Codes and Conventions of a Romance genre

Normally aimed at female audience because it’s known those females are more emotional in a relationship then men. Heroes tend to be men. “The boy meets the girl” scenario. Hints given throughout the film suggesting that they may be a good “love match” and that there will be a “happy ending”. Characters end up in their separate ways due to an argument or disagreement. Finally they both reunite. Traditional ‘Happy ever after’ Prompts such as: Flowers/ hearts/ wedding bells very commonly seen. Story normally involves emotions/Feelings/Pain/Love/Failure to Victory/Flashback/Past story. Normally the story gets linked to audience’s emotions.

Characters:

· A stereotypical good looking male to attract the female audience

· A stereotypical attractive female to attract the male audience she is also more likely to have a different social status from him

· Family members or in laws

· Ex's or future partners

Setting:

· Beaches for the sunset or beach houses this is a romantic place

· Walks through parks in the winter

· Villages, small towns or a big city

· Stereotypical romantic places like meadows, by the sea or out in a bar/restaurant

Storylines:

· Often with a happy ending people who like this genre usually enjoy this sort of ending the most

· Two people meeting and showing their feelings and emotions develop through-out their relationship

· Always an obstacle the characters have to resolve such as; family members getting in the way, long distances or an illness

· Gives you escapism by showing someone else's life to make you feel better about your own

Props:

· Things that have an emotional attachment such as photos with old memories or ornaments

· Warm comforting clothes

· Mobile phone or laptop for communication

Sound:

· Music that compliments the mood for example slow music when there is a romantic moment between two people

· Limited dialogue to make some scenes awkward between characters

· Some of the film can be narrated usually in this genre by the female character it usually involves her thoughts being told out loud

Cinematography and editing:

· Many close up shots to enforce the mood of characters and the relationship between characters

· Over shoulder shots to help you get involved in characters conversations and make you feel involved

· Doesn't always have to be linear, it can involves flash backs of events from one of the main characters life

· Filmed in light airy spaces to show the mood of the film

· Filmed in dark places or in the rain if there is a dramatic change in the mood

I have learnt that there is a similar structure to most romantic dramas that involves an attractive male and an attractive female character that at some point fall in love. They have to overcome one or more obstacles to get their relationship to a great point. They always have a happy ending even if it involves someone being hurt or dying as it usually links in to the story and makes the film more realistic.