Genres

Before you start writing your screenplay, it is important you think about the genre. What kind of film are you writing?

When you go to see a film, often just the poster or names of the actors are an indication of what the film will be about. You know if it will be funny or tragic, serious, entertaining, light or moving.

Viewers want to be intrigued by stories that surprise them, but that also remain similar to others they enjoyed. In other words, a story that resembles others in the same genre and satisfies their expectations but with some surprises and originality.

Films work with specific codes: a romantic comedy always begins with an encounter, while a “whodunit” movie always begins with a murder or burglary…

You must know what your film will be like and use the related codes.

Example You want to write a detective film. If you take a close look at films in this category, you will see there are gangster films, films with an inspector investigating, films about trials in court, thrillers engaging a vulnerable victim and an unidentified killer, hold-up films, or films with a journalist investigating.

Let’s say you decide to write a gangster thriller, about a cop who has been drinking a lot of whisky since his teammate died during an investigation. He feels responsible for the other cop’s death and wasn’t allowed to finish the investigation they had begun together…

Does this sound familiar? The codes of a detective story include an almost retired old cop who decides to take a risk, a black cop who is a coffee and donut fiend and a pathologist who talks about the victim’s corpse at the morgue while chewing on a ham sandwich.

EXERCISE 6 Make a list of all the codes linked to the genre you want your film to belong to. Play with them, find new ways to use the codes and, if you are inspired, even invent some codes of your own.

Example

Your film is a romantic comedy. If you analyze romantic comedies, you’ll realize they often begin by presenting the heroin, then the hero, then a scene brings them both together. Generally strong forces keep the two characters apart: they come from different backgrounds, have different values or live in two completely different worlds… Like in a story that has a tragic ending: Romeo and Juliet. Maybe you could watch one of the adaptations of this play or even read the play itself, to pick out some ideas to use and reinvent. Apart from certain exceptions, romantic comedies generally have a happy ending.

EXERCISE 7 Define as clearly as possible the genre your film belongs to.

HELP You have to know if your film is funny, sad, scary or a melodrama and make sure it remains so from beginning to end.

If you change style half way through, you risk confusing and then loosing your audience. If your film begins a comedy, it must end a comedy. If you are writing a historical movie, it must remain historical to the end.

It’s a matter of coherence. You have an agreement with your audience and must keep your promises to the end.

EXERCISE 8 Identify the codes that are generally encountered in the type of story you want to tell.

HELP Choose maximum three reference films that are close to your story. Watch them again and make a list of their codes and similarities.