Wednesday 2 September 2015

Codes, conventions and cliches of a Romance

Codes and conventions of an romance genre: 

  • Aimed at female audience as they can relate more and express emotions 
  • 12 – 15 certificate to maximise the audience 
  • A typical romance genre would include sexuality, status, gender and relationships. 
  • Narrative: falling in love, dating, kissing 
  • Often a voiceover is used to introduce the love theme 
  • Main characters are introduced – attractive female and male 
  • The setting is normally in an urban environment, a beach, a school etc, places where a chance encounter would happen. 
  • When a romance film opens, it is likely that much of the setting will be shown to the audience from the use of establishing shots and wide shots showing characters and much of the setting and area behind them. 

Cliches:


  • Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl 
  • Female lead ends up with wrong boy 
  • Prince Charming exists - unrealistic features 
  • Bride/groom get ditched at altar 
  • Pushy but lovable mother 
  • Male lead has a best friend that is a lovable slob 
  • Misfortunes can bring people together e.g. car crashes, sudden divorce 
  • Major scene at airport or taxicab where boy realises he loves the girl and tries not to lose her 
  • Faithful sidekick who secretly worships the male lead from afar 
  • The fat, mouthy but supportive girlfriend

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