basic with just straight blank cuts from one part to the next. I felt by doing the preliminary task I learnt how to improve to make my film look more sophisticated.
When I was deciding to base my film on teenagers I took many aspects of teenage life into consideration as I wanted to portray a true picture of teenage life. I also put a lot of thought into this as my target audience would be teenagers; I needed to appeal to them. I decided to get the boys to make it seem as if they didn’t really care about their school work to an extent, and to get fed up with it and want to play football. I then got them both to fall for a girl. Boys who are teenagers are very into girls and I showed this by both of the boys trying to impress the girl. The girls in my film are more into their school work, they seem to care more about that rather than boys. But in my film it also shows that girls can be conniving and mean to boys. Emily agrees to meet both of the boys on the same evening – what will happen!
The music I used in my film reflected things which I wanted it to. At the beginning I had ‘You’ve got a friend in me’ playing this is to represent that the boys are best friends and that they have been for a while. (I also showed this by showing photos of them both when they were younger). I then had ‘Walk this way’ when Emily was in the library showing that she may be around to cause some trouble.
I tried to make sure the Mise-en-scene in my piece was of a good standard, I made sure I had good continuity with lighting and clothing. I also put a lot of thought into what props and where I was going to film as I wanted it to represent the age group I chose and the style of a Rom Com.
I think my piece lacks sound of the conversations. I feel this is due to the knowledge I had about the programme we were using to edit. I feel that I didn’t really know how it worked and I would learn more about the software next time before attempting to use it.
I chose the genre Rom Com as I enjoy these types of films. I have seen so many and thought this would help me towards creating my own.
In my preliminary task my shot types and editing were very basic I managed to create better and more meaningful shots which either reflected something within the script of explained characters, their emotions and relationships.
The editing was also improved from my preliminary task; I managed to use different motions such as dissolve to show the next bit of the film. The preliminary task was more basic with just straight blank cuts from one part to the next. I felt by doing the preliminary task I learnt how to improve to make my film look more sophisticated.
When I was deciding to base my film on teenagers I took many aspects of teenage life into consideration as I wanted to portray a true picture of teenage life. I also put a lot of thought into this as my target audience would be teenagers; I needed to appeal to them. I decided to get the boys to make it seem as if they didn’t really care about their school work to an extent, and to get fed up with it and want to play football. I then got them both to fall for a girl. Boys who are teenagers are very into girls and I showed this by both of the boys trying to impress the girl. The girls in my film are more into their school work, they seem to care more about that rather than boys. But in my film it also shows that girls can be conniving and mean to boys. Emily agrees to meet both of the boys on the same evening – what will happen!
The music I used in my film reflected things which I wanted it to. At the beginning I had ‘You’ve got a friend in me’ playing this is to represent that the boys are best friends and that they have been for a while. (I also showed this by showing photos of them both when they were younger). I then had ‘Walk this way’ when Emily was in the library showing that she may be around to cause some trouble.
I tried to make sure the Mise-en-scene in my piece was of a good standard, I made sure I had good continuity with lighting and clothing. I also put a lot of thought into what props and where I was going to film as I wanted it to represent the age group I chose and the style of a Rom Com.
I think my piece lacks sound of the conversations. I feel this is due to the knowledge I had about the programme we were using to edit. I feel that I didn’t really know how it worked and I would learn more about the software next time before attempting to use it.
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