Genre Research - Rom Coms (Romantic Comedy) + Teen Rom Coms (UPDATED)

 - Romantic comedy films (rom coms) are movies with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as a true love able to surmount most obstacles. Romantic comedy films are a sub-genre of comedy films as well as of romance films and often have elements of screwball comedies and stoner comedies.

Characteristics of the plotlines

1. Boy and girl meet. The two lead roles are a man and woman who, against the odds, stumble across each other's path. They may meet through a blind date, a car accident, a hospital visit, or any number of unlikely scenarios. One or both may have other partners and neither may be looking for love. A third party may introduce them, they may find each other in a group, or they may meet on their own as individuals. The important thing is that they end up face to face or at least in touch somehow.

Example of this part of the plot would be in Knocked Up (2007), when the man and women meet in the bar. at the start of the film.


2. Conflicts ensue. In many films the pair are all wrong for each other. One may be sloppy and the other tidy, Or one may be wealthy while the other is a blue collar worker. They may hold opposing political or social views. Whatever their roles, the two hardly seem destined to meet, so when they do, fireworks erupt, but not initially in the romantic sense. But if they do tumble into a quick romance, it is quickly interrupted by a real or potential obstacle.

In Youth in revolt (2009), The boy and girl are told they can't be together because they are moving away from each other.


3. "The look." Either at their meeting point or during a change in one or the other's character or circumstances, the pair exchange a "look," a lingering, smoldering melding of glances that captivate each other (and the audience) for at least a few seconds. Viewers know, even if the characters in the film do not, that the couple will end up together. That keeps us going through the rest of the film.

In 10 things i hate about you (1999), The main two protagonists exchange a glance at each other while sat together at a party. This "glance" lasts a few seconds and gives us the idea that the two characters will end up together.

4. Confidantes. One or both of the pair have a sidekick in whom they confide their deepest secrets, thus letting the audience in on possible threats and secrets before the other lover knows. Sidekicks allow main characters to share thoughts, feelings, and problems to familiarize viewers with internal conflict and contributing to the building tension.


Going back to the film Youth in revolt. The main character talks to his friend and explains all his secrets around 3/4 of the way through the film.

5. Threats, obstacles, or bad guys. Something or someone will separate the lovers for a time. The audience may fear a permanent break-up for part of the film. Problems range from a past life, secret job, identity switch, or misperceptions based on distrust and suspicion. Parents, children, ex-spouses, and co-workers may take the role of potential or real obstacle for a time.

In Hitch (2005), When Sara (female protagonist) finds out Hitch (male protagonists ) is a date doctor she leaves him. but they later get back together.

http://www.essortment.com/lifestyle/romanticcomedy_szbe.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_comedy_film

Rom Coms tend to receive low critical esteem that typically meets the rom- com in contemporary cinema derives from a number of arenas. First its audience is enduringly presumed to be predominantly female and "chick flicks" in all their incarnation are frequently critically constructed as inherently trite or lightweight. Secondly, romantic fiction generally is thought to be essentially calculating in its execution, cynically manipulating an emotional and sentimental response from the viewer.

- Rom coms can be produced with very high budgets and as well as very small budget's. Therefore can be produced by the big 6, and even by small indie companies.

-  Most of the time rom coms use very well known actors and this can quite often be the cause of the high budget rom coms, Examples are Notthing hill (1999) where out of the 42-million dollar budget 15million was payed for the lead actor Julia Robert's .



A few big directors who produced rom coms are
- Richard Curtis - Bridget jones diary 2001)
- Woody Allen - The purple rose of cario  (1985)
- Judd Apatow - The 40 year old virgin (2005)

For the above information i used two books written on Rom coms,
Falling in love again, Romantic comedy in contemporary cinima written by Stacey Abbott and Deborah
I Love you but ... Romance, Comedy and the Movies written by Cherry Potter.

Settings


The settings for most rom coms are based and set in two very common locations. This being a City, and the other being a school.

School - Rom coms in school are often as a large portion of teen rom coms will be set in them. An example of a rom com set in a school is 10 things i hate about you. Where the majority of the cast are teens. A teen rom com not set in a school is Young in revolt (2009). This is down to it being set during a holiday. Though 1 part of the film is set in a boarding school.

City - Cities are often used as they are quite "romantic" when its dark and a lot of lights are on. Quite often the film opens with a establishing shot of the city. An example of both of these is Moonstuck where the first shot is a nighttime shot of Manhattan with all the lights on. Sometimes the opposite is used and a rom com is set in the countryside. Though like young in revolt it isn't always consistent throughout the film. Runaway bride is set in the countryside for the majority of the film.



Teen Rom Coms 


Teen Rom Com is a sub genre of Rom Com, Simply put it is a Rom Com based on teenagers with teenage themes of girlfriends, Sex, Drugs. It usually follows the same codes and conventions of a normal  rom com, though with a few extra codes and conventions.

•  setting usually being a school (example Mean Girls (2004) directed by Mark Roberts though this isn't always the case with Youth in Revolt being a example where a school isn't always present and in this case it is set during a school holiday.
• Usually the parents are a key figure in the plot line and quite often for comedy benefit. 10 things i hate about you (1999) is a example of this where the dad of the two main leading girls is used as a comedy piece.



M. Cera

• The actors in this particular sub genre usually start staring in teen rom coms while their young before moving up into more adult based film as they grow up. Amanda Seyfried started out in Mean Girls (2004) but has now moved up and staring in more serious romantic dramas such as Dear John and Letters to Juliet both 2010. Michael Cera is a actor who has starred in many teen rom coms with Scott Pilgrim vs. the World 2010  being his latest movie and he is still working within the sub genre.

Audience

Rom coms are perfect at targeting most audiences due to the common conventions. The romantic side of the film appeals to the female audience while the comedy side appeals to the male audience. Also the genre appeals to pink pound.