@mytechtoday/augment-extensions 0.4.0 → 0.5.0

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

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+# Romance Genre
+
+**Category**: Screenplay Genre  
+**Type**: Primary  
+**Complexity**: Medium
+
+## Overview
+
+Romance films center on the development of a romantic relationship between protagonists. The genre emphasizes emotional connection, obstacles to love, and the journey toward commitment or heartbreak.
+
+## Core Concept
+
+Romance screenplays explore the complexities of love, attraction, and relationships. Success depends on creating believable chemistry, meaningful obstacles that test the relationship, and emotional authenticity. Great romance makes audiences invest in whether the couple will overcome their differences and end up together, while exploring what love means and costs.
+
+## Core Rules
+
+### Rule 1: Create Genuine Chemistry
+
+**Description**: The romantic leads must have believable attraction - emotional, intellectual, or physical - that the audience can feel.
+
+**Why It Matters**: Without chemistry, the entire romance falls flat. Audiences must want these people together.
+
+**Examples**:
+- ✅ **Good**: Witty banter, shared vulnerabilities, moments of genuine connection
+- ❌ **Bad**: Characters say they love each other but show no real connection or compatibility
+
+**Film Reference**: When Harry Met Sally (1989) - Chemistry built through years of friendship, conversation, and gradual realization.
+
+---
+
+### Rule 2: Obstacles Must Be Meaningful
+
+**Description**: What keeps the couple apart must be substantial, believable, and rooted in character or circumstance, not contrivance.
+
+**Why It Matters**: Weak obstacles feel artificial. Strong obstacles create genuine tension and test whether love can overcome real challenges.
+
+**Examples**:
+- ✅ **Good**: Class differences, conflicting life goals, past trauma, family opposition with real stakes
+- ❌ **Bad**: Simple misunderstanding that could be resolved with one conversation
+
+**Film Reference**: The Notebook (2004) - Class differences, family opposition, and memory loss create layered obstacles.
+
+---
+
+### Rule 3: Both Characters Must Grow
+
+**Description**: Romance should transform both people. Each must change, compromise, or evolve to make the relationship work.
+
+**Why It Matters**: One-sided growth suggests unhealthy relationship. Mutual transformation shows true partnership.
+
+**Examples**:
+- ✅ **Good**: Both characters confront their flaws and grow to meet each other
+- ❌ **Bad**: One character changes everything while the other remains static
+
+**Film Reference**: Pride and Prejudice (2005) - Both Elizabeth and Darcy must overcome pride and prejudice to find love.
+
+---
+
+### Rule 4: Earn the Emotional Beats
+
+**Description**: Major romantic moments (first kiss, declaration of love, reunion) must be earned through buildup and character development.
+
+**Why It Matters**: Unearned moments feel hollow. Emotional payoff requires proper setup and timing.
+
+**Examples**:
+- ✅ **Good**: First kiss after building tension and connection over multiple scenes
+- ❌ **Bad**: Love confession in first meeting with no foundation
+
+**Film Reference**: Before Sunrise (1995) - Every moment of connection earned through hours of conversation and shared experience.
+
+---
+
+### Rule 5: Make the Stakes Personal
+
+**Description**: What's at risk must matter deeply to the characters - not just the relationship, but their sense of self, dreams, or values.
+
+**Why It Matters**: Higher personal stakes create deeper emotional investment. Love should challenge who they are.
+
+**Examples**:
+- ✅ **Good**: Choosing love means sacrificing career, confronting past trauma, or changing life direction
+- ❌ **Bad**: Only stake is whether they date or not, with no deeper implications
+
+**Film Reference**: La La Land (2016) - Love vs. artistic ambition - both must choose between relationship and dreams.
+
+---
+
+## Guidelines
+
+### Structure
+
+- **Act I**: Meet-cute or introduction, initial attraction (or antagonism), first obstacle appears
+- **Act II**: Relationship develops, deeper connection forms, major obstacles threaten relationship, possible breakup or separation
+- **Act III**: Grand gesture or realization, final obstacle overcome (or tragic separation), resolution - together or apart
+
+### Pacing
+
+- Build attraction gradually (unless "love at first sight" is the premise)
+- Alternate between moments of connection and conflict
+- Use setbacks to test and deepen the relationship
+- Accelerate toward emotional climax
+- Allow denouement for emotional resolution
+
+### Character Archetypes
+
+- **Protagonists**: Often opposites (cynic/optimist, rich/poor, career-focused/free-spirit) who complement each other
+- **Antagonist**: Can be rival suitor, disapproving family, or internal fears/past trauma
+- **Supporting**: Best friend confidant, wise mentor, comic relief sidekick
+
+### Tone and Atmosphere
+
+- Can range from light rom-com to tragic romance
+- Emotional vulnerability and intimacy
+- Hope and longing
+- Humor often balances emotional intensity
+- Warmth and connection
+
+### Visual Style
+
+- Intimate framing for emotional moments
+- Soft lighting for romantic scenes
+- Use of meaningful locations that reflect relationship
+- Color palette that supports tone (warm for hopeful, cool for melancholy)
+- Close-ups to capture emotional nuance
+
+### Dialogue
+
+- Subtext - what's unsaid is as important as what's said
+- Witty banter or deep conversation depending on tone
+- Vulnerability in key moments
+- Avoid overly flowery declarations unless earned
+- Natural, character-specific speech patterns
+
+## Common Pitfalls
+
+### Pitfall 1: Contrived Misunderstandings
+
+**Problem**: Keeping couple apart through simple miscommunication that could be resolved instantly.
+
+**Solution**: Create obstacles rooted in genuine character flaws, values conflicts, or external circumstances.
+
+**Example**: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Relationship fails due to real incompatibilities, not simple misunderstandings.
+
+---
+
+### Pitfall 2: Toxic Relationships Romanticized
+
+**Problem**: Portraying controlling, manipulative, or abusive behavior as romantic or passionate.
+
+**Solution**: Show healthy conflict resolution, respect, and mutual growth. Passion doesn't require toxicity.
+
+**Example**: Crazy, Stupid, Love - Characters learn healthy relationship patterns and self-respect.
+
+---
+
+### Pitfall 3: No Conflict or Stakes
+
+**Problem**: Couple is perfect for each other with no real obstacles, making the story boring.
+
+**Solution**: Create meaningful internal or external conflicts that genuinely test the relationship.
+
+**Example**: The Big Sick (2017) - Cultural differences, family expectations, and life-threatening illness create real stakes.
+
+---
+
+## Film Examples
+
+### Example 1: Casablanca (1942)
+
+**Director**: Michael Curtiz
+
+**Why It Works**: Timeless romance with impossible choices, sacrifice, and bittersweet ending. Love vs. duty.
+
+**Key Scenes**:
+- **"Of all the gin joints"**: Reunion after years, unresolved feelings
+- **Flashback to Paris**: Showing the depth of their past love
+- **Airport Farewell**: Sacrifice for greater good - "We'll always have Paris"
+
+**Techniques Used**:
+- Wartime setting raises stakes
+- Love triangle with moral complexity
+- Sacrifice as ultimate expression of love
+- Dialogue that's become iconic
+
+---
+
+### Example 2: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
+
+**Director**: Michel Gondry
+
+**Why It Works**: Innovative structure exploring why relationships fail and whether love is worth the pain.
+
+**Key Scenes**:
+- **Memory Erasure**: Desperate attempt to forget painful relationship
+- **Montage of Relationship**: Showing both joy and deterioration
+- **"Meet me in Montauk"**: Choosing to try again despite knowing they'll fail
+
+**Techniques Used**:
+- Non-linear narrative reflecting memory
+- Sci-fi premise exploring emotional truth
+- Shows relationship's full arc - beginning, middle, and end
+- Bittersweet acceptance of love's imperfection
+
+---
+
+### Example 3: Before Sunrise (1995)
+
+**Director**: Richard Linklater
+
+**Why It Works**: Entire romance in one night through conversation. Chemistry and connection over plot.
+
+**Key Scenes**:
+- **Train Meeting**: Spontaneous decision to spend night together
+- **Listening Booth**: Intimate moment without words
+- **Sunrise Separation**: Bittersweet parting with uncertain future
+
+**Techniques Used**:
+- Real-time pacing creates intimacy
+- Dialogue-driven character development
+- Minimal plot - focus on connection
+- Ambiguous ending (resolved in sequels)
+
+---
+
+### Example 4: The Shape of Water (2017)
+
+**Director**: Guillermo del Toro
+
+**Why It Works**: Unconventional romance between woman and creature. Love transcends boundaries.
+
+**Key Scenes**:
+- **First Connection**: Communication beyond words
+- **Musical Fantasy**: Expression of romantic longing
+- **Rescue and Transformation**: Love as salvation
+
+**Techniques Used**:
+- Fairy tale structure in realistic setting
+- Outsiders finding connection
+- Visual storytelling over dialogue
+- Fantasy as metaphor for acceptance
+
+---
+
+## Integration with Other Features
+
+### Compatible Themes
+
+- **Love vs. Duty**: Choosing between heart and obligation
+- **Self-Discovery**: Finding yourself through relationship
+- **Sacrifice**: What you'll give up for love
+- **Second Chances**: Redemption through love
+- **Class/Cultural Barriers**: Love across divides
+
+### Compatible Styles
+
+- **Romantic Comedy**: Light, humorous approach to love (rom-com)
+- **Romantic Drama**: Serious, often tragic exploration of love
+- **Period Romance**: Historical settings and social constraints
+- **Contemporary Romance**: Modern dating and relationships
+
+### Hybrid Combinations
+
+- **Romance + Comedy**: Rom-com (When Harry Met Sally, The Proposal)
+- **Romance + Drama**: Serious relationship exploration (Blue Valentine, Revolutionary Road)
+- **Romance + Fantasy**: Magical or supernatural love (The Shape of Water, Ghost)
+- **Romance + Sci-Fi**: Love across time/space (About Time, Her)
+
+## Best Practices
+
+1. **Chemistry is Everything**: Cast and write for genuine connection
+2. **Show, Don't Tell**: Demonstrate love through actions, not just words
+3. **Create Real Obstacles**: Meaningful conflicts, not contrivances
+4. **Both Must Grow**: Mutual transformation, not one-sided change
+5. **Earn Emotional Moments**: Build to big beats through character work
+6. **Avoid Clichés**: Fresh takes on familiar tropes
+7. **Respect the Audience**: Trust them to feel emotions without manipulation
+8. **Make It Specific**: Unique details make romance memorable
+9. **Balance Hope and Realism**: Romantic but grounded in truth
+10. **The Ending Matters**: Whether together or apart, make it earned and satisfying
+
+## Resources
+
+- "Romancing the Beat" by Gwen Hayes - Romance story structure
+- "The Notebook" screenplay by Jeremy Leven - Epic romance structure
+- "When Harry Met Sally" screenplay by Nora Ephron - Rom-com masterclass
+- "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen - Classic romance structure
+- "Save the Cat! Writes a Novel" by Jessica Brody - Includes romance beats
+
+---
+
+**Depth Coverage**: 85%
+**Last Updated**: 2026-01-31
+**Version**: 1.0.0
+

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

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+# Science Fiction Genre
+
+**Category**: Screenplay Genre  
+**Type**: Primary  
+**Complexity**: High
+
+## Overview
+
+Science fiction explores the impact of imagined scientific or technological advances on society, individuals, and humanity. The genre uses speculative concepts to examine contemporary issues through a futuristic or alternative lens.
+
+## Core Concept
+
+Sci-fi screenplays are built on "what if?" questions about science, technology, and their consequences. The genre requires internal consistency, plausible extrapolation from current knowledge, and exploration of how technological or scientific changes affect human nature, society, and morality. Great sci-fi uses the fantastic to illuminate the real.
+
+## Core Rules
+
+### Rule 1: Establish Clear World Rules
+
+**Description**: Define the scientific/technological premise early and maintain internal consistency throughout.
+
+**Why It Matters**: Audiences will accept almost any premise if the rules are clear and consistently applied. Breaking your own rules destroys credibility.
+
+**Examples**:
+- ✅ **Good**: Time travel has specific rules (e.g., can't change past) that are established and followed
+- ❌ **Bad**: Technology works differently each time it's convenient for the plot
+
+**Film Reference**: Inception (2010) - Dream mechanics are clearly explained and consistently applied throughout.
+
+---
+
+### Rule 2: Ground the Fantastic in Human Stakes
+
+**Description**: No matter how advanced the technology or alien the setting, the story must center on relatable human emotions and conflicts.
+
+**Why It Matters**: Audiences connect with characters, not concepts. The sci-fi elements should serve character and theme, not overshadow them.
+
+**Examples**:
+- ✅ **Good**: AI story about what it means to be human (Ex Machina)
+- ❌ **Bad**: Cool tech with no emotional or philosophical depth
+
+**Film Reference**: Arrival (2016) - Alien contact story is fundamentally about grief, communication, and choice.
+
+---
+
+### Rule 3: Extrapolate, Don't Fabricate
+
+**Description**: Base your speculative elements on real science or logical extensions of current technology.
+
+**Why It Matters**: Plausibility enhances immersion. Even far-future tech should feel like it evolved from something recognizable.
+
+**Examples**:
+- ✅ **Good**: AI development based on current machine learning trends
+- ❌ **Bad**: Magic disguised as science with no logical basis
+
+**Film Reference**: The Martian (2015) - Survival on Mars using real science and problem-solving.
+
+---
+
+### Rule 4: Use Sci-Fi to Explore Ideas
+
+**Description**: The best sci-fi uses its premise to examine philosophical, ethical, or social questions.
+
+**Why It Matters**: Sci-fi without ideas is just spectacle. The genre's strength is making us think about ourselves and our world.
+
+**Examples**:
+- ✅ **Good**: Blade Runner explores what makes us human through replicants
+- ❌ **Bad**: Spaceships and lasers with no thematic depth
+
+**Film Reference**: Gattaca (1997) - Genetic engineering as lens for examining discrimination and human potential.
+
+---
+
+### Rule 5: Show the Ripple Effects
+
+**Description**: Demonstrate how your sci-fi premise affects society, culture, economics, and daily life—not just the plot.
+
+**Why It Matters**: Believable worldbuilding requires thinking through consequences. Technology changes everything, not just one aspect of life.
+
+**Examples**:
+- ✅ **Good**: Minority Report shows how pre-crime affects law, privacy, and society
+- ❌ **Bad**: Revolutionary tech exists but society is otherwise unchanged
+
+**Film Reference**: Her (2013) - AI companions affect relationships, work, and social norms throughout society.
+
+---
+
+## Guidelines
+
+### Structure
+
+- **Act I**: Establish the world and its rules, introduce the sci-fi premise, show how it affects the protagonist
+- **Act II**: Explore implications of the premise, escalate conflicts arising from the technology/science, test the protagonist's understanding
+- **Act III**: Resolve conflicts through understanding or mastery of the sci-fi element, often with thematic revelation
+
+### Pacing
+
+- Balance exposition with action—avoid info dumps
+- Use visual storytelling to convey world details
+- Introduce concepts gradually through character experience
+- Allow time for philosophical exploration without stalling plot
+- Build to climax that synthesizes action and ideas
+
+### Character Archetypes
+
+- **Protagonist**: Often scientist, explorer, or ordinary person confronting extraordinary science
+- **Antagonist**: Can be human misusing technology, the technology itself, or alien force
+- **Supporting**: Mentor scientist, skeptical authority, AI companion, alien ally/enemy
+
+### Tone and Atmosphere
+
+- Can range from optimistic (Star Trek) to dystopian (Blade Runner)
+- Sense of wonder at possibilities
+- Unease about consequences
+- Intellectual curiosity
+- Often contemplative or philosophical
+
+### Visual Style
+
+- Production design that feels lived-in and functional
+- Technology that looks purposeful, not just decorative
+- Consistent aesthetic that reflects the world's logic
+- Use of scale to convey scope (vast space, tiny humans)
+- Lighting and color palette that supports tone
+
+### Dialogue
+
+- Avoid technobabble unless necessary; keep it minimal
+- Characters should understand their world—no exposition for audience benefit
+- Scientific concepts explained through character conflict or discovery
+- Natural integration of futuristic slang or terminology
+- Balance intellectual discussion with emotional authenticity
+
+## Common Pitfalls
+
+### Pitfall 1: Exposition Overload
+
+**Problem**: Stopping the story to explain the science or world in lengthy monologues.
+
+**Solution**: Reveal world details through action, visual storytelling, and character experience. Trust the audience.
+
+**Example**: Mad Max: Fury Road shows its post-apocalyptic world through action and visuals, minimal exposition.
+
+---
+
+### Pitfall 2: Inconsistent Rules
+
+**Problem**: Changing how the technology or science works to serve plot convenience.
+
+**Solution**: Establish clear limitations and stick to them. Work within your own constraints.
+
+**Example**: Looper establishes time travel rules and mostly adheres to them, addressing paradoxes directly.
+
+---
+
+### Pitfall 3: Style Over Substance
+
+**Problem**: Focusing on cool visuals and tech without exploring meaningful themes or character arcs.
+
+**Solution**: Use the sci-fi premise to explore human questions. The tech should serve the story, not be the story.
+
+**Example**: District 9 uses alien refugees as metaphor for apartheid and xenophobia, not just cool alien design.
+
+---
+
+## Film Examples
+
+### Example 1: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
+
+**Director**: Stanley Kubrick
+
+**Why It Works**: Combines hard science with philosophical exploration of human evolution and artificial intelligence.
+
+**Key Scenes**:
+- **Bone to Satellite**: Jump cut showing technological evolution
+- **HAL's Breakdown**: AI consciousness and the question of what makes us human
+- **Star Gate Sequence**: Transcendence beyond human comprehension
+
+**Techniques Used**:
+- Minimal dialogue; visual storytelling
+- Scientifically accurate space travel
+- Ambiguity that invites interpretation
+
+---
+
+### Example 2: Blade Runner (1982)
+
+**Director**: Ridley Scott
+
+**Why It Works**: Uses replicants to explore identity, memory, mortality, and what defines humanity.
+
+**Key Scenes**:
+- **Voight-Kampff Test**: Measuring empathy to detect artificial beings
+- **Tears in Rain**: Replicant's meditation on mortality and meaning
+- **Deckard's Uncertainty**: Ambiguity about protagonist's own nature
+
+**Techniques Used**:
+- Noir aesthetic applied to future setting
+- Philosophical questions embedded in detective plot
+- Lived-in, believable future world
+
+---
+
+### Example 3: The Matrix (1999)
+
+**Directors**: The Wachowskis
+
+**Why It Works**: Combines action with philosophical questions about reality, free will, and human potential.
+
+**Key Scenes**:
+- **Red Pill/Blue Pill**: Choice between comfortable illusion and harsh truth
+- **Bullet Time**: Visual representation of seeing beyond normal perception
+- **Neo's Resurrection**: Belief and will transcending programmed reality
+
+**Techniques Used**:
+- Philosophical concepts (Plato's Cave, Descartes) in action framework
+- Visual effects that serve thematic purpose
+- Hero's journey in sci-fi context
+
+---
+
+### Example 4: Interstellar (2014)
+
+**Director**: Christopher Nolan
+
+**Why It Works**: Combines hard science (relativity, black holes) with emotional story about love and sacrifice.
+
+**Key Scenes**:
+- **Time Dilation**: Astronaut ages slower than his children—science creates emotional stakes
+- **Tesseract**: Love as dimension that transcends space-time
+- **Messages from Earth**: Emotional cost of exploration
+
+**Techniques Used**:
+- Real physics (Kip Thorne consultation)
+- Emotional stakes grounded in parent-child relationship
+- Practical effects and real locations where possible
+
+---
+
+## Integration with Other Features
+
+### Compatible Themes
+
+- **Humanity vs. Technology**: Core sci-fi tension
+- **Identity and Consciousness**: What makes us who we are
+- **Progress and Consequences**: Cost of advancement
+- **Isolation**: Space travel, alien worlds, technological disconnect
+- **Free Will vs. Determinism**: Especially in time travel or AI stories
+
+### Compatible Styles
+
+- **Hard Sci-Fi**: Emphasis on scientific accuracy (The Martian, Gravity)
+- **Cyberpunk**: High tech, low life; corporate dystopia (Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell)
+- **Space Opera**: Epic scope, galactic conflicts (Star Wars, Dune)
+- **Post-Apocalyptic**: After technological or environmental collapse (Mad Max, Children of Men)
+
+### Hybrid Combinations
+
+- **Sci-Fi + Horror**: Technology or aliens as threat (Alien, Event Horizon)
+- **Sci-Fi + Noir**: Detective stories in future settings (Blade Runner, Altered Carbon)
+- **Sci-Fi + Romance**: Love across time, space, or species (Her, Eternal Sunshine)
+- **Sci-Fi + Thriller**: Paranoia and conspiracy in tech settings (Minority Report, Ex Machina)
+
+## Best Practices
+
+1. **Research the Science**: Even if speculative, ground it in real principles
+2. **Think Through Implications**: How does your premise change everything?
+3. **Show, Don't Tell**: Reveal world through visuals and action, not exposition
+4. **Make It Personal**: Connect big ideas to individual human stories
+5. **Consistency is Key**: Establish rules and follow them
+6. **Use Metaphor**: Sci-fi elements should represent real-world issues
+7. **Avoid Technobabble**: Keep scientific dialogue clear and purposeful
+8. **World-Building Details**: Small touches make the world feel real
+9. **Question Assumptions**: Challenge what we take for granted
+10. **Balance Wonder and Warning**: Sci-fi can be optimistic or cautionary
+
+## Resources
+
+- "The Science Fiction Handbook" by M. Keith Booker and Anne-Marie Thomas
+- "How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy" by Orson Scott Card
+- "The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction" edited by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn
+- "Dune" by Frank Herbert - Masterclass in worldbuilding and political sci-fi
+- "Foundation" by Isaac Asimov - Exploration of psychohistory and societal prediction
+
+---
+
+**Depth Coverage**: 85%
+**Last Updated**: 2026-01-31
+**Version**: 1.0.0
+