What Makes It Romance?

Romance, a feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love; or rather, a well-known genre that has been alive for many years and continues to live on through the media. It is also commonly known to be a fan favorite among women and anyone who is looking to find and excitable, emotional rollercoaster that typically concludes with a happy ending.

These movies, often characterized as “chick flicks”, offer a wide variety of sub-genres. Ranging from rom-coms to fantasy based sub-genres, romance knows no bounds. Meaning, there really is something for everyone.

Chances are that if you have seen these movies, you can recognize the pattern pretty quickly. While it may be cliche, these movies never stop stealing the hearts of their audience with striking chemistry, fun storylines, and a spunky sound mix.

Content:

While it is true that Romance spans widely, like every other genre, it does still conform to its typical institutional conventions.

In romantic movies, the plot usually follows a uniform timeline. A strong female lead will be introduced, and the story will revolve around the relationship between her and her love interest(s). As the story proceeds, it will become more evident that there is an obstacle that must be overcome for them to be together. The story usually concludes with a love confession and a “happy ending”, or an otherwise optimistic ending.

Ex: At the end of 10 Things I Hate About You, Patrick (male love interest) buys Kat (strong female lead) a guitar that she wanted as an apology and makes up with her after a fight. Therefore, eliminating the conflict and resulting in the expected” happy ending”.

Some common conventions also include things we all know and love: “meet-cutes” (an adorable first meet), a first kiss, or another act of intimacy to establish the relationship; and a dramatic breakup or split, typically followed by a test of love in which a character gives up something important or does something that proves their love and commitment. Moreover, these movies also tend to showcase conventionally attractive actors and leads

Ex: In this shot from Confessions of a shopaholic, the two main leads, Rebecca (Our strong female lead) and Luke (her love interest), are about to share a kiss. Thus, establishing the relationship between the two after Luke realized his feelings for her.

Drama is also a notable characteristic of romance movies. It often seems within these movies that the main character can never catch a break and always has some sort of situation going on. Whether it be a secret, a conflict, or they just tend to be clumsy. Drama is a common occurrence within the genre and creates conflict, adds depth, and sets the stage for character development. Furthermore, it also adds tension and pacing to the film, which helps to keep audiences engaged and interested in what will happen next.

Drama in romance films can take form in both internal and external forces. Internal being secrets, past experiences, insecurities, Conflicting desires and values, etc. Or they could be external, meaning a love triangle, family disapproval, cultural differences, socioeconomic gap, lifestyle differences, adversity (illness, conditions, separation, etc.), etc.

Ex: in the film Me before You The female lead, Louisa Clark falls in love with the quadriplegic man she is taking care of, Will Traynor. The drama in this movie stems from Will’s adversities in life and his desire to die. While on the other hand, Louisa wants to make him change his mind.

While some may argue that drama falls under the umbrella of conflict in romance movies, they couldn’t be more incorrect. To put it simply, conflict is the obstacle that needs to be overcome. While the drama in romance media sets the tone, adds weight to the issue, and creates the buildup for the conflict.

Overall, romance has many different elements, tropes, and cliches within it, and these are just scratching the surface. Romance is a beautiful and complex genre that should receive more love and attention. Even though it can be sappy, these types of media often have deep underlying meanings.

Production:

Now that we know the structure that exists within the genre, what gives a romance movie that exciting and eye-catching atmosphere? How do you capture the turmoil between the characters while maintaining tension and chemistry?

If I told you to think of a romance movie, one of the first things to pop into your head is probably the spunky soundtrack behind it. While music is a very important part of the romance genre, there are several other techniques and methods that are used to capture the spark we see on screen.

Ex: In this scene from She’s All That a two-shot and a close-up is used to communicate the intimate relationship between Laney and Zack.

To capture the chemistry of the characters, this genre often uses a lot of long/wide shots to establish the setting, close-ups to capture emotion and create a sense of intimacy, mid-shots to capture both facial expressions and body language, and obviously, two-shots to help establish the relationships between characters. These shots are most frequently used and help with communicating an intimate, loving story to viewers.

Ex: This scene from 10 Things I Hate About You is a great example of the romance genre using music in the form of diegetic sound as Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) sings Can’t Take My Eyes Off You-Frankie Valli. The scene also displays the use of long and wide shots to capture action and setting.

As previously mentioned, music and sound are one of the most memorable tools that are used when creating media of the romance genre. Romance uses a mix of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds to set up the scene, meaning soft, romantic, happy, music will play during a happy scene, and sad music will be played during a gloomy scene. This in turn lets the audience know what they should be feeling during certain moments.

Lighting is also an extremely important factor in the mix. Lighting influences mood heavily. Thus, it is important that the lighting not only matches the scene being displayed, but emphasizes the tone being communicated. To evoke emotion and add depth, it's important to understand that natural lighting enhances a feeling of happiness, while dim, dark lighting can create emotional drama and tension. Which is why you feel a certain way when scenes with specific lighting come across your screen.

Last but not least, setting and symbolic objects are the heart and soul of romance movies. Setting up the scene is important in any genre, but in romance movies it adds a special touch, and lets you know what can be expected from the characters. Iconography, or better known as symbolic objects, can add a great deal to this genre. Flowers, chocolates, gift bags, etc. All of these signify interest and can communicate and further solidify the idea of a connection between two characters.

Marketing:

The target audience for romance is typically women ranging from 13-40 years old, meaning that advertisements will most likely focus on the aesthetically appealing aspects of the genre and the dreamy romance their audiences adore.

When advertising romance, it is common to see targeted strategies, meaning that they emphasize characteristics of the film that will draw in their target audiences. Such as a happy ending, attractive leads, relatability, lead chemistry, emotional elements, scenic settings, etc.

Naturally, there is more than one way of promoting things; however, across all methods, it has been made clear that marketing focuses on the institutional conventions of the romance genre and slightly alters it to appeal to crowds and fit their marketing technique.

Moreover, other means of promotion include press tours, social media, brand partnerships, using emotional connections, targeted trailers, etc.

Ex: The Simply Irresistible poster focuses on the relationship between the two, incorporates a city skyline, bright colors, and a couple dancing under the moonlight.

Movie posters are also a big part of marketing and by far the most recognizable. Movie Posters often use bold visuals and colors that represent the content. Posters can also be a form of foreshadowing in the sense that it introduces you to the main characters, their aesthetics, and sometimes even their love interest(s). These posters are designed to be visually appealing, eye-catching, and memorable.

As technology progresses, it is very possible that other methods will become mainstream, but it is likely that it will still draw attention to the main points in the romance genre.

Samples:

The film How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days (2003) is a great example of the romance genre and the institutional conventions embedded in it. The film opens with an introduction of a writer named Andy Anderson (Kate Hudson) who works for a magazine as the resident “how to- girl” that longs to write about important issues. As the film progresses, we meet her love interest, Ben Berry (Matthew McConaughey), an executive. The story begins when Andy gets the idea to do a column on “how to lose a guy in 10 days”, telling women what not to do in a relationship. Coincidentally, Ben makes a bet that he can make any woman fall in love with him in 10 days. The rest of the film follows their interesting relationship as Andy tries to lose him, and Ben tries to make her fall in love. Moreover, Ben and Andy visit Ben’s family home and there they fall in love and share an intimate moment. Afterwards, Ben takes Andy to a special event where they both find out the other was using them to get ahead. To conclude the film, Ben chases after Andy after finding her article in the paper and they make up and get back together. This movie checks all the boxes when it comes to the cliches of the genre. The story begins with a strong female lead, showcases conventionally attractive characters, there is an obstacle they both need to overcome, drama and tension is created through the secrets between them, a large fight/conflict is involved, and there’s a concluding act of love and commitment, which results in a happy ending. Not to mention, the film displays a meet cute between Andy and Ben at a bar, and also utilizes music in the movie with songs like You’re so Vain- Carly Simon that creates a playful and memorable vibe that is later contrasted when Andy mocks Ben by singing the same song during their argument. Furthermore, the movie conveys a deeper message that genuine emotion and honesty are crucial for a relationship and that relationships can’t be built upon lies.

Another movie that perfectly encapsulates the romance genre is Pretty Woman (1990). The storyline follows a Los Angeles prostitute, Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts), and a rich businessman named Edward Lewis (Richard Gere), who found himself there on business. While looking for directions, Edward finds himself lost and Vivian jumps into his car to help him find his way. As it happens, Edward makes Vivian an offer. If she pretends to be his girlfriend for a week, he will pay her a hefty sum. Vivian agrees, and the story circulates around their relationship and her struggle to fit into his social class. Vivian and Edward live in the same hotel room, and have other intimate relations, but have taken a vow not to kiss to maintain emotional distance. However, one night Vivian and Edward share a kiss after watching an episode of I Love Lucy, signifying that there are real feelings in the mix and this isn’t just business. Unfortunately, later in the film, Edward’s attorney tries to assault Vivian which causes a dramatic conflict and results in a breakup between the two. The film concludes when Edward realizes that he has actually fallen in love with her and shows up at Vivian’s apartment and despite his crippling fear of heights, climbs up her fire escape to apologize. In the end, they make up and get a happy ending. This movie contains typical conventions for the genre in content as well as production and marketing. The film starts off with our strong female lead and introduces our conventionally attractive actors. The lighting and setting play a large role in setting the scene and tone for the movie. A meet-cute between the leads takes place, and the storyline begins. Tension and chemistry are added through lighting, iconography, and the socioeconomic gap between Vivian and Edward. The movie portrays an obvious obstacle for the couple to overcome in order to be together, a dramatic conflict followed by a breakup, and finally an act of love and commitment that leads to their happy ending. This film in particular does an amazing job at using music to set the tone for the movie as it incorporates the song Oh, Pretty Woman-Roy Orbison to communicate the vibe Vivian portrays when she walks down the street. Overall, this film perfectly captures the romance genre with all its drama, twists, and turns.