Romantic comedy trailers

I have watched a few romantic comedy trailers to get an idea of how the trailers have been created and I will use this information to make my trailer as professional as possible. Here are the two that I think are the most similar to how our film trailer is going to be:


Love Actually

This trailer uses 94 different shots in total (including each cut from a particular shot) excluding the promotion of the production company before the actual trailer starts. This has given me an idea of how many shots my group needs to film for this trailer in order to make it as similar to a professionally made trailer as possible.
This trailer is effective, even within the first 20 seconds. It immediately reminds the audience of the productions that Universal and Studio Canal have created before, and these films are very well-known. This gives the audience the impression that this film is going to be worth watching, like all the previous films this production company has made.
The first shot in the film is an establishing shot of the setting of the film, a city. It is made clear that this film is set at Christmas time as there are pretty lights and a Christmas tree in the shot and a sound effect of Christmas bells is played. Some text comes up in this shot in a white and red font (Christmas-themed colours that are also used for the main title/logo of the film). The next two shots convey the comedy genre of the film, with some of the actors dancing in an amusing way. Then three loving shots are shown with convey the romantic genre of the film. When these five shots are shown, upbeat music is played which makes the trailer fun. Then the first part of the many storylines in this film begins: the Prime Minister and one of his assistants romance. The assistant speaks to the Prime Minister for the first time and she feels like she has made a fool out of herself and this makes her feelings clear. The Prime Minister also looks back at her when he is walking away, conveying that he wants to see more of her. More Christmas-themed shots are then shown with an establishing shot of people ice skating and then a low angle shot of a house with Christmas lights on it and you can see the shadows of some characters removing each others clothes in a sexual way (the low angle shot also conveys how far they are from the ground on the top floor of the house). After these clips, a voiceover man says "when desires are revealed", and then more storylines related to this sentence are revealed including the little boy who is in love and a married man who is having an affair with his secretary while his wife is actually aware of this. Shortly after, the voiceover man says "and chances are finally taken" and then more storylines are revealed including a man who is in love with a married woman but he never told her how he felt (although the fact that the woman is married is not revealed in the trailer) and two people who finally tell each other about their feelings towards each other.The voiceover man says "Universal Pictures invited you" and this is very personal way of addressing the audience, encouraging them to see this film. The rest of the clips are romance or comedy related, once again conveying the genre of the film. The main actors, who are all well-known and recognisable, are acknowledged at the end in their own shots with their names written in the film's recognisable red and white writing. This once again would make the audience want to see the film due to all these well-known actors. The conclusion of some of the storylines is revealed at the end too, such as the Prime Minister going to the woman's house and the little boy seeing the girl he likes at the airport but this does not conclude all the storylines, so the audience would want to know what happened to everyone else as well as why the Prime Minister went to the woman's house and why the little boy is at an airport. The Prime Minister and his assistant sings a Christmas carol to some small children at the end (how small the children are is conveyed through a high angle shot) and this continues to the end of the trailer. More red and white text appears at the end saying "the ultimate romantic comedy coming for the holidays", conveying that this film is the best Christmas film by using the superlative "ultimate". More production information is shown at the end with a black background and white text such as the actors and the companies involved.


The Holiday

This trailer has around 124 different shots in total (including each cut from a particular shot); more than Love Actually. In this trailer, instead of promoting the works of the production company, it jumps straight into the storyline starting with Amanda. The characters are introduced using a split-scene technique with half the screen showing Amanda, the other half showing a white background with blue and black writing- Amanda's name in blue and underneath in black writing, it tells the audience where she lives. This writing is in a serif font and a neutral colour scheme, making the film seem more classy than the fun idea that Love Actually created. Amanda is quite an unconventional female character and this is conveyed when she hits her boyfriend aggressively rather than in a petty way like other romantic comedy films may do, but this adds to the humour. Shortly after this, the second character is introduced and she is called Iris. Her identity is revealed in the same way as Amanda's was: with a white background and black and blue serif fonts. The only thing different is their locations as Iris is from London, England. They are both having problems with their romantic interests and they coincidentally meet each other and switch locations on a holiday. Comedy elements are frequently used in this trailer, such as when Amanda falls over and gets snow all over her. Similar shots are used for the two women conveying their similar lives (for example, the shots when they open their front doors). Like conventional romantic comedies, the two women meet new men in these trailers (however, only one of the women actually gets together with a man- Amanda). Similarly to the Love Actually trailer, this trailer does remind the audience of successful films the director has made before to encourage the audience to see this film too. More clips that convey the comedy and romance genres are shown which further reveal the storyline and towards the end of the trailer, the actors' names are shown using the same split-scene technique and colour scheme used before. The name of the film is shown at the end followed by production details, both in the colour scheme and style of text the used previously just like Love Actually.