Romantic Comedy (continued)

I've been working on my script for this short film for quite some time now, and I've been struggling to find a genre. A couple weeks ago, though, I decided to go the romantic comedy route. Although because this is a short film there are restraints when making this film. Obviously I don't have as much time to make a long, very developed story. But I like to think that 5 minutes is enough to tell a cute teenage love story. I was researching tips on writing romantic comedies, when I came across a really good article that made a lot of good points. Romantic Comedy Writing: this article discusses what really separates just a typical rom-com from a memorable story. One tip that I'm trying to incorporate in my short film is to "write the chemistry." In a romantic comedy, the audience knows that the girl and the guy will get together so I have to set something apart. I need to write these characters, so that the audience NEEDS the two to get together. There has to be compelling aspects to both of these characters, and I need these characters to evoke empathetic reactions from my audience. Another tip that I hadn't really been thinking about until now is to "make it about something." A good story should have some bigger thematic implications. This is something I'm really going to think about while updating my script. I'm really worried that my short film won't necessarily be funny, and that it will end up lifeless. But I'm working very hard on making unique characters that have witty lines. My short film isn't going to be a stupid funny movie, or a hysterical film that's definitely not what I'm trying to do. That's especially hard to do in 5 minutes, so instead I'm just going to try and make it entertaining.