USC SCHOOL OF CINEMATIC ARTS

CTWR-431: SCREENWRITERS AND THEIR WORK

“The Genius of John Hughes”

Spring 2011

Professor: Don Bohlinger

More than any filmmaker John Hughes defined movie comedies in the 80’s and 90’s during which time he wrote over thirty films. He resurrected, some might say defined, the teen comedy genre with his three classics, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. He wrote several of the era’s highest grossing films: his National Lampoon's Vacation and Home Alone films book-ending his world-wide box office success. His films provided starts for many of our best actors: Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Emelio Estavez, Jon Cryer, Maccaulay Culkin, Andrew McCarthy, John and Joan Cusack, Robert Downey Jr., Kevin Bacon and Alec Baldwin to name just a few. He worked with some of the era’s most creative comedians: Michael Keaton, Steve Martin, John Candy, Dan Aykroyd, Catherine O’Hara and Chevy Chase.

He created some of the screen’s most unforgettable characters: Ferris Bueller, Kevin, Samantha Baker, The Geek, Duckie, Uncle Buck, Long Duk Dong, The Griswolds, Del Griffith, Beethoven the Dog and, of course, Jake Ryan.

But more than anything he gave us dozens of family comedies that touched us; films that oozed with warmth and heart yet somehow managed to accomplish this emotion without being sentimental.

How did he do it?

John Hughes is first and foremost a writer. From the time he was in junior high school until the day he died, he filled journals with characters, thoughts, bits of stolen dialogue, ideas, jokes and insights. He wrote bits for Rodney Dangerfield, Phyllis Diller and Johnny Carson. He was an adman who created the wildly successful Edge Shaving Cream credit card testspot. He wrote for The National Lampoon, and finally he began to write screenplays. A lot of screenplays. John once said he wasn’t an overnight sensation, “I wrote fifteen screenplays before one was produced.”

So what can we learn from this comic genius?

John lived to write and his writing connected with people. For all his skill in writing jokes and creating story concepts, John Hughes understood the most important principles of good screening: keep it real, don’t be afraid of emotion, know your characters and know your audience.

John knew his characters because he inhabited them: whether it was a 16 year old girl whose family was to busy to remember her birthday, a 40 year old shower curtain ring salesman who still missed his wife, an eight year old boy who is left behind by his parents or a loveable loser of a Dad intent on taking his kids to Wally World.

It was John’s endless journals that were the key to this success; by chronicling the people around him and noting their fears, fantasies, little successes and failures, he was able to create fictional characters that continue to touch us today.

This class will be a master’s class in writing great characters, compelling stories and comedy and it will be informed by the writing and films of John Hughes.

We will study how he used basic comedic principles such as: comic discrepancy, pretense, comedic irony, the loveable loser and fish out of water, set up-joke-topper, one-string comedic characters and so on. Perhaps more importantly, we will study how John was a natural writer, someone who collected characters, memories, “moments” and put them into his movies. Finally, for all his jokes, his National Lampoon silliness, John understood that a movie must have an emotional core (what I call the ‘beating heart’ of the story) and we will study how this beating heart makes John’s movies so timeless..

We will be screening twelve of John Hughes’ films in their entirety as well as clips from several others. In addition we will be looking at examples of techniques John used to tell his stories. We will compare his use of these technique with examples of similar scenes of filmmakers who predated (influenced?) John and filmmakers who have been influenced by him.

We will be joined by several guests who will give us an insight into John’s life as a writer, director and producer.

All of this will inform your own writing and filmmaking. It will inspire you to become a sponge for characters, moments, stories and persuade you to fill your own writer’s journals, and to use your own experiences to inform your stories and films.

Although this is not a critical studies course we will look at themes such as family, historical context, class and society and discuss how John dealt with such issues in his screenplays, stories and films.

COURSE GOALS AND ASSIGNMENTS:

  1. To study the themes and ideas of the work of the great screenwriters: this semester it is John Hughes.
  2. By analyzing John Hughes’ films and screenplays we will teach filmmakers to understand his work from a professional perspective: not “I liked it” but “Did it work? If so, why?”
  3. To teach writers the basics of good dramaturgy: conflict, tension, theme, character and character development.
  4. To teach writers the importance of keeping a writer’s journal.
  5. To help writers understand the process of visualization: how do you tell your story visually using character, location, props, action and activity?
  6. To familiarize writers with story patterns, especially three-act structure.
  7. To help writers build their “writers toolbox” by screening examples of screenwriting techniques such as: planting and payoff, polarity, sequence, character arc, scenes of recapitulation, revelation and recognition.
  8. To demonstrate how John Hughes brings his unique characters to life. To study scene writing and what makes good scenes and effective dialogue.
  9. To study comedy and various techniques such as comic discrepancy, comic irony, loveable loser, fish out of water, pretense.
  10. To learn how John Hughes brings emotion and warmth to his films by studying the “beating heart’ scenes in his movies.
  11. By studying the scripts and films of John Hughes we hope to inspire USC filmmakers to tell their stories, not the stories Hollywood wants them to tell.

ASSIGNMENTS:

Note: since each film will be demonstrating many techniques and patterns mentioned above, the weekly objective will be fluid; there will be constant review and comparison. However the films have been chosen to explore specific aspects of screen story telling:

Note: due to the interest of perspective Guests the screening order may change to – we may need to switch films as guests become available.

The instructor will ask you to screen certain films to supplement that week’s lesson.

  • Jan. 11: Mr. Mom, 1983, Written by John Hughes, Directed by Stan Dragoti,

Introduction to class, discussion on character, want, comic discrepancy (“fish out of water”) and the theme of family with clips from other films.

Reading: “Sweet Bard of Youth” by David Kamp, Vanity Fair, March 2010,

Reading: Vacation ’58 by John Hughes,

  • Jan. 18: National Lampoon’s Vacation, 1982, Written by John Hughes, Directed

by Harold Ramis

Discussion of the loveable loser character: want, goals, sequences, planting-payoff, physical comedy, one-string comedic characters.

Reading:Christmas ’59 by John Hughes,

  • Jan. 25: The Great Outdoors, 1988, Written by John Hughes, Directed by Howard

Deutch

Discussion of loveable loser character, planting-payoff, use of location, end of second act and resolution.

  • Feb. 1: Breakfast Club, Written and Directed by John Hughes

Guest: Michelle Manning, Producer and Studio Executive

  • Feb 8th: Sixteen Candles, Written and Directed by John Hughes

Guest: Molly Ringwald, Actor

  • Feb 15th: Pretty In Pink, Written by John Hughes, Directed by Howard Deutch

Character, exploration of class, costume, beating heart scene, fantasy, the rewrite process.

  • Feb 22: Weird Science, Written and Directed by John Hughes

Fear and Fantasy, fish out of water character vs. type.

  • March 1: Some Kind of Wonderful, Written by John Hughes, Directed by Howard

Deutch

Guest: Howard Deutch, Director

  • March 8: (MIDTERM)

Ten to fifteen short answer questions reviewing concepts discussed thus far in the course.

  • March 15: Spring Break
  • March 22: Planes, Trains and Automobiles, 1987, Written and Directed by John

Hughes

Discuss Trip With Destination stories, character, character secrets, emotion, want vs. need, resolution and comic set pieces.

Guest: Judd Apatow, Writer, Director, Producer

  • March. 29: She’s Having A Baby, Written and Directed by John Hughes

Discuss character, want vs. need, resolution and emotion.

  • April 5: An Evening with James and John Hughes

John Hughes’ sons will join us to share stories about their father, show clips from a few different films and to share examples of different disciplines of his writing (joke writing, advertising, prose, etc) that led to his film work, or replaced it in later years...

  • April 12: Home Alone, Written by John Hughes, Directed by Chris Columbus

Discuss fear vs. fantasy, comic discrepancy, comic and action set pieces, use of location, use of props, character and “beating heart.”

  • April 19: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Written and Directed by John Hughes

Character, obstacles, comic pretense, subplot, use of location, resolution.

  • April 26: Breakfast Club,

We return so do a detailed analysis of John’s most celebrated film in order to review of all the concepts we’ve discussed during the semester. We will also be viewing clips of films we missed such as: 101 Dalmations, Flubber and Uncle Buck.

EVALUATION CRITERIA:

SCA 431 grades will be based on careful consideration in the following areas of the students’ work:

  1. Performance on the mid-term and final.
  2. Demonstrated understanding of the fundamental principles of comedy, theme, creating compelling characters, tension, conflict, dramaturgy.
  3. Keeping up with the homework: out of class screenings. There could be quizzes to insure students are keeping up with the screenings.
  4. Class participation. The willingness to engage the instructor in discussion of the weekly film.
  5. Attendance. Absences are not allowed. More than one absence will result in a lower grade. Tardiness will not be tolerated.

GRADING WEIGHTS:

CNTV 516 grades are based on:

Midterm…………………………………………30%

Final……………………………………………..50%

Homework………………………………………10%

Class Participation……………………………..10%

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION:

Prof. Bohlinger’s contact info: 213 740-7516,

Office hours: Tuesday 4-7, or by appointment, SCA 335.

*Note: Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure this letter is delivered to me as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m.- 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The telephone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.