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Screen Writing > Truby Comedy > Flashcards

Truby Comedy Flashcards

0
Q

Explain: Creating a comedy that develops

A

(Moral weakness) Since laughter happens in a moment, most comic ideas for stories remain small, stretching one to three scenes. The best comic ideas explore a moral weakness of the hero.

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1
Q

What are the 5 unique problems of comedy ?

A
  1. Creating a comedy that develops (moral weakness)
  2. Getting the audience to care about the characters (care then drop)
  3. Leading with a single hero
  4. Keeping the story momentum strong (goal)
  5. Retaining the basic comic opposition (contrast)
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2
Q

Explain: Getting the audience to care about the characters

A

Comedy, by making fun, tends to distance the audience from the characters and put the audience in a superior position. The best comedies work to make the audience care about the characters up front before making fun.

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3
Q

Explain: Leading with a single hero

A

Comedies usually have more characters than serious writing and they tend to emphasize the society. This can lead to a slow or circular story unless you choose one character within the group to drive the action.

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4
Q

Explain: Keeping the story momentum strong

A

Strong Goal- Comedies tend to stop the story to set up and pay off a gag or a joke. Without a strong goal by the hero, the comedy will often bog down and even good jokes are not funny.

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5
Q

Explain: Retaining the basic comic opposition

A

Opposition Contrast- The basic comic opposition that fuels the story often disappears once the audience has seen the contrast for a few scenes. The trick is to choose an opposition that cannot disappear.

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6
Q

What are the 10 keys to great comedy?

A
  1. premise is not a single line gag.
  2. Create a comic hero with a gap
  3. steps of the classic structure.
  4. hero has specific and active goal.
  5. distinct 4-point opposition.
  6. comic nightmare that is the worst thing imaginable
  7. Know precisely who is going to be dropped
  8. Reduce the character to animal, child or machine.
  9. Make the key word in the gag the last word.
  10. Make sure your comedy expresses your personal vision of how the world works and what is a valuable way to live.
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7
Q

Explain the negative comic view of life (6)

A
  • (clueless) believes that individuals are part of a larger social whole and are mostly unaware of how everyone is affecting them
  • (phony) everyone is a collection of roles (need); we have a true self and a true value but also a public image that we project to get power and popularity with others
  • (silly desire) what people strive for (desire) is relatively silly and not nearly as valuable as they think at the time
  • (incompetent) people are often incompetent in action (drive)
  • ( extreme incompetence ) action often does not lead to success and occasionally leads to the opposite of what the person intended
  • (repeat mistakes) people only think they learn but actually remain the same and repeat the same mistakes throughout their lives (self-revelation)
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8
Q

Explain the positive comic view of life (4)

A
  • (people good) there is a common humanity under the surface of roles and pretension that makes people good and valuable
  • (laugh) there is no problem that can’t be solved, if only by laughing at it
  • (questioning is good) questioning and attacking the system is ultimately creative and valuable; in other words, the value of the iconoclast or devil
  • (we will survive) the group will endure and life will go on, no matter how much we do to screw it up
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9
Q

Name the three basic comedy forms

A

Animal
Child
Machine

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10
Q

What is animal comedy?

A

Showing people doing or discussing basic bodily functions

For example, any dirty joke or bathroom humor

Characters/Actors: Bluto (John Belushi), Blues Brothers

Stories: Animal House, Porky’s, Caddyshack, Blues Brothers

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11
Q

What is child comedy

A

Someone acting as a child; more generally, someone reacting with more emotion than the situation would normally require

For example, panic, crying, screaming, fighting

Characters/Actors: Lucy, Jerry Lewis, Pee Wee Herman

Stories: I Love Lucy, The Nutty Professor

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12
Q

What is machine comedy

A

Someone acting like a thing or a machine; more generally, reacting with less emotion than the situation requires

For example, deadpan, understatement, sarcasm

Characters/Actors: Buster Keaton, Bill Murray, Bob Newhart, Eddie Murphy

Stories: Ghostbusters, Meatballs, The Blues Brothers

First rule of comedy: If the audience cannot immediately identify someone who is being dropped, the comedy will be less or will not exist at all.

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13
Q

Name the 9 most common comedy characters.

A 
Clown/klutz
Everyman
Know-it-all
Show business type
Princess
Aristocrat
Gross out king
Trickster
Traveling angel
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14
Q

Explain the comic gap

A

The drop from high to low of a character which should produce a laugh.

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15
Q

Explain the high in the comic gap

A

Pretense or puffery in a character that reflects his need

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16
Q

Explain the low in the comic gap

A

Shows the reality of the character when the pretense is exposed

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17
Q

Clown/Klutz desire

A

Desire- romance or success

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18
Q

Clutz clown - high

A

High - illusion of being romantic or successful

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19
Q

Clutz clown low

A

Low-actually a nerd, incompetent , unattractive or bumbling

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20
Q

Clutz clown psych need

A

Psych need- learn self confidence and overcome loneliness

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21
Q

Clutz clown moral need

A

Moral need- rarely present, victim

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22
Q

Clutz clown examples

A

Examples- ghostbusters Rick moranis, Annie hall, Arthur

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28
Q

Everyman/everywoman desire

A

Desire- climb social ladder, American dream

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29
Q

Know it all desire

A

Desire- hero wants to impress others

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30
Q

Show business type desire

A

Desire - to fool people

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31
Q

Princess -desire

A

Desire - to be taken cared of , pampered, center of attention

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32
Q

Aristocrat desire

A

Desire. Wants to impose a rich, cultivated and higher class image

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33
Q

Gross out king desire

A

Desire. Tear down thin veneer of upper class propriety

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34
Q

Trickster desire

A

Desire. To defeat authority to get what he wants

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35
Q

Traveling angel desire

A

Desire. Being fun altruistically to middle class world of stress routine and self doubt

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36
Q

What is the biggest weakness in most comedies?

A

Lack of theme

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37
Q

What is theme?

A

Theme is the issues and choices the character faces along the way. It is the ultimate purpose of the story, what makes the story explode and really hit home. And it is what differentiates the great from the average writer.

38
Q

What are the 4 major thematic areas of comedy?

A

Male v female
Individual vs family
Individual vs society
Individual vs institution

39
Q

Male/female theme characteristics

A

Characteristics: The male/female comedy is the most focused of theme areas in comedy.

40
Q

Male/Female theme - moral need

A

Moral need: learning how to love and live with a lover

41
Q

Male/female theme

What is the hero typically doing that relates to his/her moral need

A

The hero is self-involved, using others for his own ends. He sweet-talks to get what he wants.

42
Q

Male/ female theme moral need

What must the writer give each lead

A

Must establish this moral need for both characters at the beginning of the story.

43
Q

Male/female theme predicament

A

Predicament: how to create a relationship with another person that preserves individual freedom and helps both people grow.

44
Q

Male/ female theme problems

A

Problems throughout the middle of the story: balancing power, playing or not playing roles. The lovers fight for power until they learn that they must work and choose together.

Also, the characters play roles to please the other. This comes to haunt the character because he must live up to those roles and the other character finds he/she got someone they didn’t plan on in the beginning.

45
Q

Male/female theme moral argument

A

Moral Argument: 1. the hero tries to use power and play roles to control the other person 2. the hero is criticized 3. the hero justifies it as good for the other person

46
Q

Male/female theme - key

A

Key: Look for how each character helps the other grow: how does the act of being in love give fulfillment, and what must they leave behind to experience that fulfillment?

47
Q

Everyman high

A

High- optimistic , good work ethic

48
Q

Everyman low

A

Low-lacks confidence, no respect in the world

49
Q

Everyman psych need

A

Psych need- self confidence, esteem from others

50
Q

Everyman moral need

A

Moral need- stop using others for gain

51
Q

Everyman examples

A

Examples- Michael in tootsie, ben in the graduate

52
Q

Know it all high

A

High-speaks in pompous tone with big or jargon words

53
Q

Know it all low

A

Low- is completely wrong

54
Q

Know it all psych need

A

Psych need- lose superiority complex

55
Q

Know it all moral need

A

Moral need- stop forcing others to live the way he lives

56
Q

Know it All examples

A

Examples- akroyd and rambis in ghostbusters

57
Q

Show business type high

A

High-apparent sincerity , love, high sense of own ability

58
Q

Show business type low

A

Low-insincere, in situations that require no emotions , no talent

59
Q

Show business type psych need

A

Psych need- to become authentic

60
Q

Show business type moral need

A

Moral need- stop lying to others

61
Q

Princess high

A

High-thinks she is perfect , world revolves around her, above toil and dirt of life

62
Q

Princess low

A

Low-cam get dirty abused and ignored like everyone else

63
Q

Princess psych need

A

Psych need -see other people’s perspective , see her own faults

64
Q

Princess moral need

A

Moral need -learn to help others especially the poor

65
Q

Aristocrat high

A

High. Rich appearance with nose in the air because he is rich and powerful

66
Q

Aristocrat low

A

Low. Looks silly when in underwear, or when confronted with sex or mess

67
Q

Aristocrat psych need

A

Psych need. To see oneself as equal to others, to see value in other people

68
Q

Aristocrat moral need

A

Moral need. To allow others to live freely and spontaneously

69
Q

Gross out king high

A

High. High class surroundings, being an adult

70
Q

Gross out king low

A

Low. Dirty , lewd, boisterous

71
Q

Gross out king psych need

A

Psych need. Overcome sense of inferiority

72
Q

Gross out king moral need

A

Moral need. Stop imposing boorishness on others

73
Q

Trickster high

A

High. Pretends to be high class, important , knowledgable

74
Q

Trickster low

A

Low. Average class , knowledge. Out for himself

75
Q

Trickster psych need

A

Psych need. Overcome fear of commitment

76
Q

Trickster moral need

A

Moral need. Stop lying and using others for own gain

77
Q

Traveling angel high

A

High. Surrounded by routine, bureaucracy, pretense

78
Q

Traveling angel low

A

Low. Knows true priorities of life, have fun

79
Q

Traveling angel psych need

A

Rarely has a psych or moral need

80
Q

Ind vs society theme

Characteristics

A

Characteristics: This is a bigger arena, a factor that has strengths and weaknesses.

The hero or heroes live in a world of competition and commercialism, with values of fame, money, and sex. The great goal is the American Dream.

81
Q

Ind v society moral need

A

Moral need: The hero needs to learn to stop going after the material dream and choose the harder road of love and political commitment. He must become a leader and learn how to help others have a better life.

82
Q

Ind vs family theme- characteristics

A

Characteristics: the hero lives in a family that is oppressive, traditional, full of rules, usually with an authoritarian father. The hero tries to create a new kind of family life that allows freedom, growth, and fun.

This is how people live in an essential way. These stories show an entire life philosophy brought down to a microcosm. This is also the most popular form of comedy.

83
Q

Ind vs family theme- moral need

A

Moral need: the leader of the family needs to learn to let others live their own life and make mistakes. This is a classic problem: as you grow older you feel you know how things work best.

84
Q

Ind vs family theme - predicament

A

Predicament: choosing between control, role-playing, and security vs. equality, fun, and chaotic freedom. Notice two powerful visions here of how to live.

85
Q

Ind vs family theme- moral argument

A

Moral argument: The hero argues that everyone should be allowed to do what they please, even if they make no money, and that the family should rule together.

The opponent (the family leader) argues that success of everyone, especially money, depends on one person deciding and everyone else playing their proper role.

86
Q

Ind vs family theme- key

A

Key: In better stories, the leader is right, but by making others live his way he is wrong. If people can’t make their own mistakes they can’t grow and learn who they are.

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