Cover; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Acknowledgments; Introduction: Love Story Anatomy; Part I. The Meet (Cute and Otherwise); 1 Romantic Comedy Cute Meets; 2 Other Meets; 3 Old Flames Re-Ignited; 4 Married Love Stories; Part II. The Crack; 5 Breaking Through the Shell; 6 The Wounded Knight; 7 The Emotional Crack; 8 Humiliation and Low Self-Esteem; 9 Nakedness; 10 Kids and Families and Friends; 11 Honesty; 12 Drugs and Alcohol; 13 Dental Floss; Part III. Why You?; 14 Matchmaking in Movies; 15 Twins; 16 Opposites; 17 Life Force and Sleepwalker; 18 Soul Mates., 19 The Pressure Cooker Effect20 Specificity: One of a Kind; 21 Baby Love: Underage Love Stories; 22 Old Love; 23 Gender Change/Orientation; Part IV. The Obstacle; 24 The Essential Obstacle; 25 Animosity, Feuds, and War; 26 He/She is Married or Engaged; 27 Misunderstandings; 28 Unavailability; 29 Other Obstacles; 30 Levels of Character Evolution; Part V. Putting it All Together; 31 Multi-Tasking; 32 You've Got Mail; Part VI. Styles AND Miscellany; 33 Platonic Love Stories; 34 The Throwdown; 35 Sex Scenes; 36 The Alternative is Impossible; 37 Symbols of Love; 38 The First Golden Age: 1938-1942., and 39 The Second Golden Age: 1980s and 1990s40 Endings; Appendix One: Whitcomb's Top 100 Love Story Films; Appendix Two: Old Love Casting List; Index.
Summary
"Most movies include a love story, whether it is the central story or a subplot, and knowing how to write a believable relationship is essential to any writer's skill set. Discover the rules and laws of nature at play in a compelling love story and learn and master them. Broken into four sections, The Heart of the Film identifies the critical features of love story development, and explores every variation of this structure as well as a diverse array of relationships and types of love. Author Cynthia Whitcomb has sold over 70 feature-length screenplays and shares the keys to her success in The Heart of the Film, drawing on classic and modern films as well as her own extensive experience"--Provided by publisher.
