Romantic comedy | Screenwrite.org

So week 4 was 1:1 tutorials. I was privileged to pitch my 15 minute short film Piano to the course leader.

I had already decided to rewrite my female character as a law student without being an escort. The story itself is already a metaphor for consent. Nuff said.

I pitched it as a romantic comedy, even though in my short, as in Notting Hill, rather than the two central characters sharing equal screen, time narrative weight seemed to favor the boy.

So it was suggested to perhaps pitch it as a personal drama with a comedic tone. That way I won’t have to worry about giving the two central characters equal screen time, but can focus on the learning curve of the male character – learning his lesson at the feet of the woman he loves – following his journey.

I checked the defining qualities of the personal inner drama genre as per Philip Parker‘s breakdown and decided that my story fits.

John Truby (22 Steps of a Master Storyteller) teaches about transcending the genre.

The reading this week was Alternative Screenwriting , one of the chapters is called ‘Working against Genre.’

So, my task this week is to pitch this story as a personal inner drama with elements of the rom com, and, importantly, to be specific about which elements of each genre.

And then, record and upload it for grading.

After that, my task will be to ensure the want and need of my hero is in place. Not only that, but to ensure that the climax happens like this:

The Hero has a moral revelation of his ‘need’. The revelation causes him to take new moral action. As a result of this change my hero is able to achieve his goal.

So, my second task this week is to ensure my hero’s outward physical goal and inner need is set in stone in my mind.

What are your tasks this week?

So, it’s week 2, and, to be honest, I’m struggling so far this term. The assignment is to write another short film, and present a video pitch, due in week 5, together with premise, treatment, and reflective essay at the end of term.

So what’s my problem? It’s not like I don’t have ideas. I have a lot. The two I am considering for this project are a romantic comedy and a rite of passage crime drama. I can’t decide which to pursue. I’ve written a premise for both, a treatment for both, and a step outline for both, but I’m still undecided.

The romantic comedy gives me more enjoyment. It’s fun and full of light. The rite of passage crime drama is dark. No light. If I’m to write this story I need to find a way of allowing the light in. If I go with the romantic comedy I need to figure out how to squeeze it into the rules of the genre.

As for genre, we have been pointed to Philip Parker and The Art and Science of Screenwriting, which is next on my buy-list. Initial readings of the rules of the three ‘romance’ genres seems to slot my story into comedy, as opposed to romantic drama or romantic tragedy (in this case art doesn’t imitate life).

Of the romantic comedy, our genre reading states this:

“The aim of the plot is to provide as many comedic moments as possible between the two central protagonists and their environment or other characters.“

But my question is this: comedic to whom?

Interviewed about his play The Comedians playwright Richard Griffiths paraphrases Mark Twain when he says the source of all comedy is pain. Just because we are laughing, it doesn’t mean the character finds what’s happening funny. Don’t we often laugh at people schadenfreude style? Not laughing with them, but rather at them? At least, that is how it seems to work in Soap Operas.

Which gives me a task, to take a romantic comedy and see if I am laughing with the characters, or at them? What is your screenwriting task this week?