Screenwriting
CRAFTING FUNNY SCENES FOR
FILM
What Are We
Doing?
1. Breaking Down The Elements of a Funny
Scene
2. Discussing Film Clips
3. Writing Exercises
4. Tying it all Together With Bridesmaids
Clip from Bridesmaids
Three Acts
Anatomy of a
Film
Sequences
Scenes
Beats
A BEAT IS A SHIFT IN THOUGHT AND
EMOTION
Scenes and
Beats
Ask Yourself:
•What are the Beats of the scene?
•How does this scene fit into the larger film?
•What changes in the story from the beginning
beginning to the end of the scene?
Building
Comedy from
Characters
Characters and Objectives
•What do your characters want in the scene?
•What will they do to get it?
•How outrageous can that be?
•What do they want in the film as a whole?
•Where does this scene fit into the journey?
Clip from Bridesmaids:
What tactics are
characters using to
achieve their goals?
Characters and Game
•Find a quality or trait of a character and make it a game. Be sure it’s
something that can be played sustainably throughout the film and not
just the one scene.
•This can often happen in subplots and with supporting characters.
Writing
Exercise
In 7 minutes, write a scene between 2
characters where you incorporate a character
game into the dialogue.
Your scene should be one page or less.
Building the World
of the Scene
Try to Have One Unusual Thing
in the Scene.
Game and
World Building
Too Many unusual things will
leave the audience too
confused to latch on to the
joke.
Clip from Notting Hill
SPOT THE GAME OF THIS
SCENE
Play One Game at a time in scene
Switching
Games in One
Sequence
Within a sequence you can switch from
a world-based game to a character
based one and vice versa so long as the
rules of the world and the rules of the
characters are consistent
Clip from Being John
Malkovich
C A N YO U S P OT T H E T W O
GAMES?
Creating Visual
Comedy Moments
The Reaction
Shot
Showing a character’s reaction
to what is happening in a
scene can help land the joke.
This can be anything from a
classic spit take to a choice
facial expression.
Clip from
Crazy Rich
Asians
The Sight Gag
Sometimes you can pan to an
image or a bit of business in
your scene to land the joke.
Clip from
The Lobster
Writing
Exercise
IN 5 MINUTES, CRAFT
TWO LINES OF
DIALOGUE
FOLLOWED BY A
REACTION SHOT OR A
SIGHT GAG.
Screenplay
Format
Screenplay Resources
FREE SCRIPT WRITING SOFTWARE:
CELTX AND WRITERDUET
FORMATTING GUIDE: THE
SCREENWRITER’S BIBLE
Tying It
Together:
Bridesmaids
Revisited