Notes

Week 9

We write best what we know well.

DYNAMIC ACTION.

Story is action.

Action encompasses any kind of movement, activity and interaction between the characters and also between the characters ad their surroundings.

Talking about how one feels is not as powerful as illustrating why one feels the way they do through action.

Film is behaviour.

Action is the manifestation of behaviour.

The complexity of the human psyche and interaction is better understood when it is possible to watch the actions, nuances and the reactions of the characters.

Dynamic action has the potential to enrich the experience of the audience by heightening the stakes and increasing the tension.

The power of any story lies in the narrator’s ability to project a mental picture for the audience.

Addresses the problem many newbies have to screenwriting: How to convey visually any sense of inner conflicts of emotion.

Story ASSIGNMENT.

Write 1st draft of an original 1-2 page story.

Write in 3rd person narrative/ present tense.

Use 12pt. Courier Single spaced.

No less than 1 page and no more than 2 pages

Besides writing your name, student and tut group. Also label your story as “1st Draft”.

Due week 10! NEXT WEEK. 1ST JULY.

Remember Film as a visual/aural medium.

“Show” VS “Telling”.

Week 8

Elements of dialogue

We must connect to the content of the dialogue.

Dialogue reveals character.

A character will talk about himself and other people will take about him.

Reveal by other’s response to the dialogue.

Dialogue establishes relationships between characters.

Once you have established your main character’s POV, you can use dialogue with other characters to show that they have other attitudes, creating opposite/alternative POVs.

This helps to create sustain the element of conflict between characters.

Good effective dialogue will move the story forward.

Dialogue communicates faces and the information to the audience.

It conveys essential exposition.

Characters will talk about what happened, establishing the storyline.

Have dialogue in present tense.

Dialogue comments on the action.

Dialogue ties the script together, links the scenes together.

It is one of the devices that you as a writer can use to expand and enlarge your characters.

“If you can see or hear it, don’t write it”

Dialogue should be used sparingly.

Never tell the audience what they can see for themselves.

Dialogue is not a substitute for action.

Students sometimes never achieve a level of competence as they tend to reproduce conventional spoken language, long statements of “real talking”, and defend their decision by telling us that.

Age, gender, educational qualifications, race etc must come into consideration when you set up dialogues for your characters.

Good dialogue is not somebody’s ability to write authentic speech as heard in real life.

Good dialogue is the illusion of reality.

Know how to edit what people say without losing any of the spirit.

Students tend to create radio shows with images.

Use visual mediums.

Real Exercise: Repeat experiment, but the husband and wife are your own parents.

Get two people to read the dialogue.

Record the reading

Post it to your blog. (via Youtube, Multiply)

WEEK 7

Purpose of exercise: true or false story

• a true story is not necessarily a good story
• true life stories do not offer neat and relevant endings
• life is unpredictable
• in a story, we can and must control the events ad sequences so that it gives the appearance of being like life

Characterization: Defining the character

• Every story starts with a character
• The character is the heart, the soul and nervous system f your story
• It is through your characters that the viewers experience emotions
• It is through your characters that they are touched

<Without a character, there is no action>
<without action, you have no conflict>
<no conflict, no story>
<no story, no screenplay>

Developing characters
When developing a character, ask yourself:

• Who is the character?
• What does he want?
• What is his quest?
• What drives him to the resolution of the story?

Establish your main character
Characters should have a 3 Dimensional structure
a) Physiology – physical makeup
b) Sociology – social makeup i.e. background

c) Psychology – how he/she thinks

Physiology

• Sex
• Age
• Height, weight
• Colour of hair, eyes, skin
• Posture
• Appearance
• Defects, abnormalities, deformities, birth marks, diseases
• Heredity

Sociology

• Class (lower, middle, upper)
• Occupation: type of work, income, condition of work
• Education: amount, kind of schools, aptitudes, poorest subject, marks, favourite subjects
• Home life: parents living, earning power, orphan, parents separated/divorced, parents’ habits, parents’ mental development, neglect, character’s marital status
• Religion
• Race, nationality
• Place in community: leader among friend, clubs, sports
• Political affiliations
• Amusements: hobbies, books, newspapers, magazines he/she reads

Psychology

• Sex life, moral standards
• Personal premise, ambition
• Frustrations, chief disappointments
• Temperament: choleric, easy-going, pessimistic, optimistic
• Attitude towards life: resigned, militant, defeatist
• Complexes: obsessions, inhibitions, superstitions, phobias
• Personality: extrovert, introvert
• Abilities: language, talents
• Qualities: imagination, judgment, taste, poise
• I.Q.
• What is the deep and personal secret this character has which he is desperate to protect/hide?

WEEK 6

developing characters

interior life;

• a process that FORMS character. [when you start formulating your character from birth, you see your character build in body and form]

exterior life;

• a process that REVEALS character.

ALL DRAMATIC CHARACTERS INTERACT IN 3 WAYS:

1. they experience conflict in achieving their dramatic need. [eg; need money, rob bank]
2. they interact with other characters.

next week;

storytelling quiz.

review

• storytelling tools;
  • memory
  • observation
  • experience
• aristotles storytelling techniques.
• developing 3 dimensional characters.
• writing for the audience.
• function of the acts?

Week 4

6 Parts of tragedy:

-Plot

Plot and story are not the same. Story is presented to you. But a plot is the action plan.

-Characters

engage the audience with the people, reflect the audience with your characters.

-Thought

-Diction(Acting)

Be believable

-Melody

-Spectacle

Cause and Effect.

Arouses pity AND fear in the audience and engages them to imagine and visualize themselves in the cause and effect.

PLOT.

Arrangement of incidents.

Not just the story itself, but the way the incidents are presented to the audience.

Structure of the play.

THREE ACT STRUCTURE

Beginning-

Incitive moment.

It must cause a cause and effect chain.

MIDDLE

Climax.

It must be caused by earlier incidents and itself cause the incidents that follow it.

END

Resolution.

Must be cause by the preceding events but not lead to other incidents.

The end should resolve the problem created during the incitive moment.

EPISODIC PLOTS

According to Aristotle, the worst kinds of plots.

The acts succeed one another without probability or necessity.

The only thing tying the story together is the character portrayed.

SIMPLE VS COMPLEX PLOT

Simple has only a change of fortune.

Complex has a reversal of intention “peripeteia” and recognition “anagnorisis” connected with the catastrophe

CHARACTER

Character supports plot.

Personal motivations are connected to the cause and effect chain

The protagonist in a tragedy should be renowned and prosperous.

In ideal settings, the protagonist will mistakenly bring about his own downfall, not because he is sinful or weak, but because he does not know enough. No anagnorisis.

Lack of self-knowledge= “Hamartia”

Katharsis-Cleansing

Mimesis-imitation of life

Perepeteia-change of fortune

Harmatia- lack of self knowledge

Anagnorisis- sudden realisation.

3 ACT STRUCTURE

1st act-set up.

Intro character, goal oriented.

Character meets road blocks produced by the plot and antagonist

2nd act- confrontation

Action intensifies

Event happens which forces the character to make his or her choice.

3rd act-resolution

Level of effort rises to a new height

Both polt and character is resolved

Main character either achieves or does not achieve his goal

Assignment. Reflection

Visual trigger: Find an image and tell a story that comes to your mind as you see it.

Pictures should not be taken for this purpose- use only pictures you can find.

Incorporate principles of tragedy into your writing! Something bad happens as a result of a flaw in our character, and you show how this tragic fall forces your character to learn something about herself or himself.

Review Exercise 2: People-Watch(week 3)

1. Take out a phone book.
2. Point to a name at random.
3. Continue looking for an address.
4. Attach the name and address to a People-Watch character on your blog.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 with your other character.
6. Now ask yourself.

“What would Character A do to provoke Character B to an extreme action?”

Person A – Lee Ker Ying(girl)
Address: Blk 229, Lor 8, Toa Payoh, #08-172
Person B – Soh Chew Guek
Address: Blk 664, Hougang, Ave 8, #10-329

Soh Chew Guek felt really pissed. How could she? She is really going to get it from him. Sigh. Never mind. It wasn’t really her fault. He should not have left the door open last night before he went off to work. Poor Ah Ma has to search for Jill. He will make Ker Ying to go help searched for Jill, Auntie May favourite cat. “No, i am busy.” says Ker Ying when Chew Guek called her. She really wanted to go to tonight Dinner but now Chew Guek is asking her to help searched for a stupid old cat. If he forced her, she really going to leave him for good.

STORTELLING TOOL 1: OBSERVATION

• Observing in a conscious way
• Adopt a keen eye
• Develop the ability to see and record movements, physical characteristics and settings
• Develop a natural sense of curiosity

An observed event, when subject to simple questions, can set up a sequence of possibilities that will develop into a story worth telling.

• Whom am I writing about?
• Who is my character?
• What does he/she/it do?
• What is he/she/it like?
• What happens to he/she/it in the story?

People rarely observe familiar people or things closley.

most people pass through the day with 20 to 30 % awareness

Mindless Observation VS True Observation

• observe in a conscious way
• develop the ability to see and record peope

EXCERCISE: POEPLE-WATCH

• walk into the canteen/library, ect. and watch people pass by
• eventually one will catch your attention
• write down as many details as possible through observation
• repeat steps 1-3 for a second character
• transcribe all these details into the “PEOPLE-WATCH” page that you will create on your blog

Week 2
CONFLICT

• • the central feature of the screenplay.
    -man against man
    -man against environment
    -man against self
• Variations of sex, age, religion and culture which provide variety to the Conflict.

CONFLICT = CHANGE

• • Change is common to everyone.
  • Change is universal!
  • bodies change
  • seasons change
  • lives change
  • relationships change
  • feelings change
  • locations change
  • technologies change
• As universal as change may be, people often resist it for fear of the unknown.
• People must learn to cope with change if they want to survive
• The action in drama depends on conflict.

CONFLICT

• • Definition
  • (opposition of persons or forces)
• It is the interaction of opposing ideas, interests, or wills, and creates the plot.
• Plot cannot be constructed without conflict.
• As your characters, attempt to reach their goals, they come into conflict with each other.
• The end of the story nears when the protagonist and antagonist approach their goals and the conflicts rises to generate maximum suspense and excitement.

The Call Home

• Man Versus Man
  • Kasi Versus Supervisor
  • // VS Roommates
  • // VS Wife

• Man Versus Environment
  • Kasi VS Singapore

• Man Versus Himself
  • Self-esteem problem

The Secret Heaven

• Man Versus Man
  • Mom VS Daughter
  • Teacher VS Kid

• Man Versus Environment
  • Daughter VS Piano
  • Kid VS Home

• Man Versus Himself
  • Kid Vs Herself playing piano

Writing for an Audience

• Screenwriter = Storyteller
  • The cinematic experience is not just made up of words you might put on paper, but the audiences’ emotional reaction to that information.

Director to people?

Writer to people?

Camera to people?

NONE! Its actually people to people.

What is the writer’s purpose?

• To connect:
• Themselves
• Their unique vision
• The material
• The drama
• Others

Audiences want to be transported by a screenplay.

Where do you look for a story?

Inside yourself.

Everything to learn about other people is already in you.

Now you need to figure out how to connect to it.

ASSIGNMENTS

• Reflection
• 5 Stories with exactly 50 words each, posted on the blog.

WEEK 1

Story telling is how to engage the audience with you story

Story telling is NOT Script writing.

Story telling is a basis, pool of stories that you can use in your future.

We’ll learn the skills to tell stories.

Writing Format.

Assignments in this class will use:
Present Tense
3rd Person
Visual Voice

3rd Person
A character is “narrating” the story as it is happening.
It presents a more immediate and urgent feel to the material.
Commonly used in.
1.Screen play
The story is unfolding as we read it.
Fosters a more urgent and immediate feel to the story.
2.Thriller and Suspense Genres

Passive VS Active voice.
ALWAYS write in an Active Voice

Passive
-Uses weak verbs
-Tells what’s happening in the character’s head.
-Distances the reader from the story

Active
-Uses strong action verbs
-Shows the action
-Uses an immediate sentence structure
-Conveys the story in a lively manner

Start with emotion, get hook then find out more about the situation.

Tips.
PLEASE GET STARTED!

Never stop when you start something.
Solve or solve to a large extent any problem before sleeping. NEVER sleep on your problems.
If you don’t start, just do. No matter what you write, just get somewhere by starting to write.

Exercise 1A, OPENERS:
Note these Qns:
Whose story is it?
What is the point of the story?
How can i engage the attention of the audience?

Week 1B(Openers Trial)

“Sexy,” Joan says, “How much?” as she looks through the catalogue. Choices. More choices. She starts to drool, as pages are turns. Turning from page to page. Slowly. Taking her time to carefully choose the one she wants. Decisions. Now. That’s what she needs to do. They need to match up to her criteria. Her needs. Her desire.
From far, a shadow is seen walking towards the alley. Heading for the “Garbs”. It had just witnessed a terrible tragedy. The eyes. Fiery, blazing red eyes. Watching. It is as if it is checking him. Watching right through him. All he needs now is a bottle of Gin Grits to calm his nerves down. Sweats roll down his oily face. Now only he knows the truth. No one can be trusted. No one. Not even, Andre, his childhood friend.