Love – ETB

Love Is In The Air

Laurie Hutzler — Wed, 18 Oct 2017 07:00:11 +0000

Writing Advice Wednesday

I hope you’ve been enjoying Writing Advice Wednesday for the last few months, but I’m trying something different for the rest of the year’s posts. As well as a relevant video essay I’ve found, I’ll be giving you writing exercises to try if you’re keen to think about your character romantically or need the motivation to get unstuck.

It’s exercises like this that form part of my One Hour Screenwriter course, which will help you write an entire feature film script in 22 weeks. You can purchase it at the shop here. You can also read testimonies here that show my methods have worked for a variety of writers.

This week, you’ll be writing about what makes the world go around:

Describe your first kiss

Take a moment and remember your first romantic stirrings. Who was the object of your affection? What did that person look like? What made this individual so attractive to you?

How old were each of you? Under what circumstances did you first notice this person? How did you meet? Who made the first move? How did that first kiss happen?

Describe as completely as you can all the circumstances leading up to your first kiss or first romantic encounter. How did you lose your heart to this person? Why did this person seem entirely unique and wonderful to you?

Were you both equally entranced with each other? Was it a surprise you didn’t expect? Or was it a long- time secret crush?

How did that early romantic awakening feel? What was it like physically? What was it like emotionally? Were you nervous? Excited? Scared?

Describe the steps leading up to the physical romantic encounter. Where there false starts or mixed signals? How did you feel afterward? Did the magic moment meet or exceed your expectations? Did it somehow disappoint?

Was it a chance or unexpected encounter? Or did you spend time dreaming, plotting, planning and fantasizing about how to make it happen? What, if anything, did you do to take the initiative?

Take 10 to 15 minutes to complete this exercise. Do not censor yourself; write whatever comes to mind. Don’t worry about being articulate, artistic or even interesting. Just write.

Let your memories flow. Make your descriptions as detailed and personal as possible.

Now describe the same event from your character’s perspective. How is he or she chasing someone in the story? How is your character trying to seduce someone?

This may or may not be a romantic chase or physical seduction. It may be a psychological dance between two male rivals in a business deal. What are the actions or maneuvers the character takes to win over the other person?

Next, describe the same event from your antagonist’s perspective. What is the antagonist’s psychological dance with the protagonist? How is the antagonist chasing or seducing your character?

Remember: Writing exercises are like priming a pump. They are meant to get your inspiration flowing. They help you gain additional insight into yourself and your character.

You may or may not be able to use any of this material in your story. Right now, don’t worry about what is useful.

Enjoy the process. Expand your imagination. Have fun! Takes risks. Play with your characters and story!

Video Essay of the Week

I’ve done some work with Pixar University in the past, and they continue to produce some of the best storytelling and character work in Hollywood. This is a great examination of emotions, like love, involved in the movie Inside Out:

Let me know what you think of this week’s writing exercise by emailing me at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you as we go forward with these writing exercises. The next few articles are going to be holiday-themed. When we return, we’ll be discussing, well, discussion…

Until then, remember- all you need to do is Get Started and Keep Going!

– Laurie

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Getting to the Heart of the Story

Laurie Hutzler — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 15:12:32 +0000

I talk a lot about the Heart of the Story in my workshops and consulting. The Heart of the Story is the simplest emotional statement distilling the story’s essence.

At UCLA I always had my students do a poster for their movie. The image and logline was to be the distilled essence of their screenplay. I recently came across a blog post by Edan Leucki about another kind of assignment for the same purpose. This assignment was for a rewrite class where writers were stuck.

Go wild, I said. Do whatever it takes, to keep writing this thing.

Melissa came to class with these…boxes.

They were cardboard jewelry gift boxes, and there were three of them, one inside the next. The first bore the title of her novel, A Tiny Upward Shove, on its face. The inside of this box contained a smaller box, decorated with a monkey (“Because…duh,” Melissa said, or something like it), and a piece of paper, which described her book’s premise.

Inside the monkey box was an even smaller box, this one decorated with a plastic heart. On the inside of the monkey box, Melissa had written a shorter version of the novel description, distilled from the notes on the piece of paper. The smallest box — we all leaned forward to see — was empty, except Melissa had written the book’s premise on its inside.

She’d distilled it to a single sentence: “Chronicles the life of a woman who was separated from her bipolar mother and placed into foster care at 15.”

She told us she’d been struggling with how to describe her book to people who asked about it. This project forced her to find the book’s main idea, its essence. It ended up thrilling everyone in the room.

The boxes were funny, and strange, and beautiful, and important. I keep imagining Melissa struggling to write in the margins of the smallest box, and it moves me. Making this project wasn’t novel writing, of course, but it enabled Melissa to return to her book with a fresh perspective. It helped her to keep going. That’s what we’re after, isn’t it?

Go wild, I said. Do whatever it takes, to keep writing this thing.

Melissa came to class with these…boxes.

.

They were cardboard jewelry gift boxes, and there were three of them, one inside the next. The first bore the title of her novel, A Tiny Upward Shove, on its face. The inside of this box contained a smaller box, decorated with a monkey (“Because…duh,” Melissa said, or something like it), and a piece of paper, which described her book’s premise.

.

.

.

.

Inside the monkey box was an even smaller box, this one decorated with a plastic heart. On the inside of the monkey box, Melissa had written a shorter version of the novel description, distilled from the notes on the piece of paper. The smallest box — we all leaned forward to see — was empty, except Melissa had written the book’s premise on its inside.

.

.

.

.

She’d distilled it to a single sentence: “Chronicles the life of a woman who was separated from her bipolar mother and placed into foster care at 15.”

.

She told us she’d been struggling with how to describe her book to people who asked about it. This project forced her to find the book’s main idea, its essence. It ended up thrilling everyone in the room.

.

The boxes were funny, and strange, and beautiful, and important. I keep imagining Melissa struggling to write in the margins of the smallest box, and it moves me. Making this project wasn’t novel writing, of course, but it enabled Melissa to return to her book with a fresh perspective. It helped her to keep going. That’s what we’re after, isn’t it?

What kind of project would help you get to the Heart of the Story?

Okay, so here’s the homework part of this post: Make … something as unwriterly as possible. No outlines, no character sketches. Instead, do something surprising and weird and beautiful and fun; the only requirement is that it provides you with a new outlook on your work, and gets you pumped to write.

The whole post is here http://www.themillions.com/2012/03/finding-inspiration-a-homework-assignment.html

The Mating Season – Day Twenty Four – #40movies40days

Laurie Hutzler — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 19:06:40 +0000

The Mating Season is a good old fashioned Power of Love story in the best sense of the word.

Ellen McNulty (Thelma Ritter) is forced to sell her hamburger stand, so she decides to visit her son Val (John Lund), who lives in another city. Val has recently married a socialite, Maggie (Gene Tierney). To help her out, her husband hires a maid and promises to send her over right away. In the meantime, Ellen arrives. Maggie, her daughter-in-law, mistakes her for the maid. Ellen begins to tell Maggie who she really is, but she is worried that saying anything might cause Maggie embarrassment, so she doesn’t reveal who she is and decides to pretend to be a maid. The next morning Ellen arrives with her things. She wakes Maggie up and when she realizes that her son didn’t explain everything yet, she keeps pretending to be a maid. She tells him that she will only be underfoot if she lives in the house as a mother-in-law. She eventually talks him into the idea but he doesn’t like it very much.

Maggie’s mother (Miriam Hopkins) decides to come for a visit and she is nothing like Maggie. She is a snob and she doesn’t like Val one bit. While helping Mr. Kalinger (Larry Keating), Ellen realizes that his son, Kalinger Jr. (James Lorimer), is taking credit for work actually done by Val and tells Mr. Kalinger the truth.

Mr. Kalinger then invites Val and Maggie to the party. At the party, Maggie gets into an argument with an important female guest (Cora Witherspoon) after the woman insults her, and Maggie storms out. Val, realizing that this woman carries a lot of influence, forces Maggie to call the party to apologize to the woman. She does so unwillingly, leading to another fight.

The next morning, Val and Maggie make up and steal away in a closet for a kiss. Ellen’s friends are at the door and ask to speak to “Mrs. McNulty”. At this point it is revealed that Ellen is Val’s mother. Maggie is furious with Val for hiding his mother’s identity from her. She and her mother leave for a hotel. Maggie later confronts Val at his office. Val tries to explain himself but Maggie won’t listen. She tells him that he has become a snob and that she is moving to Mexico.

Mr. Kalinger decides to get Val and Maggie together. He convinces Maggie to come to the hotel bar with him for a good-bye drink, knowing that Val will be there for a party. When Maggie sees Val, she again scolds him for trying to hide his mother and leaves the bar. Val leaves the party and rushes to retrieve his mother. He brings her back to the party and begins introducing her to the ‘snobs’. Maggie, who has come back to the bar, witnesses Val introducing his mother to the woman who had insulted her at the earlier party. Ellen tells Maggie’s mother that it is time for both of them to leave the apartment. Ellen lands on her feet, however, as Mr. Kalinger decides to marry her.

Ellen McNulty (Thelma Ritter) runs a hamburger stand that’s underwater with the bank. She can’t afford the payments and it’s not worth what she borrowed. (Some things never change.)

Her son, Val (John Lund), has been asking Ellen to come live with him. She hitchhikes from New Jersey to the Midwest, where her son has a good job in a large manufacturing company (some things have changed drastically).

Ellen’s son, Val, is an upwardly mobile junior executive (Power of Ambition) who has recently married Maggie (Gene Tierney). His new bride is not rich but grew up in the diplomatic corps and has very wealthy and important friends and political connections.

Val hires a maid to help Maggie with their first big dinner party. In the meantime, Ellen arrives unannounced. Maggie, her daughter-in-law, mistakes her for the maid. Ellen (Power of Love) wants to spare Maggie embarrassment, so she doesn’t reveal her true identity. Instead, Ellen decides to make herself useful and to just go along pretending to be a maid.

Ellen convinces Val that she will only be underfoot if she lives in the house as a mother-in-law. She knows Maggie needs help as a young wife and convinces Val to continue the ruse. Although Val loves his mother, there is something inside him that is deeply embarrassed about his humble beginnings and his unsophisticated mom.

Maggie’s drama queen mother (Miriam Hopkins) arrives for a visit. She is a (Power of Idealism) snob who doesn’t think Val is good enough for her daughter. She is more impressed with the boss’ son Kalinger Jr. (James Lorimer). Jr. is a playboy and a cad (Power of Excitement), who is also in love with Maggie. Jr. is also passing off Val’s hard work and ideas as his own.

During the negotiations of an important contact, Maggie (Power of Conscience) takes exception to the rudeness and snobbery of the main client’s wife (Cora Witherspoon). After confronting the woman, Maggie storms out of an important social outing surrounding the deal. Val, realizing that the client’s wife carries a lot of influence, forces Maggie to apologize. Maggie does so unwillingly, leading to another fight between the newlyweds.

Ellen skillfully intervenes in the angry aftermath. The young couple make-up with a romantic duck into the closet (the only place they can really be alone). Ellen’s friends arrive at the door unexpectedly and Ellen’s ruse is exposed.

Maggie is furious with Val for hiding his mother’s identity from her. She and her mother leave for a hotel. Maggie later confronts Val at his office. She tells him that he has become a snob and that she is leaving him and is moving out of the country.

Mr. Kalinger Sr., who has fallen for Ellen, arranges for Maggie to meet him at hotel bar for a good-bye drink. Val proudly introduces to Ellen to the important clients. Maggie sees how much Val loves his mother. Her heart melts.

Ellen tells Maggie’s mother that it is time for both of them to leave the newlyweds to themselves. Ellen lands on her feet as the fully smitten Mr. Kalinger Sr. asks her to marry him.

No matter how high you rise, nothing is as important as family, no matter how humble or unsophisticated. It’s a timeless lesson.

The Shopworn Angel – Day Five – #40movies40days

Laurie Hutzler — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 11:46:52 +0000

I selected this movie because it was on our VCR at home. My husband had recorded it and I watched it while cleaning up the kitchen. Pretty soon I was sitting down and snuffling a few tears at the end.

The Shopworn Angel is Waldo Salt’s first credited screenplay. He joined the American Communist Party in 1938, and was a civilian consultant to the U.S. Office of War Information during World War II.[citation needed]

Salt’s career in Hollywood was interrupted when he was blacklisted after refusing to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1951. Like many other blacklisted writers, while he was unable to work in Hollywood Salt wrote pseudonymously for the British television series The Adventures of Robin Hood.[3] After the collapse of the blacklist, Salt won Academy Awards for Midnight Cowboy and Coming Home, and a nomination for his work on Serpico.

The Shopworn Angel is Waldo Salt’s first credited screenplay. It’s an oddly subversive anti-war film wrapped in sentimental patriotism. It speaks powerfully of the cost of war.

Beautiful young men like the young private in the film get chewed up in the maw of unceasing of greed and fear that launches every war machine. Is it a good thing or a bad thing to preserve the illusions– honor, glory, courage, country– that allow young men to be sent to certain death?

Salt was blacklisted after refusing to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1951. Like many other blacklisted writers, he wrote pseudonymously for projects in the UK. After the collapse of the blacklist, Salt won Academy Awards for Midnight Cowboy and Coming Home. He was nominated for his work on Serpico.

The Shopworn Angel features the second screen pairing of actors Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart. He is so young in this picture, barely in his twenties!

At the time of their first picture together, Stewart was a minor contract player at MGM. When Sullavan brought up Stewart’s name the studio casting-directors had never heard of him. At Sullavan’s suggestion, Universal agreed to test him for her leading man and he was borrowed to star with Sullavan in Next Time We Love.

According to Wikipedia: Stewart had been nervous and unsure of himself during the early stages of production of their first film together. He had had only two minor MGM roles which had not given him much camera time or experience. The director, Edward H. Griffith, bullied Stewart during that first production.

“Maggie, he’s wet behind the ears,” Griffith told Sullavan. “He’s going to make a mess of things.”

Sullavan believed in Stewart and spent the evenings coaching him and helping him scale down his awkward mannerisms and hesitant speech that would soon be famous around the world.

“It was Margaret Sullavan who made Stewart a star,” director Griffith later said. Bill Grady the casting director from MGM agreed. “That boy came back from Universal so changed I hardly recognized him”.

The inevitable gossip in Hollywood at that time (1935–36) was that William Wyler, Sullavan’s then-husband, was suspicious about his wife’s and Stewart’s private rehearsing together. When Sullavan divorced Wyler in 1936 and married Leland Hayward that same year, they moved to a colonial house just a block down from Stewart.

Stewart’s frequent visits to the Sullavan/Hayward home soon restoked the rumors of his romantic feelings for Sullavan.

The Shopworn Angel (1938) was their second movie together. “Why, they´re red-hot when they get in front of a camera,” Louis B. Mayer said about their onscreen chemistry. “I don’t know what the hell it is, but it sure jumps off the screen”.

Walter Pidgeon, who was part of the triangle in The Shopworn Angel later recalled: “I really felt like the odd-man-out in that one. It was really all Jimmy and Maggie … It was so obvious he was in love with her. He came absolutely alive in his scenes with her, playing with a conviction and a sincerity I never knew him to summon away from her”.

Eventually the duo would do four movies together from 1936-1940 (Next Time We Love, The Shopworn Angel, The Shop Around the Corner and The Mortal Storm).

The plot of The Shopworn Angel is simple. A dreamy innocent young soldier from Texas, Private Pettigrew (Jimmy Stewart), is awed by big city New York. Crossing the street he is almost run down by a private limousine. The cop at the fender bender insists the car’s occupant deliver the soldier to the nearby camp. The young man climbs in to meet a famous cabaret singer, Daisy Heath (Margaret Sullavan).

He lies to his buddies and tells them that Daisy is his sweetheart. The guys insist on meeting her at the stage door. Daisy, taking pity on the awkward Pettigrew, plays along. Pettigrew mistakes her pity for genuine interest and keeps coming back.

She is entranced by his simple sincerity, his innocence and his enthusiasm for life. She is deeply jaded and only cares about career, comfort and luxury. Her boyfriend finances her show. They have a contentious relationship based mostly on party-going and self-interest (she needs him to bankroll the show and she is the draw that brings the customers in).

In the short period of time before Pettigrew ships out, the soldier and the cabaret singer grow close. He is starry-eyed and Daisy is his dream girl. He knows he is cannon fodder, being amongst the first wave of soldiers sent to France. He know he’s going to die, so does she and so does the audience. In 1938, when the film was made, the horrific carnage of the “Great War” was well documented. And the world was gearing up for another World War.

Pettigrew’s pure honest example teaches Daisy and her boyfriend Sam (Walter Pigeon) the meaning of real love. Daisy discovers she truly love Sam and he loves her. But Daisy can’t break Pettigrew’s heart. She marries him to give him a dream to hold on to. Sam stands by her and the inevitable happens. Pettigrew dies in battle.

In this movie love is an illusion but it is also real. Daisy does love Pettigrew but she knows he has no future. Sam is her true love. He proves worthy of Daisy’s love by allowing her to do this one unselfish thing. They delay their happiness to give Pettigrew his.

Pettigrew talks about spending his whole life pretending– imagining what his sweetheart would be like. Now he doesn’t have to pretend because he has the real thing– her. But she isn’t really his. She is just on loan to him for a time. She has another destiny and he is blissfully unaware of that.

Perhaps we are all just on loan to each other. Perhaps love is always part illusion and part reality. Perhaps the most important component of love is kindness– and that’s what makes it real. It is kindness that makes Daisy fully human and worthy of love. It is kindness that works the same magic on Sam.

Perhaps an easier all encompassing commandment would be: Be Kind. If I could just do that it would eliminate the need for most of the other rules. Here is my first decision of the journey. I will be kind. At least for the remainder of these 40 days I will mentally stop before I say or do anything and ask: “Is it kind?”

Of course just this morning, as I walked to my office, any number of rude remarks popped into my head about a particularly annoying jogger, I mourned the gossip and witty sniping I would have to forgo. And I can snipe with the best of them.

Be kind! Blah– Such a simple statement will be incredibly hard to put into practice. It is the death of one-ups-manship. It allows no room for desperation or insecurity. It requires the solid assurance, the simple faith if you will, that I will get what I need. That I can afford be generous. And that I can be comfortable with being patient.

Will this make me a doormat or a victim? Not if being kind extends to myself. Sometimes the kindest thing is to move on, say no or end a relationship. The kindness comes in doing so without ill-will, in good humor and with quiet conviction (rather than with excuses, accusations or verbal fireworks). I’ve been cleaning out physical clutter in my office. Perhaps being kind is a way to help clean out the emotional clutter in my work.

Here is the film in it’s entirety:

The Bachelor – The Power of Love

Laurie Hutzler — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 10:44:26 +0000

Ratings for Brad Womack’s comeback season on The Bachelor are down, and he’s been scorned as a featureless, psychobabbling Ken doll. But beneath his boring exterior lies a highly skilled Romeo…

According to Robert Greene, author of The Art of Seduction, Womack is the modern equivalent of Benjamin Disraeli, one of the greatest seducers of all time. It was Disraeli, after all, who as prime minister of England in the late 1800s seduced the socks off Queen Victoria by appealing to the stodgy royal’s femininity and deeply buried sexuality.

Disraeli affectionately (and with irreverence that shocked everyone but la reine) referred to Victoria as the “Faery Queen.” He sent her political reports that were essentially love notes, filled with juicy gossip about her enemies (one of whom was wittily described as having “the sagacity of the elephant, as well as its form”). But the essence of Disraeli’s genius as a courtier was his ability to make it all about her.

Enter Womack, who constantly deflects attention from himself to focus on the needs and whimsies of his potential brides. On his first date with Jackie, a 27-year-old artist who lives in New York, he brings her to a luxurious day spa. “Can I help you with this?” he says as he gallantly helps her into a robe. He then tells the camera how excited he is that the date “solely centers on pampering Jackie.”

Later on, when he whisks Jackie off to a private dinner and concert at the Hollywood Bowl, he toasts his by now totally smitten date by saying: “Here is to what I hope is as close to a perfect day as possible for you. I’m glad it’s you.” And throughout the night, which concludes with a private Train concert, he frequently murmurs, “I hope you’re happy.”…

Greene pointed out that on The Bachelor, Womack is not in the traditional position of seduction artist—technically, it should be the women who are seducing him. But as someone who is trying to “seduce America,” as Greene described Womack’s “motive,” and convince audiences that he’s no longer an insensitive cad, his wooing energies are in high gear.

The only time Womack ever seems flustered is when a woman disrupts his flood of attention and turns the focus back to him. Womack clams up and is visibly thrown off his game.

This is the description of a Power of Love character.

I am not particularly a fan of The Bachelor but I was struck by this article on the current season. It’s such an apt description of the Power of Love character.

These Character Types are the ultimate seducers. They believe if they make themselves indispensable and/or irresistible, the other person will need them and will be obliged to love them.

On a paper valentine it says simply, firmly and powerfully “Be Mine.” Possessiveness and passive/aggressive domination are the hallmarks of these characters.

They manipulate by focusing the attention on the other person or love interest. Power of Love characters lavish their attention and affection on others in order to exercise control, prevail or gain dominance.

That’s what it sounds like Brad Womack’s seduction strategy is as discussed in the article below:

Ratings for Brad Womack’s comeback season on The Bachelor are down, and he’s been scorned as a featureless, psychobabbling Ken doll. But beneath his boring exterior lies a highly skilled (even brilliant) Romeo…

…According to Robert Greene, author of The Art of Seduction, Womack is the modern equivalent of Benjamin Disraeli, one of the greatest seducers of all time. It was Disraeli, after all, who as prime minister of England in the late 1800s seduced the socks off Queen Victoria by appealing to the stodgy royal’s femininity and deeply buried sexuality.

Disraeli affectionately (and with irreverence that shocked everyone but la reine) referred to Victoria as the “Faery Queen.” He sent her political reports that were essentially love notes, filled with juicy gossip about her enemies (one of whom was wittily described as having “the sagacity of the elephant, as well as its form”). But the essence of Disraeli’s genius as a courtier was his ability to make it all about her. (And thus gain control of the relationship.)

Enter Womack, who constantly deflects attention from himself to focus on the needs and whimsies of his potential brides. On his first date with Jackie, a 27-year-old artist who lives in New York, he brings her to a luxurious day spa. “Can I help you with this?” he says as he gallantly helps her into a robe. He then tells the camera how excited he is that the date “solely centers on pampering Jackie.”

Later on, when he whisks Jackie off to a private dinner and concert at the Hollywood Bowl, he toasts his by now totally smitten date by saying: “Here is to what I hope is as close to a perfect day as possible for you. I’m glad it’s you.” And throughout the night, which concludes with a private Train concert, he frequently murmurs, “I hope you’re happy.”…

…The only time Womack ever seems flustered is when a woman disrupts his flood of attention and turns the focus back to him. Womack clams up and is visibly thrown off his game. (When the attention is on him he loses the advantage and can’t control and manipulate the person or the situation.)

The rest of the article is here: http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-02-20/bachelor-brad-womacks-hidden-brilliance/?cid=hp:mainpromo6

Cougar Town – When a Character Doesn’t Ring True

Laurie Hutzler — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 18:07:26 +0000

I caught up with the Cougar Town premiere online and thought it was absolutely terrible. The best words I have to describe this raunchy and demeaning show are desperate, pathetic and insulting. Courtney Cox’s character asks her son why he doesn’t laugh at her sex-obsessed jokes and he says: “Because they make me sad.” Bingo!

I have nothing against sex-obsessed women who fret about aging and the difficulty of finding love. I am a big fan of Sex and the City. But that show has something that Cougar Town lacks– authentic characters who feel real. Carrie and her crew each has a distinct and very specific take on sex and romance that defines who she is, how she sees the world and what love means to her.

Carrie Bradshaw is a well-defined Power of Idealism character. Throughout the series, she is obsessed with the emotionally unavailable Mr. Big. These characters believe that what is perfect but unavailable or unattainable is infinitely more desirable than what is flawed but possible or achievable. They are always reaching for the unreachable star.

Charlotte York is a Power of Conscience character and the most conservative and uptight member of the ensemble. While the show focuses on sexual liberation, Charlotte is the voice of more traditional values. Perfection to her is what is proper and socially correct.

Samantha Jones is a Power of Will character and views sex as power. She is always the one in control of the sexual power in her relationships. She decides when, where, how much and what kind of sex she will have. She is loud, lusty and unashamed of her passions. She is unapologetic when she decides to move on to new conquests.

Miranda Hobbes is a Power of Ambition character. She is extremely career-minded and has her sights firmly fixed on a prestigious law partnership. She often views sex as a distraction to her work. In one episode she and her lover fight over the fact she wants to schedule sex and refuses to let passion distract her from important work-related obligations.

Each of these women is thoroughly believable and acts consistently with specific attitudes about life and love. I recognize women I know in the characters in Sex and the City.

Cortney Cox’s character is is poorly defined, cartoonish and utterly inauthentic. She acts like a thirty-year old Judd Apatow guy trapped in a one-note joke about being desperate but clumsy in the attempt to get laid. I have no idea what her cardboard cut-out character believes about life or love or why she is doing what she is doing. To you tell you the truth I don’t really care. Someone please put this excruciatingly pathetic show out of its misery.

Here are some additional reviews that hit the nail on the head.

WALL STREET JOURNAL (T)his is the 21st century, where pole dancing passes for a statement of female liberation. So it should come as no surprise that Jules will search for self-esteem in frequent sex and the proof that she is still “hot.” Such a quest could be made funny, but here it mostly isn’t. Ms. Cox is struggling with some ugly material and often seems desperate.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE Cougar Town is one of those shows with a trendy topic at its core, but it’s hard to see how the show will work long-term, and the screechy and semi-frenetic tone set by the pilot doesn’t help.

VARIETY (T)he execution here is consistently about as subtle as a kick to the groin — and represents the least appealing component in ABC’s quartet of new Wednesday-night comedies.

HOLLYWOOD REPORTER Cougar Town is a mess of a place no one would want to visit, even for a half-hour. With a little luck, though, it’ll have a short shelf life.

Project Runway – Power of Love

Laurie Hutzler — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:01:23 +0000

I am a BIG fan of Project Runway. One of my favorite characters is Tim Gunn. He plays the role of the classic Power of Love character in the series.

Although typically seen on TV as a female character (Betty Suarez in Ugly Betty or Marge in The Simpsons for example), a Power of Love character can also be a compelling male character.

Their function in a story, as is Tim Gunn’s function, is as a caretaker or a mentor: to cajole others into doing what is “best for them;” encourage others to take advantage of possible opportunities for advancement or improvement; soothe the hurt feelings of others; encourage others to do their best; to be patient and giving toward others; and to anticipate others’ needs. Gunn does this par excellence with his “designers.”

His catch phrases always express his care and concern: “Talk to me”, “Make it work”, “This worries me”, “Don’t bore Nina”, “That’s a lot of look”, “Designers, gather around” and “Carry on”.

Power of Love characters— often soft and gentle on the outside— are made of strong, even steely, stuff on the inside. There is an iron fist in their velvet glove. These characters can be interfering, domineering, dictatorial and obsessive when they believe they know what is best for others.

Tim Gunn never goes to that extreme but he also doesn’t ever hesitate to deliver the harsh truth needed to improve a contestant’s work. (And some of his charges DO experience his advice as domineering and/or dictatorial). Notably, those are usually the ones who lose out on a challenge. The man has a good eye and sincerely wants to bring out the best in everyone under his strong and capable wing.

Anyone looking to develop a compelling male Power of Love character would do well to take a look at Tim Gunn in action on Project Runway.

Power of Love

Laurie Hutzler — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:52:11 +0000

Personality

Power of Love characters believe if they make themselves indispensable and/or irresistible the other person will need them and will be obliged to love them. This might be stated: “I’ve done everything for you. I sacrificed and slaved for you. I made you who you are. You owe me.” Or in the case of a spouse or lover: “I gave you the best years of my life. You owe me.”

On a paper valentine it says simply, firmly and powerfully “Be Mine.” Possessiveness and passive/aggressive domination are the hallmarks of these characters. Power of Love characters often lavish their attention and affection on others in order to exercise control, prevail, gain dominance or conquer another’s heart.

They see their own value reflected in the eyes of their love object. Their philosophy might be stated: “You’re nothing without me. (And I feel I am nothing without you.)”

A character driven by the Power of Love is often a best friend, a mentor, an over-zealous parent, a beleaguered assistant or someone who tirelessly pushes another forward in a story. At their worst, these characters are stalkers, jealous lovers, crushingly caring parents, needy spouses, clingy codependents or self-pitying martyrs for love.

Although typically developed as a female character, a Power of Love character can also be a compelling male lead. These characters— often soft, gentle and compliant on the outside—are made of strong, even steely, stuff on the inside.

Character Examples

Betty Suarez in Ugly Betty; Marge in The Simpsons; Turtle in Entourage, Steve Brady in Sex and The City; Ray Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond and Phil Esterhaus in Hill Street Blues are great television examples of this Character Type. For more television examples see the Power of Love blog posts.

Film examples include Loretta Castorini in Moonstruck, Mama Rose & Gypsy Rose Lee in Gypsy, Dorothy Boyd in Jerry Maquire, Annie Wilkes in Misery and Robbie Hart in The Wedding Singer. For more movie examples see the Power of Love blog posts.

Power of Love eBook

The Power of Love Character Type eBook explains how these characters are alike and how each character is made individually distinct. It will help you develop unique, original, evocative and authentic Power of Love characters that fully explore all the contradictions, reversals and surprises of a fully formed human being.

Discover the Power of Love character’s specific goals, unique emotional obstacles and very distinct responses and reactions to any opportunity, challenge or threat. Create this character’s Immediate Tactics, Long-term Orientation and Strategic Approach in a way that is recognizably “true” at every step of the story and during every moment of screen time. The audience will instantaneously recognize and relate to your character because your character is complex, three-dimensional and “feels real.”

This eBook is thorough analysis of the Power of Love Character Type in his or her many guises and roles as a protagonist or a member of a larger ensemble. It is packed with numerous examples from film, television and even real life! Examples from scores of scenes and dozens of quotes from film and television characters clearly illustrate this character’s motivations and psychological dynamics in a story.

Comprehensive Analysis

The Power of Love Character Type eBook illustrates exactly how to create and differentiate this character based on his or her:

(1.) World View (beliefs about how the world works) What are the essential core beliefs that motivate a Power of Love character’s ordinary actions?

(2.) Role or Function (position in the story or role in the ensemble) What do the other players look to a Power of Love character to do or provide in the story?

(3.) Values in Conflict (competing values that push the character to extremes) What opposing choices or goals establish the Power of Love character’s moral code? What is this character willing to fight, sacrifice or die for? And why?

(4.) Story Questions (emotional journey in the story) What personal issues, dilemmas and internal conflicts does a Power of Love character wrestle with over the course of the story? What does this character ask of him or her self? What is this character’s Leap of Faith in an emotionally satisfying story?

(5.) Story Paradox (emotional dilemma) What is the duality or the contradiction at the heart of a Power of Love character’s story struggle? How is the character’s internal conflict expressed in actions.

(6.) Life Lessons (how to complete the emotional journey) What must a Power of Love character learn over the course of the story to make a clear, satisfying personal transformation? What actions lead to this character’s emotional salvation?

(7.) Dark Side (this character as a predator or villain) What happens when a Power of Love character’s actions are driven entirely by fear? How might or how does the story end in tragedy?

(8.) Leadership Style (what defines and qualifies this character as a leader) How does a Power of Love character convince others to follow? How does this character act to take charge and command?

(9.) Film Examples (the Power of Love character as a protagonist)

(10.) Television Examples (the Power of Love character as central to an ensemble)

(11.) Real Life Examples (historical Power of Love figures on the world stage)

Fear and How to Use It

Laurie Hutzler — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:39:18 +0000

“Fear is static that prevents me from hearing myself.” Samuel Butler (English novelist, essayist and critic, 1835-1902). Truer words were never spoken. A character’s fear is the greatest burden he or she carries. It is the constant “static” the character cannot escape. It defines the secret shame that character never wants to face or acknowledge. It is the unspoken reason the character truly believes he or she is (or could be) a failure, a disappointment or a disgrace to others (and therefore could be or become unloved or un-lovable).

Force your character to risk everything in facing his or her fear. Unless your character faces the fear or secret shame, your character will never be free. Your character will constantly be forced to cling the mask and seek its “protection.” A character that hides a secret shame will never be able to live a truly authentic life. As long as that fear and shame is lurking in the background the character will always be its slave.

Love and fear are inextricably bound together. All your character’s worries and anxieties about love will cluster right at the root of his or her fear. Your character’s worries and concerns about love don’t just color his or her romantic relationships. They bled into every single relationship and interaction the character has with another human being in the story. These fears are especially intense in dealing with the antagonist. The smart antagonist deliberately plays on this fear to try to weaken or tempt your character to be his/her own worst enemy. In a story and in life any decision based on fear is the wrong decision.

Your character’s fear is your most important emotional tool as a writer. Anytime you get in trouble in a scene, a sequence or an act— go right to your character’s fear. How does this constant underlying static of anxiety or worry operate in the dramatic or comedic action of the story? Bring the character’s fear to the surface in every scene, every sequence and every act. Take every opportunity to make the character’s physical and emotional situation and entanglements play off the fear and magnify it.

Make fear wreak havoc with the character internally. Find a way to demonstrate this conflict externally through the character’s actions. Make the worst thing that could possibly happen to the character take place on successively deeper and more risky personal levels. Then show us what the character does in response. Remember: It is through action that a person’s true character is revealed.

Fear isn’t just a prime motivator of protagonists. When antagonists do evil deeds they are most often motivated by fear. Giving the audience an glimpse of the antagonist’s fear humanizes him or her and makes this character a more complex and fully realized individual.

The above is an excerpt from The One Hour Screenwriter eBook.