Existing Trailers - What If (Romantic comedy genre)

'What If' is a new romantic comedy released in 2014. I want to analyse this trailer in particular because it does a good job of clearly showing the codes and conventions of the hybrid genre of romance and comedy. This trailer will give me a good clear insight into what this genre entails and some of the things I will need to achieve if I were to pursue this genre for my own work. The mise-en-scene, sound, editing and camera techniques work together to bring all aspects of the genre into the audiences focus.

Firstly, the mise-en-scene plays a big part in the trailer, as it does it in every trailer for a film. The lighting throughout is bright placing the characters in a positive atmosphere in every scene. It is extremely conventional within a romantic comedy story line to have a barrier between the two lovers in the film - which in this case is the fact that the female protagonist has a boyfriend. Despite the first half of the trailer showing the main two protagonists agreeing to be nothing more than friends, it is explained further through other characters that this is basically just a test to see if the man and woman can be friends without falling in love. Even though that is a big part of the story line the audience already know before the trailer introduces it that the two characters are going to fall in love. Even though this seems like a spoiler, the typical audience for romantic comedies (teenage girls and women) go to watch the film at the cinema with the intention of seeing a film with this ending. They want to see a film knowing that the two protagonists end up together because it's not so much the ending that is the part they want to see, they want to see how the characters get to that point.

All the characters wear simple and original clothing which so called 'normal' people wear every day, this adds a sense of realism drawing the audience into the film. The props used are nothing more than ordinary items that you would find in the various settings, there are normal items in the kitchen, living rooms, bedrooms and in the city and streets they pass through, further creating a realistic situation. Moreover, the settings are also ordinary for the setting of New York with scenes taking place on the streets, in restaurants and apartments and baseball games which is one of the main conventions of New York.

The sound throughout the trailer is extremely conventional and portrays the romantic comedy genre clearly by having a mix of light upbeat tones and always more rhythmic fast paced sounds. However, the trailer does not start off by sound straight away. We see the the 'CBS Films' name first transition onto the screen while a timer sound plays in the background, it moves off the screen to the rhythm and then as the timer sounds reaches it's end and 'chimes' we see the first clip of the trailer. This sound is a quirky way of opening the trailer as the first scene is one of the characters making himself nachos which he does as the sound of the timer goes off, giving the impression that the sound is linked obviously to that scene. No music plays as the character says "I've just had sex and I'm about to eat Nachos - it's the greatest moment of my life" which emphasizes the comedy of this line and therefore introducing the comedy and lightness of the film straight away. It is extremely important to show the genre of your trailer as soon as possible to allow yourself the opportunity to grab your target audiences attention as soon as possible.

At 2:09 - there is the first sign that the two protagonists have a romantic moment together and this is when the music slows down and changes from the lighthearted tone. It then begins to pick up and has a more dramatic feel to it as the trailer shows several text scenes and in between them a snippet of footage - the more dramatic music is suitable as these scenes are showing the more romantic side of the genre rather than the comedy as the more serious disruption of the equilibrium is shown (the female protagonist leaving).

Examples of the text scenes they use between the scenes.

 The editing throughout is smooth and calm reflecting the genre. Quick cuts are used at the end to build up the audiences anticipation once the disruption of the equilibrium is introduced. Different interpretations can be made about the quickness of the editing here as to a person who regularly or prefers horror and thriller genres would see the quickness of the editing in this trailer as slow because they are used to seeing a lot faster movement in horror and thriller trailers that they see. However, to the usual audience that go to see rom-coms, which tend to be teenage girls and women of any age, they understand that pace of the editing reflects the problem occurring on the scene - they know it is to make the drama of the narrative more apparent. The target audience will want to see the film once they have watched the teaser; once the quick cuts and fast paced scenes have built up to a certain point.

There is a variety of shot types, particularly close-ups and  medium shots. The close-up shots in the trailer are used to convey the emotions of specific characters and their reactions to things that happen in the film. The trailer chooses to show the close-up shots of characters in the scenes that they include because it allows the audience to connect with the character on a more personal level as they can see traits of their personality in their reactions and body language. It also gives the viewers a clear idea on what the characters look like so they have a vague idea of the main cast before they see the film. Moreover, medium shots are used to show situations between characters at a closer level. For example, a medium shot of the main two protagonists walking down a street is used as you can see them interacting more closely.

As we can see from the previous analysis's, appearing text in the trailers are normal conventions that the audience expect to see. They help make the trailer for dramatic and also help aid the viewers understanding of the genre and story line. The typography is very simple and uncomplicated to fit in the with the scenes more naturally. As you can see from the pictures further above, the colour scheme and font remain the same for each text scene to keep up the smooth continuity. The pale choice of colours represent the lightness and comedic aspects of the genre as well as being seen as more 'feminine colours'.

Overall by analyzing this trailer I have had an insight into the conventions and the style of a romantic comedy genre trailer. This will help me profusely when it comes to making my final decision for my genre which I will do after analyzing a couple more of the genres that I need to cover.