Assignments in the class will use:
-Present tense
-3rd person
-Visual voice Example:
“Mark picks up the gun and holds it in his hand. It begins to tremble, as if alive.”Screenplays (and directions) are written in present tense and 3rd personIt presents a more immediate and urgent feel to the materialWRITTEN VS VISUAL VOICE
Written voice
-Uses weak verbs
-Tells us what’s happening in the character’s head
-Distances the reader from the storyVisual voice (something has to be seen, present tense)
-Uses strong action verbs
-Shows the action
-Uses an immediate sentence structure
-Conveys the stories in a lively manner The role of conflictConflict is the central feature of the screenplay
- Man against man
- Man against the environment
- Man against selfIt’s variations of sex, age, religion and culture, which provide variety to the conflictConflict = change
- Change is common to everyone
- Change is universal
- Bodies changing
- Seasons change
- Lives change
- Relationships change
- Feelings change
- Locations change
- Technologies changeAs 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 conflictConflict
- 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 one another
- The end of the story nears when the protagonist and the antagonist approach their goals and the conflict rises to generate maximum suspense and excitement
Definition of tragedy
It is an imitation of an action (mimesis) that is serious, complete nad of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with rach kind of artistic ornament; in the form of action not narrative; with the incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish it’s kartharsis of such emotions…
According to Aristotle, tragedy…
- Creates a cause and effect chain that clearly reveals what may happen
- Arouses not only pity but also fear, because members of the audience can imagine themselves within the cause and effect change6 parts of tragedy:
1) Plot
2) Characters
3) Thought
4) Diction
5) Melody
6) Spectacle1) Plot
What is plot?
- Plot is the arrangement of incidents
- It is not the story itself. It is the way it is being presented to the audience.
- The structure of the playBeginning
- The incitive moment
- Must be caused by earlier incidents and itself cause the incidents that follow endMiddle
- Climax
- It must be caused by earlier incidents and itself cause the incidents that follow it End
- Resolution
- Must be the preceding events but not lead to other incidents
- The end should resolve the problem created during the incitive moment Episodic plots (nothing to do with the rest of the movie eg. Napoleon dynamite)
- According to Aristotle, the worse kinds of plots
- The acts (episodes) succeed one another without the probability or necessity
- The only thing tying together the events in such a plot is the fact that they happen to the same person Simple VS complex plots
Simple plots => only a “change of fortune”
Complex plots => have a reversal of intention “peripeteia” and recognition “anagnorisis” connected with the catasthrope. (Things have changed – something that worked one way now works another way) 2) Character
- Character supports plot
- Personal motivations are connected to the cause and effect chain
- In the ideal tragedy, the protagonist will mistakenly bring about his own downfall – not because he is sinful or weak – but because he does not know enough.
- This lack of self-knowledge is called “harmatia”Important vocab
• Katharsis => emotional release experienced by audience
• Mimesis => imitation of the real world in art and literature
• Anagnorisis => moment of recognition
• Perepeteia => the turning point in a drama (good to bad)
• Hamaria => lack of self-knowledge (goes away when anagnorisis occurs) 3) Act structure
- Advantage of working in 3 act structure is it breaks down the story and makes it more manageable 1st act: set up
- Story begins with goal-orientated character introduced at a point of crisis
- The characters meet roadblocks produced by the plot and antagonist
- someone wants something and it’s hard to get it (most movies)2nd act: confrontation
- Action intensifies
- An event happens which forces the character to make his/her choice3rd act: resolution
- Level of efforts rises to new heights
- Both plot and character is resolved
- But main character either achieves or does not achieve his goal
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.
Writing to an audience
Director to people
Writer to people
Camera to people
None of the above is correct
It’s 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.
All people have fragments of stories
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
Remember the role of an audience
After all, you are the audience.
Storytelling tool 3 : Memory
your memory is a wonderful cabinet of past incidents which you have experienced or been told.
These memories are points of references to your own past experiences.
Elements of dialogue
Dialogue reveals character.
A character talks about himself or herself.
Other people talk about that character.
Dialogue establishes relationships between characters.
Characters express attitudes and opinions that are in opposition to one another.
Good effective dialogue will move the story forward.
Dialogue communicates faces and information to the audience.
It conveys essential exposition.
Characters will talk about what happened, establishing the story line.
Dialogue ties the script together.
Common mistakes
Dialogue should be used sparingly, never tell the audience what they see for itself.
Dialogue is no substitute for action.
Dialogue should not match conventional spoken dialogue, “real talking.”
Points to remember
Film is a visual medium.
A script is a story told in pictures.
Character
A story starts with character
The character is the heart, the soul, and nervous system of your story.
It is through your characters that they are touched.
Without character, you have no action
Without action, you have conflict
Without conflict, you have no story
Without story, you have no screenplay
When developing a character, ask yourself:
Who is my character?
What does he want?
What is her quest?
What drives him to the resolution of the story?
