Romantic Screenplays 101 Read Free Page A

change demanded by the attraction to this other person. There has to be resistance or angst by one or both parties or there is no conflict. No conflict means no story. The internalization can be explained in a novel but in cinema it has to be demonstrated by facial expressions, body language and dialogue’s diction and syntax. The internal struggle has to bleed over into the choices and consequences the audience sees the characters making.
    Additionally, you want the kind of conflict that will throw the two parties together and make the pheromones fly as they struggle with the everyday life demands. Plot out the evolution of the relationship and their acting upon the attraction then curl the controversy and opposition around their attraction and awareness of one another.
     Look at SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE. Both Tom Hanks in Seattle and Meg Ryan in Baltimore were constantly thinking about one another! The promise of a relationship came back again and again until they had to meet to figure out if the other was actually their life partner. This was inferred, certainly not acted upon at the top of the Empire State Building, just as happened in AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER, the model for the ending of SLEEPLESS.
     
    A ROMANCE CHALLENGE
    Many who want to write romantic screenplays are already addicted to the romance genre via novels. Romance readers are credited with being voracious readers. You, in turn, need to be an obsessive student of romantic films.
    Watch as many films with a primary or secondary romance as possible. After finishing this book, go back and watch each a second time to see if you identified the signposts and the beats, as well as to consider if you missed anything. You should see nuances and signals you were not aware of the first time around. (Note: There is a list in Appendix C that will continue to grow as the film industry continues to release romantic films.)
    Remember, a film need not be a story with the main plot focused on the romantic relationship. The romance could be a subplot contributing to the complications of the main plot. The two requirements of a cinematic romance are that 1) the relationship evolves because of the main plot and 2) the couple needs to advance through the various relationship stages toward commitment in the end. Whether the relationship is the main plot or the subplot the key is that the pair will be committed to be a couple in the end.
     
    REQUIRED ELEMENTS OF A ROMANCE
    1. Motivated character-driven, not complex plot-driven story . . .A highly motivated character is an intense character, a role that appeals to the really talented, dynamic actors, those A-List actors. These characters are the ones who do not just let life happen to them; they make it happen. They are inherently dramatic. That means they are not watchers but doers.
    One of the major characters will arc or change internally in the course of a character-driven movie. In a romance this can be either the male or the female and the change will be because of the relationship! (This will be explained more when the cast itself is addressed in Chapter 4).
    Character-driven stories are perpetually focused on the words of the dialogue and the consequences demanded from those speeches. The dialogue in a character-driven story is compact, multilayered and demands gut-deep intensity from the actor. In a character-driven plot, the dialogue so enthralls the director that he / she naturally focuses on motivating the actor’s facial expressions and body language.
    The only time a screenwriter needs to describe either facial expression or body language / positioning is if a contrast is intended rather than the natural nuance of the dialogue. For example, a speech is excruciatingly polite but the tone needs to be sarcastic. A screenwriter’s job is to write dynamite dialogue that stimulates the actor and the director to live their jobs with concentrated excitement.
    Plot-driven stories are based on events and how the characters react