Mise-En-Scene and Shot Composition

Creation

         To help me develop the best romance film I can make I am diving into more research to fully understand the importance of music, conflict, and specific shot composition to create a film opening that not only develops a question, but it creates meaning. 

More Romance!!

        Diving into the romance genre research a little more, I have learned that (as obvious) romance films are films that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Their conflicts mainly include finances, physical illness, various forms of discrimination, psychological restraints or family resistance. For our film we will mainly focus on the obstacles of family resistance, discrimination, and other love interest restrain that make the film more dramatic as this is a Romantic Drama. 

        Romantic films also serve as great escape and fantasies for viewers, especially if the two leads finally overcome their difficulties, declare their love, and experience their "happily ever after", often implied by a reunion and final kiss. Since there are many essential themes to romance like love at first sight, young and mature love, unrequited love, obsession, sentimental love, spiritual love, forbidden love, platonic love, sexual and passionate love, sacrificial love, explosive and destructive love, and tragic love, my film will be focusing on the theme of love at first sight and young and mature love.  An element that is really important for this opening is the use of music. In Romantic Dramas music is often used to indicate the emotional mood, creating an atmosphere of greater protection for the couple. 

Mise-En-Scene Elements:

From what I have seen and learned romance movies use a lot of 2 shots within the love interests. I believe they use this shot a lot to show interaction between the two lovers but to also show their behavior towards each other in public, private, and everything in between. 

Another common thing I have noticed is that the characters either have similar or different looks that complement each other's personalities and their love journey throughout the story. I believe they use these types of contrast/similar looks to create a deeper connection with not just the audience but with chemistry that the characters share.

I have also noticed that they use a lot of light and heartwarming lighting along the storyline to project that idea of being in love and they use more dark lighting when they want to show conflict between the main two love interest. 

Makeover!

        

For Ana and Summer's costume design, I made mood boards of specifics I want to include within their opening film outfit. For Ana, her main outfit includes blue jeans and a top that matches well with her color palette most preferably pink or yellow. For Summer, her main outfit consists of dark blue or black jeans and a simple but stylish colorful top like the sweater on the left of the second picture or maybe a little red blouse like the one in the middle of the second picture since red is part of her color pallet. Another thing I would love to add to Summer's outfit is mainly a green jacket or cardigan to show off that down to earth vibe within the opening of the film.

Sources: 

Romance film - Wikipedia