Romantic comedy films (romcoms) are films with light-hearted, humorous plot lines, and based on romantic ideals about love and also encounter problems in finding love. Romantic comedy films are a sub-genre of comedy films as well as of romance films.
The Film:
The Wedding Planner -
This film is a romantic comedy, this is a hybrid of the comedy and also the romance genre.
The typical conventions of a rom-com is that two people usually the main characters fall in love but encounter some problems before they can be together. In this case it is the actress Jennifer Lopez and actor Matthew McConaughy.
The film opens with a plain black background and the titles appear in a light blue girly font which gives an indication that the film involves romance.
The film starts with a flashback into Mary's (Jennifer Lopez) childhood where she is seen playing with her barbies acting out a wedding scene. This relates to the title 'The Wedding Planner' as the audience can already see that her future will involves weddings in some way or another .
The scene then blends into the present as a nervous bride is having second thoughts about her upcoming nuptials. It then cuts to Mary consoling her and reassuring her that she is doing the right thing, she is very calm and obviously experienced in what she is doing. This introduces Mary as a successful wedding planner who people respect.
The lighting is light and the scene is decorated with various lights, flowers and candles to fit with the theme of romance.
As the scene cuts to Mary entering her home the mise-en-scene suggests that she lives alone and is very independent as she makes sure everything is neat an tidy and in its place. The lighting is sightly dim suggesting that she is unhappy with the situation. However her house is decorated in a light pink and has various girly attributes to it to keep with the theme of romance.
The use of non-diagetic sound of a slow romantic song also ties into the genre and indicates to the audience that this is a rom-com. It is obvious from this that the film is targeted at females.
Sex and the City -
The television series Sex and the City is another example of the rom-com genre. The opening sequence of the programme starts with a half shot of Carrie's (Sarah Jessica Parker) face, this is to signify the idea that Carrie is a small girl in a big city, also SATC's theme tune starts to play and this is instantly recognisable. It then cuts into a low-angle shot of the empire state building which is one of the most famous landmarks in New York City, this sets the scene of the programme. Then it cuts to another shot of Carrie's face, this time its a close-up of her looking around and smiling which establishes her position as the main character of the programme. The mise-en-scene of the city environment and her hair and make-up fully made up shows that she is a confident city girl. The scenes then change but are very quick shots of different facial expressions from Carrie and then of the surrounding skyscrapers around her. This is used to emphasise the title of 'Sex and the City' Sex being represented by Carrie, and the City being represented by the skyscrapers, car/cabs and people of New York.
Carrie then starts walking seductively through New York in slow motion this is to represent her sexuality and also ties into the genre of romance, however when she is caught by a car splashing a puddle over her it represents the problems she and her co-stars will face in the pursuit of love which is a typical convention on the rom-com genre. The opening sequence then ends with Carrie looking round embarrassed and confused which makes her relatable to the audience.
Georgia Feyi-Waboso
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