movie genres – Almost An Author

Die Laughing

As I am writing this month’s post, five of the top 20 movies are comedies or animated. It’s no surprise; it is also the first official weekend of spring. After a long hard winter, most of us are ready for a change of pace, we’re ready to have fun, be entertained, be foolish and just laugh. Robert McKee explains, “Simply put, a comedy is a funny story, an elaborate rolling joke.”[i]

Comedies usually rank in the middle of popular films and they tend to release in the spring or summer unless it’s a romantic comedy. Currently, A Madea Funeral is the top comedy in theaters, raking in a total of $65,881,232 in four weeks. There are plenty of other movies and genres to choose from this time of year.

Adventure
Action
Drama
Comedy
Thrillers/Suspense
Horror
Romantic Comedies
Musicals
Documentary
Black Comedy

Hollywood knows they can’t put all of their apples in one basket or genre. Everybody is different and has different tastes in entertainment; movie execs have been around long enough to know when to release what type of movie.

As the weather warms up, families and friends are more likely to head out to the theater instead of sitting home watching movies on TV. They know everyone likes to laugh and what better time to release comedies than in the spring?

Comedies?

Comedies have been around since the early days of film, in fact, slapstick comedy helped fuel audiences’ desire for movies. Back then comedies were rooted in slapstick humor.

Because at first there was no sound in film and the story was told through physical and visual actions. Slapstick was defined by exaggerated physical activity which overdramatized the visuals of typical physical comedy. You may recognize a few of the early comedians.

When sound was finally added to film comedies grew in popularity as many popular comedians joined in this new movement of entertainment. Below are a couple of my favorites which I watched as a child growing up.

I actually live about 20 minutes away from the Laurel and Hardy Museum and Harlem, Georgia, where Oliver Hardy was born. He is a local hero and the town has a festival and parade every fall.

With the addition of sound to film, comedies into many sub-genres: satire, romantic comedies, war, and political comedies and later science fiction comedies.

Thus, many comedies have defined eras in history; whether it was slapstick in the heydays of film, the golden age of comedies on TV, the political comedies like M*A*S*H, or the coming-of-age comedies of the 80s and 90s.

Robert McKee notes, “When society repeatedly experiences glossy, hollowed-out, pseudo-stories, it degenerates. We need both satires and tragedies, and comedies that shine a clean light into the dingy corners of the human psyche and society.”[ii]

As I began working on this post, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winters announced the production of the much anticipated third installment of “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.”

When I heard the news, I was innocently taken back to my high school and college years when the original movie came out with other silly modern comedies like the Dumb and Dumber and the Wayne’s World franchises began. Interestingly enough, most modern comedic movies had their roots in television first. Many of the Saturday Night Live cast go on to have major film careers.

Comedic stories are interchangeable between the big screen and little screen. Many TV shows and even cartoons have gone on to be major box office successes. The Looney Tunes and Scooby-Doo franchises are the two main slapstick comedies that have had major success on the big screen.

The main problem I personally have with comedies is that everyone’s sense of humor is different and it changes as we grow up. Then we pursue other adventures and entertainment.

MY ADVENTURES!

In my late teens, as I became more interested in the opposite sex, romance movies became my favorite. Again, we are all different and have varying tastes in movies; because we all have different reasons for going to the movies.

Currently, I’m looking forward to going to see the latest Marvel release, Captain Marvel with my best friend. For the last year, it has become our tradition to go see superhero movies for our guy’s night out.

Captain Marvel trailer

We do this for a couple of reasons, he lives in another town now and we don’t see each other often. Action/superhero movies aren’t good date movies but are great opportunities for guys get-togethers. Nothing bad, just enjoy the violence and action scenes. Because deep inside, most guys dream of being the superhero.
I also like seeing the comic book stories I read when I was younger come to life on the big screen thanks to modern special-effects and more talented screenwriters of today.
While there are some guys who enjoy silly mindless comedies, I don’t want to die laughing.

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

[i] McKee R. (1997). Story: Substance, Structure, Style, And The Principle of Screenwriting (Kindle edition) pg 361.

[ii] McKee R. (1997). Story: Substance, Structure, Style, And The Principle of Screenwriting (Kindle edition) pg 13.

The Plot

A few months ago, I was asked by an agency to do a rewrite of an older screenplay I wrote. Idealistically, this sounds rather simple. However, the process of reworking the narrative while maintaining the plot is proving to be both time-consuming and difficult, to say the least.

Imagine taking a completed puzzle apart adding a few new pieces and then putting it all together in a different order and ending up with the same picture as before. Yes, the process is just as confusing as the analogy sounds.

Since I’ve taken over this column earlier this year, I’ve purposely been going through the main pieces of the puzzle we call screenwriting.

Action (Moving Along, Sound Off)
Characters (Keep It Real)
Genre (Messy)
Conflict (Friction)
Setting

Robert McKee noted, “A beautifully told story is a symphonic unity in which structure, setting, genre and idea meld seamlessly.” Together these elements make up the plot of our story. And that is what I want to focus on in this post before we finish the year up next month.

Plot?

When I talk about plot, I’m referencing the noun form of the word and not the verb form which is an action. A movie’s plot is not the same as its theme; however, it can be the vehicle to express your underlying theme or message.

It is simply the main events of the screenplay that someone creates and arranges in a specific order to tell a story. A strong and clear plot is essential to great screenwriting…and great storytelling.

Great movies are ones where the writer has balanced each of the elements to a degree where they enhance one another. Weak writing places more emphasis on one element over another.

There may be lots of action visually, but no depth to any of the characters.
Characters may be explicitly described physically but have no depth or personality.
The conflict may be so intense, yet the story seems chaotic, without any direction.
Perhaps the setting is so defined; there is no room for the story or our imaginations to grow.

How many times have many of us walked out of the theater after forking out our hard-earned money for good entertainment to only be let down by an overrated light show or misleading and hyped up advertising that never satisfies our longing for a narrative?

So far this year the biggest flop has been the much-anticipated screen adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time, it has been reported that Disney has lost $100 million from its production.

Last year the film The Promise lost $80 million.

The solution for tipping the scales in the right direction of the balance act we call plot is taking the time to plot–meaning the verb sense of the word, where writers take the time to painstakingly brainstorm and lay out each of the puzzle pieces (characters, events, scenes, turning points, subplots) they plan to use to tell their story.

The end result will be a clearer and more fulfilling plot and our audience will leave the theater having understood not just our story, but its theme, which brings everything together neatly through our plot.

Together?

Once we have our plot, we will see what genre our story fits in. In simple terms, genre in films or literary works categorized by similar subjects, styles, and format. I will discuss this more next year. But for now, the five basic genres screenwriting are

Tragedy – drama that tackles serious or sorrowful events in life.

Comedy – stories that incite humorous narratives about life.

Romances– drama which focuses on a plot about love, between two people or at the least an attempt to find love.

Horror – Plots that offer incite negative responses by our audience, playing off primal fear.

Fantasy/sci-fi – stories that often involve magic or supernatural causes, lots of action sequences as a primary story element or theme.

One of the ironies of screenwriting is the importance of drama. Most of us do not like or tolerate drama in our lives and we go to whatever means we have to avoid it.

However, drama in film helps us to relate to the story, whether it’s a tragedy, comedy or romance. How often do we visualize ourselves into the world of the story?

Each type of drama has its purpose and place: tragedies give us hope in suffering, comedies make us laugh at life, and romances inspire us to love.

Whatever your purpose, it will be a direct result of the plot.

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Truamatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.