Romantic Comedy Conventions- The Ugly Truth

Below is the movie poster for the film "The Ugly Truth"

• Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler have both appeared in other romantic comedies such as "Life As We Know It" and "The Bounty Hunter" and therefore are associated with the genre
• Red is a prominent colour on the poster, reflecting love and the genre
• The font on the poster is lower case and rounded, which is common on a romantic comedy poster as seen before
• There is a division between the two central protagonists, again showing that there is an obstacle preventing them from being together
• The male character is staring lovingly at the female character, suggesting there is romance between them

Romantic Comedy Conventions- The Back-up Plan

Below is the movie poster for the film "The Back-up Plan"

• Jennifer Lopez is a well known actress associated with romantic comedies such as "Monster in Law" and "The Wedding Planner"- therefore her name and face being on the poster implies the genre
• The Font of the title of the film is in lower case and soft and rounded, reflecting the genre
• In addition some of the writing is in a bright pink, which is a colour associated with romance and love
• The title of the film is in between the two main characters, showing there is a obstacle keeping them apart- as I have said previously this is a common element in a romantic comedy
• The tag line shows that this obstacle is a baby
• The male central protagonist is staring lovingly while smiling at the female Central protagonist which suggests romance 

Romantic Comedy Conventions- Life As We Know It

Below is the movie poster for the film "Life As We Know It"

• The title of the film is in red, which is typically the "colour of love", reflecting the genre
• The title and the actors names are slanted, suggesting that the two main characters lives are turned upside down in the film
• It is clear that the baby on the poster is the obstacle between the two characters, but perhaps also what brings them together in the end- the baby being on the poster shows this, and therefore reflects the genre
• The poster is a mess with items everywhere and the font slanted and so on, again showing what the obstacle between the central protagonists is 
• The actress "Katherine Heigl"is associated with many other  romantic comedies such as "The Ugly Truth"- the fact that her name is on the poster implies the genre
• The colours used on the poster are all warm colours, reflecting the tone of love and happiness
• The tagline on the poster includes the word "comedy", showing that theres romance and comedy involved in the film, suggesting its a romantic comedy 

Romantic Comedy Conventions- How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days

Below is the movie poster for the film "How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days"

• The overall colour of the poster is a warm pastel yellow, reflecting the light hearted genre
• The actors "Kate Hudson" and "Matthew McConaughey" are often associated with the romantic comedy genre- therefore their names being on the poster may indicate the genre
• The fact that the title of the film and the credits are between the two main characters suggests that something is preventing them being together in the film- again this is a common element in a romantic comedy
• Both characters are looking back and each other, suggesting they are in each others minds
• The title of the film is is different colours and sizes suggesting that there where many obstacles preventing them from being together. 

Romantic Comedy Conventions- You've Got Mail

Below is the movie poster for the Romantic Comedy ''You've Got Mail" 

• The two central protagonists of the film "Meg Ryan" and "Tom Hanks" are associated with Romantic Comedies, so with their names and faces on the poster the genre is immediately reflected 
• The colours of the central images are all warm yellows and reds, reflecting romance and happiness and the mood of love
• The actors names are in soft pastel orange, again reflecting this
• The font is in lower case and soft, again reflecting the genre
• In the images, both characters are looking longingly into the distance for each other 
• The fact that the two characters are in separate images with the title of the film in between them suggests that there is an obstacle preventing them from being together, which is a common element in a romantic comedy
• There's a small image of the two central protagonists kissing, suggesting they eventually come together by overcoming the obstacle- this is the usual ending to a romantic comedy
• The director of this film is associated with directing other romantic comedies such as "Sleepless in Seattle"

Romantic Comedy Poster Conventions- Introduction

Now that I have chosen to look at Romantic Comedies for my marketing campaign, I am going to analyse 5 Romantic Comedy movie posters so that I can understand the genre conventions, and know what I must include on my own movie poster. I am going to being looking at them in terms of colour, font, layout, images and more.

My Marketing Campaign

I've decided that I want to look at Romantic Comedy films for my marketing campaign. I have been doing some research to make sure that fully understand what a Romantic Comedy entails.

Below is the link to the Wikipedia page about Romantic Comedy films:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_comedy_film

After researching I have found the following about Romantic Comedies:

• The film is usually about the obstacles preventing the two central protagonists being together 
• The love story usually ends happily 
• They are light hearted 

Some successful Romantic comedies include:

• Pretty Women
• Knocked up
• Wedding Crashers

Teaser Trailer Conventions

After looking at 5 different teaser trailer I found that they contained the same conventions regardless of the genre. Below is a list of conventions that I found from this research:

• Production company logo(s)- usually at the beginning of the trailer 
• Images from the film
• Title of the film
• Release dates- likely to be 'coming soon' or 'summer' rather than being a specific date
• Indication of genre
• Website
• Voiceover man
• Editing 
• Possible references to other films
• Images of stars/names of stars
• Music that reflects the genre
• Tagline- often broken up throughout the trailer
• Sound effects
• Eye candy
• A variety of camera shots

Although I did not find the following conventions in the trailers I looked at I suspect the following will also come up in teaser trailers occasionally:

• Reference to source material the film is based on
• Quotes that reference other films
• Reference to awards that cast/crew/film may have won or been nominated for
• Cast, crew director credits 

Teaser Trailer Conventions- The Dictator

• Images from the film
• Tagline
• Music 
• Reference to other films 
• Eye candy- Megan Fox 
• Name of actors- Sacha Baron Cohen
• Sound effects
• Name of film
• Email address
• A variety of camera shots and movements

Teaser Trailer Conventions- The Lone Ranger

• Images from the film
• Production company logo- Disney
• Fast editing
• Voiceover man
• Sound effects
• Release date
• Music reflecting the genre
• Actors names 
• Name of film
• Reference to other films

Teaser Trailer Conventions- Rango

• Images from the film
• Production company logos- Paramount and Nickelodeon Movies 
• Names of stars- Johnny Depp
• Music reflecting the genre
• Fast editing
• Tagline
• Sound effects
• Release date
• Name of film

Teaser Trailer Conventions- World War Z

• Production company logo's- Paramount and Skydance productions 
• Images from the film
• Release date 
• Indication of genre- action
• Images of stars
• Sound effects- explosions 
• Eye candy
• A variety of camera shots 
• Fast editing 
• Music- upbeat and reflecting the genre
• Name of film

Teaser Trailer Conventions- Fast & Furious 6

• Production company logos- Universal 
• Images from the film
• Indication of genre- action
• Fast editing- including flashes 
• Images of stars
• Eye candy- nice cars and exciting races
• A variety of camera shots and movements 
• Voiceover
• Music- upbeat reflecting the fast moving images and the genre of the film
• Release date
• Tagline 
• Name of the film
• Sound effects

Teaser Trailer Conventions Introduction

Now that I have compared the conventions of teaser trailers and theatrical trailers I'm going to focus on teaser trailers on their own as that is what I will be creating for my marketing campaign. I am going to be looking at 5 different teaser trailers from different genres to see if the conventions of the trailers are the same regardless of the genre of the film.