How do you write a script for a comedy series or movie? In the web series Write a) de Noovo and the National School of Humor (ENH), available on Monday, 18 funny scriptwriters from Quebec such as Kim Lizotte, Patrick Huard, Florence Longpré, Martin Matte and Ricardo Trogi reveal their secrets.
According to Patrick Huard, the profession of comic screenwriter is not sufficiently valued in Quebec. I don’t feel that this is treated in our environment as a specialtyhe explained in an interview with Patrick Masbourian on the show All one morning. We are often asked by people who have never written a joke, telling us what is funny and what is not funny.
According to him, it is not the talent that is lacking, but rather. I think of Émile Gaudreault and Ricardo Trogi, for example. These two men, in the United States, they will shoot 19 months a year.
Patrick Huard was one of 18 people invited to highlight the funny screenwriter’s profession in a series of 25-minute capsules offered at Noovo.ca (New window). One whose screenwriter role really gained momentum in the series Taxi 22 sharing anecdotes, working methods and advice, somewhat in the spirit of a master class.
Other guests included François Avard (The Bougons), Louis Morissette (The Perfect Family Guide), Guy A. Lepage (A man a woman), Marie-André Labbé (too) and much more. An extended version of the capsules, approximately one hour each, is also available as a podcast on the iHeartRadio website. (New window).
find your method
As in many disciplines, not everyone works the same way in humorous scriptwriting. According to Patrick Huard, everyone should find their routine, their method. This is also probably why we consider it less expertise, because it is more vaguehe explained.
In surgery there are clear basic rules, it is better that you put the person to sleep before operating. But, with humor, someone can decide to write their script from beginning to end, and that can give a great result.
However, the profession includes basic rules that must be mastered before proceeding, such as different levels in music. You need to know your scales to write, there are different narrative structures that exist and you need to understand what you are doing. Let’s make it even harder to make people laugh, though […] you still need to establish a myth that you will respect throughout your work.
Humor, a polaroid of society
Patrick Huard said that the series with the longest life is often a comedy series: Seinfeld, Friends, How I Met Your Mother… “The shows that cross time are often comedies, because comedies tell us who we are when the jokes is made. It remains an anthropological document, ”he explained.
Making fun of people is also a great way to bring people together.
” Laughter is an instant moment of communion, in the same part of a second, everyone starts laughing at once. Only humor can provide that. “
another strength big of humor according to Patrick Huard: the exposure of the laughing. When you laugh, it’s too late, you commit to yourself […]. Sometimes you laugh because you are against it, sometimes because you are shocked, sometimes because you agree, but laughter is also a position.
This text was written froman interview conducted by Patrick Masbourianhost the show All one morning. Comments may have been edited for clarity or brevity.
Radio Canada
Radio Canada
Source: Radio-Canada
