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Lesson 1: Concept + Conventions
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What I learned from this assignment is the importance of separations being resolved through what forces the couple together. A dichotomy of sorts. They’re separated and yet becoming unified at the same time.
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ASSIGNMENT: Eugene Mandelcorn’s Rom Com Project
LESSON 1
What I learned in doing this assignment is that the characters in this rom-com are more compicated than I originally thought.Create your Concept and Conventions
1. Starting with whatever idea you have, fill in the blanks to create a concept.
Two People Who Belong Together: Joe is an aspiring filmmaker and Beth is an aspiring screenwriter. Voice is a elderly right-wing homeless man and Karen a left-wing homeless woman.
How Are They Separated: When Joe and Beth meet at a movie theater, Joe spills a drink on her and although he is attracted to her Beth wants nothing to do with him. When Voice and Karen are introduced they despise each other. They argue and try to keep away from each other.
What Forces Them together: Joe and Beth are forced together by the instructor of an Internet Film School. Voice and Karen are forced together by Joe and Beth in the making of their film.
Issues to be Resolved: Joe must get over the death of his parents and the search for homeless twin. Beth must feel that she can be a successful, and truly loved for herself, even after loosing her apartment and living in her car.
On Their Journey of Love: The 2 couples are forced to resolve their problems and survive a disaster together to become mentors to their former antagonists.
2. Then fill in the blanks to create your conventions. Even though some of these are the same, it is worth looking at them in the context of the conventions.Experience of Falling In Love: In the relationship between Joe and Beth, Joe is the pursuer and Beth is reluctant, but eventually comes to care for Joe. Voice and Karen are thrown together by Joe and Beth and want nothing to do with each other.
The Journey of Love: Joe and Beth have different ideas of what the film they are making together should be like. Arguments eventually lead to mistrust and almost forced separation by a force of nature, but Joe saves Beth and they weather the storm together with Voice and Karen, who also find that opposites can attract.
Relationship Set-up: Joe meets Beth after the screening of a class assignment. He spills a drink on her dress and she wants nothing to do with him. Joe and Beth meet Voice and Karen separately and put them together in their film.
Issues each must Resolve: Joe must deal with the sudden death of his parents and the search for his homeless twin brother. Beth must deal with her finance problems, loosing her job, getting evicted from her apartment and living in her car. Voice must realize he is living in an alternative reality and it is the reason he is homeless. Karen must deal with the fact that she has never learned to be in control of her life.
Separation: Joe and Beth are separated by their artistic differences as well as their financial state. Voice and Karen are separated by a deep hatred for each others appearance and world view.
How will Comedy be Expressed: The conflicts between the couples who are thrown together and at first don’t seem to get along. There is a great deal of irony and misplaced put-downs in their conversation and actions. -
Gayle Jackson’s Rom Com Project
What I learned doing this assignment is I have a complicated plot, and I need to re-focus on the emotional component.The Adventures of Huckleberry Hawkins
• Two People Who Belong Together: Casey is a comic book creator who desires to be with the kind of reckless, adventurous, dangerous hero she created in her popular series. Huck (not his real name) is a mercenary who had been betrayed once too often and longs to leave the criminal element of his life behind for an honest relationship with someone he can trust.
• How Are They Separated: Casey is mistaken for an art smuggler and Huck is on the side hired to kill her for the artifact
• What Forces Them together: On the run through Europe, Huck’s contacts betray him and try to kill them both
• Issues to be Resolved: Huck has killed for his employers while Casey is a dreamer afraid of dying from living on the edge.
• On Their Journey of Love: Being pursued by ruthless killers in the mountains of Eastern Europe
• Experience of Falling In Love: It’s an adventure with a search for truth and a real artifact to crystallize the relationship
• The Journey of Love: Meet-cute by mistaken identity, Casey falls for the mystery man pretending to help her, hates him when she learns to truth, they bond when they must survive and join forces to find the McGuffin.
• Relationship Set-up: Huck is hired to receive a briefcase from an American woman, but a shopkeeper gives Casey the briefcase by mistake and an unknown player tries to kill her. Huck pushes her off a train to save both their lives and they start their journey together.
• Issues each must Resolve: Huck is not truthful. They are both in danger.
• Separation: Casey can’t trust him and leaves him to find the American Embassy.
• How will Comedy be Expressed: Misconceptions of who each are. Casey is more capable that Huck thinks. Huck is more intelligent and kinder than Casey thinks.
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Nancy Lucas Rom Com Project
Lesson 1What I learned in this assignment and from watching the ‘Introduction to Class’ video (which I thought was great) is that, besides a romance- you also need a story in a story.
I have watched a lot of Hallmark Romance and I have realized this is a very important factor. There are always several stories being told at once during the movie. So, As I work though my characters, I ask them what it is that they WANT or need to overcome.I will need to post all of the ‘elements’ of the story/plot later- as I have not figured all of them out yet—I feel like I may have too many characters in the script (but more minor than major) so I am trying to sort through the true story of the romance.
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H. B. Faulkner’s RomCom Project
What I learned doing this assignment is that it is creativity-inducing to chop up an idea and mix ideas around.
Two people who belong together: A free-thinking artist and an irritable hermit inventor, both self-sufficient and navigating life with no family, find in each other what they wish they had.
How are they separated? She leaves him unexpectedly, with little info about her.
What forces them together? An avalanche traps the pre-teen kids’ camp group she is travelling with, and the man shelters them in the weeks before Christmas.
Issues to be resolved: He carries guilt for causing his parents’ deaths and has squashed his own dreams. She carries a broken heart by those closest to her disesteeming her identity.
On their journey of love: The revelations of each’s sad family situation and unrealized dreams that bring them full-circle to remedy each other’s plight.
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Experience of falling in love:On their journey of love: The revelations of each’s sad family situation and unrealized dreams that bring them full-circle to remedy each other’s plight.
Relationship Setup: We watch the two fulfill in the other what is missing and causing pain.
Issues each must resolve: He carries guilt for causing his parents’ deaths and has squashed his own dreams. She carries a broken heart by those closest to her disesteeming her identity.
Separation: She leaves him with too little info to find her.
How will comedy be expressed? funny situations, like the curmudgeonly man being the legendary “mountain troll”, the artist redecorating his cabin, a kid drawing the man as a monster, snow fights, the man only having canned beans in his cupboard, a bit of fish-out-of-water humor that backfires, and sarcastic and mocking banter between the man and woman
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Renee’s Rom Com Project
What I Learned… I have a really good idea. It’s fresh and ridiculous but it’s so incomplete. I discovered some of the pieces my story needed. I may not have the complete new story layout but I do believe I am on the road to fix my comedy. Great assignment. -
So…. my existing project I knew has an unclear direction – a good beginning and …. the end. I learned so much more about how to form the direction with a great logline. Still not great but it’s a start. I realize how to give my lead characters the direction their story needs to go in. It’s embarrassing to admit but I labored over this. My logline is coming together. My script is a comedy farce with many characters and their stories. It might make a better TV series but I’m going to complete the feature and see where it takes me/it.
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