Romantic Screenplays 101 (12 page)

When doing your analysis think in details. The location, characterizations and roles of the characters are unique. Think whatever is different about your story, not in general terms. It’s a romance. The females dragging their males to this know it will end up in a successful commitment in the end. In the atmosphere of our modern culture, we know the female will be independent and no one’s doormat. Yadda, yadda. Yes, those are the generalities that are predictable . . . so what are the
differences
in your story? How is this genre of story different from TWILIGHT? How is your heroine different from other heroines? How is your story not melodramatic?

ROMANTIC SCREENPLAYS Chapter 7 Exercises

Exercise 7a:
State your Time-and-Place factors specifically:

1) List the locations you will need to describe.

2) What props will be pertinent to this Time-Place?

3) Costuming considerations unique here?

Exercise 7b:
Summarize research already done or make a list of topics you still need to research. (And, yes, authenticity is your job, especially in a spec script).

Exercise 7c:
Write your Statement of Purpose. Look at your Log Line from Chapter Two and post both above your computer for duration of this script writing.

Exercise 7d:
State your Polti theme and your romantic theme. Now, list five ways your story will vary this theme to make your script unique!

Note:
The point of analysis is to make you think and encourage deliberate choices. When you understand the intellectual nuances of your writing, you are in control. Then you can intelligently and confidently explain the underlying power and meaning of your story to the potential agent or producer.

Chapter 8

THE Romance as

Main Plot or Subplot

INCORPORATING ROMANTIC ELEMENTS

Quite simply, some stories must focus on a series of events, a main plot, that is not a romance and the relationship story you want to unfold will function as a complication to that series of events. The romance becomes one of the lesser subplots. That’s okay.

 However, if you intend to write a strictly relationship story as the main plot then you must understand the expectations of the film industry. Remember this point: Men expect to see physical responses, women expect to see commitment. So, you must identify if your main plot and genre writing are essentially targeted at the male audience or at the female audience. The next genre consideration draws from the ideas of titillation of inference and unspoken assumptions. Do you want this to be a sweet G-rated film? And, finally, how does a romance play in a high-concept (intense) Box-Office Hit?  

 Each of these four movie categories has different plot progression expectations for romance as a main plot and romance as a subplot.

A Man’s Movie
. . .wherein audience expects to see physical responses 
1.  Main Plot: Male action, power, image ( TRUE LIES)  
2.  Subplot: Sexual attraction, compliment, need (SPEED)

A Woman’s Chick Flick Movie
. . . wherein audience expects to see commitment  
1.  Main Plot: Meet, misunderstand, separate, commitment (PRETTY WOMAN)     
2.  Subplot: Impacts main plot, sexual tension, commitment (TEA WITH MUSSOLINI)

A G-Rated Family Movie
. . .wherein sexuality is only inferred and assumed 
1.  Main Plot: Communication, values, child/family commitment (SOUND OF MUSIC) 
2.  Subplot: Complication to main plot, nuance, family commitment (POLLYANNA)

A Box Office HIT
. . . wherein intense, high concept story has universal appeal 
1.  Main Plot: Interwoven/Interdependent Action & Conditional Commitment (TITANIC) 
2.  Subplot: Impacts main, sexual tension, commitment (STAR WARS)

Did you note that in the Man’s Movie the relationship did not necessarily end in commitment and in the Main Plot of the Box Office Hit the commitment was conditional? These play to the male desire for ambiguity, that playboy fantasy of having it all. This does not proclaim that males in the REAL world do not want hearth and the one woman at his side into the golden years. But the primal instinct of the male animal is to “spread it around” to assure the continuation of the species. That has nothing to do with the more civilized awareness of conscience, values, selectivity. It just
is
the nature of the Alpha beast. You need to be aware of the story elements that play to that primal male fantasy. This is another “That’s okay” concept, if that is the story your heart of heart tells you to write!

RESEARCHING YOUR DEMOGRAPHICS (When you are ready)

Discovering the demographics of who would come to see your film is a matter of researching the entertainment industry on a regular basis (which few people have the time to do) and understanding exactly who your appeal would reach. You get a feel for who goes to see CARZ 2, TRANSFORMERS, HANGOVER, etc. etc. You get a feel for who is most likely to
not
see particular movies. In general, the 18-25 year old males would see a romance film because their dates want to see it. Just consider if someone would go by themselves to see a Chick Flick. Think realistically, not hopefully. There’s your demographics.

Studio personnel and agency personnel are paid to keep on top of this information and all the surrounding stats. So, there is no one place you can go to as a measuring stick. You have to rely on your gut. Well, the Internet Movie Data Base (
www.IMDb.com
) and The Grid (
www.itsonthegrid.com
) can help in the information search, as well as subscriptions to the periodicals
Variety
and
The Hollywood Reporter
.

In reality, you won’t need to go to all that work until you are ready to pitch the movie. Per the urging of UCLA Film Department professors like Lew Hunter, you will not want to do any pitching until you have written five scripts. Five scripts will have given you the practical skills to understand the craft. One script does not a screenwriter make. When you have five and have gone back and polished each to diamond brightness, you start worrying about your demographics for your pitch to an agent or a production studio . . .

HOLLYWOOD’S FAVORITE ROMANTIC COMEDY

There can be humor sprinkled throughout a drama, but in the end it is focused on tension and jeopardy to life and limb. Comedy, on the other hand, relies on 1) set-up, 2) expectation, and 3) reversal. The chain of events makes you smile and feel light-hearted. The circumstances can be serious, but the events flow with the anticipation of warm fuzzies, non-life-threatening confrontations and upbeat resolutions.

 Here are explanations of two approaches to the Romantic Comedy, “The 7 Beats for Romantic Comedy” and ”Writing the Romantic Comedy,” both from Billy Mernit in
Writing the Romantic Comedy
.

Discussion of “The 7 Beats for Romantic Comedy” by Billy Mernit

(Note: Mernit’s concept builds around Syd Field’s structure, simply shifting the main points to fit a romantic comedy.)

1. Set-up (the chemical equation)

2. Catalyst (the cute meet)

3. First Turning Point (a sexy complication)

4. Mid-Point (the hook)

5. Second Turning Point (the swivel)

6. Climax (the relationships’ dark moment)

7. Resolution (joyful defeat)

1. Set-up’s chemical equation
: Scene sequence of events identifying both the exterior Identity and interior Essence conflicts. After the opening scene it tells the audience about the lead character and what is lacking in that character’s life.

2. Catalyst’s cute meet
: Event that brings the man-and-woman together
and
into conflict, irrevocably changing both their lives. A good romantic comedy makes the meeting genuinely meaningful. It resonates and sets the hook in the audience’s imagination.

3. Turning Point’s sexy complication
: The ending of Act One event that has male and female thinking of the other, thus the balance of the story is their new life together. This event is a startling development that defines the character goal, making the internal conflict of the two people drive their external actions. Think of this Plot Point II as a kind of explosion forcing awareness and changing the two people.

4. Mid-Point’s hook
: An intense heightening of sexual tension and emotional involvement, implicating the relationship’s outcome and creating higher stakes awareness of what is to be lost or gained. Blatant depiction of story theme.

5. Second Turning Point’s swivel
: At the end of Act Two, this is the event that jeopardizes the protagonist’s chance to succeed at his/her goal and is the main character’s point-of-no-return in the internal conflict, the character arc. The only option is for the character to take action to either a) choose love over his/her original goal or b) sacrifice love to get the goal. There’s the dilemma, but, of course, since this is a romance, the choice will be a).

6. Climax’s dark moment
: The consequences of the swivel decision create an intense confrontation where private motivations are revealed and relationship as well as worthy goals are on the verge of being lost.  

7. Resolution’s joyful defeat
: The Relationship wins with the reconciliation and re-affirmation of the primal importance of the two-as-one, sometimes with the personal sacrifice of the main character’s external goal.  

Walk this 7-Beat Structure through any of your favorite romantic comedies. By about the fifth film you will begin seeing the concepts without list in hand. Your mind will recognize and your imagination jump up and down with “Yes, I get it!”

Discussion of “Writing the Romantic Comedy” by Billy Mernit

Mernit points out “In romantic comedy, the ‘A’ story or main focus of the movie is the relationship between its romantic protagonists and the ‘B’ story won’t be obtained without that romance’s existence. Example: Every subplot in SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE stems from the love affair between Will and Viola. The show goes on only because they go on; their passion fuels every conflict. The couple is at the core of this comedic story, so we call it a romantic comedy.

 “The classic three-act structure is usually defined in terms of a single protagonist who is trying to obtain a goal. In ANALYZE THIS, the shrink helps the gangster overcome a phobia, but the shrink’s romance (while a catalyst for conflict) is ultimately not an essential story element.

1. CONFLICT: The hero takes on a problem

2. CRISIS: The hero can’t solve the problem

3. RESOLUTION: The hero solves the problem.

“In a romantic comedy, the three-act structure is revised as a meet-lose-get formula involving two protagonists.

1. MEET: Girl and Boy have significant encounters.

2. LOSE: Girl and Boy are separated.

3. GET: Girl and Boy reunite.

Love as the Key to Story Structure

“In romantic comedies, the real subject matter is the power of love. Love is not merely the catalyst for action in a romantic comedy; it’s the shaper of the story arc. And in most cases, love itself is the antagonist. It’s the force that the story’s characters have to reckon with; they either succumb to love’s power or reject it. Wrestling with love can force a character to grow or resist growth, but either way, love’s effect on the central character is what drives the story.

 “Such complications in a romantic comedy, a series of stake-raising problems, arise from the characters’ internal issues confronting the external obstacles. It’s the thing that pushes the protagonist from the end-of-second-act turning point into the third act’s resolution.

 “In a sense, one could restate the paradigm for a three-act structure in a romantic comedy:

1. CONFLICT: Love challenges the characters.

2. CRISIS: The characters accept or deny love.

3. RESOLUTION: Love transforms the characters.”

On Mernit’s Blog at
http://www.livingromcom.typepad.com/
he lists his favorite romantic comedy films from the distant past and from the modern era.  Go there and see if you agree with his choices. And, while you are there, drink in some of his fantastic insights. Better yet, buy his book to dig more in depth.

ROMANTIC SCREENPLAYS Chapter 8 Exercises

Exercise 8a:
To get ready for the final exercises in plotting your own screenplay (or rethinking your current Work-in-Progress), identify:

1) The major classification (from the four provided) for your story

2) If your romance is Main Plot or Subplot in that classification

Exercise 8b:
Is yours a drama or a romantic comedy? What makes it that?

Exercise 8c:
Re-examine your concept of Character Arc. Who is your audience cheering for? Is this character the one who is the focus of your story? Does this person arc because of the relationship or despite it?

Exercise 8d:
Write a list of five questions you still need answered to feel you understand writing the romantic screenplay!

Chapter 9

Plotting YOUR

Romantic Screenplay