EVALUATION - QUESTION 1 - DIRECTORS COMMENTARY I
Q1. How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups and issues?
Below is the script that I have recorded in smaller paragraphs on voice memo, before assembling it using Adobe Audition. Once I did that I added the edited audio as another layer on the timeline of the opening sequence, before uploading it to Google Drive.
SCRIPT:
Hi, my name’s Tali Lewis and this is the first of my director’s commentaries for my opening sequence for the romantic comedy ‘Textual Chemistry’. Today I will be discussing the ways I incorporated many of the typical conventions of classic romantic comedies into my opening scene, and also the ways my scene represents social groups and issues.
At the beginning of my research I wasn’t sure exactly what genre I wanted to work in, so my first task was to watch and research lots of opening sequences from a range of genres to try and get a sense of the universal conventions found in opening scenes, regardless of the genre the film belonged to.
I chose a range of films, including ‘The Maze Runner’ a dystopian teen drama, ‘Happy Death Day’ a horror film and the science-fiction film ‘Star Wars’ and I noticed that despite belonging to different genres they actually contained many of the same conventions and characteristics. These included production company idents at the start before the action began, and title cards featuring the production companies, the name of the film, the names of cast and crew members and sometimes exposition, filling in background information about the story for the audience.
This research gave me a good understanding of what is typically found in the opening sequences of films, but also a clear sense of the purpose of opening scenes, as I noticed that these scenes often focused on one or more of the following: introducing the main protagonists and establishing their character traits, establishing the setting where the film’s action will take place, indicating genre through mise-en-scene and music, and creating enigma or mystery.
This early research was invaluable in shaping many aspects of my opening sequence for ‘Textual Chemistry’, where I chose to introduce the main protagonists Amy and Luke, and establish their differing character traits to the audience. I also attempted to immediately establish that the film belongs to the romantic comedy genre through decisions regarding aspects of mise-en-scene, the non-diegetic music, the high-key lighting and my choice of font.
To make sure that my opening scene really established the genre of the film, once I was certain I wanted to create a romantic comedy I felt it was also important to find out whether the conventions of opening scenes changed or were influenced by genre, so I conducted detailed research into romantic comedies and also looked at a number of opening sequences specifically from the romantic comedy genre such as ‘Bride Wars’ ‘Clueless’ and ‘Legally Blonde’.
This gave me inspiration and lots of ideas about how to instantly establish genre to the audience, but also helped me appreciate how the introduction of central protagonists manifests itself in rom-coms. I logged all of this research on Blogger so that I could refer back to it when planning my opening sequence to help ensure that I incorporated the conventions I had found. This helped me create a high level of authenticity with my product, so that it not only felt realistic as an opening sequence, but also as an opening scene from a romantic comedy.
I included idents for production companies associated with rom-coms – such as Universal, Working Title and StudioCanal and also title cards using a font appropriate for the genre, but I also made sure my main protagonists’ contrasting personalities were clear, by using a cross-cutting montage of their morning routines.
I tried to make Amy relatable and likeable whilst also indicating through her figure behaviour that she is clumsy, scatty and far from perfect, the stark contrast to Luke’s seemingly perfect attitude and routine. Setting up this distinction of their characters was crucial as their personality conflict is central to the narrative of the film, providing the initial obstacle to them being together and also providing many of the jokes and misunderstandings that come about.
My research into genre suggested that the fonts used for the title cards seen in the opening scenes of romantic comedies are soft, often curved, serif fonts which represent the softer tone of films from the genre. My chosen font, Academy Engraved LET, aligns with these typical conventions with its delicate and refined look helping to convey the film’s themes of romance and emotion.
Looking at the title cards for romantic comedies I also noticed that many used lower case fonts, so I adopted this for my own titles. The use of lowercase lettering makes the title feel more informal and personal, which aligns with the relatable and character-driven nature of rom-coms.
To help me come up with an idea for the overall storyline for my film, and a more detailed treatment for my opening scene, I conducted lots of research in the rom-com genre, looking at typical themes and storylines, narrative patterns, character types and choices filmmakers made regarding film language.
To help me come up with an idea for the overall storyline for my film, and a more detailed treatment for my opening scene, I conducted lots of research in the rom-com genre, looking at typical themes and storylines, narrative patterns, character types and choices filmmakers made regarding film language.
In terms of my storyline and the use of film language, I largely follow the classic narrative structure and patterns of romantic comedies - girl meets boy, they have some friction and conflict which acts as the narrative obstacle that they must overcome, before falling in love and ending the narrative together having overcome any obstacles.
Genre research also included looking at production companies that produced romantic comedies as I knew I would be including idents and title cards referencing those companies towards the start of my opening scene. The production companies I chose to use, Universal Pictures, Working Title and StudioCanal have all made many films within the rom-com genre.
Universal, for example, has produced some of the best-loved and most popular romantic comedies in the history of cinema, for example, the ‘Bridget Jones’ franchise and the iconic ‘Notting Hill’ and ‘Love Actually’, alongside ‘Ticket to Paradise’, ‘Marry Me’ and ‘Leap Year’. This demonstrates the company’s expertise in balancing humour and romance with commercial appeal.
Their experience, I felt, would make sure that ‘Textual Chemistry’ would be successful and I decided to include Working Title as another of my production companies because of their long-time collaborations with Universal, on rom-coms ‘Love Actually’, ‘Notting Hill’, ‘About Time’, ‘Wimbledon’ and ‘Finding Emily’. Finally, I included the production company StudioCanal who have worked with both Universal and Working Title on a number of rom-coms, with their involvement ensuring that ‘Textual Chemistry’ will reach beyond US and UK markets.
One crucial piece of research I did was into music, which I felt was crucial in helping establish genre and for setting the appropriate tone for the film. To find the right type of music for my opening sequence, I watched and researched different romantic comedies and the kinds of songs they use, looking at clips on YouTube but also using Spotify to find soundtrack albums for existing rom-coms.
What I found was that most of the music used in rom-coms belonged to the pop genre, was upbeat and played in a major key, and helped reinforce the positive tone associated with the romantic comedy genre. I chose Jet’s ‘Are You Gonna be My Girl’ as I thought the song had all those qualities, but also had enough instrumental so that I could edit more easily.
The main areas of representation I focused on in the opening sequence for ‘Textual Chemistry’ were gender and age. My characters are young, in their late-teens, making the kinds of mistakes that a young teen audience can relate to.
The central premise of the film, that a misplaced text causes a chain of events that shape the films narrative and creates the obstacle that the characters have to overcome, is also likely to appeal to a younger rather than older audience, through its relatability. Making my characters young would appeal to my target demographic, who I want to be able to relate to Amy and her situation.
Outside of age, I have focused mostly on the representation of gender as this seemed most appropriate because of my chosen genre, which conventionally features romance and conflict between members of the opposite sex.
Outside of age, I have focused mostly on the representation of gender as this seemed most appropriate because of my chosen genre, which conventionally features romance and conflict between members of the opposite sex.
Like age, gender is represented stereotypically in my opening sequence, with Amy presented as loveably ‘ditsy’ and ‘clumsy’, similar to the representation of female leads in romantic comedies such as ‘Some Like it Hot’, ‘Legally Blonde’ and ‘The House Bunny’. Much of the segment of Amy getting ready in the opening sequence revolves around her clumsiness, such as her missing her mouth when brushing her teeth and snapping her hair tie as she tries to do a bun.
These incidents are intended to establish this major character trait and therefore create expectations for the audience about how she will handle situations later in the narrative. Luke, conversely, is presented as the ‘golden’ boy, perfect and confident, as he gets ready. Their contrasting representations encourage the audience to question their compatibility, creating tension through foregrounding one of the obstacles that may initially prevent them getting together.
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