Week 12 – Interactive Location

Week 12 – Interactive Location

What is a location?

• A physical place
• The place in your story where events occur and characters interact

Location

• Rules
• Address
• Other elements that reside within location

Interactive Location

• 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

Location: Jurassic Park is a zoo/ amusement part located on an island off the coast of Central America

Interactive Location: The island is completely isolated, and anyone on it will be trapped until assistance from the mainland arrives

Week 11 – Notes

Review Exercise 3: Dialogue

Purpose of the exercise

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 and 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.

<<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.

2 Students are to act out their emotion set by a simple narrative according to the following:

Film

Steve Pavolsky’s “Inja” (Australia, 2001)

17 minutes

Assignment

2^nd Draft of Story due 15 July 2009.

Printed copy in class

Format: Courier 12, single spacing.

Week 8 – Elements of Dialogue

Elements of Dialogue

• Dialogue reveals character
  • A character will talk about himself and other people will talk about him.
  • 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 and sustain the element of CONFLICT between characters.
    • 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 storyline.
  • Dialogue comments on the action
  • Dialogue ties the script together
    • 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.” – Neville Smith

• Dialogue should be used sparingly
• Never tell the audience what they can see for themselves!

<< Dialogue is no substitute for action >>

In Hollywood when they look at a page and it’s got too much black, too much ink on paper, they say:

“Shit! It’s freeze the camera time!”

• 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 decisions by telling us that:

“It’s how the character speaks.”

• Good dialogue is not somebody’s ability to write authentic speech as heard in real life
  • If that was all there is to it, you can just push a button on the tape recorder and then go collect your Oscar.
  • Good dialogue is the illusion of reality
    • You’ve got to know how to edit what people say without losing any of the spirit
    • Common mistake
      • Students tend to create radio shows with images

<< Film is a visual medium >>

A screenplay is a story told in pictures.

Dialogue is affected by

• Age (e.g. speed of speech, how busy a person is)
• Gender
• Social status, educational qualifications
• Race

Good dialogue

• Sounds real
• Is short

Bad dialogue

• Not concise, long winded
• Too real
• Cheesy

Exercise: Writing Dialogue

The scenario:

• A middle-aged man returns home from work.
• He has stopped for a few drinks with his friends and forgot to phone his wife to tell her he’ll be late.
• The dinner is ruined.

The exercise:

• Write a short scene composed of dialogue between husband and wife.

Role-play:

• 2 students to play the roles from their stories.

The real exercise:

• Repeat “The experiment” but:
• Husband and wife are YOUR own parents
• Get two people to read the dialogue.
• Record the reading
• Post it to your blog (using Youtube, Multiply, etc.)

Week 7 – Notes

Week 7

Review Exercise: True/ False Stories

Purpose of the exercise

• 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
• The character is…
  • The heart
  • The soul
  • And the nervous system
  • It is through your characters that the viewers experience emotions.
  • Without a character, there is no action
  • Without action, you have no conflict
  • Without conflict, you have no story
• Note: We can relate to characters which are animals because they have human traits

Developing characters

• When developing a character, ask youself:
  • Who is your character?
  • What does he want?
  • What is his quest?
  • What drives him to the resolution of the story?

1. Establish your main character. Characters should have a 3 Dimensional structure.
   1. Physiology
   2. Sociology
   3. Psychology

• 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, hours of work, income, condition of work, attitude towards organisation, suitability for work
  • Education: amount, kind of schools, marks, favourite subjects, poorest subjects, aptitudes
  • Home life: parents living, earning power, orphan, parents separated/ divorced, parent’s habits, parent’s mental development, parent’s vices, neglect, character’s marital status
  • Religion
  • Race, Nationality
  • Place in the community; leader among friends, 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,  judgement, taste, poise
  • I.Q./ E.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
  • Exterior
• Interior
• The interior life takes place from birth
• It is a process that forms character. [when you start formulating your character from birth, you see your character build in body and form]
  • How old is he when the story begins?
  • Where does he live?
  • Does he have siblings?
  • What kind of childhood did he have?
  • What was his relationship to his parents?
  • What kind of child was he?
  • Is he married, single, widowed, separated or divorced?
• Exterior
  • The exterior life takes place the moment your story begins to it’s conclusion.
  • It is a process that reveals character
    • Who are they and what do they do?
    • Are they sad or happy with their life?
    • Do they wish their life was different? Another job, another wife?
    • You must create your characters
• All dramatic characters interact in 3 ways:
  • They experience conflict in achieving their dramatic need. [eg, need money –  rob and bank, rob a store, rob a person?]
  • They interact with other characters. {either in an antagonistic, friendly or indifferent way]
  • They interact with themselves [e.g. He overcame his fear of being caught by pulling off the robbery successfully]
  • How do you invent characters?
    • Try turning them upside down.
    • A monk who is devoted to his religion… but is a football fanatic
    • A serial killer … whose obsession is to kill other serial killers
    • A common street rat … who loves to cook and eat cook food.

Week 6 – Notes

Storytelling Tool 2: Experience

• A storyteller should be concerned with the potential of every experience.
• Everything about you – where you were born, what food you eat, the bump on your forehead – your experiences are unique and irreplaceable.
• Many of your experiences are universal and translatable and can be used in any location.

 

Tip:

• If you don’t know what to do with a character, make him yourself for a while.
• See how he relates to the world he has been thrown into.
• Plunder your own personal background!
  • The things that happen to you as you grow up and the things that are currently happening to

 

• 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 reference to your own past existence

 

Experience – True

Memory – Can be manufactured

 

Tip:

• Write what you do not know because you will find some part of you that does know

 

Assignment 1

Write 2 short stories

• One is completely TRUE
• One is completely FALSE
• Only the author knows which is which!
• Post these on your blogs under a page called True or False by Tues, 3 June, 10am

 

Assignment 2

After posting your story, visit 3 classmates below you on the blogroll and vote for which story you think is true and which is false.

Week 5 – Letter to someone from the past

Assignment

• Letter to the past:
• Select a person that meant something to you in your past, but whom you no longer speak to now.
• Then write a letter which expresses all the things you wish could say to the person but can’t.
• Communicate the memories of important moments you had together in the past, and how your time spent together has made you a different person now than you were before.
• Password protect your page! (if needed)

Week 4 – Visual Trigger

Week 4 – Visual Trigger

Review Exercise: People-Watch

• Take 1 character from the person above you on the bloglist
• Take 1 character from the person below you on the bloglist
• Write a story about how these two people interact
• Don’t forget the most essential element of drama, CONFLICT!

 

Assignment

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

 

Principles of tragedy

Incorporate principles of tragedy into your writing!

What is tragedy?

Tragedy doesn’t mean that something bad happens and the story ends.

It means something bad happens as a result of a flaw in your character, and you show how this tragic fall forces your character to learn something about herself or himself.

Week 3 – Notes

Week 3 – People Watch

 

Review Exercise 2: 50 Words Story

• Difficulties – What were they?
• Restraints  – Did they help?

 

Do constraints help you to be a better writer?

What constraints do professional writers face?

Professional writers face problems like

• Deadlines
• Plagiarism
• Casting Problems
• Problem with directors

Storytelling Tool 1: Observation

• Observe in a conscious way – Observe with awareness
  • Things to observe:-
    • Dressing
    • Way they carry themselves
    • Speech (Fast, slow, mumble)
    • Expression
    • Gestures
    • Train yourself to see and record:
      • Movements
      • Physical Characteristics
      • Settings
      • Adopt a KEEN EYE
      • Develop a natural SENSE OF CURIOSITY (Curious but not intrusive)
        • An observed event, when subject to simple questions, can set up a sequence of possibilities that will develop into a story worth telling
        • Who 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?

 

Exercise: Awareness Level

• People rarely observe familiar people or things closely
• Most people pass through they day with 20% – 30% awareness

 

Storytelling Tool 1: Observation

MINDLESS OBSERVATION vs TRUE OBSERVATION

• OBSERVE in a conscious way
• DEVELOP the ability to SEE and RECORD people:
  • Their MOVEMENTS
  • Their PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
  • The SETTING/ PLACES they’re in

 

Exercise: People-Watch

1. Walk into the canteen/ library, etc. and watch people pass by.
2. Eventually, one will catch your attention
3. Write down as many details as possible through observation.
4. Repeat steps 1 – 3 for a second character
5. Transcibe all these details into the “PEOPLE-WATCH” page that you will create on your blog

 

• Different gender, setting and age
•  

Week 2 – Notes

Week 2 – Conflict

 

Conflict

·      Definition

·      Opposition of persons or forces

·      Can result internally or externally

·      It is the interaction of opposing ideas, interests, or wills that creates the plot.

·      A serious/ not serious disagreement

·      Hostile encouter

·      Mental/ emotional/ physical struggle

 

Type of Conflict

·      Dramatic conflict is the protagonist’s struggle against something or someone

o   man VS man

o   man VS environment

o   man VS system

o   man against self

·      Variations of conflict can arise from gender, age, religion and culture

 

Causes & Effects of Conflict

·      Conflict arises when there is CHANGE

·      Changes may be major or minor

·      While change is universal and common, it is not always accepted

·      Example of changes: Seasons, lives, relationships, feelings, bodies, locations, technologies

·      Conflict arises when people resist changes

·      The intensity of conflict depends how people react to the change

·      People must learn to cope with change if they want to survive

·      The action in drama depends on conflict

 

Importance of Conflict

·      Plot cannot be constructed without conflict

·      Central feature of the screenplay

·      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 conflict rises to generate maximum suspense and excitement.

 

The Call Home

Directed by: Han Yew Kwang

Written by:

K.S.A Shah

Raj.A Pillai

Subra V.S

Rachel B. Kaur

Han Yew Kwang

 

2001, Singapore, 31:00

 

The Secret Heaven

Written & directed by: Sun Koh

Singapore, 2002, 16:00

 

Writing for an Audience

·      Screenwriter = storyteller

o   The cinematic experience is not just made up of text on paper, but the audiences’ emotional reaction to that information

·      When you write, don’t think of Director to People, Writer to People, Camera to People. It’s people to people.

 

·      What is the writer’s purpose?

o   To connect the audiences:

§  Themselves

§  Their unique vision

§  The material/ Issue

§  The drama

§  Others

o   Audiences want to be transported by a screenplay.

 

·      Where do you look for a story?

o   Within yourself eg. Experiences, memories, emotions

o   Practice observing, ‘listening’ and reading body language of people

o   Figure how to connect your viewers to your story through emotions, characters, etc.

 

Assignment

o   5 stories of exactly 50 words each, posted to your blog.

o   Please do a word count before submission

Week 1 Notes

Week 1 – Storytelling Techniques
Proper Writing format
Your written assignments must use:
• Present tense
• 3rd person
• A visual voice (Something the reader can visualize/ picture.)

The “3rd Person/ Present Tense”
• A character is “narrating” the story as it is happening.
Example:
“Mark picks up the gun and holds it in his hand. It begins to tremble, as if alive.”
(Voice over narration) It’s more entertaining to write this way
• Commonly used in:
– Screenplays
o The story/ film unfolds as we read it
o Fosters a more urgent and immediate feel to the story
– Thriller & Suspense Genres
• Passive vs. Active voice
Passive
• Uses weak verbs
• Tells what’s happening in the character’s head
• Creates a distance between the reader from the story
Active
• Uses strong action
• Shows the action
• Uses an immediate sentence structure
• Conveys the story in a lively manner
Tips for writing
• Everyone has NO PROBLEMS coming up with a list of excuses for procrastination.
• The BIGGEST PROBLEM is GETTING STARTED.
• Getting started is the hardest. Once begun…. Ideas will begin to trickle and eventually flow
• Begin with a short description of your story
• When you have a writer’s block, take a break, find inspiration then continue until you derive solution
• All writers sleep better when they solve the problem in their stories. Sleeping on the (writing) job is a no-no.
• Don’t be too hard on yourself, what you write at the beginning is seldom good but eventually
Exercise 1A. Openers
• Begin with this opener:
Leonard walks towards the box…
ASK YOURSELF:
– Whose story am I telling?
– What is the point of this story?
– How can I engage the attention of the audience?
Story Comments
• It’s credibility
• Passages drawn from reality or experience
• Passages created artificially to keep the narrative flowing
Exercise 1B. Openers
– Write 12 Opening phrases in your blogs under the Openers Page.

Examples:
– Sally keeps glancing her watch…
– Joe opens the bottle and takes a whiff…
– May closes her eyes and jumps off…
– James paces around the empty hallway…
– Mel opens the envelope. Her hand shakes…