Romantic Comedy film posters

   
from these movie posters the general assumption I have formed about romantic comedy film posters is that both main characters (male and female) are often on the poster, this convention could help me in making my poster to fit the romantic comedy genre.
another convention i can recognise is the gap or block in between the two characters, this suggests that the characters are not together for the whole movie and maybe have something that separates them, which would fit the narrative of my film trailer because the characters Charlie and Sam have an emotional barrier between them through their interactions, pasts and presents.


i also found that there was a lot of romantic comedy film posters where to two staring characters were back to back. this suggests a barrier between the two characters in a less physical way than the two before. this suggests to me as an audience member that there is something the two characters are required to overcome. whether it is social expectations, memories, a difference in aims or political and personal differences.
i believe i could intergrate this into my movie poster because of the historical barrier between my main characters. this is important to me because i believe that showing there is a barrier between my characters will suggest to an audience how the film is set.
i also notice that majority of the film posters i have examined have been a full body shot or a medium long shot. this suggest that the clothes that the actors are wearing represents them as characters because they are so visable. i believe that it would be important to portray my characters persoalities and actions through their clothes to give the audience a broader idea of what the movie and characters will be like.

Props/mise-en-scene/costume

Filming will take place in the school building during media lessons and after school when our actors are available to film. Our first filming session will be in the Corridor of the school building on the 23rd of November in which we will need a camera and tripod as well as our actors.

Main Characters:

Young Charlie (Maddy)

To be wearing little or no makeup

School appropriate clothes

Carrying school books

Her hair in two ponytails.

Smart casual attire

Mature red shirt to show she's growing up.

Young Sam (James)

Photo to be added

No makeup 

Clothes that go against typical school rules, that look threatening.

Wrist watch

Side

young Jesse (Dawn)

Photo to be added

Yellow top blue bottoms.

Messy hair

No makeup 

The wrong crow

 

Member 1, 2 & 3

No makeup 

Clothes that go against typical school rules 

Older Charlie (Maddy) 

Business like clothes, a smart shirt and trousers

Professional but simple makeup

Straightened/ “flat” hair,

No props on person

Older Sam (James)

Business smart clothes.

He should look like he is ready to start a new job. Presentable.

Wrist watch

Co-workers

Photo to be added

Business smart

Clip boards, mugs.

Older Jesse (Dawn)

Yellow top blue bottoms to show continuity with symbolic codes.

Styled hair to show maturity

wearing make up

Smart shoes, suitable for a work environment.

Carrying a folder

Scene: Charlie (older) bedroom.

The shooting for this scene will happen on the 29^th of November at Georgina’s house. The rooms the scene will include will be Georgina’s bedroom, which we chose to be the older Charlies room as the larger bed and makeup desk give the connotations of an older woman. As well as the hallway and stairs.

Actors 

Charlie (older)

older

Business like clothes, a smart shirt and trousers

Professional but simple makeup

Straightened/ “flat” hair, 

Props: makeup, double bed and mirror.

Scene: Charlies office

The shooting for this scene will happen in the school building preferably in one of the offices owned by staff. If not, we could film in a small classroom filming a limited percentage of the room.

Actors

Charlie

older

Business like clothes, a smart shirt and trousers

Professional but simple makeup

Straightened/ “flat” hair, 

No props on person

(facial expression worried and sad)

Sam

Older

Business smart clothes.

He should look like he is ready to start a new job. Presentable.

Wrist watch

Jesse

Yellow, blue

More organised hair

Folder.

Scene: Charlies (young) room

The filming will be in Dawns house, the rooms included will be the hallway (including the stairs) and Dawns bedroom which we chose as the younger Charlies’ room because of the cuddly toys which suggest youth.

Charlie:

To be wearing little or no makeup

School appropriate clothes

Carrying school books

Her hair in two ponytails.

Prop: mirror, cuddly toys, single bed

Location pictures

Plants brook school (corridor east wing and Reception)


this location was chosen to fit the theme of younger years in the characters lives, the scenes shot here will include the parts of Charlie and Sams lives when they were in school with each other. the main scene here is the one where Sam pushes Charlie over and she is helped up by her friend.

in the school building the risks could be formed in the abandonment of equipment for visually impaired students who could hurt themselves if our equipment was left untended , as well as the possible damage of equipment. to over come this risk the equipment should always be watched over.

another risk could be the inclusion of school students who have not consented to being in the scene, to reduce the occurrence of this risk we should film after school or during lessons to decrease the amount of students present.


Bedrooms (Georgina and Dawns houses)


when we are filming in bedrooms for scenes where charlie is younger then older we could risk the safety of the equipment and or actors because of tripping hazards from prop placement being in the way of the filming process. in the younger Charlies' bedroom we have planned for her to run into the room, this could mean our actor runs into objects hurting herself. to overcome this risk we decided to make sure that the floor of the room was clear, for ease of actor movement and also because we could have experienced issues when we attempted to move the tripod and camera around the small spaces. another precaution we could take especially when moving the camera would be to pick the tripod up to move it more easily as not to let the legs of the tripod catch on the floors. In the room we have chosen to use for Older Charlie's room there are a set of stairs going up to the room, a precaution we could take to reduce risk of damage involving the stairs is stay away from them, film from angles not close to the top of the stairs. This would be important as we should be cautious of damaging the equipment from dropping it down the stairs causing a greater amount of damage than dropping it on a floor.

Print product photo planning

Time & date	shot type	Description of shot	Location setting and lighting	Props, costume, hair and make-up	Character you used/ will use and why
	long mid shot	Showing young Charlies outfit which will be smart casual (school appropriate) and facial expression to some detail	School corridor, school lockers natural lighting from windows, else overhead artificial light.	School lockers in the background. school bag and work folder.  No make-up, long hair tied up in two piggy tails, red smart shirt and jeans to show some dress sense as well as youth.	I will use Charlie as she is the main character and it reflects the age difference since when she was younger.
	long mid shot	Showing older Charlies outfit  which will be Formal business wear as well as the facial expression to some detail	School office, office desk and seat, neutral lighting from overhead lights in office.	Clipboard held (to signify work) professional makeup - lipstick, eyeliner, eye shadow to suggest maturity Formal Red shirt, black trousers to show similarities from youth to future and formality of a company owner.	I will use Charlie again as she is the main character and it reflects the age difference in the side by side images as in this shot she will be older.
	mid close up	focusing on facial expression of worry on Charlie	School corridor, school lockers natural lighting from windows, else overhead artificial light.	School lockers in the background. school bag and work folder.  No make up, long hair tied up in two piggy tails, red smart shirt	I will use Charlie as she is the main character and it reflects the age difference since when she was younger.
	mid close up	focusing on facial expression of worry on Charlie	School office, office desk and seat, neutral lighting from overhead lights in office.	professional makeup - lipstick, eyeliner, eye shadow to suggest maturity Formal Red shirt,	I will use Charlie again as she is the main character and it reflects the age difference in the side by side images as in this shot she will be older.
	long mid shot Shallow focus on Sam.	Shows the outfit as he has grown up with little focus on the facial expression.	School office.	Formal business wears e.g white shirt, blazer, smart black shoes and trousers with simple tie.	I will use Sam as he contrasts to the main character but is still very important to the story line.
	Close up	Shows that the watch has some importance to the story line as it is the only item in the frame.	White background. Focus on the watch.	Sam’s watch which is a family heirloom and is the only item in the shot.	In the shot it is only Sam’s watch and nothing else as it creates mystery.

film Logo audience feedback

My group created a survey monkey to gather audience feedback on the film logo designs created, the results showed our target audience preferred the following design

we decided that we would merge this design with the one we chose as a group with the fading effect.

 I agreed with this because i felt it left a good impression of the movie in the trailer and was unique enough for an audience to remember the design of it. another point i enjoyed of the Audience chosen design was that the text was thicker than the one my group chose. this meant that I could adapt my designs to incorporate the preferred elements of the designs. 

Production Schedule

we have planned to film on these days in our locations

Actors Form

Location Release Forms

Key characters of Groundhog Day

Phil played by Bill Murray 

is the main character of the film, the character who experiences the plot of reliving the same day over and over again, the story revolves around, he could be considered both the hero and villain of the story through Propps Character theory. He breaks the stereotype of main characters as he makes a lot of decisions which in countries the film was aimed at (first world, developed countries like America) would be considered morally cruel or evil, he takes advantage of his situation  to take advantage of the people around him ,this connotation of Phil’s reaction suggests that he is immoral and at first is very selfish about his situation he acts selfishly in multiple ways this shows to the audience the depth of Phil’s immorality and blindness to anybody but him, however by the end of the movie he begins to act more moral in his actions, helping people from what he learns through his first thought negative situation which supports the theory of binary opposites as he, the hero and villain, goes through stages of being good and evil. He goes from breaking laws to saving lives. Phil’s actions with drunk country men supports Cohens representation theory of marginalisation and demonization of groups and cause moral panic as him and his friends cause trouble and break laws, they cause trouble for other people and fit in with the stereotype of men being violent and angry, the fact that this representation of Phil dissipates as the film continues represents

Rita played by Andie MacDowell

 is seen as the heroine of the propp character types, she is flirted with by Phil but could also be described as the quest giver as Phil takes it upon himself in later iterations of the day to make her believe and trust him. She is difficult to convince and the characters are sent head to head in a battle where one party is disgusted and appalled by the other while Phil just wants Rita to believe him in his time of need. She fits a stereotype of a heroine as she is the love of the main character, she is clueless to his struggles and even dislikes him at the start of the movie however her heart is portrayed as pure and she give the evil man a chance to show her the truth and she helps him in his issue.

Larry played by Chris Elliot

could be seen as per the representation given to him from the film as the princess’s father, he is portrayed as the man that Rita the princess seems to be most interested in. he at first along with Rita is very icy around Phil, he sticks to her side of the story and is often accompanying her wherever she goes. When Phil is more villainous Larry steps in almost to protect or back Rita up from the violent Phil. However when Phil begins to try his best to save the people of Punxsutawney and be the best person he could be by learning new skills and finding new hobbies to impress Rita Larry begins to ease up and warm to him with Rita. This fits the male stereotype of protective and strong but breaks the stereotype as Larry is seen as a softer and more sympathetic to Rita than Phil is as he listens to her and respects her.

Ned played by Stephen Tobolowsky

Is represented as annoying sales pitcher for life insurance who Phil despises at first. The representation of Ned attempting to interest Phil in life insurance by telling him he knew him in school suggests that there has been a past bond between them that was more important or memorable to one than the other. Neds character is used as a medium for Phils character to react to, his interactions with the main character are a part of Phils recurring day which he does no enjoy, the precautions that Phil faces for his behaviour to Ned is stepping into a cold icy puddle which Ned mocks him for.

Applying Audience Theory (Mr Love)

1. Richard Dyer – does your genre offer ‘Utopian solutions’? Yes or no, plus explain why.

The films that come under the genre romantic comedy movies tend to be utopian solution like endings as they often the stories endings are ideal in their outlook in most cases, this is because the aim of a romantic comedy is to make the audience laugh and feel entertained by the lives of characters as represented in the movie. The majority of films as per Torodovs theory of equilibrium have disequilibrium, a portion of the film where the story focuses on a problem, this part of the film can vary greatly between films even in romantic comedies as the narratives in each film will be different. Where one narratives disequilibrium could be heart-breaking, for example in ‘Life As We Know It (2010)’ where the disequilibrium is created from the death of the two main characters and love interests best friends die and they, a man and a woman who hate each other, have to come together to bring their dead best friends child up. This disequilibrium is not utopian in any sort, the characters are shown mourning their friends and being constantly reminded of their death by the child. However, the end of the narrative becomes utopian as they fall in love and help a child who means the world to them grow up. The other side of this coin is films where the disequilibrium is light-hearted, not emotionally breaking, for example in How to Lose a Guy in 10 days where the disequilibrium is the aim of both the main characters to do completely opposite things. The man trying to woo the woman and the woman trying to drive away the man. This representation of a story offers possibly utopian solutions as they are trivial issues to have or at least they could be seen as trivial compared to some plot problems in films.

2. The Frankfurt School – is the audience sometimes passive in your genre? Explain why.

I agree that occasionally the audience to the genre Romantic comedy genre is passive in their consumption of media. Films in the genre are seen as casual and easy to watch. They do not tend to have long thought out theories behind them from fans of the story unlike genres like Super Hero where dedicated fans discuss plot points and story lines and try to put their own theory’s up into the air. Romantic comedies are loved by a wide range of people but usually lack the massive fan base who argue and fight over favourite characters.

3. Blumler & Katz – what are the uses and gratifications for audiences of your genre?
•  Entertainment & Diversion

This fits the genre romantic comedy the most as people often watch a movie from the genre to escape from the real world. The ideal situation or a story in which they can lose themselves and forget about their own problems for the duration of the movie.

• Personal relationships/ social interaction

Romantic comedies tend to follow the relationship flow or break of a young couple. These representations of young relationships and social interaction form what a lot of people can begin to relate to as romantic comedies often have themes which follow the experiences of young people like moving away from each other, relationship troubles, bully’s or more common things young people deal with in life.

• Personal identity

The inclusion of common problems faced by an audience makes a movie more relatable. An audience being drawn to media which represents them. The relatable nature of Romantic comedies is what draw people to the genre as people are interested on how people other than themselves would deal with a situation.

• Information/Education

Many new films focus on difficult issues of the world which are hard to watch and worrying to learn about however romantic comedies have a reputation for being light hearted and used for distraction so they are expected not to house difficult topics, however they are likely to include some current news like unemployment.

4. David Buckingham – if the audience of your genre is young people, how does this theory apply?

•       The theory of David Buckingham’s creative audience theory fits the genre of romantic comedy because young people watch the media texts which fall into the genre category to escape the world and learn certain ideas from the experiences of other people through the representation formed from the creators of the media text. Young people also experience a romantic comedic film to help attempt organising their own life as per the advice from the films characters. This means a film has to be careful during the production of the film to make sure young audiences are responsible with the knowledge or that they as the producers limit the effect the film could be on the audience. the genre also stays true to the part of his theory in which he states “Many of their interactions with the media are not contrived, committed or concentrated but fleeting, visceral and meaningless.” Because as I have said previously the audience and fan base for a romantic comedy film is often short lived and uncommitted, especially so if you were to compare this to another genre like super hero or mystery. 

Research on company and film logos

this film title fits its genre as a black and white crime film because the connotations of using grey scale suggest age and the use of the headlights shining onto the text suggest an air of mystery and unlawful behaviour as the first thought from night driving is danger.

the use of a uneven font suggests the genre of fantasy as the font is similar to how you would see an old book written from the use of ink and quill. it also give the impresion of inperfection. the different sized letters are interesting to the eyes as they are different and nonuniform. 

in the above romantic comedy trailers the use of bold text, coloured text and small space between words are used as a convention. the bold text brings attention to the font and it is the same with the colour, the use of a few different font sizes is important in "how to loose a guy in 10 Days" draws the interest of the audience as they noticed the imperfect nature of the text. 

this film production logo is appropriate as it shows what the focus of the company is (films) in a very simple format. the black on a light yellow background stands out and would look flashy to an audience. 

an iconic production company logo. the logo continues the idea of the name of the company with a fantasy - friendly image of a young boy fishing from the moon. this iconic logo is easily recognisable against others and does well to suggest the themes of the production companies work. 

this logo uses bright neon colours that stand out to an audience with their vibrancy. the use of these colours excites and confuses the audience suggesting modernity. this film logo carries the connotations of lively films, with informative plots which could educate an audience in an entertaining way of current events.

this is a simple and stylistic production logo. the text is white to contrast the darkness of the black background and stands out. the connotations of this production company logo is serious media which carries formality in its context. the elegance in the mountain suggestive line above the text attracts a mature audience versus the young audience the broken string records would attract

Planning for filming/props/costumes/hair/makup lists

Scene: school corridor

Filming will take place in the school building during media lessons and after school when our actors are available to film. Our first filming session will be in the Corridor of the school building on the 23^rd of November in which we will need a camera and tripod as well as our actors.

Main

Charlie (Maddy)

To be wearing little or no makeup

School appropriate clothes

Carrying school books

Her hair in two ponytails.

Sam (James) dick head

No makeup

Clothes that go against typical school rules, that look threatening.

Wrist watch

Side

Jesse (Dawn)

Yellow top blue bottoms.

Messy hair

No makeup

The wrong crowd

Member 1, 2 & 3

No makeup

Clothes that go against typical school rules

Camera operator (Georgina)

A smile J ily

Scene: Reception.

Filming will take place in the reception of school 5^th period of the school day during the media lesson on the 29^th of November. We will need a tripod and a camera.

Our actors should have:

Charlie (Maddy)

older

Business like clothes, a smart shirt and trousers

Professional but simple makeup

Straightened/ “flat” hair,

No props on person

Sam (James) cunt

Older

Business smart clothes.

He should look like he is ready to start a new job. Presentable.

Wrist watch

Co-workers

Business smart

Clip boards, mugs.

Jesse (?)

Yellow, blue

More organised hair

Folder.

Scene: Charlie (older) bedroom.

The shooting for this scene will happen on the 29^th of November at Georgina’s house. The rooms the scene will include will be Georgina’s bedroom, which we chose to be the older Charlies room as the larger bed and makeup desk give the connotations of an older woman. As well as the hallway and stairs.

Actors

Charlie (older)

older

Business like clothes, a smart shirt and trousers

Professional but simple makeup

Straightened/ “flat” hair,

Props: makeup, double bed and mirror.

Scene: Charlies office

The shooting for this scene will happen in the school building preferably in one of the offices owned by staff. If not, we could film in a small classroom filming a limited percentage of the room.

Actors

Charlie

older

Business like clothes, a smart shirt and trousers

Professional but simple makeup

Straightened/ “flat” hair,

No props on person

(facial expression worried and sad)

Sam

Older

Business smart clothes.

He should look like he is ready to start a new job. Presentable.

Wrist watch

Jesse

Yellow, blue

More organised hair

Folder.

Scene: Charlies (young) room

The filming will be in Dawns house, the rooms included will be the hallway (including the stairs) and Dawns bedroom which we chose as the younger Charlies’ room because of the cuddly toys which suggest youth.

Charlie:

To be wearing little or no makeup

School appropriate clothes

Carrying school books

Her hair in two ponytails.

Prop: mirror, cuddly toys, single bed

logo feedback

i asked members of my potential audience which of the designed production company logos they liked the most they answered that they preferred the star with a point facing down

film 'logo' ideas

the idea of them is that they fad as they go along the text to give an effect of Ending