Representations of men within romantic comedies.

How men are represented within romantic comedies.

Our group took in a variety of romantic comedies and studied how the male protagonists are represented within each film.

For example, the films I chose were:• How to Lose a Guy in 10 days.• Bridget Jones• The Proposal• 13 Going on 30.

We often see many powerful men within romantic comedies, not to mention the usual ‘office romance.’ I tried to find romantic comedies that would often show another side to the male character, ones that try and get away from the

stereotypical male protagonist.

Mark Ruffalo was cast to play Matty in 30 Going on 30, even from his physical appearance we see that he is not the typical businessman that we would usually visualise. It is perfect for the 13 Going on 30 movie, as Mark Ruffalo seems almost like a normal person, not a well known celebrity.

Not like Ryan Reynolds, who from his physical appearance it is clearly obvious why he was cast in The Proposal.

The actors chosen to play Daniel and Mark in Bridget Jones are stereotypical, Hugh Grant was cast to play the role of Daniel Cleaver, and Colin Firth was cast to play Mark Darcy.

Colin Firth is a major name within the film business for playing ‘heartthrobs’ he is known for such films as Pride and Prejudice where he played Fitzilliam Darcy, which is fitting as he plays Mark Darcy in Bridget Jones.

Hugh Grant is known for playing the hopeless romantic within the romantic genre, he’s played in films such as Love Actually (Alongside Colin Firth!) He is the stereotypical British man.

Representations of women within romantic comedies.

How women are represented within ‘Tamara Drewe.’

Analysing title sequences.

• They were first used in silent movies using title cards, these were also used to show dialogue. They were photographed then edited into the film.

• When talkies were introduced in the 1920’s and colour motion in the 1930’s, titles sequences began to develop

• Spook Sport, 1940- one of the first films to set the scene of the film in the opening sequence.

• After the second world war, title sequences began a new phase. Title sequence began to be more artistic and personalised. More time, resources and budgets were now being spent on the title sequences.

• Saul Bass, his title sequences expanded on just crediting the cast and crew, he began to make them entertaining the audience with visual stunning graphics.

The history of title sequences.

One of Saul Bass graphics.

• The main function of film titles is to show the films title and to credit the director, producer, various actors and other artists and technicians that have

worked on a film. But more importantly the titles must prepare the viewer for the viewing of the film.

Why do we have title sequences?

The opening titles for Ocean’s Eleven.

• Producers name is usually the first name with the word ‘presents’, this is because the producer is the main responsibility of the film.

• The next screen will then show the directors name who is responsible for the creative elements.

• The main actors and actresses names will usually be shown and then the supporting actors and actresses in alphabetically order.

Codes and conventions.

Techniques used in opening sequences.

http://jasonsussberg.com/brief_history_of_titles_sequences.pdf

Our ideas for our opening sequence.

Name: Zara WilliamsAge: 17FemaleBackground: Comes from a wealthy family. Mum dies when she was young

Name: Misha WylesAge: 17MaleStory:

Synopsis. Character profiles

• Zara and Misha meet and fall in love. Zara’s mum died when she was young (Five years old) but still remains close with her father, Max. Misha’s parents are split up and he lives with his mother, Darcy. Darcy works a lot so is often away from her son.

• Zara takes a walk to the park bench where her mum use to take her, on

her mums death anniversary. Misha is walking his dog and the dogs walks towards Zara, she starts to pet it. Leading to a conversation. Their bond grows and they form a relationship. Within around a month of the relationship they meet each others parents.

Our initial story behind the characters.

• Bad For You• Little things• Teardrops• Reasons Why - chosen one• Summer Love• In The End

All of these ideas are songs that our group listened to, whilst also reading the lyrics – we deemed these songs appropriate and fitting with the idea of our opening sequence, as most of them are fairly relatable to teenagers and the idea of romance.

Title ideas.

• Music, minimum dialogue - we feel as though this will have a stronger effect on the audience as by looking at the facial expressions of the characters, portrays their feelings and tells their story anyway.

• Split screen showing memories and how they meet showing their differences, for example, showing the couples feet, she is wearing high heels, he is wearing scruffy converse, which clearly shows the two’s differences. – could indicate to the audience that because they are so different, there could be a potential rift.

• Two people, boy and girl. – typical and essential for a romantic comedy!

• We’ve decided to use an acoustic piece of music for our opening sequence, which will be supplied by Jordan Heather, a past student of this school. We’ve decided on the music of Taylor Swift – You Belong With Me to accompany the piece, we feel the music will really fit in with the start, as it captures the audience and isn’t deemed as a slow, sad genre of music.

Opening sequence ideas.

• The music often used in the title sequences is often upbeat and current. This sets the scene of the film as it is part of Todorovs equilibrium theory, which states that the beginning of the film, everything is normal and end that characters are in a happy time of their lives. The music used in the title song sequence also goes well with the way the titles are edited together. The music is also chosen very cleverly as the lyrics to the song also gives hints at what may happen throughout the film.

Our roles.

• Mia will be scriptwriting• Jess will be a director• Lauren will be filming the piece.

Target audience and research.

Results of our survey. (Primary Research)

• Females of the age of 16 are most likely to go and see a romantic comedy

• They are most likely to go with their friends or partner

• People said that they like the comedy factor in a romantic- comedy and a happy ending

• We also found out that just from the title sequence they want to have an idea of the storyline

• Our final question was’ Do you like watching stereotypical romantic-comedies or would you rather something unexpected to happen?’

• With 57% saying they do

Before we started deciding on the genre we wanted, we always had the rom-com genre in the back of our minds.. But after conducting this survey and getting these results, it made our decision final.