Read Online Romantic Screenplays 101 by Sally J. Walker - Free Book Online
Authors: Sally J. Walker
Tags: Romance, nonfiction, Reference, Writing, Writing; Research & Publishing Guides, Writing Skills
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a safe, secure life. Practical jokes are a threat. Holding a door closed, forcing someone to eat something, putting a bug or snake into someone’s backpack or bed . . . all of these disrupt and threaten the security of the moment. Restraining someone whether body-to-body or with some sort of tie-down is a threat to physical freedom for the person being restrained. In hospitals, law enforcement or military actions this act may be necessary for the safety of the majority, but it is still a threat to the one restrained.
Some people have personal difficulty identifying the entertainment value of the violence of multiple car wrecks, like in THE BLUES BROTHERS, or in the gore and terror of slasher movies. Emergency personnel see the reality of human suffering, so the on-screen pain and suffering is not particularly entertaining from their perspective. Many ex-military had a tough time sitting through the battle scenes of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and even such epics as BRAVEHEART. The cinematic drama of the violence in those films ripped right to the soul, which was appropriate for each story. The battle scenes were there for more than entertainment value . . . which cannot be said of the gratuitous scenes in THE BLUES BROTHERS and various slasher movies.
JEOPARDY IN ROMANCE
All of that said, let us go back to the concept of jeopardy in romantic movies. The main characters or Hero and Heroine must be willing to risk their personal well-being for the ultimate sake of the relationship. That is what makes O. Henry’s Christmas story “The Gift of the Magi” so intensely meaningful. The husband and the wife loved one another so much they were willing to give up the one thing they treasured most to make the other happy. They jeopardized their personal want to make the other feel cherished.
How to consider jeopardy is simply a matter of identifying what the character values most then listing the many different ways that valued thing could be diminished, tarnished, or destroyed completely. Some assaults merely undermine the value, whereas other actions can malign and destroy the essence of character values.
Every single character should have their own set of golden idols, those things that are sacred. Of course, as human beings we will share some common values . . . but most of us hide and protect those things that are the most sacred to each of us alone. Those sacred things are what make each of us vulnerable. Nothing, not one thing, not one institution, belief, or physical possession, not one relationship, one human ability is above attack or beyond destruction. British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking is the most brilliant man of our world. But he is trapped in a deteriorating body and must rely on machines to communicate his brilliance. Our human shells are fragile. Our belief systems are certainly even more fragile. Who is right and who is wrong? When will the truth be known for certain? One man’s truth is another man’s abhorrent way of life.
So, You-the-Writer must create each character with his or her own set of values and personal idols then create a story experience that will assault those values. You have to suck the audience in to care about that character’s values in Act I then depict all the trials and stressors that strain and jeopardize those valued ways of life in Act II and finally force the character to defend the well-being of that character’s values in Act III.
Here’s an important concept when trying to identify what is jeopardized: Intense drama results when the person has two choices and both are horrific, both will hurt or destroy something of value to the character, such as in SOPHIE’S CHOICE. That is called a dramatic dilemma. Story is predictable when the choices are merely between right and wrong or between two rights. But when the choice is between two wrongs or two definite consequential losses, the tension becomes glaring anxiety. Dilemma creates even a greater
Some people have personal difficulty identifying the entertainment value of the violence of multiple car wrecks, like in THE BLUES BROTHERS, or in the gore and terror of slasher movies. Emergency personnel see the reality of human suffering, so the on-screen pain and suffering is not particularly entertaining from their perspective. Many ex-military had a tough time sitting through the battle scenes of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and even such epics as BRAVEHEART. The cinematic drama of the violence in those films ripped right to the soul, which was appropriate for each story. The battle scenes were there for more than entertainment value . . . which cannot be said of the gratuitous scenes in THE BLUES BROTHERS and various slasher movies.
JEOPARDY IN ROMANCE
All of that said, let us go back to the concept of jeopardy in romantic movies. The main characters or Hero and Heroine must be willing to risk their personal well-being for the ultimate sake of the relationship. That is what makes O. Henry’s Christmas story “The Gift of the Magi” so intensely meaningful. The husband and the wife loved one another so much they were willing to give up the one thing they treasured most to make the other happy. They jeopardized their personal want to make the other feel cherished.
How to consider jeopardy is simply a matter of identifying what the character values most then listing the many different ways that valued thing could be diminished, tarnished, or destroyed completely. Some assaults merely undermine the value, whereas other actions can malign and destroy the essence of character values.
Every single character should have their own set of golden idols, those things that are sacred. Of course, as human beings we will share some common values . . . but most of us hide and protect those things that are the most sacred to each of us alone. Those sacred things are what make each of us vulnerable. Nothing, not one thing, not one institution, belief, or physical possession, not one relationship, one human ability is above attack or beyond destruction. British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking is the most brilliant man of our world. But he is trapped in a deteriorating body and must rely on machines to communicate his brilliance. Our human shells are fragile. Our belief systems are certainly even more fragile. Who is right and who is wrong? When will the truth be known for certain? One man’s truth is another man’s abhorrent way of life.
So, You-the-Writer must create each character with his or her own set of values and personal idols then create a story experience that will assault those values. You have to suck the audience in to care about that character’s values in Act I then depict all the trials and stressors that strain and jeopardize those valued ways of life in Act II and finally force the character to defend the well-being of that character’s values in Act III.
Here’s an important concept when trying to identify what is jeopardized: Intense drama results when the person has two choices and both are horrific, both will hurt or destroy something of value to the character, such as in SOPHIE’S CHOICE. That is called a dramatic dilemma. Story is predictable when the choices are merely between right and wrong or between two rights. But when the choice is between two wrongs or two definite consequential losses, the tension becomes glaring anxiety. Dilemma creates even a greater
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