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A-story, audience engagement, development, Fulcrum, love interest, Romcom, want/need -

CRAFTING THE ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP

CRAFTING THE ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP

Let’s talk about the mechanics of crafting a romantic relationship in a story. Some of these thoughts only apply in a romance or romcom, others apply to a love interest relationship in any given genre. A-story. If we’re talking about a romantic drama or comedy, the romance is the A-story. Meaning: it’s the load-bearing spine of the narrative; the “what the movie is about” aspect of the story. Anything else going on in the narrative is an expression of the A-story. The pay-off of a romance is the two leads fall in love. Fulcrum. The two romantic leads are the...

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A-story, action, antagonist, efficient storytelling, MAD MAX, narrative construction, protagonist, THE ROAD WARRIOR -

EFFICIENT STORYTELLING

EFFICIENT STORYTELLING

I recently had the pleasure of seeing The Road Warrior (aka Mad Max 2) on the big screen for the first time. This film is wonderful for a variety of reason, not least of which is it’s a set-up that’s so high concept it established its own sub-genre. The other thing that stands out is the ruthless efficiency of its storytelling. We open with a voiceover telling us about the world. This is essentially a car chase movie, so we cut to a car chase in media res; we’re immediately delivering the goods. At the end of the chase, Max...

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