Notes 15-4-08[week 1]
Engage audience with stories, skill to tell stories.
Proper writing format – present tense. 3rd person. Visual Voice [picture, visual form of interpreting]
Character is narrating
Describe what is happening, foster a more urgent and immediate feel to the story
Commonly used in: Screenplays [unfolding as we read it], Thriller and Suspense Genres
Passive and Active Voice
Passive Voice- weak verbs, tells us what’s happening in the character’s head, distance the reader from the story
Active voice- strong actions verbs used, shows the actions, uses an immediate sentence structure, conveys the story in a lively manner.
”The sky was blue with a lot of fluffy white clouds”-passive, weak
”Fluffy white clouds drift like cotton in the ocean blue sky” -active, there’s actions
keep the story moving, keep them occupied[not bored]
”Mark slams the door and stalks cross the chamber. he shuts,’Bitch!’
Tips for writing:
- getting things done, get started
- keep going on till it’s solved, get it solved. [finish it]
- warming up of writing
- if can’t get started, just start writing
Exercise 1A
Li walks into Bukit Timah police post wearing nothing but a hula skirt. The police behind the desk look out from behind the computer. He sees a dripping wet Li. A terrible stench fills the air. The policeman raise his eyebrow in wonder. Li take a step forward with the seaweed dragging behind his feet. ” I fell into the ‘lokang’ sir.” Then Li reach out for the seat in front, he sits on it with a loud ’squish’. Afterwhich, he start rambling about his encounter with two garbage collectors. They whom rob him off his valuables, and leaves him with a hula skirt, after taking off his clothes for themselves.
Adjusting himself on the seat, and asks ”Do you have banana? I m hungry.”
Note down questions you were asking yourself as you wrote it.
- Whose story am I telling?
- What is the point of this story?
- How can I engage the attention of the audience?
Assignment / Exercise 1B:
WRITE 12 OPENING PHRASES IN YOUR BLOG under the openers page.
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NOTES 22/4/08 – [week 2]
write a story with an opener:
5. If only. Yes. If only he had been there earlier, things would have changed. This would not have happened. If only….
(continued) If only he had been there to stop her from seeing Yen… Yen was Tim’s ex-girlfriend, who has just returned from United States. He knew she has regretted leaving him for the money, the money who had bought her over from his mother. It was all clear and obvious, just like the movies, materialistic women always comes back for the ‘feeling’ that she had let go of. However, he thinks otherwise of going back with Yen, he is happily engaged with Joan.
All for that very one day at the restaurant when the engaged couple met Yen almost ‘incidentally’. Very incidentally if Yen’s plan went all well…
Authorship
authorship can be shared between the author and the one who continues the story.
The role of conflict
-Conflict is the central feature of a screenplay
-goals of two people against each other , symmetry of films makes it work
- man against man,
- man against environment (the day after tomorrow; king kong)
- man against self
-it’s 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
-gives the character a goal that they want to get at any cost
-definition- opposition of persons or forces
- interaction of opposing ideas, interest, or wills, and creates the plot (eg. inter-racial marriages)
- Man vs Man – Kasi vs Supervisor, vs Roomates, vs Wife
- Man vs Environment – Phone card, Kasi vs S’pore
- Man vs Himself – Don’t want wife to worry, but at the same time can’t provide much money
- Man vs Man – Mother vs Daughter, Teacher vs Daughter
- Man vs Environment – Daughter vs Piano, Daughter vs home
- Man vs Self – Playtime outside vs Piano time
- The cinematic experience is not just made up of words you might put on paper, but the audiences’ emotional reaction to that information.
- themselves
- their unique vision
- the material
- the drama
- others
- Audience want to be transported by a screenplay
-in a conscious way
-develop the ability to see and record movements, physical characteristics and settings.
-Adopt a keen eye
-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 is he/she/it like?
• What does he/ she / it do?
• What happens to him/her /it in the story?
-Most people pass through the day with 20% to 30% awareness
-MINDLESS OBSERVATION vs TRUE OBSERVATION
• Their MOVEMENTS
• Their PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
• The SETTING/PLACES they are in
eople-watchObserve someone, the one who will catch your attention.
Write down as many details AS POSSIBLE THROUGH OBSERVATION.
REPEAT IT FOR A 2ND CHARACTER.
Story of People-Watch:
After a long hard day, Ramasamy having gotten his pay for the month decided to buy a can of Chilled Ice Lemon Tea to treat himself for the day. It has been 1 month ever since he gotten himself something as refreshing as this, something totally different from those ‘once-in-a-while’ dilluted syrup drink provided for lunch at the construction site. ‘Ahhh!’ exclaimed Ramasamy loudly as he took a second sip from the can, the cool, sweet liquid gush down his throat. Just as he was enjoying and soaked into the ‘world of Ice Lemon Tea’, someone robbed his can off. Ramasamy opened his eyes, seeing a man quite in a daze, putting his ICE LEMON TEA DRINK into his black garbage bag at the back of his bicycle. Pati Singh, the man in a daze did that action almost normally, just like collecting a can from a bin. Ramasamy and Singh started grabbing the can, fighting it for their life, everything seemed to happen in slow-motion…. Ramasamy, his only precious can of ICE LEMON TEA, Singh his only can so far for the week
- People-watch: source for inspiration
- The world is full of potential stories!
Aristotle
-Tragedy: imitation of an action which is serous, complete, and of certain magniture. with incidents arousing pity and fear.
-Six parts:
- Story: Example: Man went fishing, got swallowed up by a whale, kills the whale inside it. (can be said in 100, 1000 ways)
- Plot: What he is doing, plan of action, arrangement of story, the way a story is told.
- Characters: To arouse pity and fear.
- Thought: Script must show thought, story with thought…
- Diction: Acting
- Melody
- Spectacle: Everything of film-visual effects, lighting, cinematography, something exciting to the eyes, visual image (makes the film nice to watch)
- arrangement of incidents;
- not the story itself, but the way the incidents are presented to the incidents;
- the structure of the play
Katharsis -cleansing
Mimesis -imitation of an action
Anagnorisis -Realization
Peripeteia -reversal of circumstances
Hamartia-lack of self-knowledge
The three act structure:
- All people have fragments of story
- These potential ideas prompt your desire to know more
- Respond emotionally and intellectually to what you heard
- Good stories are born in the heart, not the head
- Always remember the role of an audience
- After all, you ARE the audience
Storytelling tool #3: Memory
-memory – a wonderful cabinet of wonderful experience which you have experienced of have been told
-memories are points of reference to your own past existence
-Tip:
- Write what you do not know because you will find some part of you that does know
- Assumptions
- Selective memory, a lot of memories is not all factual, can be fake
- Memories are created by us, can be fiction
- THERE IS ALWAYS ROOM FOR DISCOVERY!
- What is the difference between memory and experience?
- How do we use memory to build creative content?
- Perspectives differ from time.
- Creative content: Anything interesting, in film, artworks…etc.
-The Brats: ”A virginal heartbeat has its own juvenile logic.”
Exercise: True of false
Write a true and a false story… from Mr Leslie blog, go down the 3 classmates’ stories on the blogroll, and vote for which story you think is true or false.
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NOTES-27-5-08 [WEEK 7]
True and false stories:
- A true story is not necessarily a good story.
- Good stories have to be worked and re-worked.
- True life stories do not offer neat and relevant endings
- Life is unpredictable
- In a story, we can and must control the events and sequences so that it gives the appearance of being like life.
Characterization: Defining the character
- Every story starts with a character
- Characters brings the viewers along, the viewers gets attached to the character
- Characteristics of characters gives a life to them, the story, let the viewers care for the characters.
- The character is… the heart, soul and nervous system of your story.
- It is through your characters that the viewers experience emotions, and are touched.
Without a character, there is no action.
No action, no conflict.
No conflict, no story.
No story, no screenplay.
Character must have: background, image / form, certain way of thinking.
-Develop characters:
- Who is your character?
- What does he want?
- What is his quest?
- What drives him to the resolution of the story?
Establish you MAIN character:
-Characters should have a 3 Dimensional Structure:
1. Physiology (Physical make up)
- Sex
- Age
- Height, weight
- Colour of hair, eyes, skin
- Posture
- Appearance
- Defects, abnormalities, deformities, birth marks, diseases
- Heredity
- Seen and known once the viewer sees the character for the first time
2. Sociology (Social make up; i.e. Background)
- Class(lower, middle, upper)
- Occupation: type of work, hours, attitude towards organisation, condition of work, suitability for work
- Education: school, marks, aptitude
- Home life: parents living, earning power, orphan, parents separated / divorced, parents’ habits and vices, characters’ martial status
- Religion
- Race, Nationality
- Place in the community: leader among friends
- Political Affiliations
- Amusements: hobbies, books, newspapers
3. Psychology (How he or she thinks)
- Result of Physiology and Sociology
- Sex life, Moral Standards
- Personal Premise, Ambition
- Frustrations, Chief Dissappointments
- 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, judgement, taste, poise
- I.Q.
- What is the deep and personal secret this character has which he is desperate to protect / hide?
-Separate the components of his life into 2 basic categories: Interior and Exterior life
Interior life:
- before the film starts / begins, what never shown to us
- takes place from birth until the moment the story begins
- process that forms character, when you start formulating your character from birth. you see your character build in body and form
Exterior life- Seen in the film
- Start of film to end of film
- Does not form character, reveals character
The Taxi Driver
- 26
- Education: here, there
- goes to porno theatres
- workaholic
- insomniac
- anti-social
- prejudiced
- potentially psycho
- in the marines
- indifferent, numb
- ‘One day, a real rain will come and wash the scum off the streets.’
YOU MUST CREATE YOUR CHARACTERS IN RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER PEOPLE OR THINGS
-ALL DRAMATIC CHARACTERS INTERACT IN 3 WAYS
- They EXPERIENCE CONFLICT in achieving their dramatic need. [Need money-rob bank, a store, a person...]
- They INTERACT with other CHARACTERS. [Either in a antagonistic, friendly or indifferent way.]
- They INTERACT with THEMSELVES. [eg. He overcame his fear of being caught by pulling off the robbery successfully.]
-HOW DO YOU INVENT CHARACTERS?
Turning characters upside down. Mix something you see everyday, with something you do not see everyday.
examples:
- A monk devoted to his religion, is a football fanatic.
- A serial killer, whose obsession is to kill other serial killers.
- A common street rat, who loves to eat and cook only fine food.
Next week: Storytelling techniques quiz #1 – based on notes
Review:
- 3 storytelling tools – memory, observation, experience
- Aristotle’s storytelling techniques
- Episodic plots: the only linking things is the characters
- Third person present tense
- 3 Dimensions characters
- Interior and Exterior
- Writing for an audience
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NOTES 3-6-08 [WEEK 8]
Elements of Dialogue
Bad dialogue: cheesy lines, not real, boring
Real dialogue: ‘Eavesdropping’, Real life
Dialogue: Connection, who people are talking about.
DIALOGUE REVEALS CHARACTER
-The character will talk about himself, ad other people will talk about him.
-Responses, personal opinions.
DIALOGUE ESTABLISHES RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CHARACTERS
DIALOGUE SHOWS EDUCATION LEVEL AND BACKGROUND
-Once you 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 and sustain the element of CONFLICT between characters.
GOOD EFFECTIVE DIALOGUE WILL MOVE THE STORY FORWARD
DIALOGUE COMMUNICATES FACES AND INFORMATION TO THE AUDIENCE
Present tense, immediate and present
-It conveys essential exposition
-Characters will talk about what happened, establishing the storyline
DIALOGUE COMMENTS ON THE ACTION
DIALOGUE TIES THE SCRIPT TOGETHER -moves the scene to another, transition
-It is one of the devices that YOU as a writer can use to expand and enlarge your characters.
‘If you can see it, or hear it, don’t write it.’ – Neville Smith
DIALOGUE SHOULD BE USED SPARINGLY
NEVER TELL THE AUDIENCE WHAT THEY CAN SEE FOR THEMSELVES.
<<Dialogue is NO substitute for action.>>
COMMON MISTAKE: 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: ‘It’s how the character speaks.’
When give character a voice: Think about:
- age
- gender
- educational qualifications
- race
- the situation
- the environment
- interrupting
- things of the character will be revealed through dialogue
GOOD DIALOGUE is not somebody’s ability to write authentic speech as heard in real life.
Real talking is different from when it is typed out on script.
When you listen to people speak, there would be pauses along… but it is not a need to write them down.
GOOD DIALOGUE is an illusion of reality.
-Got to know how to edit without losing the real spirit or essence of it.
COMMON MISTAKE: Students tend to create radio shows with images. No long conversation.
<<FILM IS A VISUAL MEDIUM>>
A SCREENPLAY IS A STORY TOLD IN PICTURE.
Exercise: A middle-aged man returns home from work. He stopped for a few drinks with his friends and forgot to phone his wife to tell her he’ll be late. The dinner was ruined.
The door opens, closes.
Woman: ‘So I see that you enjoy your night out. So much so that you forgotten about the dinner.’ [Sarcastic tone]
She switches off the television, pressing the ‘OFF’ button hard, places the remote on the table and walks towards the kitchen.
Man: ‘What do you mean by ‘enjoy’? I have merely taken some time off to catch up with my friends.’
Man walks into the kitchen while explaining.
Woman pours a glass of water and reaches for the freezer.
Woman: ‘Want some ice cubes for your drink, sir? Volka or what?’ [Sarcastic tone] ‘Caught up with some Ex, ya?’
Man: ‘What do you want huh, being so unreasonable about this whole matter! What did I do wrong? It was just a stupid call that I forgot to make, must you make such a big fuss about it all?’
Woman: ‘Big fuss huh. Big matter, then you better wake up!’
Woman splashes the glass of iced water at the man, and stomps towards the room.
- Rewrite the dialogue
- Get two people to read the dialogue
- Record the reading
- Post it to your blog (using youtube, multiply)
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NOTES 24-6-08 [WEEK 11]
We write best what we know well.
DYNAMIC ACTION
Something stimulating development or progress.
Dynamic action: Serves the story, and moves the story forward.
[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 reactions of the characters.
Nuances- little actions of people.
Dynamic action: Has the potential to enrich the experience of the audience by heightening the stakes and increasing the tension.
MOVING PICTURES
The power of any story lies in the Narrator’s ability to PROJECT A MENTAL PICTURE for the audience.
Exercise: Translating emotional responses into actions.
INJA (DOG)
Greek tragedy: What goes around comes around.
Dynamic action: Boss kicks the dog, and resulted him not being saved.
‘The dog has to learn.’ – Sub-text (reading in between the lines)
Story assignment
- Write a 1st draft of an Original 1-2 page Story.
- (Give story a title.)
- Write it in 3rd Person Narrative / Present tense
- Use 12-pt Courier / Single Spread
- No Less than 1 page and No more than 2 pages
- Besides writing your Name, Student Number and Tutorial Group, also label your story as ‘1st draft’.
- Due Week 10 (Next week!!!) at Tutorial.
- *Remember Film is a visual / Aural Medium*
- ”Show” VERSAS ”TELLING”
- Try One place, One time type.
- 3 rules.
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NOTES 1-7-08 [WEEK 12]
INTERACTIVE LOCATION
- A physical place
- The place in your story where events take place
- A setting and surrounding that interacts with the characters of the film by adding importance to their actions
- An environment which impacts the action and heightens the stakes.
- Example: Jurassic Park – Interactive location: the island is completely isolated, and anyone on it will be trapped until assistance from the mainland arrive
Interactive location in: ‘The Heisenberg Principle’ – Desert
- Desert: isolation (have lots of time to think), trap him.
- World upside down: makes film interesting-make people think
- Rock-This Way Up
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