Genre Research

 Romantic comedies fall under the category of comedy. These films explore the mix of romance and humor and dive  into themes like love, friendship and personal growth. Typically there are two characters—a single man or woman or a pair of opposite genders—who embark on a journey filled with romantic encounters and funny situations. The focus is on how their relationship develops, using dialogue and humor to captivate the audience. When it comes to production techniques in comedies, expect vibrant cinematography that captures romantic moments through soft lighting and bright colors. Music plays a role in creating emotional scenes and establishing a “playful atmosphere .” Editing smoothly transitions between romantic and humorous moments. Physical comedy and clever dialogue are often incorporated into these films. In terms of marketing, romantic comedies target an audience spanning from teenagers to middle aged viewers. Marketing campaigns primarily highlight the chemistry between lead actors while emphasizing their interactions and funny encounters. Movie posters and trailers show images of the main characters to express their dynamic relationships and set the tone for an enjoyable experience. Advertisements also aim to capture that heartwarming and entertaining feeling, targeting viewers who crave an emotionally engaging experience. 

Film Example #1; "When Harry Met Sally"(1989)- 

"When Harry Met Sally" is a comedy that dives into the complications of friendship and love. The movie portrays the evolution of Harry and Sallys relationship by incorporating clever humor and authentic moments that resonate with audiences. Its witty dialogue and realistic display of love and friendship have made classic go to within this genre. 

Film Example #2; "500 Days of Summer" (2009)-

 "500 Days of Summer" explores both the highs and lows experienced in a relationship between Tom and Summer. It combines humor with depth and captivates its viewers with a unique storytelling approach and relatable characters. 

Other Films within the Genre;

 1. "Notting Hill" (1999). A l romantic comedy that dives into the dynamic between a bookstore owner and a renowned actress. 

2. "Bridget Joness Diary" (2001). Follows Bridget Jones, a woman, in her 30s as she navigates through love career aspirations and personal growth. 

3. The movie "Crazy, Stupid, Love" from 2011 revolves around a mans quest to rediscover love and his self worth with the assistance of a bachelor. 

4. "The Proposal" released in 2009 is a comedy that tells the story of a Canadian executive and her assistant who pretend to be engaged for immigration reasons but end up finding unexpected romance along the way. 

5. "10 Things I Hate About You " is a high school romantic comedy from 1999. This film explores love, friendship, and teenage relationships making it especially appealing to teenagers. 

These movies showcase the variety of plots and characters found within the romantic comedy genre. By blending humor with romance, the genre is a popular movie when searching for a lighthearted film.

Soundscape Project

Two other students and I were assigned the creation of a soundscape. We had to edit together a 1-2 minute scene using only sound (from databases and Foley) with a limit of 7 words.

There were 3 main steps to this project:

1) Planning

2) Collecting and organizing sounds

3) Editing + Exporting

1) Planning - The first step of any project with creative freedom is to brainstorm an idea. This assignment explicitly said to pick an event that would happen in a short timespan. We decided on a girl ordering in a McDonald's drive-through. We created a general outline with 10 primary sounds and 10 secondary sounds we would use in our final project. Then, once that was approved by our teacher, we created an in depth plan of every single sound we would use in our soundscape. We did this by dividing the sequence into "scenes" or groups and splitting the work up.

Detailed Outline (with links to sounds): Outline

2) Collecting and organizing sounds- Once our planning was complete, we had to search sound databases and organize the sound effects we would use for each list we had written. All three of us worked together on this and split it up pretty evenly. One of the group members would record the Foleys while my other partner and I would divide editing. 

3) Editing - Once we had all of our sounds including Foleys, we layered them and ordered the scenes in chronological order. 

Our final project:  Soundscape

 

One Word Film

My most recent assignment in AICE MEDIA AS was to create a 1:00-30 film based off of a single word. 

In class, we got to pick our partners and then each selective group was assigned a word. My partner and I were assigned the word 'fanciful'. This word means to be delusional or over imaginative. After brainstorming, we decided on the idea of a girl who thinks she is in a happy relationship with a boy, but in reality, she is not and instead comes off as a stalker.

The first steps of the assignment were to create a "Brainstorm" sheet and Storyboard. The Brainstorm sheet was essentially a shot list (15 total) while the storyboard helped us solidify the order of our production. My partner and I have experience using storyboards and shot-lists so this part came easy and helped us get organized before filming.

We picked our school as the setting (we used a classroom, hallway, stairs, and the courtyard) and then were ready to film. I acted as the girl and my friend played the boy while my partner filmed, it took us a bit under an hour and we used a Ronin and a Canon t8i rebel to film. This part was the most fun for our group as we experimented with many shots and even decided to include a screen recording of a selfie.

As my partner did the "filming" aspect of the project, I did the editing. I have used Adobe Premiere before so I wasn't intimidated by this. The project turned out to be a lot longer than I expected, and ended up being exactly 1:30, as we had to include all our various shots. Prior to filming, we had decided to dull the colors of the "reality" the girl lives in, I did so by lowering the saturation of the first "real" shot (62%; I just adjusted until it looked right) and then matched it on the other real shots. Some shots didn't turn out as we had planned but overall it wasn't bad. I enjoyed working with my partner on this project.

Camera Shots & Angles Quiz

     After learning about some basic shots and angles and how they can be used during production to convey specific feelings and messages, my class's knowledge was tested through a short quiz. The quiz was more like a project and asked us to do the following: 

• Choose 1-2 inanimate objects.
• Take 15 Shots (An establishing shot, long shot, two medium shots, two close-ups, an extreme close-up, a point of view shot,  any type of shot using a high angle, any type of shot using a low angle)
• Create a PowerPoint with the pictures 
• Label each shot
• Write a short 1-2 sentence summary on how the shot is used.

    We were partnered with the person sitting next to us. My partner and I decided on using a pack of Extra Gum as our object, our story being how it brought two people together, and then back together again after they had an argument. We first sat down and decided to storyboard, something I had experience doing as I am also in my schools Television program. Once we had solidified our story and ordered our shots, while meeting all the requirements, we began to take the photos. The "quiz" was fairly short, we finished taking all our pictures and created the PowerPoint within the class period. Now, all that was left was to add the sentence summaries. As I had mainly been leading the production aspect of the project (creating most of the storyboard and taking the pictures), my partner would label the shots and write the summaries. 

    I believe my partner and I had a good idea and were creative in using such an everyday object as the subject of our assignment. I think our storyboard was a good usage of time during pre-production and helped guide us rather than "going in blind." When reviewing the quiz after it had been graded, I realized we could have taken some more dynamic shots to make them more visually interesting. I also believed that our plot was too rushed for a 15-shot assignment, and would have been better had we taken longer in developing the friendship of the two characters, thus emphasizing how the gum brought them together.

Click here to view my project →  Camera Shots Quiz

Introduction

 My name is Gabriela, I've created this blog to document my development in AICE Media Studies AS.