Comedy Unit: Romantic Comedy Film Studies

Bellringer What is your favorite Romantic Comedy? Was the relationship believable? What makes this your favorite romantic comedy? If you don’t enjoy romantic comedy, explain why not.

Romantic Comedy The romantic comedy film sub-genre typically involves the development of a relationship between a man and a woman. The stereotyped plot line follows the "boy-gets-girl", "boy-loses-girl", "boy gets girl back again" sequence. Naturally there are innumerable variants to this plot, and much of the generally light-hearted comedy lies in the social interactions and sexual tensions between the pair. Examples of this style of film include It's a Wonderful World(1939), The Shop Around the Corner (1940), Sabrina (1954), Annie Hall (1977), When Harry Met Sally (1989), Pretty Woman(1990), and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). What characteristics do you see that these have in common? RomComs

Comedy Settings: Yellow, Blue, and Bright

Do these scenes fit the characteristics of Comedy Iconography? As mentioned before, bright colors and populated areas. Characters: ordinary person whose situation turns comedic Props include things that have a high chance of comedic use like golf clubs, dental tools, footballs, etc.

the chemical equation: setup the cute meet: catalyst According to Billy Mernit’s Writing the Romantic Comedy, every rom-com shares the same seven beats: the chemical equation: setup the cute meet: catalyst a sexy complication: turning point the hook: midpoint swivel: second turning point dark moment: crisis climax joyful defeat: resolution

Sound in Comedies

Types of Sound Diegetic sound meaning the sound (music, dialogue, or sound effects) that comes from a source IN the movie. ****Examples of diegetic sound can include: characters talking, the sound of traffic or of a footstep, music from a radio, and any other sound that could logically be heard by a character in the scene. Nondiegetic sound -which refers to sound that can’t logically be a part of the movie environment. ****Nondiegetic sound can be the music we here while the title is rolling or the music that appears seemingly nowhere to heighten a romantic scene or a fight scene etc. Internal diegetic- is a mix of the two types of sound where the audience hears a character’s private thoughts. 8

Romantic Comedy: My Best Friend’s Wedding Won in 1998, along with 8 others: ALMA Award: Outstanding Individual Performance in a Crossover Role in a Feature Film-Cameron Diaz American Comedy Award: Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture-Rupert Everett Blockbuster Entertainment Awards: Favorite Actress - ComedyJulia Roberts Favorite Supporting Actor – Comedy Rupert Everett Favorite Supporting Actress - ComedyCameron Diaz

Romantic Comedy: My Best Friend’s Wedding Nominated for 1998, along with 15 others: Golden Globe: Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical-Julia Roberts Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture-Rupert Everett Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score GLADD Awards: Outstanding Film MTV Awards: Best Comedic Performance-Rupert Everett

While Viewing… Pay attention to the sound… How is the sound used to build the comedy. Pay attention to the Iconography. Is it clear in this comedy? Setting, characters, props? Pay attention to the establishing plot.

Day 2 How important is the characterization to a romantic comedy? Do you have to find the characters likeable to want them to end up together?

Characterization in Film When other characters directly tell us about other characters, we are observing direct characterization. Mean Girls Direct Characterization Clip: What was directly characterized? Often times, a character will reveal the reasons why they act (what makes them tick). This is the character’s motivation. What is the character’s motivation in theCan't Buy Me Love trailer?

Characterization in Film There are many diverse characters in movies with a variety of traits (smart, funny, annoying, witty, antagonizing, clumsy, deceptive.) We learn about these traits and the character from what the character says and does. In film, we observe this indirect characterization on screen. This clip from Grease shows indirect characterization. How did you characterize Danny as opposed to Sandy from this?

Application: Using the iphone template, choose one of the main characters. Reveal at least one of the 7 beats of a RomCom and an example of both direct and indirect characterization on your Whose Phone Is It page. It should reflect some characterization and true understanding of how the character feels about that particular beat. Ex: dark moment: Would the post be happy? Where is she/he “checking in” at this point? What do they have to say/feel? What would she/he say at certain times? What emojis would he/she use?

Partner Extension Using your iphone template, cover up the name of your character. Pass your iphone to a partner and see if he/she can correctly identify your character. If not, your character development may need some work.

Credit to… Film Genres (slideshare) Comedy Types (slideshare) Types of Comedy (slideshare) Elements of Film (slideshare) (forgive improper citations and laziness)