Welcome back everyone!
To get on a deeper level after analyzing successful film openings , I really wanted to understand what effect these visual components had on film openings and how it adds meaning to film and what conveys that a film is a romantic drama. I started asking myself questions like, "What conventions are used for romantic dramas?", "What do colors communicate to a viewer?" and " What type of Mise-En-Scene is appropriate for romantic dramas? These types of questions will put me in the right direction as it will help me make my opening cohesive and on theme. If these factors are not considered, my film opening can become confusing and create less meaning. I wanted to get a better idea of how these small elements impact our psyche as they subconsciously play into our emotions.
Mise-En-Scene
In romantic dramas lighting, costume choices, setting and props are all important as they hold up the story, and add meaning in bold or subtle ways. To start, a simple but crucial part of mise-en-scene is the setting, as it drives the overall plot, influences decisi-
ons and dialogue of characters and sets the scene. In romantic dramas, common settings are always used to force proximity, or are settings that are unpredictable and have many possibilities. Some examples of these settings that are commonly seen are iconic cities, small towns or places more deserted like boats as seen in the titanic and islands.
As for costume choices, they are usually ordinary, casual clothes, depending on the time that the movie is made or the time the the setting takes place. For instance, from the last blog, the romance "One Day" took place in 1988 so their ordinary clothes were stylized for that era. Or another way costumes may very is through, conditions, class and through a characters personality. Referencing back to my previous post, when I analyzed ''Five Feet Apart", Stella had a G-Tube which fit her character as she had cystic fibrosis. But overall, costumes stay realistic and portray real life issues or circumstances. This applies to props as well, as they should be things you see on a daily, like books, computers, phones, flowers and etc.
Through viewing examples of recent romantic dramas, plus researching what lighting is usually implemented into romantic dramas I found that soft lighting is a common practice as well as low contrast. Through soft lighting, a warm, more tranquil and reflective mood is made. Another way this was achieved by in some openings was through natural lighting as we saw in "My Oxford Year". I found that through using this type of lighting, openings seemed happy, rememberable, yet deep. The simplicity in lighting more towards the end of the openings also helped shift the mood and resemble the mindset and feelings that characters may have.
Color Palettes Created through Mise En-Scene
To start something that I thought was really important to note was that color palettes play a crucial part in reflecting and communicating emotions of characters to the audience. Zoyce Zhang, from the Medium, pointed out that color creates mood and atmosphere and used the film, "In the Mood for Love" to explain how Su Li-zhen’s cheongsam being red represented passion. And so this had me wondering: what can colors mean to our psyche, and how can it add meaning to a character? Well, I found a Movie Color Cheatsheet from the StudioBinder where I found out what colors are used to evoke certain emotions and I found that-
Pink- femininity, sweetness, empathy.
Red- hope, intimacy and sensuality
Orange- happiness, warmth, youth and sociability
Yellow- insecurity, naive, sickness
Green- ominous, nature, immaturity
Blue- melancholy, isolation, calmness
Purple- ethereal, illusionary, fantasy After looking at this list, I explored common color palettes used in romantic dramas, as emotions portrayed are usually deep and meaning full.
Using this, I observed that warmer colors and tones of red oranges and muted blues were often used to capture intimacy, passion and happiness in many films of romance like Romeo and Juliet, Titanic and even animated films like Aladdin. As seen here from a scene in titanic colors like orange capture emotions of tranquil, happiness and youth, while tones of red infer sensuality that she may be feeling. Taking this information into account, in my opening I will aim to tactfully to incorporate and use color schemes to capture emotions through mise-en scene.
Using this, I observed that warmer colors and tones of red oranges and muted blues were often used to capture intimacy, passion and happiness in many films of romance like Romeo and Juliet, Titanic and even animated films like Aladdin. As seen here from a scene in titanic colors like orange capture emotions of tranquil, happiness and youth, while tones of red infer sensuality that she may be feeling. Taking this information into account, in my opening I will aim to tactfully to incorporate and use color schemes to capture emotions through mise-en scene.
Something I also noticed while watching these openings was that they use deeper tones using nature or objects as seen here. Both take place when the sun is just going down/coming up, almost setting the scene for the deeper emotions that would be taken into account later in the film. When creating my story board, I will take these similarities into account and use them to fit my decided genre. In my opening I will consider using shots and clips of nature to smoothly start my opening and transition into characters home life and dynamics.
Camera Techniques
When it comes to romantic dramas, its all about the deep emotions, understanding characters emotions, their feelings and recognizing tension. To do this, camera techniques that create focus are utilized. Some of these techniques include using a shallow depth of field, close ups, slow pans, two shots, 3 shots to highlight facial, expressions and emotions, dialogue and chemistry. In the same way, static shots can also give insight on a character like ''Five Feet Apart" and "My Oxford year" where the camera captured snippets of things that belonged to both main characters. Establishing shots also can do this by, showing viewers where the story takes place and setting the overall atmosphere of the story.
Sound and Editing
In the films I analyzed I recognized that openings included calm melodies, soft piano instrumentals that carried emotional depth that were layered over by a monologue. This gave insight to some of the characters, plot, and hinted at later events or feelings that would rise. In contrast, in the same openings, upbeat pop songs that showed opportunity, youth and excitement played that shifted the mood and in a way began the plot. To ensure smoother transitions of sounds fade in and outs are often used. As for the clips themselves they are usually longer takes so the audience has time to take in details, dialogue and important scenes. This way its easier to follow along and create more realness and depth.
Typography
Another important aspect was the typography used for the film openings. Something that was very common was the use of fonts that are usually elegant, easy on the eyes like classic serifs. These fonts capture the gentleness and intimacy that will be later present in the film. The typography is sized rather small to medium, calmly introducing actors, other important individuals and most importantly the title. This typography is also designed so that viewers are emotionally slowed down to a slower pace, this way they are able to take things one by one and understand the story. Some films that successfully did this are "A Walk to Remember", "The Notebook" and "Titanic", which are all examples of romantic drama. Therefore for my film opening, I will search for more elegant, serif fonts that accentuate serious, deep emotions.
Reflection
Prior to researching and analyzing this genre, I didn't realize the complexity of how many elements go into it and how it generates meaning. This allowed me to explore the conventions of romantic dramas and bring me one step closer to creating my film opening project. A lot of the things I discussed today will definitely be taken into consideration when making my story board, deciding lighting, colors of clothing, props and how I will use my camera to capture emotional depth.
Sources:
https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/film-lighting-techniques-76277/#:~:text=Soft%20light%20vs.,-hard%20light&text=Soft%20light%20is%20the%20use,positioned%20close%20to%20the%20subject.
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