FADE IN:
INT. IN FRONT OF YOUR COMPUTER - NOW
SCRIPTED WHIM Be stylish. While plots can
(and should) be unique, scene
construction is more a blend of
thefamiliar and the personal
flairof the scriptwriter. We
all have scene dozens of
variations on scenes featuring
the love chase to the airport,
the training montage, the mentor
dies, the ticking clock and
many more seemingly cliche scene
frameworks, and we will continue
to see them as long as writers
can continue finding interesting
ways to subvert the expectations
of the tropes and play them to
the strengths of their script's
premise. This exercise will help
you learn to appropriate basic
scenic tropes from one genre to
another.
SCRIPTED WHIM The clip above from the 2010 hit
comedy Hot Tub Time Machine,
employs "the pep talk" trope,
usually reserved for sports
stories and some group combat
films. Typically the scene does
not appear in time travel
comedies. Using the scene as an
example, utilize the
"interrogation" trope associated
mostly with law enforcement and
detective stories. Set up a
story in which a character is
being interrogated by two people,
but do not make it a formal
interrogation. Be as informal
and stylized as possible. Invent
the rules of the new world of
your scene using the
interrogation trope as a guide.FADE OUT:THE END