Conventions Of The RomCom/Comedy Genre

An analyitacal investigation into the comedy genre and all of ts most popular conventions in order to give me a solid

understanding of the genre beforre starting my main task

Research

• I began researching conventions by watching the openings of several films on YouTube. From the films openings I was able to find several conventions and features that are generic across the whole of the RomCom. genre which are shown on the slides that follow

Characters

• This genre has four main character types which are generic across most of the genre these types are:

• The Protagonist, either a played straight character, or a hapless foolish character

• The Antagonist, the opposition to the protagonist getting the romantic intrest

• The Love/Romantic Intrest, the object of enamour for the protagonist and

the main goal is to be with at the end of the film

• The Deuteragonist (sidekick) mentor/fool/comic relief, the ying to the protagonists yang, this charecter compliments the protagonist, usually having the opposite charecteristics. They can mentor the charecter in trying to get the romantic intrest or just be the comic relief to the intensity of the main charecter.

Narrative Structure

• Most RomComs have the generic formula which is as follows

• An underdog protagonist is introduced who vies for the love of the romantic intrest

• They get rejected, or dont have the confidence to try to go after them

• They have a rival contending for the Romantic Intrest’s love

• Through the film they reform their image and gain confidence whilst competing against the rival

• By the end they defeat the antagonist and get the guy or girl

Representations

• Throughout the media, not just the comedy genre charecters are represented a certain way. Most of the time these representations lie within the parameter of Goffman’s Theory, which states that men are often shown to be powerful and dominant, whereas women are always shown to be seductive, weaker and emotionally flawed. These representations extend past gender, going to ethnicity, social background and all markers of identity. However these representations are recognisable to the viewer and can be identified with, a reason for which they are used.

Diegetic Sounds

Non Diegetic Sounds

Foleys

Atmospheric Music

Conclusion

In synopsis, my investigation of this genre, has made me more aware of it’s conventions and features. I feel that now that I am familiar with these, I would like to do this genre for my main task as I enjoy RomCom films and thus feel that it would be relatively simple and quite fun for me to create a RomCom opening for my main task