Romance Inspirations

     Unfortunately, my partner was not present once again. However, I have continued my research into the romance genre and would love to continue with it! My only concern at the moment is that I want to make sure I create a film focused around things that I feel strongly about. The passion I feel towards specific things should be shown through this short film to make it the best piece I could possibly create right now. I do enjoy romance films from time to time, but I am not exactly a huge fan. Between my mixed feelings and my tendency to change my mind quite often, I have a feeling I may be changing this genre soon. Until I speak to my partner and teacher for different perspectives and a bit of guidance, I have decided to look into the most popular/influential romance movies of all time.
The Notebook (2004), directed by Nick Cassavetes, tells the story of a forbidden love between a wealthy, seventeen year-old girl and a poor, local boy. [1] The film does a wonderful job of showing that sub-genre and how love can overcome anything, in my opinion. It touches viewers’ hearts and leaves people longing for what they have just seen. The movie earned several awards and did well in the box office, although expected not to, earning a worldwide total gross of $115,603,229. [2] Not only is it one of the most popularized romantic films ever, but tells a story of the exact same sub-genre I am looking into... forbidden love! However, it is quite a sad story and in my short I plan on keeping the entire 5 minutes happy throughout.

Notebook Image: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/562035228470156581/

     I wanted to look into a full-length film to get a good idea of the genre overall and remind myself of the concepts I would like to incorporate. However, in this case, looking into romantic short films would be the most effective. So… that’s exactly what I did! The Walt Disney Pictures production, Paperman (2012) was the first short that came to mind. An urban office worker meets a young lady and finds that paper airplanes are the unexpected answer to meeting her. [3] Director John Kahrs created a charming, sweet piece able to create that “aww” reaction in only 6 minutes, leading to the short's Academy Award for Best Short Film (Animated). The simplicity of the short is what I admire most and would love to recreate.  The sound was also a big inspiration to me. I loved the way that the film was able to tell a story using no words and was able to tell it so well. If I choose to go with the romance genre, this is definitely something I will do!

Paperman Image: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2388725/mediaviewer/rm769930240

[1] https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0332280/plotsummary
[2] https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=notebook.htm
[3] https://letterboxd.com/film/paperman/crew/