Conventions of a Romantic Comedy

Romantic Comedy's (also known as "rom-coms) are films that have humorous and light-hearted narratives that revolve around someone's love life; they were originally a sub-genre that formed from romance films. 

Narratives: the narratives of rom-coms can vary. The basic narratice would be two characters, usually a man and a woman, meet and then part in the middle of the film due to a disagreement or an argument but then reunite at the end. 
However there are now different themes in rom-coms...

• love at first sight
• marriage/divorce
• bestfriends in love
• high school teen love 
• love triangle etc...

Characters: the stereo typical characters for a romantic comedy would be...

• Good Looking Male - the male lead of a romantic comedy would normally be a good looking young actor who is generally the main love interest of the film. He is presented to be quite big headed and funny.  
• Good Looking Female: the female lead would be a good looking young actress who would be a bit "dopey" or sarcastic but still manages to catch the eye of the "good looking male). 
• Parents: somewhere along the film one of the characters parents would be involved and stereo typically they would be embarrassing and very open. 
• The leading males bestfriend - the male's bestfriend would normally be the funnier one but they aren't always as good looking as the male lead. They normally go through the film either trying to convince the male lead out of "falling in love" and going through it picking on them for being "in love".
• The leading females bestfriend - the leading female of the film normally have a group of friends. They are all equally as good looking as each other and they go through the film as being the female leads "therapists" or a helping hand as they give advice to her about what she should do about her situations etc... 

Setting: rom-coms are normally set in big well known cities such as New York, London, LA etc. But, it normally depends on the narrative and theme of the film. For example, if it's a "love at first sight" film, then they are normally set in big cities where they are around a lot of people and it's always busy. However, if it's a "high school teen love" movie they might be set in smaller settings. 

Mise-En-Scene: the mise-en-scene for rom-coms depend on the narrative and the theme...

• Costumes - stereo typically most of the characters in their costumes would normally reflect on the type of person they are. For example, if the leading female is quite shy she could be dressed in a midi skirt, a shirt and a cardigan (subtle and not revealing). Another example could be a leather jacket, a nice top and jeans for the leading male if he is presented as the "cool guy on campus" and quite big headed and cocky. 
• Lighting - because rom-coms are light hearted and quite uplifting, the lighting all through out the film would be high-key which produces a very flattering and general mood of the film. During the more depressing bits of the film, the lighting tends to be low key to mirror the mood of the characters. 
• Props - the props in the film would depend on the characters and the narratives. Depending of their jobs, if they go to school or not etc, they would have different things on them, for example, a briefcase.