Portfolio Project Genre #1

 Romance & Rom-Com 

What is Romance & Rom-Com?

Romance is a genre that includes the subgenre Rom-Com (romantic comedy) that focuses on lighthearted, humorous tales of love, balancing comedic situations with the emotional journey of a relationship.

What is the target audience?

The target audience for romance and rom-coms is predominantly women, often ages 18-44, seeking emotional connection, escapism, and satisfying relationship journeys.

Genre Conventions with Content:

Romance and rom-coms center on a developing love story with emotional tension and an optimistic, satisfying ending, but rom-coms add heavy humor, lighthearted themes, and comedic situations, while traditional romance focuses more intensely on the love aspect of it. Such as internal emotional journeys, deep character conflict, and specific "obligatory" scenes like the first meeting and intimacy rituals, using tropes (opposites attract, enemies-to-lovers) and supporting or opposing characters (helpers/harmers, rivals) to drive the plot towards commitment.

Genre Conventions with Techniques:

Romance genres center on a central love story leading to an emotionally satisfying, optimistic ending, emphasizing character-driven plots, internal and/or external conflicts, and palpable chemistry, while Rom-Coms layer comedy and light-hearted themes onto these conventions, using witty banter, situational humor, and meet-cutes for an uplifting tone, often involving opposites-attract tropes and comical obstacles.

Institutional conventions (narrative image, marketing, etc) of Romance and Rom-Com:

Institutional conventions in romance and romantic comedy genres are established narrative patterns and marketing strategies that create a shared language between creators and audiences. These conventions shape audience expectations and the commercial presentation of the content.

The Notebook (2004) 

is a classic movie that is

a great example of the 

Romance genre. 

Ten Things I Hate About You (1999)

is a Rom-Com that is a classic and still 

very popular, even over 2 decades later