@mytechtoday/augment-extensions 0.4.0 → 0.5.0

package/augment-extensions/writing-standards/screenplay/genres/rules/horror.md

@@ -0,0 +1,268 @@
+# Horror Genre
+
+**Category**: Screenplay Genre  
+**Type**: Primary  
+**Complexity**: High
+
+## Overview
+
+Horror films evoke fear, dread, and terror through supernatural or psychological threats. The genre emphasizes atmosphere, suspense, and the violation of safety and normalcy to create visceral emotional responses in the audience.
+
+## Core Concept
+
+Horror screenplays exploit primal fears and anxieties, creating tension through the unknown, the uncanny, and the monstrous. Success depends on building atmosphere, controlling pacing, and delivering effective scares while maintaining believable character reactions. The best horror films tap into deeper psychological or societal fears beyond surface-level jump scares.
+
+## Core Rules
+
+### Rule 1: Establish Normalcy Before Breaking It
+
+**Description**: Begin with a recognizable, safe world before introducing the horror element. The contrast amplifies the terror.
+
+**Why It Matters**: Horror is most effective when it violates expectations of safety. Without establishing normalcy, there's nothing to lose.
+
+**Examples**:
+- ✅ **Good**: Happy family moves into dream home, then discovers dark history
+- ❌ **Bad**: Opening with chaos and horror without establishing what's at stake
+
+**Film Reference**: The Shining (1980) - The Overlook Hotel appears beautiful and isolated before revealing its malevolence.
+
+---
+
+### Rule 2: Build Dread Through Anticipation
+
+**Description**: The fear of what might happen is often more terrifying than what actually happens. Use suspense and delayed gratification.
+
+**Why It Matters**: Constant scares create desensitization. Building dread through anticipation keeps audiences on edge.
+
+**Examples**:
+- ✅ **Good**: Slow tracking shot down a dark hallway with ominous sounds
+- ❌ **Bad**: Jump scare every 30 seconds with no buildup
+
+**Film Reference**: Alien (1979) - The xenomorph is barely seen for most of the film, building unbearable tension.
+
+---
+
+### Rule 3: Make the Threat Relentless
+
+**Description**: Once the horror is unleashed, it should be persistent and difficult to escape or defeat.
+
+**Why It Matters**: Easy solutions deflate tension. The threat must feel overwhelming and inescapable.
+
+**Examples**:
+- ✅ **Good**: Every attempt to escape or fight back fails or makes things worse
+- ❌ **Bad**: Characters easily defeat the monster halfway through
+
+**Film Reference**: It Follows (2014) - The entity never stops pursuing, creating constant dread.
+
+---
+
+### Rule 4: Isolate Your Characters
+
+**Description**: Remove safety nets—no cell phones, no police, no easy escape routes.
+
+**Why It Matters**: Isolation forces characters to confront the threat directly and prevents easy solutions.
+
+**Examples**:
+- ✅ **Good**: Remote cabin, no signal, car won't start, storm blocks roads
+- ❌ **Bad**: Characters in populated area with working phones and nearby help
+
+**Film Reference**: The Thing (1982) - Antarctic research station, completely cut off from civilization.
+
+---
+
+### Rule 5: Violate Safe Spaces
+
+**Description**: Turn familiar, safe locations (homes, schools, hospitals) into sites of terror.
+
+**Why It Matters**: Violating safe spaces creates deeper psychological impact than obviously dangerous locations.
+
+**Examples**:
+- ✅ **Good**: The monster appears in the child's bedroom at night
+- ❌ **Bad**: All scares happen in obviously creepy abandoned buildings
+
+**Film Reference**: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) - Sleep, the ultimate safe space, becomes deadly.
+
+---
+
+## Guidelines
+
+### Structure
+
+- **Act I**: Establish normalcy, introduce characters, hint at the threat, first disturbing incident
+- **Act II**: Escalate encounters with the threat, failed escape attempts, revelations about the horror's nature, characters isolated
+- **Act III**: Final confrontation, survival or defeat, resolution (often ambiguous)
+
+### Pacing
+
+- Start slow to build atmosphere and character investment
+- Gradually increase frequency and intensity of scares
+- Use quiet moments between scares to reset tension
+- Build to climactic confrontation with maximum intensity
+- Consider ambiguous or unsettling endings over neat resolutions
+
+### Character Archetypes
+
+- **Protagonist**: Often ordinary person thrust into extraordinary horror; "Final Girl" in slasher films
+- **Antagonist**: Monster, ghost, killer, or supernatural force; often represents deeper fears
+- **Supporting**: Skeptic who dies first, believer who's ignored, authority figure who's useless, comic relief who provides temporary levity
+
+### Tone and Atmosphere
+
+- Oppressive, claustrophobic, unsettling
+- Use silence and ambient sound as effectively as music
+- Darkness, shadows, and limited visibility
+- Uncanny valley—things that are almost but not quite right
+- Dread and unease over constant shock
+
+### Visual Style
+
+- Low-key lighting with deep shadows
+- Handheld or steadicam for subjective POV
+- Wide shots to show isolation; tight shots for claustrophobia
+- Reveal threats gradually or keep them partially obscured
+- Use of mirrors, reflections, and windows for scares
+
+### Dialogue
+
+- Minimal exposition; show don't tell
+- Realistic reactions to fear (denial, panic, irrational decisions)
+- Avoid characters explaining the obvious
+- Use silence effectively
+- Subtext of unspoken fears and tensions
+
+## Common Pitfalls
+
+### Pitfall 1: Over-Explaining the Monster
+
+**Problem**: Providing too much backstory or logic for the horror element removes mystery and reduces fear.
+
+**Solution**: Keep the threat partially unexplained. Mystery is scarier than complete understanding.
+
+**Example**: The Blair Witch Project never shows the witch, maintaining ambiguity and terror.
+
+---
+
+### Pitfall 2: Stupid Character Decisions
+
+**Problem**: Characters making obviously idiotic choices (splitting up, investigating strange noises alone) breaks immersion.
+
+**Solution**: Give characters believable reasons for their actions, even if those actions lead to danger.
+
+**Example**: In The Descent, characters make risky caving decisions based on established character traits and group dynamics.
+
+---
+
+### Pitfall 3: Jump Scares Without Substance
+
+**Problem**: Relying solely on loud noises and sudden movements without building genuine dread.
+
+**Solution**: Use jump scares sparingly as punctuation to sustained tension, not as the primary scare tactic.
+
+**Example**: Hereditary uses shocking moments within a framework of sustained psychological dread.
+
+---
+
+## Film Examples
+
+### Example 1: The Exorcist (1973)
+
+**Director**: William Friedkin
+
+**Why It Works**: Combines supernatural horror with psychological realism, building slowly from medical mystery to full demonic possession.
+
+**Key Scenes**:
+- **Attic Investigation**: Regan's mother hears sounds in the attic—slow buildup of unease
+- **Possession Reveal**: Gradual transformation from sick child to demonic entity
+- **Exorcism Climax**: Battle between faith and evil with visceral practical effects
+
+**Techniques Used**:
+- Slow burn pacing in Act I
+- Practical effects over CGI (for its time)
+- Grounding supernatural in realistic family dynamics
+
+---
+
+### Example 2: Get Out (2017)
+
+**Director**: Jordan Peele
+
+**Why It Works**: Uses horror to explore racial anxiety and social commentary, building dread through microaggressions and uncanny behavior.
+
+**Key Scenes**:
+- **Garden Party**: Uncomfortable social interactions create mounting unease
+- **Sunken Place**: Visual metaphor for powerlessness and marginalization
+- **Revelation**: Twist that recontextualizes everything that came before
+
+**Techniques Used**:
+- Social horror grounded in real anxieties
+- Subversion of "meet the parents" tropes
+- Symbolism and metaphor throughout
+
+---
+
+### Example 3: The Conjuring (2013)
+
+**Director**: James Wan
+
+**Why It Works**: Masterclass in classical horror filmmaking with expert use of space, sound, and timing.
+
+**Key Scenes**:
+- **Clapping Game**: Uses sound and darkness to build unbearable tension
+- **Wardrobe Reveal**: Slow reveal of threat using camera movement
+- **Exorcism Finale**: Emotional stakes (saving a mother) elevate the horror
+
+**Techniques Used**:
+- Practical scares over CGI
+- Use of silence before scares
+- Grounding in family love and protection
+
+---
+
+## Integration with Other Features
+
+### Compatible Themes
+
+- **Isolation**: Amplifies vulnerability and helplessness
+- **Loss of Control**: Core to horror's psychological impact
+- **The Unknown**: Mystery and ambiguity enhance fear
+- **Corruption**: Innocence violated or goodness twisted
+
+### Compatible Styles
+
+- **Psychological**: Internal horror and unreliable narrators
+- **Gothic**: Atmospheric, period horror with decay and darkness
+- **Found Footage**: Verisimilitude and subjective POV
+- **Body Horror**: Physical transformation and violation
+
+### Hybrid Combinations
+
+- **Horror + Sci-Fi**: Alien threats, technological nightmares (Alien, The Thing)
+- **Horror + Comedy**: Tonal balance of scares and laughs (Shaun of the Dead, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil)
+- **Horror + Drama**: Elevated horror with serious themes (The Babadook, Hereditary)
+
+## Best Practices
+
+1. **Earn Your Scares**: Build tension before releasing it with a scare
+2. **Less is More**: Suggestion and implication are often scarier than explicit showing
+3. **Ground in Emotion**: Horror works best when we care about the characters
+4. **Respect Your Audience**: Avoid cheap tricks; trust them to be scared by atmosphere
+5. **Subvert Expectations**: Use genre knowledge against the audience
+6. **Sound Design Matters**: What we hear is as important as what we see
+7. **Lighting is Key**: Darkness and shadows are your friends
+8. **Pacing Variety**: Mix quiet dread with intense scares
+9. **Make it Personal**: The best horror taps into universal fears
+10. **Ambiguity Can Enhance**: Not everything needs explanation
+
+## Resources
+
+- "Danse Macabre" by Stephen King - Analysis of horror's appeal
+- "The Philosophy of Horror" by Noël Carroll - Academic examination of the genre
+- "Men, Women, and Chain Saws" by Carol J. Clover - Study of gender in horror
+- "Nightmare Movies" by Kim Newman - Comprehensive horror film history
+
+---
+
+**Depth Coverage**: 85%
+**Last Updated**: 2026-01-31
+**Version**: 1.0.0
+

package/augment-extensions/writing-standards/screenplay/genres/rules/musical.md

@@ -0,0 +1,294 @@
+# Musical Genre
+
+**Category**: Screenplay Genre  
+**Type**: Primary  
+**Complexity**: High
+
+## Overview
+
+Musicals integrate songs and dance into narrative storytelling. The genre emphasizes emotional expression through music, spectacle, and the heightened reality where characters naturally break into song.
+
+## Core Concept
+
+Musical screenplays use songs as narrative and emotional tools, not interruptions. Success depends on integrating music organically, using songs to advance plot or deepen character, and creating a world where musical expression feels natural. Great musicals use music to express what dialogue cannot, creating emotional peaks that justify the heightened form.
+
+## Core Rules
+
+### Rule 1: Songs Must Advance Story or Character
+
+**Description**: Every musical number should reveal character, advance plot, or deepen emotional understanding. No filler.
+
+**Why It Matters**: Songs that don't serve the story stop momentum and feel indulgent.
+
+**Examples**:
+- ✅ **Good**: "I Want" song establishing character desire, duet showing relationship shift
+- ❌ **Bad**: Generic production number with no narrative purpose
+
+**Film Reference**: Hamilton (2015) - Every song advances plot, reveals character, or develops themes.
+
+---
+
+### Rule 2: Establish Musical Rules Early
+
+**Description**: Set up when and why characters sing within the first 10-15 minutes. Create consistent logic.
+
+**Why It Matters**: Audiences need to accept the musical convention. Establish it quickly and maintain consistency.
+
+**Examples**:
+- ✅ **Good**: Opening number establishes that this world includes song
+- ❌ **Bad**: First song appears randomly 30 minutes in with no setup
+
+**Film Reference**: La La Land (2016) - Opens with "Another Day of Sun" establishing musical world immediately.
+
+---
+
+### Rule 3: Earn the Big Numbers
+
+**Description**: Major production numbers should be emotional climaxes, earned through buildup and character development.
+
+**Why It Matters**: Spectacle without emotional foundation is empty. The biggest numbers should be the biggest emotional moments.
+
+**Examples**:
+- ✅ **Good**: Climactic number after emotional journey makes audience feel catharsis
+- ❌ **Bad**: Spectacular number with no emotional stakes or buildup
+
+**Film Reference**: The Greatest Showman (2017) - "This Is Me" earned through characters' journey to self-acceptance.
+
+---
+
+### Rule 4: Integrate Music with Narrative
+
+**Description**: Songs should feel like natural extensions of scenes, not interruptions. Transition smoothly between dialogue and music.
+
+**Why It Matters**: Jarring transitions break immersion. Smooth integration maintains flow.
+
+**Examples**:
+- ✅ **Good**: Dialogue builds to song organically, or song transitions seamlessly back to scene
+- ❌ **Bad**: Abrupt stops and starts that feel like separate elements
+
+**Film Reference**: West Side Story (1961/2021) - Music and dance integrated into street life and conflict.
+
+---
+
+### Rule 5: Use Music for What Dialogue Can't Express
+
+**Description**: Songs should express emotions, desires, or internal states too big or complex for dialogue alone.
+
+**Why It Matters**: This is musical theater's unique power. Use it to justify the form.
+
+**Examples**:
+- ✅ **Good**: Internal conflict, overwhelming emotion, or transcendent joy expressed through song
+- ❌ **Bad**: Songs that just repeat information already conveyed in dialogue
+
+**Film Reference**: Les Misérables (2012) - "I Dreamed a Dream" expresses Fantine's despair beyond what dialogue could.
+
+---
+
+## Guidelines
+
+### Structure
+
+- **Act I**: Opening number establishes world, "I Want" song shows protagonist's desire, inciting incident
+- **Act II**: Relationship/conflict develops through songs, production numbers, possible "Dark Night" song
+- **Act III**: Climactic number, resolution, finale that reprises themes
+
+### Pacing
+
+- Balance dialogue scenes with musical numbers
+- Build to bigger production numbers
+- Use songs to compress time or montage
+- Vary tempo and energy between numbers
+- Allow breathing room between big numbers
+
+### Character Archetypes
+
+- **Protagonist**: Often dreamer or outsider with clear desire expressed in song
+- **Love Interest**: Duets reveal relationship development
+- **Antagonist**: Often has their own musical theme or number
+- **Ensemble**: Chorus provides spectacle and community
+
+### Tone and Atmosphere
+
+- Heightened reality where song is natural
+- Emotional expressiveness and sincerity
+- Can range from joyful to tragic
+- Spectacle and visual grandeur
+- Often optimistic or cathartic
+
+### Visual Style
+
+- Choreographed camera movement
+- Colorful, expressive production design
+- Dynamic editing during numbers
+- Wide shots for dance, close-ups for emotion
+- Visual motifs that recur with musical themes
+
+### Dialogue
+
+- Often more stylized than naturalistic
+- Builds toward or transitions from song
+- Can be minimal - let music do the work
+- Lyrics function as heightened dialogue
+- Subtext in what's sung vs. what's said
+
+## Common Pitfalls
+
+### Pitfall 1: Songs That Stop the Story
+
+**Problem**: Musical numbers that feel like interruptions rather than integral to narrative.
+
+**Solution**: Every song should advance plot, reveal character, or deepen emotion.
+
+**Example**: Chicago (2002) - Musical numbers are fantasy sequences that reveal character psychology.
+
+---
+
+### Pitfall 2: Inconsistent Musical Logic
+
+**Problem**: Unclear rules about when/why characters sing, or breaking established rules.
+
+**Solution**: Establish clear logic early and maintain it throughout.
+
+**Example**: Dancer in the Dark (2000) - Musical numbers are Selma's escapist fantasies, clearly established.
+
+---
+
+### Pitfall 3: Weak Book (Non-Musical Scenes)
+
+**Problem**: Strong songs but weak dialogue scenes or story between numbers.
+
+**Solution**: Non-musical scenes must be as strong as musical ones. Story works even without songs.
+
+**Example**: West Side Story - Strong dramatic scenes between musical numbers.
+
+---
+
+## Film Examples
+
+### Example 1: La La Land (2016)
+
+**Director**: Damien Chazelle
+
+**Why It Works**: Modern musical about dreamers in LA. Romance and ambition. Bittersweet ending.
+
+**Key Scenes**:
+- **"Another Day of Sun"**: Opening number establishes musical world
+- **Planetarium Dance**: Romance through movement and music
+- **"Audition (The Fools Who Dream)"**: Emotional climax earned through journey
+
+**Techniques Used**:
+- Long takes and choreographed camera movement
+- Songs advance relationship and character arcs
+- Musical numbers as emotional peaks
+- Bittersweet ending subverts genre expectations
+
+---
+
+### Example 2: Chicago (2002)
+
+**Director**: Rob Marshall
+
+**Why It Works**: Musical numbers as fantasy sequences revealing character psychology. Dark, cynical tone.
+
+**Key Scenes**:
+- **"All That Jazz"**: Establishes Roxie's fantasy world
+- **"Cell Block Tango"**: Each woman's story through song
+- **"Razzle Dazzle"**: Courtroom as performance
+
+**Techniques Used**:
+- Musical numbers are fantasies, not diegetic
+- Dark satire of celebrity and justice
+- Integrated staging (stage and reality blur)
+- Songs reveal character psychology
+
+---
+
+### Example 3: West Side Story (1961/2021)
+
+**Director**: Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins / Steven Spielberg
+
+**Why It Works**: Romeo and Juliet as musical gang conflict. Dance and music express tribal identity and forbidden love.
+
+**Key Scenes**:
+- **"America"**: Cultural identity through song and dance
+- **"Tonight"**: Romance and impending tragedy
+- **"Somewhere"**: Hope amid violence
+
+**Techniques Used**:
+- Dance as expression of gang identity
+- Music integrated into street life
+- Tragedy in musical form
+- Choreography as storytelling
+
+---
+
+### Example 4: Hamilton (2015)
+
+**Director**: Thomas Kail (filmed stage production)
+
+**Why It Works**: Hip-hop musical about founding fathers. Every song advances plot or deepens character.
+
+**Key Scenes**:
+- **"My Shot"**: Hamilton's ambition and drive established
+- **"The Room Where It Happens"**: Political maneuvering through song
+- **"It's Quiet Uptown"**: Devastating grief and forgiveness
+
+**Techniques Used**:
+- Hip-hop and R&B for historical story
+- Rapid-fire lyrics advance plot quickly
+- Diverse casting reimagines history
+- No wasted songs - all serve narrative
+
+---
+
+## Integration with Other Features
+
+### Compatible Themes
+
+- **Dreams and Ambition**: Pursuing goals (La La Land, A Star Is Born)
+- **Love and Romance**: Relationships through song (West Side Story, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg)
+- **Identity**: Finding yourself (Hairspray, The Greatest Showman)
+- **Social Issues**: Commentary through music (Rent, Hamilton)
+- **Show Business**: Backstage stories (Chicago, Singin' in the Rain)
+
+### Compatible Styles
+
+- **Classic Musical**: Golden age Hollywood (Singin' in the Rain, The Sound of Music)
+- **Rock Musical**: Contemporary music (Rent, Rock of Ages)
+- **Jukebox Musical**: Existing songs (Mamma Mia!, Bohemian Rhapsody)
+- **Animated Musical**: Disney and others (The Lion King, Moana)
+
+### Hybrid Combinations
+
+- **Musical + Romance**: Love stories with songs (Moulin Rouge!, Grease)
+- **Musical + Drama**: Serious themes (Les Misérables, Dear Evan Hansen)
+- **Musical + Comedy**: Humor-driven (The Producers, Hairspray)
+- **Musical + Biography**: Musicians' lives (Walk the Line, Rocketman)
+
+## Best Practices
+
+1. **Songs Serve Story**: Every number advances plot or character
+2. **Establish Rules Early**: Set up musical logic in opening
+3. **Earn Big Numbers**: Spectacle follows emotional buildup
+4. **Smooth Integration**: Transitions between dialogue and song
+5. **Express the Inexpressible**: Use music for what dialogue can't convey
+6. **Strong Book**: Non-musical scenes must be compelling
+7. **Variety**: Mix tempo, tone, and style of numbers
+8. **Character-Specific Songs**: Music reflects who's singing
+9. **Build to Finale**: Climactic number resolves themes
+10. **Emotional Honesty**: Sincerity even in spectacle
+
+## Resources
+
+- "The Musical: A Look at the American Musical Theater" by Richard Kislan
+- "Writing Musical Theater" by Allen Cohen and Steven L. Rosenhaus
+- "Hamilton: The Revolution" by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter
+- "La La Land" screenplay by Damien Chazelle
+- "West Side Story" screenplay by Ernest Lehman
+
+---
+
+**Depth Coverage**: 85%
+**Last Updated**: 2026-01-31
+**Version**: 1.0.0
+