Definitely Maybe

The beginning of Definitely Maybe we see a big institiution 'universal' which shows it is going to be a successful film. It shows the film has a big budget, after the big institution is shown a smaller institution is shown, this gives the idea that the film is going to be a great success.

We are then introduced to the main character 'Will' who is dressed in a smart suit to show he is in more power throughtout the film. It shows he is a middle class man as he is working in an office. It shows his life isn't as simple when he throws the pen across the room. We see him walking around New York City, this is supposed to be a very romantic city as most romantic comedy's are filmed there. 

The edits of the film are effective it uses slides from right to left and has the film inside the slides showing him moving around new york city. It uses different camera angles throughout the opening such as close-ups, medium close-ups and long shots. To show what the character is doing and where abouts he is.


The lighting at the beginning of the film is bright giving that romantic feel to the film, the main character is wearing the colour blue to show he is sad and in a bad situation. The colours of the tree's around new york city are orange/red to represent love.  


The sound at the beginning of the clip is diegetic as we can hear sounds such as footsteps we hear the noises before we see any movement on the screen, it gives the audience an idea of where the beginning is set and that is is a busy place. After we hear a voice over of the man the camera is focused on telling the story of what he is looking at, once the voice over has stopped. It carrys on with non-diegetic sounds of music playing while the different edits move across the screen. The song used has lyrics 'we gotta live together' this gives an idea of the movie title 'Definitely, Maybe' showing the difficulties couples go through in realtionships. 

Representation

The audience for our film will be aimed at teenage girls and women as a romantic comedy is usually aimed at this gender.

Women in romantic comedy's are usually represented as they need a man and are all about romance. In the films i have researched the main characters are usually women who are going through a break-up and are looking for a new man in their lives's. It shows them going through real life situations which end up being awkward situations making it a comedy. I think women relate to the characters in these films because they usually show real life situations and what a lot of people go through when finding a relationship. In our film we want to bring the typical sterotype through in our characters to show that women will do stupid things for love. 

Men are usually represented in a romantic comedy as the humourous ones and the ones who don't care about the relationship. They are represented as the ones that don't care and just want to have fun. A romantic comedy isn't usually aimed at men but i think the films try and make the characters relate to real life situations so men can enjoy watching the films as much as women do. They are usually 2 types of men the one that is attractive and the women are instantly attracted to and then the 'geek' kind of man who she falls in love with at the end. If we include a man in our opening film we will make him seem like he isnt bothered and all he wants is a bit of fun. 

50 First Dates

I have analysed the first five minutes of this clip.


We see from the beginning of the clip that the film was distributed from Columbia Pictures which shows the film is very successful, as Columbia is one of the biggest production and distrubuters going. The music on the film is very hawaiian and surf like, giving the feel of where is is set. When we see the setting of the beach it matches the music. The music carrys on between convosation and when the main character is trying to get out of situations. The music also sounds like something you would represent with the sea with the effect that it is set in hawaii and based around a sea world. 


The lighting at the start of the opening is light pinks and reds which represent romance and as it is setting the scene on the beach shows the audience where abouts the film is based around. The use of the colour blue shows it is a very natural colour and it can either be represented with sadness or it can be a very calming colour. The use of the light blue in this clip gives a calm effect with the water and the uniform the main character is wearing, it gives the idea of the character and what he is going to be like throughout the film. 


The opening titles fade in and out like a wave, giving the effect again of being in hawaii and near water. The colour of the title shows the different steps of the film, the 50 is in the colour red to show how much romance goes into the the 50 dates, first is in blue to show the calmness and possible dilemmas they both go through and dates is in white to represent the innocences between them both. 

Institutions

When researching our film genre, I found that the most popular institutions for romantic comedy's were '20th Century', 'Parmount' and 'Columbia Pictures'. These are very successful institutions and are used on romantic comedy's which have been successful in the cinema's. When doing our film we know that we have to use a big institutions to make our film successful in the industry. All the information i have found on institutions, i got off Wikipedia. 

Columbia Pictures is an amercian film production and supports both British and Amercian films helping them in producing and distributing. Columbia studio's were found in 1919 and named Columbia Pictures in 1924 as previously it was called C.B.C film sales. The production is owned by Sony pictures entertainment. The most famous films Columbia have distributed are, The Wedding Planner,  When Harry Met Sally, The Ugly Truth, The Holiday.. and have all been top grossing films. 


Parmount Pictures is the highest ranked production company which has been producing and distributing films for many years. It is film and television production and distribution. It was founded in May 1912 and was first names Famous Players Studio but was then renamed in 1914 as Parmount Pictures. It has done many romantic comendies such as, No strings attached, She's Out Of My League and How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days and these have all been very successful. 


Also known as 'Fox' and '20th', 20th century fox is one of the most well known and popular production distrubuter of all time. It was founded in May 1935 and is the biggest film franchises as they have put their name on so many different film and tv. The theme tune for 20th century fox is very remerable as it is on so many films that a lot of people can reconise it. 20th century Fox has helped distribute many romantic comendies such as, Love & other drugs, What happened in Vegas, Bride wars... and have all been extremely successful. 


From this research it has helped me find out which are the big institutions and which help make a romantic comedy successful in the film industry. 

The Holiday Analysis

I have analysed the first 5 minutes of this clip. 


From the opening of the film the music starts from when we see the 'Universal' and 'columbia' appear on screen which shows they are good films as they have been helped by two big institutions. At the start the music is very calm and it makes the audience seem relaxed and ready to enjoy the film. The music has a classical feel to it and gives the effect of the romantic genre of the film. The film is set at christmas time which is supposed to be the month where everyone is loveable to eachother, the film opens showing different couples together during christmas time. 

The opening scene starts of with a couple kissing and the camera tracking back to show it was somebody watching a love film, it then shows a man looking at his girlfriend to show the theme of love. The film uses a voice over describing love and the camera moving to different scenes while she is speaking, to show what she is talking about. It shows the break-ups and make-ups of a realtionship in the first five minutes, which gives the idea of what the film is going to be like all the way through. 

As the film is set at christmas time, the lighting is quite bright and romantic, setting the scene of the film. The 3 main characters are either wearing black or white to show the innocent of the character or either the mystery of the characters. The colour of the present is red to connote the time of year christmas and red also represents love this showing how christmas is supposed to be a loving time of the year. 

The opening title are white to represent innocence and purity it gives the feel of the calmness of the film and how it is romantic. The titles fade in and out and fit with the music. The titles and the music fit perfectly with together giving that romantic feel when you are watching. The lighting is still light around the titles and shows it is a nice setting and very romantic.  

Questionnaire

Questionnaire

1) Would you be interested in viewing a new romantic comedy?

         Yes

          No

2) If no, please explain why you wouldn't interested in a new romantic comedy

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3) If yes, please explain why

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4) What would you want to be included in the new romantic comedy?

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5) What is your favourite romantic comedy of all time?

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Audience

Box office Mojo shows that the most popular romantic comedy of all time was My Big Fat Greek from the opening theatres it showed it was only showing in 108 which shows they didn’t think it would be a great success as it was a low budget film. We would want to make a 'sleeper film' which is a film that has achieved unexpected hits in the industry. The films would have very little advertising and it would usually take a while for the public to be interested in it, the film relies on great reviews and publicity to do well in the cinema's. Sleeper films often have great success by having the most viewers, such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding which ended up being a great success. Also There's something about Mary became another great sleepers film through publicity and good reviews and grew to the top of the box office on its 8th week of release. Most of these films are given a small budget to start their film but end up being a good success and earning more money. Juno became a small budget of $6.5million and ended up being a very good success with the release date being brought forward to cinema's after recieving great reviews on the film. Starting off with a small budget the film then recieved $231,411,584 after the film had been viewed worldwide. It became a great success being a sleeper film.

Rank	Title (click to view)	Studio	Lifetime Gross / Theaters		Opening / Theaters		Date
1	My Big Fat Greek Wedding	IFC	$241,438,208	2,016	$597,362	108	4/19/02
2	What Women Want	Par.	$182,811,707	3,092	$33,614,543	3,012	12/15/00
3	Hitch	Sony	$179,495,555	3,575	$43,142,214	3,575	2/11/05
4	Pretty Woman	BV	$178,406,268	1,811	$11,280,591	1,325	3/23/90
5	There's Something About Mary	Fox	$176,484,651	2,555	$13,740,644	2,186	7/15/98
6	The Proposal	BV	$163,958,031	3,158	$33,627,598	3,056	6/19/09
7	Sex and the City	WB (NL)	$152,647,258	3,325	$57,038,404	3,285	5/30/08
8	Runaway Bride	Par.	$152,257,509	3,240	$35,055,556	3,158	7/30/99
9	Knocked Up	Uni.	$148,768,917	2,975	$30,690,990	2,871	6/1/07
10	As Good as It Gets	Sony	$148,478,011	1,837	$12,606,928	1,572	12/23/97

Schedule

Schedule

2 weeks

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
The Holiday –Analysis	Audience		Valentine’s day	50 first dates – Analyse
Institution	Representation	500 days of summer - analysis	Bridget Jones

Romantic Comedy

In the project i am working with Ellie and Catherine, we decided to work together because on previous tasks we have worked very well together and we think we can achieve the best possible outcome of our film. We decided the genre we are going to be doing is a romantic comedy, they are different romantic comedys which will help us make our romantic comedy look professional.


Romantic Comedys



500 days of summer - is an offbeat romantic comedy about a woman who doesnt believe true love exists while a young man falls in love with her. The film jumps from different days during the 500 days romance, it shows the ups and downs of a realtionship and what people go through. Its different to any of other romantic comendies as it doesn't end as a traditional happy ending.



The Holiday- is about two women who swap houses in different countries to move from heartbreak and they both meet two local men who they fall in love with This film is quite a traditional romantic comendy as they both find true love at the end of the film and it ends on a happy note. This is a good example we can look at for working on our film. 

Bridget Jone's Diary - Bridget Jones is about a woman who wants to improve herself while she looks for love in a year while doing this she keeps a diary. This film is very popular and it very funny it shows a woman who is single. Alot of woman will probably think they are very similar to the character as she goes through different events while being single and is shown to be quite normal. 

Valentine's Day - The film has several different main characters which show the break up and make up on the run up too valentines day. The film jumps from the different couples throughout the film and shows the events they are going through, showing how they get upset and happy on the actual day of valentines. 

50 first dates - is about a man and a woman who get on really well after they have met for the first time, he goes to the same place everyday to see her. The day after they have spoke he goes to sit with her she doesn't remember him at all. Henry then finds out she has short-term memory loss and she forgets him everyday, he tries everything to get her to notice him and by doing this it makes the film hilarious. 

Analysis of a film opening

The genre of Sweeny Todd is a musical/thriller, we can tell its a thriller by the sound of music throughout the opening it is quite dramatic and intense giving the audience that feel of what is about too happen, the music carrys on to be quite eery throughout the opening which gives it the thriller feel. Once the title of the film appears on screen the music becomes faster which makes you think about Sweeny Todd and how he murders people. The use of the opening of the film shows the journey the victims go through after Sweeny Todd has killed them. 




The lighting is very gloomy as we can see from the image, it uses colour to contrast what the film is going to be about and like. The use of the colour red on the screen symbolises death and blood and relates the films character.    The scene starts off with the camera tracking over the tops of houses showing where the film is set, it contiunes to follow where sweeny todd works in the butchers and the journey the victims go through to be made into pies. The camera shows the main parts of the setting at the begginnig then throughtout the film you see these, like the barbers chair and the underground of the butchers.

The opening titles end by going into calmer music and showing the shot of a boat coming up the river in London, the two characters start to sing which shows the genre of the musical side of the film. The music contrasts between the start at the opening and the beginning of the film as the music tone has changed and doesnt seem too much of a thriller anymore. The lighting is still very dull as it shows London to be quite miserable and dull. 

The titles are all white except from the title Sweeny Todd which shows he is the evil one and has power over everyone else, the rest of the titles are white to show the innocence of the rest of the people in the film, the title Sweeny Todd is bold and stands out more on the screen than the rest of the titles and the colour red shows how he is a murderer.