Narrative Necessities

Both subgenres of romantic films, mainstream and arthouse, there are certain key things that appear in all trailers and will be necessary to include in the narrative of our trailer.

- the initial meeting of the couple

This is a very important of the narrative for the audience as it is when they first glimpse the relationship between the couple and so then can begin to understand the path it takes and problems it has to over come in the rest of the trailer. Although some of these trailers start before the couple has actually met, I prefer narratives where the couple is already together and then something causes them problems in their relationship, for example 'Revolutionary Road', 'The Vow' and 'Blue Valentine.'

- obvious change in mood

In the majority of the trailers I have researched, there is always a specific moment where the mood changes and the story picks up. This is usually signified by a change in music, a pause in music, an introduction of a new character or an argument between the two characters.

For example:

'Revolutionary Road' - 0.23 seconds 

This is an example of the music changing to create a different mood and so the story begins to change

'Dear John' - 1.12 minutes

Another example of the music changing to emphasise the change in relationship when John goes off to war

'Remember Me' - 1.00 minutes

This is an example of the introduction of a new character to change the relationship and mood of the main character - in this case it is the arrival of Tyler's 'other half'

'The Vow' - 0.43 - 1.05

This is an example of the pause of music along with arguments and loud noises to start and finish the music

For this change, I would like to use music to show a change in mood, preferably slower to show a more melancholic mood to reflect problems in the relationship of the couple.

- montage

This appears towards the end of every trailer before the title of the film is revealed as a dramatic finale to the narrative. 

To fit this in with our narrative, we will use this as a chance to show distance and problems within the relationship whilst displaying the main characters and the actor's playing them. Looking at the trailers the amount of shots in a montage generally varies between 15 to 20 shots so we will have to film a lot of shots that briefly reflect the character's relationship with each other for the montage.

W.H.