This s Kym, who is the typical audience member for my product as she is a Caucasian, teenage female of lower middle class. This is the same as my main character, who will appeal to Kym as she can identify with her. However, the uplifting romantic genre of the film would also appeal to Kym using escapism. She watches television shows of the drama and romantic comedy genre, for example, 2 Broke Girls and Skins, both of which feature young adults and teenagers, which is criteria that the main film fall under. She listens to mainstream pop music, which would be used in my film, mostly by female artists.
She fed back to me: "I really like the sound of this film as romantic comedies are my favourites. I would be engaged in it if there are actors I am a fan of or are similar to them. Also, the opening film is similar to some classic rom coms like Clueless, which I really like the nostalgic feel of."
My production company
is Touchstone Pictures, whose parent company is Walt Disney Productions. It
would fund and produce my film, which will consequently appeal to fans of films
by the same production company and therefore broadens the audience. My
distribution company is Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, which is
responsible for the marketing of my film – it would promote my film through the
use of television and print adverts in teen magazines. The titles appear, first
the cast, then the director and other members of the crew, for example, the
music producer. I have done this as my audience research survey revealed that
members of my audience would watch a film if they were interested in the
director or actors, so it would engage them if these were at the start of the
credits. My film is institutionally similar to 27 Dresses , which was produced by 20th Century Fox, as
it would be released in its native county (in this case the United Kingdom) and
then, if well received, released internationally. However, I would consider
releasing it in America as their reception for traditional romantic comedies is
better than this country’s.
The key character in my opening two minutes is Alice, a Caucasian teenage girl, similar to Cher, the main character of the 1995 romantic comedy Clueless. Both of these characters represent girls as image conscious, as they are shown getting ready in the morning. This is the audience's first impression of the characters, and therefore straight away presents them as effeminate, because they are applying makeup and choosing clothes, both stereotypical tasks that females carry out in their daily routine. Both are also shown changing from their night clothes to day clothes, Cher changing her mind several times, which represents their social group as indecisive and foreshadows the rest of the film, in which both of them, stereotypical of characters in romantic comedies in order to create drama, will have to choose between love interests. However, Alice represents teenage girls as more studious, as her school notepad is shown during the titles, whereas Cher is not shown even packing her bag for school. This will appeal to my target audience of teenage girls, as the majority of them will be at school and will identify with the character, according to the Uses and Gratification theory. Another difference in the two characters' representations of their social group is that Cher's clothing is more revealing, especially her pyjamas, whereas Alice's day outfit covers her arms and legs, which represents teenage girls, in contrast to Cher, as reserved. This is another aspect which would allow my audience to identify with the character, as she is a very realistic and relatable character, the unique selling point of my film. The location of my film also contrasts to the Clueless opening, as it is an average teenagers bedroom, whereas Cher's house is luxurious and would allow the audience to escape (again, using the Uses and Gratifications theory) while watching it.
The setting of my film is typical of a romantic comedy, as the opening follows a teenage girl’s morning routine, so is set in her bedroom and bathroom. The main colours of the bedroom are baby blue and white, which connote innocence and youth, the stereotypical characteristics of a female main character in a romantic comedy. This challenges a conventional romantic comedy, however, as it only introduces the main character, and not the sub main character, her love interest.
The title of media product uses the conventions of a romantic comedy as the well known phrase ‘Right Person, Wrong Time' suggests a traditional romantic film with a tragic twist, engaging a traditional audience in the film. Furthermore, the use of the word "person" suggests another key character, two key characters being a convention of romantic comedies. This is good as I was not able to introduce both characters, but it is still clear that my film is of this genre. Furthermore, my title uses the conventions of a romantic comedy as the font is in feminine italic and bold, vibrant pink, which appeals to the female target audience. It also clearly stands out against the white background of the shower curtain, so that it is clear to my audience that it is the title, as this is a clear development of a conventional romantic comedy because it suggests a notable amount about the storyline.
My costume and props strongly develop the conventions of a romantic comedy as the character’s costume is first baby blue pyjamas, then a pink tartan shirt. These colours are feminine, which presents the main female character as stereotypically effete. The props I have used, two mirrors, hair straighteners and makeup also do this, presenting her as an appearance conscious teenager, much like characters that other romantic comedies feature. Also, the use of my character and her significant other as her phone lockscreen suggests a dramatic and romantic storyline.
Also, when filming, I used close ups and mid shots on the character to show her profile and body when introducing her, as appearance is, again, important in romantic comedies. I used a tracking shot when filming my embedded credits, which also showed my key character's dressing table and the makeup on it, presenting her as image conscious and feminine, a typical character in romantic comedies, using that convention.
I have not used any special effects other than to add credits, which develops the conventions of a romantic comedy because the film is realistic even if it is fictitious, so that the target audience can relate and escape. I edited my film by adding transitions such as fade, which are commonly used in romantic films as they are simple and subtle, as opposed to a swipe transition, which could be used in a comedy.
The overall story of my film uses the conventions well as it is from a high school girl's perspective, appealing to my teenage-young adult female target audience. It revolves around two key characters, a male and female in a heterosexual relationship, typical of a conventional romantic comedy. There would be elements of drama in my film, suggested by the word "wrong" in my title, which has negative connotations.
My film introduces my character as a positive, as she enthusiastically turns off her alarm, which uses the conventions of a romantic comedy as it sets the upbeat, cheerful mood of the film. She also answers her phone to her love interest in the last scene, happily talking to him and calling him "babe", again clearly showing that this is a conventional romantic comedy - however, this challenges the conventions of the genre as she is not introduced as single but in a relationship, although the title, which suggests drama, explains why this is.
Overall, my opening two minutes develop the conventions of a romantic comedy (mostly romantic as there is a lack of humour, although this is typically included when dialogue begins, which is at the very end of my clip), only challenging them due to the introduction of just one character, but other than that, the mood and setting especially are typical of a conventional film of that genre.
I experimented with the different fonts and transitions availible on iMovie, although most of them I found tacky and would spoil the realistic genre of my film. I will probably use an italic font with a simple fade in / out transition for my film instead of what I practiced. Also, this will draw more attention to my actual film, as the titles I tried were extravagant and would probably overcrowd the shot.
Today I have been editing my film and learnt how to improve the quality of specific shots. For example, in one shot, the lighting is too bright, so I decreased the brightness and increased the saturation. I considered changing the hue slightly but due to the low quality camera it became pixelated. In another, I slowed the shot down as I zoomed in with a handheld camera, which was jumpy and appeared unprofessional. I also learnt how to add transitions between scenes, for example, dissolve, which I used after the production company and before the first scene that I filmed. This does make my film a few seconds shorter, however, I have more footage that I can add so this does not cause an issue.
I will use a cute, handwriting-style font for my intertitles that is easy to copy as they will be imbedded in my film. However, for the actual title of my film I will use an italic font, which is typical of romantic films, in bright pink, as this connotes femininity, love and youth, the latter of which will appeal to my target audience of teenagers. On the font website fontspace.com, I found some examples of fonts similar to what I would use:
