Romantic Comedy- Film analysis

The film genre we have chosen for our opening is a Romantic Comedy I have decided to analyse some films from this genre in order to gain a wider knowledge for our opening.

Love Actually

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3GWzLpkVdg

• Many of the characters are hugging in the opening and this is showing their emotions of love towards each other and illustrates to the audience some of the relationships which may be included in the film narrative.
• The non-diegetic background music which plays throughout the opening is calm and warming showing that the film is going to be light hearted, easy watch film.
• The voice over given is heartwarming and meaningful and adds to the romance aspect of the film also, it is giving an indication of whom the main character might be. The voice over is male so the film could be through a males eyes and his point of view, which is different to typical love stories.

Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D0zfB1l1x0

• This opens with a character who can be perceived to have been unlucky in love. This is a very imaginative way of opening a Romantic film however, it adds to the Comedy side of the genre. The rest of the narrative can be illustrated to show how the character finds love again.
• The non-diegetic background music 'All by myself' is a comical way to show the emotions of the character instead of dialogue.
• The character is drinking and could be said to be drowning her sorrows and is comically dancing to the music all adding to the genre.

Confessions of a Shopaholic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3pvtAKCi_E

• This opens with a voice over of the main character expressing her love for shopping, the way in which the character does this gives a comical element to the film.
• Panning and tracking shots are used to reveal to the audience all the items that the character is expressing her love for.
• The character calls credit cards 'magic cards' which also adds to the comical side of the genre.
• The music changes when the main character is shown as a mature lady and not a child.
• The setting is shown as a city implying that the main character may be a business woman who loves designer fashion.

These three openings have shown different ways of producing Romantic-Comedy with the idea of starting with a break up, opening with a romantic meeting of loved ones and by not revealing what the romance is going to be at first. By watching and analysing these openings it has enabled me to think about different, original kind of openings to produce for a Romantic-Comedy.