G321: Audience Expectations

To research more into what the audience would expect from a Romantic-Comedy film, we created a questionnaire and asked fifteen people of different ages to complete for us. We asked ten questions about what they would expect from a Romantic Comedy including things like setting, storyline and characters.

We asked what would be expected from this genre in general and found that most expected a couple in love with comical aspects such amusing scenarios leading to the romance. when asked what common themes would arise from a typical Romantic Comedy, we found that most expected love and romance potentially involving heartbreak. Another common theme that came up was the idea of opposites attracting.

When we asked what sort of storyline would be expected, there were quite a wide range of plots. The most common was a romance between an unlikely couple again with the idea opposite in love. There was also the idea of forbidden love or a love triangle in which someone is in love someone they shouldn't be. Another popular answer was that the couple would meet unexpectedly throughout the film in different situations which could be comical. We asked what sort of ending the audience would expect and found that everyone said a happy ending would be expected. Some also suggested that any problems would be resolved resulting in the typical 'happily ever after'.

We asked what type of setting would be appropriate and the majority answer was a city or office setting - somewhere ordinary like in everyday life. This would make it more realistic and the audience would be able to relate more to the characters and storyline. We asked how many main characters the audience would expect and the answers ranged from two to four main characters. The preferred age range for the main characters came back as people aged 16-25.

Of the fifteen people we asked, thirteen agreed that they would prefer the genre to be more focused on the comedy element as opposed to the romantic element. This could be because comedies are more popular nowadays than the traditional romantic films that can be considered 'old-fashioned'. We found that when asking what time period the audience would prefer, all people said that they would like a modern setting.

When asked the overall opinion of the Romantic-Comedy genre, the response was overall positive with a few suggestions that it can be cheesy or predictable however still enjoyable.

In carrying out this questionnaire, we have been able to gain a wider knowledge of what our audience would expect from the Romantic-Comedy genre. It has helped us to consider who we would cast and how many characters should be involved as well as the storyline and time period. We can now create our film opening more effectively and cater for the needs of our target audience.

Here is a copy of the questionnaire that we gave out to people to fill out:

Cath, Charley, Joanna