Romantic Screenplays 101 by Sally J. Walker Read Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Sally J. Walker
Emotionally attentive
4. Procreation proves prowess vs. Sincerely wants to nurture
5. Focused on value for time vs. Sees relationship as exchange
Remember: “The most dangerous animal on earth is the human male.”
The simple summary of all this for the romantic hero is he needs to be Alpha-Beta, motivated and confident yet vulnerable.
ESSENTIALS OF THE ROMANTIC HEROINE
When characterizing the female lead in a romantic screenplay do not confuse the terminology used with the primal origins in the discussion of the male. Women are considered according to their dominant intellectual traits and motivational forces symbolic of archetypes. Yep, women can be considered much simpler . . . as types.
The Alpha Female is assertive, confident, athletic, tough. The Warrior Woman is willing to attack and defend. The Whore is sexually aggressive and adept. The Crone personifies the controlling matriarchal power.
The Beta Female is perceptive, emotional, maternal and soft. The Madonna is the attentive and vulnerable mother. The Priestess is the knowledgeable guide and communicator. The Healer is the nurturing problem-solver.
Fascinating contrasts can be created by mixing demanding traits from an unfamiliar yet logically inherent role such as the fragile Madonna girds herself as a Warrior Woman to defend her children then must become the Priestess when teaching them to survive. Or think of the slut seen as the Whore nursing the epidemic’s victims in the saloon who converts the townspeople into accepting her as a Madonna figure.
Here is a more in-depth look at cinematic examples of Pinkola-Estes’s concepts of female characters she explained in Women Who Run with the Wolves , a thick tome written in PhD-eze to be read and digested in bits and pieces. Think more intensely about your heroine.
PRETTY WOMAN: Whore to Priestess to Madonna (his choice for a mate and softer in the end)
THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS (Cora): Madonna to Priestess to Whore to Warrior Woman
QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER: Whore to Madonna to Warrior Woman to Priestess
LITTLE WOMEN (Jo): Crone (over her sisters) to Priestess to Healer (wasn’t she meeker in the end?)
DANCES WITH WOLVES: Priestess to Whore to Madonna to Healer (See that she was predominantly Beta?)
THE BIG EASY (Ann): Crone (power position) to Whore to Priestess to Healer to, finally, Madonna
These are opinions based on logical analysis. You might see vacillation many times in a movie depending on the character skills that are called upon in order for the female to cope.
So called weaker roles are the Beta roles whether male or female and forceful roles call for Alpha traits. Always ask yourself who instigates or initiates whatever action in a scene to identify what roles are needed at that time.
A person’s role in a single scene will not change. The role shift comes in the subsequent scene. In the first scene of THE BIG EASY, Ann is the attorney from the D.A.‘s office investigating police corruption. She is in the power position. Try as he might, Remy (Dennis Quaid) cannot rattle her until he manipulates her into a dependent position and fires up her hormones to respond to him sexually. However, she still has control of herself as he works his wiles and she allows herself to enjoy his seduction. But the evolution of the investigation throws her back into the Crone role. Then she’s dependent and a whore again. True to her Identity, she reverts to the Crone, charging Remy with taking a bribe. She shifts into Priestess mode (with Remy becoming more powerful by gaining her access to the police department). Remy demonstrates his internal vulnerability. Ann is briefly the Healer to his tears. But as Remy takes charge in full Warrior mode, she then is Priestess and in the final scene his bride, his Madonna.
It is impossible to have two characters dominant at the same time. Story tension will not logically allow that. From their profile history, you can tell which character is going
4. Procreation proves prowess vs. Sincerely wants to nurture
5. Focused on value for time vs. Sees relationship as exchange
Remember: “The most dangerous animal on earth is the human male.”
The simple summary of all this for the romantic hero is he needs to be Alpha-Beta, motivated and confident yet vulnerable.
ESSENTIALS OF THE ROMANTIC HEROINE
When characterizing the female lead in a romantic screenplay do not confuse the terminology used with the primal origins in the discussion of the male. Women are considered according to their dominant intellectual traits and motivational forces symbolic of archetypes. Yep, women can be considered much simpler . . . as types.
The Alpha Female is assertive, confident, athletic, tough. The Warrior Woman is willing to attack and defend. The Whore is sexually aggressive and adept. The Crone personifies the controlling matriarchal power.
The Beta Female is perceptive, emotional, maternal and soft. The Madonna is the attentive and vulnerable mother. The Priestess is the knowledgeable guide and communicator. The Healer is the nurturing problem-solver.
Fascinating contrasts can be created by mixing demanding traits from an unfamiliar yet logically inherent role such as the fragile Madonna girds herself as a Warrior Woman to defend her children then must become the Priestess when teaching them to survive. Or think of the slut seen as the Whore nursing the epidemic’s victims in the saloon who converts the townspeople into accepting her as a Madonna figure.
Here is a more in-depth look at cinematic examples of Pinkola-Estes’s concepts of female characters she explained in Women Who Run with the Wolves , a thick tome written in PhD-eze to be read and digested in bits and pieces. Think more intensely about your heroine.
PRETTY WOMAN: Whore to Priestess to Madonna (his choice for a mate and softer in the end)
THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS (Cora): Madonna to Priestess to Whore to Warrior Woman
QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER: Whore to Madonna to Warrior Woman to Priestess
LITTLE WOMEN (Jo): Crone (over her sisters) to Priestess to Healer (wasn’t she meeker in the end?)
DANCES WITH WOLVES: Priestess to Whore to Madonna to Healer (See that she was predominantly Beta?)
THE BIG EASY (Ann): Crone (power position) to Whore to Priestess to Healer to, finally, Madonna
These are opinions based on logical analysis. You might see vacillation many times in a movie depending on the character skills that are called upon in order for the female to cope.
So called weaker roles are the Beta roles whether male or female and forceful roles call for Alpha traits. Always ask yourself who instigates or initiates whatever action in a scene to identify what roles are needed at that time.
A person’s role in a single scene will not change. The role shift comes in the subsequent scene. In the first scene of THE BIG EASY, Ann is the attorney from the D.A.‘s office investigating police corruption. She is in the power position. Try as he might, Remy (Dennis Quaid) cannot rattle her until he manipulates her into a dependent position and fires up her hormones to respond to him sexually. However, she still has control of herself as he works his wiles and she allows herself to enjoy his seduction. But the evolution of the investigation throws her back into the Crone role. Then she’s dependent and a whore again. True to her Identity, she reverts to the Crone, charging Remy with taking a bribe. She shifts into Priestess mode (with Remy becoming more powerful by gaining her access to the police department). Remy demonstrates his internal vulnerability. Ann is briefly the Healer to his tears. But as Remy takes charge in full Warrior mode, she then is Priestess and in the final scene his bride, his Madonna.
It is impossible to have two characters dominant at the same time. Story tension will not logically allow that. From their profile history, you can tell which character is going
Similar Books
Where There's Smoke
Black Inc.
Roundabout at Bangalow
Shirley Walker
I Kissed A Girl In My Class
Abhilash Gaur
Tempted
Elise Marion
We Are Not Eaten by Yaks
C. Alexander London
Beautiful Crescent: A History of New Orleans
John B. Garvey, Mary Lou Widmer
Skinny Dipping
Connie Brockway