Setting in a Romantic Comedy

Restaurants:

As a prime date location restaurants and pubs often feature on romantic comedies. Mainstream romantic comedies normally have very fancy restaurants with fine dinning and expensive menus, this is not very realistic as most people cannot afford to pay for such extravagance. Mainstream films have the budget to pay to rent out these venus. Independent films tend to be set in coffee shops and little restaurants because that is normally sightly cheaper to film in, and also undiscovered places like that better fit the independent audience.

Possible venus near me:

McDonald’s (Restaurant Chain): this would be for the date that really isn’t very good. It’s close by and I think that it would add to the humor if a man in his 20’s went to McDonald’s for a date.

The Dolphin (Pub / Restaurant): The Dolphin is a pub near me so would be practical for me to get to; I also have a friend who works there so I would be able to be in there without the manager getting annoyed. The only con of this venue is that it is quite small.

The Warrener (Pub / Restaurant): Another pub that would be practical is the Warrener. It’s quite large and is not often extemely busy. This will probably be my backup option if the chase is too busy.

The Chase (The Hungry Horse): This pub is always very busy so might be appropriate for the date where Mark is stood up on his date to juxtapose how he is on his own but everyone around him is happy. The only risk is that it will be so crowded that there will be no room for me to film.

Props in a Romantic Comedy

To make it clear what genre my opening sequence is I want to present certain conventions of the genre. One way I plan to do this is through the use of props.

Gifts

As most rom-coms include a date or two and most people bring gifts to either break ice or make the date more special.

Flowers: Flowers are a common gift to bring because most girls like flowers but not everyone likes chocolate. Also relating to my target audience is that you can get pretty flowers quite cheap so on a student budget Mark would still be able to afford this sort of gift. 

Chocolates:  Many people say the key to someone’s heart is through their stomach and apparently chocolate is an ‘aphrodisiac’.

Other

Menus: As many dates occur at restaurants this is commonly a prop to have. It reinforces the setting and begins to build the realism of the date.

Wedding Ring: Normally towards the end of the film appears a wedding ring as the couples love is confirmed and they can begin to live ‘happily ever after‘ or not, depending on the film.

I’m currently making a very short questionnaire about props so I can find out if my target audience actually like to bring or receive gifts on their dates to break the ice, or if they think that on a first date you shouldn’t worry about gifts.

Planning: Scripting and Storyboarding complete

Having printed out my first draft of my script I went through it with a fine tooth comb making small tweaks and perfecting it. Somethings I changed were:

• Some incorrect use of capital letters.

• Where I put the wrong type of camera movement – (I put pan rather than track.)
• I added another shot (shot 24b) where instead of having the title appear over the top of the back of Mark’s head I have added an aerial view shot. The title will appear at a different point in the sequence as an intertitle.
• I added a transition (cut) where I had forgotten to put one.

I have also finished storyboarding my opening sequence. As I said I added the shot – 24b. I haven’t yet decided on all of the durations for my shots however I will decide before I start my animatic.

The next thing I need to do is look into props, music and settings.

Planning: Scripting

10am

Today I continued to script my scenes and have almost finished writing out all of them. I also went back though and made my script more professional today by making my descriptions and dialogue lower case and adding more directions about how to say the dialogue. I think this will all make what I’m trying to say more clear, especially for some of my actors who are unfamiliar with working to a professional script.

I’ve also changed the shot type at the bar ( 21-23). Instead of having a close up to show the boys emotion I’ve decided to do a mid reverse over the shoulder shot; by reverse I mean it’s from the front of his shoulder not the back. This way the audience can see the girl that he thought was going to be his date walk over to somewhere else. I think this will add to the comedy in my sequence.

11am

I have finished the main part of my script and I will now continue to go through and perfect it. I might add a few more shots if I feel I have not shown all of the continuity techniques.

Planning: Scripting

I began scripting today (before I’ve finished my storyboard) because I need to work out the timings of where the dialogue will go over the shots before I can decided the duration of the shots. The first thing I actually did when I started to script was to give my main character a name. He is no longer called ‘the boy’ he is now Mark. His name is not actually used in my opening sequence but it is a lot more practical to refer to a name in my script rather than just ‘the boy’ as there is more than one boy in the sequence.

The language that I’ve planned for Mark to use is casual and informal because I want my target audience to relate to what he is saying. A lot of the appeal of Mark for my target audience is that they are able to relate to him so if he starts to speak too much like a ‘chav’ or too formal and old they will not like him as a character. I also want to keep everything he is saying simple because my sequence isn’t in chronological order and I want anyone watching to be able to understand some of what is going on.

My original idea was to have one of my settings at a place where the characters could do some sort of activity, for example going to the cinema or ice skating. This was supposed to reflect how I got some varied responses in my dating questions on my questionnaire. But because of money constraints I would be able to afford for my actors to go to an ice skating rink and I’m not sure of one near me. I wanted to record in a cinema, perhaps before they show the movie, however there are definitely some legal issues with taking a camera into a cinema so it might just be better to go to an interesting restaurant. One idea I had, which would hopefully highlight the comedy aspect of my genre, is to have one of the dates at a fast food restaurant like Burger King or McDonalds.  

Planning: Storyboarding

I started storyboarding today, I was able to follow my shot list so it was easier to start sketching the shots. I finished up to shot 9 and plan to continue soon. I want to start scripting next because before I can start to plan the duration of the shots, I need to write the voiceover so I know if I’m with in the time limit of two minutes, and how long I will need for the shots under the dialogue. Shot 3 and 4 are actually one continueous shot however there is a brief period as the camera passes behind my character’s head when you can not see anything, I want to make sure I remember where the shot will end up – I might change these to 3 and 3.b.

This shot (above) – shot no. 9 – was inspired by the Dexter opening sequence which is completely the wrong genre however it’s the type of shot I want. It features loads of close up shots of Dexter getting ready with a filter and music to make it creepy, but if you take away those elements I think they are just interesting shots that illustrate that he is getting ready. I think if I do it in the right way it will also connote that my character is quite awkward.

One of the shots I have storyboarded (shot 8 – pictured in the bottom right of the picture bellow) will be shot from the inside of the cupboard looking at the boy getting an item of clothing out. I think this shot is quite different so it starts to bring the comedy into the sequence. I’m trying to be original by using modern camera angles and techniques to appeal to my audience.

I’ve also planned out my graphic match which is another different quirky type of shot to appeal to my audience. It follows my character walking through his front door then out of the restuarant door, so it works as a transition between the settings as well.

 

Planning: Shot List

Before I draw a storyboard or script my opening sequence I have written up a shot list so that I will find it easier to formulate my ideas into pictures. It is much easier to switch around things on a shot list than on a storyboard once I have drawn things on there. For each shot I’ve written a brief description of what is in each shot and what shot type/camera angle/camera movement I would like in the shot.

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Analysis of Questionnaire Results and Resulting Decisions

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Audience Research – Initial Questionnaire

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Justification for Questions

In total I asked 12 questions including secondary parts (6.b, c, d). I only asked questions where I am willing to listen to suggestions, and possibly change my ideas to suit the feedback, otherwise there would be no point in me asking them.

Question 1 (Multiple Choice)

The reason I asked this question is because my target audience is both men and women I want to see if their decisions are as similar as I hope they are. If they are not I think I might have to choose one gender rather than both.

Question 2 (Multiple Choice)

I am really not sure what I should established first and I want to know what my target audience thinks is the most important.

Question 3 (Closed Question)

I am considering using a voice over in my opening sequence and I want to know if my audience think that using a voice over has become too dated. I need to know at this initial stage because the way I explain background information will affect the sequence dramatically. It will depend on whether I use a voice over or not.

Question 4 (Open Question)

I want to know what my audience thinks makes a good romantic comedy so that I can try and replicate the key elements of their choices.

Question 5 (Multiple Choice)

If my target audience really doesn’t like films that are shown in non-chronological order I will have to really think about my idea; however I am pretty sure my audience will enjoy this so I am really only looking for justification.

Question 5.b (Open Question)

Seeing as I am pretty sure my audience will like the idea of a film in non-chronological order, I want to know where I have gone wrong in my presumptions about my audience if they do not like the idea.

Todorov’s narrative stages

Question 6 (Although the person filling in my questionnaire can put anything for these questions and therefore it technically is an open question, the answer is asking for factual information about them and therefore the question is less open for interpretation.)

I plan for my film (opening sequence) to feature many dates that I want my audience to be able to relate to because that will add to the humour. I want to get an idea of the sort of dates my audience goes on. The film is all about first dates so that is why I asked what their first date was.

Question 6.b (See above) and Question 6.c (See above)

I want there to be a clips of good dates as well as bad dates in my opening sequence, and I want my audience to be able to recognise them as such. I thought a good way to this would be to use common places people have had good or bad dates. This question will also help to give my ideas as I have not been on loads of dates and I want a variety of date from the right audience, which does not include me.

Question 6.d (Open Question)

This question is very general but I really want to gauge if I have chosen the right audience for my idea. If my audience says that they don’t really like the idea then I know I have made a miscalculation.

Question 7 (Closed Question)

I am thinking of not showing my female lead at all in my opening sequence (if I made the whole film she would probably be introduced without the audience knowing that she was going to become to female lead), I need to know that my audience would be okay with this, and wouldn’t be offended that, especially the girls, no female lead was made apparent. I think this may be where male and female opinion differs.

Question 7b (Open Question)

I think that you shouldn’t need a female lead to be set up in the first two minutes so if my audience disagrees with me, as after all they are who it is for, I wanted to know why because I cannot be as impartial on this decision as I would like to be.

Audience Profiles

General Audience information:

Demographic:

Age: 18-27

Gender: Male and Female

Ethnicity: N/A (Many different ethnicities could enjoy this film as the issues raised do not relate to ethnicity.)

Religious Group: N/A (People of different religions could enjoy this film as the issues raised do not relate to religion, and I don’t think anything within it would offend people of certain religions.)

Geographical Location: Mostly England due to what would be a small distribution budget, but also because that is the setting of the film. I do think that the issues in the film would apply to people all over the world of that age as ‘love’ is a universal language.

Socio-Economics:

Mostly E demographic as I am aiming for students however once students graduate they could go into any form of work like B or C1 Demographic; in the meantime many students have part time jobs so would move into the D demographic.

Psychographics (acording to the 4C’s Marketing Model)

I think the psychographic for my audience is a little difficult to understand. They seek love but also aspire to get the job they are training for. They probably wouldn’t have enough money for most brand names but that doesn’t mean they don’t want them. I think I would have to go with a mix of reformers and explorers which I know is a slight contradiction. I have shown below what parts of each description I believe by making them bold and green.

REFORMERS:

Seeks enlightenment. Freedom of restrictions and personal growth. Social awareness and independent judgement. Anti-materialistic but aware of good taste. Has attended higher education and selects products for quality.

EXPLORERS:

Seeks discovery. Energy, individualism and experience. Values difference and adventure. Brand choice highlights satisfaction, and instant effect. The first to try new (mainly movies not brands) brands. Younger demographic – students.

Below are my two audience profiles. One for men and one for women.