Every Scene Should Reflect the Story Genre

Watch a great movie and you’ll see that every scene reflects the story genre. Then watch a bad movie and you’ll find that many scenes do not reflect the story genre. Most stories are combinations of two genres where the main genre defines the story and the second genre defines how that story is told.

“Ghostbusters” is a comedy horror movie that’s mostly a comedy but occasionally focuses on horror instead. The opening scene focuses on horror as a librarian walks by herself through an isolated part of the library.

Immediately after that horror scene, the next scene focuses on comedy as the hero electrocutes a test subject to drive him away so he can be alone with a pretty coed. When you watch “Ghostbusters,” you’ll find that every scene either emphasizes horror or comedy.

So what happens if a scene in a comedy horror story lacks either comedy or horror? Then you get practically every scene in the 2023 version of “Haunted Mansion.” Look at this scene that lacks any element of horror (suspense) and contains precious little comedy. Instead, this scene simple exists to show a police sketch artist drawing the villain, which is a ghost. No suspense and no humor means this scene fails to support either story genre as a comedy horror story.

In “Haunted Mansion,” the humor (what little there is) focuses more on jokes rather than humor derived from the characters’ actions. That’s because none of the characters are particularly memorable with emotional goals of their own. Watch this weak, humor-free scene and marvel at how nobody could read the screenplay for “Haunted Mansion” and notice the distinct lack of humor in practically every scene.

Now watch this scene from the far superior comedy “School of Rock” where the hero is trying to hide the fact that he’s not a teacher and hasn’t been teaching his students anything at all except for music. Notice that the humor stems from the hero’s personality as he tries to talk his way out of the situation.

Surprisingly, many screenplays fail simply because they promise specific genres and then fail to deliver. If you’re writing a comedy, then scenes need tone funny. If you’re writing a horror story, then scenes need to focus on suspense and horror. If you’re writing an action-thriller, every scene needs to focus on drama. If you’re writing a romance, every scene needs to focus on love and relationships.

Forget this simple rule and you’ll find up writing a horror comedy like 2023’s “Haunted Mansion” that has neither horror or comedy in practically every scene. So many flat, suspense-free and humor-free scenes simply sink the entire movie into mediocrity.

Make sure you know the main and sub-genre of your story such as a comedy horror like “Ghostbusters” that focuses on comedy first and horror second, or a horror comedy like “Ready or Not” that focuses on horror first and comedy second. Whatever dual genres your story embraces, make sure every scene delivers on that promise or else you’ll write a mediocre screenplay like “Haunted Mansion.”

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