Romance Analysis - P.S I Love You

Romance Analysis

 The film P.S I LOVE YOU has a 12A age certificate, restricting its viewers to age 12 and above. Throughout the film, it is clearly shown that the target audience is older due to the use of dialogue and the relationship between the two main characters with obvious references to sex. The main character's are immediately introduced to the audience at the start of the opening scene, and are the only two characters in shot in the first five minutes. The conforms to the stereotypes of the romantic genre as the majority of romance films revolve around a central plot which is based around the relationship of two characters, as shown in the introduction of P.S I LOVE YOU. The characters are introduced through a variety of shots, mainly through the use of a tracking shot. This effectively allows the audience to have an insight into the character's lives, helps to introduce the plot and set the scene, and makes the film more realistic as it enables the audience to feel like they are there with the characters, which is a convention often used in the romance genre. Close up shots are used again to introduce the characters, but also to display their emotions, allowing the audience to learn about their relationship and to learn about the characters themselves, helping them to create opinions and warm to the characters which makes the film more enjoyable as the audience feel involved. The outline of the whole plot is not displayed in the opening scene. This conforms to the conventions of the genre as romance films are typically like linear stories with a clear beginning, middle, however I am unable to see if the plot follows the typical pattern where boy meets girl, they are then torn apart and then they realise they are meant to be together and resolve their differences. From what I am able to see in the opening scene it suggests that the plot of this film will subvert from the stereotypes as the character's have already met and are already in a relationship, implying that the film may revolve around some sort of heart break which leads to a different outcome. Unusually, there is not a sequence of titles which would often be expected as the romance genre is unlike others such as horror, where the audience is supposed to focus solely on the plot with no other distractions. This is probably due to it being a short clip, meaning the titles will appear before or after what I have seen.

The pace of editing stays the same throughout the opening scene which is expected of a romance film in order to enforce realism. The editing pace is slow throughout, even when action is taking place (such as an argument or fight) in order to make it seem like a real life situation in which the audience can relate to, helping to enable to audience to engage and enjoy the film. The slow editing and realism of the film typically attracts a female audience as it is thought they are more likely to enjoy romantic situations. Similarly, it is thought action films are stereotypically more aimed at men due to the faced paced editing and action, however these stereotypes are not black and white and there are both many men and women who enjoy romances and actions. Following the conventions is the use of music used - a well known backing track is used 'Love You 'Til The End' which relates to the genre and effectively helps to reveal/add to the plot. Unlike other genres, such as horror or action music isn't played during the action in order to allow the audience to focus on the dialogue which plays a large contribution in the plot. One of the most important aspects to the romance genre is the use of mise en scene. Dialogue is an important aspect as it reveals the plot and causes the audience to engage with the characters, helping to evoke emotions. In the opening scene to P.S I LOVE YOU the genre is clear due to the use of dialogue and the stereotypical pointless, insignificant arguments because the characters are so in love. The lighting clearly displays the mood of the characters with darker lighting to represent upset or an argument and brighter more natural lighting to represent happiness, however the types of lighting used are never extreme in order to preserve the realism of the genre. Similarly, the characters are dressed casually in clothing to suit the environment, for example work clothing if they are in a work environment or casual everyday clothing if they are taking part in every day activities in order to help the audience relate to the characters and see themself in their position. This effectively helps the audience to warm to characters they are supposed to, and likewise dislike characters they are supposed to by dressing them in something unusually extravagant or under dressed. The location is typically in a city as there is always lots going on, however it is usually made homely for the same reasons as the rest of the mise en scene - to represent realism and to allow the audience to relate.