Although the genre of romance is huge, there are many many sub genres within this. The three posters that are above are all from three different types of the same genre. Firstly, 'Leap Year' is a Rom-Com (romantic comedy) and this is shown through the poster. The main thing that we notice is that it is alot different in terms of colour than the others. Green is seen as more of an on edge colour. You either love it or hate it. This shows that this is not a normal romance film as they usually have soft gentle colours like whites, reds and blues to emphasise the innocent values that are upheld in there films. The green shows that this film will have more of a tongue in cheek view on romance. Secondly, the tag line says 'Anna planned to propose to her boyfriend on Febuary 29th' this is a very standard tag line which reveals alot about the stroy. However, the image and the tag line go hand in hand because standing next to Anna is another man who you would expect at first glance to be her boyfriend but by his head is another tag line which says 'This is not her boyfriend'. This second tag line shows that there will be a major twist in the plot and that twist will perhaps deliver the tongue in cheek moment that is expected.
'Love Happens' is a very much traditonal romance film. The poster has all the classic signs that it will be a very lovey dovey type of film. The colours are all very much classic colours in terms of the colour palate used on these types of films. The white that is used says nothing more than this film will be as clean as a disney movie. The main image is of the two main characters, and the stance and body language that they have adopted is once again another clear indication that this film will be another romance film to through in the DVD rack. This film gives a massive clue as to the stroy line and the events that will happen through the tag line 'Sometimes when you least expect it' which gives off a feeling of classic romantic twisted relationships.
The final poster is for the film 'Two Lovers'. This film deals with the subject that is probably least associated when you think of a romantic film, adultrey. The poster uses mainly dark colours like black as if to say a dark cloud has fallen over this mans relationships with two different women. Black automatically gives off feelings of horror and darkness, not love and affection. There are two main images on the cover. One is of the main male character with one of his girlfriends and the other is him with his other girlfriend. This is the biggest clue, along with the name, about the events that will take place within the film. Due to the abscence of a tag line, the person viewing the poster has little information given to them and must work it out for themselves. This indicates that it will be a more dark and seeded type of film as opposed to a traditonal romance or a rom-com.
These three films all belong to different sub genres but there messages tend to stay the same. From this reasearch into the subgenres of romance films i have found out that the film poster can give away a bit of information regarding your story depending on the type of film you create. As i create different drafts for my film poster i will try following guidelines from different sub genres to experiment with my ideas and see what works the best for me.
OK - good to see an update Kris. You need to edit this though to include more specific links to your own short film (which is probably a hybrid of styles and genres), and which is different in its use of non stars (consistent with social realism). You do need to be thinking about how to combine the mainstream conventions of this kind of romance with the short film style of your film. Consider your audience much more directly. Have you uploaded your own initial draft yet (due over a week ago now)?
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