Task 2.1: Romantic Comedy Analysis: LOL

Romantic Comedy Analysis- LOL




The opening scene starts in a school which is very typical of a romantic comedy as many of them are based on teenagers who find love and it is normally in a school or work place as this is where teenagers tend to be. There is a few cuts in-between the shots of the school however, showing you a big city and trains etc. There is a wide shot used which reveals that the location is Detroit, Michingan. In romantic comedies the location is usually an urban area because chance encounters are most likely to happen there.

There is also a low angle shot used here, making the buildings look dominant and to draw attention to them. This gives a further impression that the location is an urban area. It also makes the audience feel like they are actually there, bringing a sense of realness. 

There is non digetic music playing in the background, the lyrics are all about people wanting to be loved which helps you understand that there is going to be romance in this film. There is also a non-digetic sound of a voice over, which is a girl speaking about herself and her current life situation. it is common in rom com films for the main girl to have a voiceover, this is to reveal a bit of background information about her life to give you an idea the film will be about her.

The first 3 people the audience see close up is 3 girls which gives you the idea these are a few of of the main characters. The fact a close up shot has been used shows that they are interesting and important in the story. Also you get the idea that the one in the middle is most important. While they are being shown the shot has been edited and is slow motion. This has been put in slow motion as this is also when the voiceover starts, therefore it draws your attention to the scene, the characters and what the character is saying.

Dissolving has also been used as it gives an effect of turning a page like in a fairytale. There is also fades in and fades out between shots. There is no cuts used because as the film is a rom com about teenagers it is quite innocent and the fades in and out and dissolves are quite soft, which could represent innocence, whereas a cut could be considered quite harsh.

Later on in the scene it is revealed that the main girl has a boyfriend, which is very typical of  a rom com because it normally always starts off with a girl and boy being together but then they always end up breaking up later on and then 1 of them, sometimes both of them, find love again at the end. Slow motion is used when she is kissing her boyfriend because it highlights the emotion and romance.


In this film there is obvious clues in the opening scene, that the girl will end up falling in love with her best friend as she reveals in the voiceover that she can always be herself around him and that she has known him forever. Also she seems very close to him when she sees him and has contact with him. A convention which used a lot in romantic comedies is having a third person or a villain who is in the way of love.





In the scene it shows the girl, Lola, writing this on the school bathroom walls. This has been used in the scene as love hearts are associated with romance and love which is a convention of romantic comedies. Also the fact she has wrote their names in the heart and wrote "4ever" shows that it is quite innocent and pure love.

The titles are in pastel colours like pink, yellow, blue, purple etc because these sort of colours are associated with purity and youngness. Also pink in particular is associated with girlyness, which is showing that this film is targeted to females like most rom coms. The titles fade in and fade out gradually.