ADULT ROM-COM EG1: Four Weddings And A Funeral

WHAT I ENDED UP APPLYING

• The protagonist being and getting out of bed 
• Added more narrative enigma rather than having them being in the first shot already

POSSIBLE POINTS OF INFLUENCE:

• The protagonist getting out of bed after realising they're late

Four Weddings 

And A Funeral

Mike Newell, 1994

BBFC 15 rating, MPPA R rating

Opening length:

LEAD ACTORS: Hugh Grant
                                 Andie McDowell

GENRE: Romantic comedy (adult)

PRODUCTION C0s: Working Title
                                         Channel 4 Films
                                         PolyGram

DISTRIBUTOR: Universal Pictures

BUDGET: $4.5m = £2.8m

BOX OFFICE: N/A (UK), $52.7m (US), $245.7m (worldwide)

CRITICAL KUDOS:

ROTTEN TOMATOES:  Critics 95%, Audience 74%        IMDb: 8.0/10

From wiki: 

The film was very well received with critics, currently holding a 95% "Certified Fresh" approval on reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with the site's consensus stating, "While frothy to a fault, Four Weddings and a Funeral features irresistibly breezy humor, and winsome performances from Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell."^[6] Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, calling it "delightful and sly", and directed with "light-hearted enchantment" by Newell. He praised Grant's performance, describing it as a kind of "endearing awkwardness".^[7]The film had its detractors. Writing for the Chicago Reader, Jonathan Rosenbaum called the film "generic" and "standard issue", stating that the audience shouldn't "expect to remember it ten minutes later".^[8] Time magazine writer Richard Corliss was less scathing, but agreed that it was forgettable, saying that people would "forget all about [the movie] by the time they leave the multiplex," even joking at the end of his review that he had forgotten the film's name.^[9] The character of Carrie was voted one of the most annoying film characters of all time in a British online poll.^[10]

TRAILER:

IDENTS:

Polygram Filmed Entertainment being the most superior here.

TITLES:

Inter-Titles, one on black and one on a cake

Polygram Filmed  Entertainment and Channel Four are the distributors of the film. Working Title is the production company. White serif font on black background. A flower-like emblem. "invite you to" is breaking the convention of neutral writing, and signifies the comedic and absurd nature of the film. The emblem signifies romance. The  of a serious background can be seen as the serious, romantic element of the narrative.

Followed by titles on live action.

THE OPENING SHOT:

...

NARRATIVE, EXPOSITION:

...

MISE-EN-SCENE:

...

EDITING:

...

GENRE SIGNIFIERS:

...

REPRESENTATION:

GENDER: ...

ETHNICITY: ...

SEXUALITY: ...

AGE: ....

CLASS/STATUS: ...

ABILITY/DISABILITY: ....

REGIONAL IDENTITY: ...

NORMATIVE OR COUNTER-HEGEMONIC?

...

SOUNDTRACK:

....

TRANSITION TO MAIN FILM:

....

ADULT ROM-COM EG2 - About A Boy

WHAT I ENDED UP APPLYING

• The character of Will influenced the antagonist of my film opening, a great deal, including the voiceovers

POSSIBLE POINTS OF INFLUENCE:

• The voice-overs

About A Boy

Chris Weisz + Paul Weitz, 2002

BBFC 12 rating, MPAA PG-13

Running length of opening:  4'00

LEAD ACTORS: Hugh Grant
                                 Nicholas Hoult

                                 Rachel Weisz

GENRE: (Romantic) comedy

PRODUCTION COs: StudioCanal
                                         TriBeCa Productions
                                         Working Title Films

DISTRIBUTOR: Universal Pictures

BUDGET: $27m

BOX OFFICE: $24.3m (UK), $40.8m (US), 
                            $130.5m (worldwide)

CRITICAL KUDOS:

ROTTEN TOMATOES:  Critics 93%, Audience 54%        IMDb: 7.1/10

From wiki: 

The film received critical acclaim, with a 94% 'Certified Fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes.^[5] The film, with a budget of US$30 million, grossed a worldwide total of US$130,549,455.^[2] In December 2002, the film was chosen by the American Film Institute as one of the ten best movies of the year. The film received a B+ CinemaScore from American audiences.^[6] Almost universally praised, with an Academy Award-nominated screenplay, About a Boy was determined by the Washington Post to be "that rare romantic comedy that dares to choose messiness over closure, prickly independence over fetishised coupledom, and honesty over typical Hollywood endings."^[7] Rolling Stone wrote, "The acid comedy of Grant's performance carries the film [and he] gives this pleasing heartbreaker the touch of gravity it needs".^[8]

Roger Ebert observed that "the Cary Grant department is understaffed, and Hugh Grant shows here that he is more than a star, he is a resource."^[9] The film earned Grant his third Golden-Globe nomination, while the London Film Critics Circle named Grant its Best British Actor and GQ honoured him as one of the magazine's men of the year 2006.^[10] "His performance can only be described as revelatory," wrote critic Ann Hornaday, adding that "Grant lends the shoals layer upon layer of desire, terror, ambivalence and self-awareness."^[7]

The New York Observer concluded: "[The film] gets most of its laughs from the evolved expertise of Hugh Grant in playing characters that audiences enjoy seeing taken down a peg or two as a punishment for philandering and womanising and simply being too handsome for words-and with an English accent besides. In the end, the film comes over as a messy delight, thanks to the skill, generosity and good-sport, punching-bag panache of Mr. Grant's performance."^[11] About a Boy also marked a notable change in Grant's boyish look. Now 41, he had lost weight and also abandoned his trademark floppy hair. Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman took note of Grant's maturation in his review, saying he looked noticeably older and that it "looked good on him."^[12]He added that Grant's "pillowy cheeks are flatter and a bit drawn, and the eyes that used to peer with 'love me' cuteness now betray a shark's casual cunning. Everything about him is leaner and spikier (including his hair, which has been shorn and moussed into a Eurochic bed-head mess), but it's not just his surface that's more virile; the nervousness is gone, too. Hugh Grant has grown up, holding on to his lightness and witty cynicism but losing the stuttering sherry-club mannerisms that were once his signature. In doing so, he has blossomed into the rare actor who can play a silver-tongued sleaze with a hidden inner decency."^[12]

TRAILER:

IDENTS:

Universal ident  and  StudioCanal, the first lasting 25 secs and the second 15 secs, connotes the primary superior status of Universal as the distributor. Both have their signature sounds.

The third ident, Working Title, has an audio bridge. This connotes their status as a subsidiary.

TITLES:

The actor's name appears over the
character he is playing

The letters are all lower-case, is this a subtle signifier of the theme of childhood?

THE OPENING SHOT:

High angle and tracking shot of the protagonist.

NARRATIVE, EXPOSITION:

We get introduced to the two ventral characters, we have a binary opposition of age and also of wealth.

MISE-EN-SCENE:

The table signifies his wealth and intellectual capital, with a big book, and his shady character elements are hinted at with an ashtray, they are not anchoring him as a smoker because it might spoil the romantic image.

EDITING:

long takes. 

GENRE SIGNIFIERS:

The romance side of the film isn't signified, other than that we have a carefree male who rejects long-term romantic commitments in favour of short-term flings, which is anchored through the fact he ignores the calls of his liaisons.
This equilibrium will be disrupted as he will eventually find a woman he has real emotional feelings for.

REPRESENTATION:

NORMATIVE OR COUNTER-HEGEMONIC?

This is quite a stereotypical and narrow reperesentaion of the UK, focusing mainly on English, RP people as the normal characters, pandering to an International and especially US audience, typical for Working Title.

SOUNDTRACK:

Incidental music, more typical for adult rom-coms than teen rom-coms where we have a soundtrack of a song with lyrics?.

TRANSITION TO MAIN FILM:

At 3'30 as the incidental music bridges into the next scene, and the relationship between Will and Marcus is foreshadowed with the baby.