Week 1
Storytelling is how to engage audience with your stories.
Writing format
- we write in present tense
-3rd person
-visual voice
Storytelling are commonly used
- in screenplays
- the story is unfolding as we read it.
-fosters a more urgent and immediate feel to the story
- in thrillers & suspense films
Passive:
- uses weak verbs
- tells what’s happening in the character’s head.
-distances the reader from the story
Active:
- uses strong action verbs
-show the action
-uses an immediate sentence structure
-conveys the the story in a lively manner
Examples:
“the sky was blue with a lot of fluffy white clouds”– passive, weak verbs.
“fluffy white clouds drift like cotton in the ocean blue sky”– active
“mark was angry with jane from tricking him into helping her”– passive
“mark slams the door and stalks across the chamber. he shouts, “bitch”.”– active
TIPS for writing
- Never procrastinate
- Always solve the problem and keep going. A good night’s sleep is important. Sleeping on problems is a myth.
- If you can’t get started, just start writing. It doesn’t matter what you write, you’ll soon to think and move in your own rhythm/pace.
EXERCISE 1A: OPENERS
Li walks into Bukit Timah police post wearing nothing but a hula skirt. He trots forward to the policeman nearest to him, wishing that no one else will see him as though he was clad in Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak.
“Sorry. I would like to make a police report. I was being robbed at the Bukit Timah forest.”
“Oh okay. What were you doing there?”
“I.. I was.. “
Li can’t answer that easy question posted by the policeman as he robbed an old woman before Li was being robbed by another robber.
“I was taking a stroll there after dinner.”
“And how did you get yourself robbed?”
“I didn’t want to get robbed! I was robbing..”
Li stopped without finishing his sentence. The policeman looked at Li with a suspicious look on his face.
Note down these questions as you are writing:
-Whose story am i telling?
-What is the point of this story?
-How can i get engaged the attention of the audience?
Week 2
Josh closes his eyes and begins to breathe deeply. He sees images of his memory flashing in his mind. He starts to recall…
That fatal night, which was also the wedding night of Josh and Fiona, was a night with thunders flashing across the sky. After the dinner reception, Josh was chasing everyone else out of the room.
The role of conflict
- Conflict is the central features of the screenplay
-man against man
-man against environment
-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 the conflict.
- definition: 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 the protagonist and antagonist approach their goals and the conflict rises to generate maximum suspense and excitement.
2 short films
The call home
Man vs Man:
-Kasi vs supervisor
-Kasi vs room mates
-Kasi vs wife
Man vs Environment:
-phonecards
-Kasi vs S’pore
Man vs Himself:
-self esteem problems
The secret heaven
Man vs Man:
-Daughter vs mum
-Daughter vs teacher
Man vs Environment:
-Daughter vs piano
-Daughter vs home
Man vs Himself:
-Play time vs piano time
Writing for an audience
Screenwriter = storyteller
- The cinematic experience is not just made up of words you might put on paper, but the audience’s emotional reaction to that infomation.
Director to people
Writer to people
Camera to people
It’s people to people
What’s 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.
Week 3
Do constraints help you to be a better writer?
-It makes you to think in a more creative way.
-But too many constraints hinders creativity.
Storytelling Tool #1:
Observation
* Observe in a concious way
* Develop the ability to see and record the movements, physical characteristics and settings
* Adopt a KEEN EYE
* Develop a natural SENSE OF CURIOSITY
-An observed event, when subject to simple questions, can be 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?
Exercise: Awareness level
* People rarely observe familiar people or things closely
* Most people pass through the day with 20%-30% awareness
Storytelling Tool #1: Observation
Mindless observation vs true observation
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 step 1-3 for a second character
5. Transcribe all these details into “people-watch” page that you’ll create on your blog.
Week 4
Julian and the girl whom the auntie bumped into were a couple. The girl, who was named Sarah, was quite offended that the auntie bumped into her. Be it accidental or on purpose. The auntie, who was the cleaner in the toilet for canteen 1. They had a heated arguement in the toilet that afternoon. The cleaner had just cleaned up the toilet and Sarah made the toilet wet again for not drying her hands at the hand dryer. She stepped on the patches of water and there were patches of blackish water on the floor of the toilet.
Purpose: the world is full of potential stories.
Definition of tragedy:
6 parts of tragedy:
* plot
- action plan
* characters
- engage the audience with the people
* thought
* diction
- old way of telling a story
* melody/music
* spectacle
- visual effects/lighting
Tragedy
- creates a cause-and-effect chain that clearly reveals what may happen
- arouses not only pity but also fear, because the audience can imagine themselves within the cause-and-effect chain.
Plot
- arrangement of incidents
- not the story, but the way the incidents are presented to the audience
- the structure of the play
3 act structure
Beginning
- the incitive moment (the start- pisses someone off)
- it must start the cause-and-effect chain
Middle
- climax
- it must be caused by earlier incidents
End
- resolution
- must be caused 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, it is the worst kind of plot.
- the acts succeed one another without probability or necessity
- the only thing tying the story together is the character portrayed.
Simple vs Complex plots
- Simple plots have only a “change in fortune”.
- Complex plots have a reversal of intention “peripeteia” and recognition “anagnorisis” connected with the catastrophe
Characters
- supports plot
- personal motivations are connected to the cause-and-effect chain
- the protagonist in a tragedy should be reowned and prosperous.
- 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
Important vocabulary
* Katharsis – cleansing
* Mimesis – imitation of life
* Anagnorisis – sudden realisation
* Perepeteia – change of fortune
* Hamartia – lack of self-knowledge
3 act structure *IMPORTANT! test alert!*
- makes the story more manageable
1st act: set up
- story begins with a goal-orientated character introduced at a point of crisis
- character meets road blocks produced by the plot and antagonist
2nd act: confrontation
- action intensifies
- an event happens which forces the character to make his or her choice
3rd act: resolution
- made his or her choice
- level of effort rises to new heights
- both plot and character are resolved
- but the main character either achieves or don’t achieve his or her goals
assignment!
visual trigger:
- find an image and tell a story that comes to your mind as you see it.
- use only pictures you can find.
- incorporate principles of tragedy into your writing:
- doesn’t mean something bad happens and 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 himself/herself.
Week #5
Watch a film, Old Boy. It is an example of Greek Tragedy.
Assignments:
-Reflection
-Letter to the past.
-select a person that meant something to you in the past but whom you no longer speak to now.
-write a letter which expresses all the things you wish could say to the person but cant.
-communicate the memories of the important moments you had together in the past. and how your time spent together has made you a different person now than you are in the past.
Week #6
review exercise: letter to the past
- practical and personal example of YOU
…
the essence change is character change
Storytelling tool #2: experience
- every 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 the person relates to the world he has been thrown to.
- plunder your own personal background (the things that happen to you as you grow up and the things that are currently happening to you make terrific story source.
Experience
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 in the head.
Remember the role of the audience.
Afterall, you ARE the audience
Storytelling tool #3: memory
- a wonderful cabinet of of past incidents that you have experienced or been told.
- points of reference to your own past existence
Tip:
- write what you don’t know because you will find some part of you that you do know.
- memory is selective, is not a fact, can be fake, can be created by yourself.
- there is always room for personal discovery.
what’s the difference between memory and experience?
memory is how you remember your experience, and experience is what you experienced.
how do we use memory to build creative content?
….
*watched Les Mistons (the brats)
Exercise: True and false stories
- 2 short stories: one true, one false.
- post these on your blogs under a page.
- go to your friend’s blog and vote for which one is true and which one is false.
*watched Sunat
- wrote from memory and experience
Week #7
Purpose of the exercise – A true story is not necessarily be a good story.
- Good stories have to be worked and re-worked.
- True life stories do not offer neat and relevant ending.
- Life is unpredictable.
- In the story, we can and must control the events and sequences so that it gives the appearance of being like life.
Characterisation : Defining the characters
- every story starts with a character
- the character is the heart, the soul and nervous system of your story.
- It is through your characters that they are touched.
- Without a character, there is no action. Without action, no conflict. Without conflict, no story. Without story, no screenplay.
When developing a character, ask yourself:
- Who is your 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
- gender
- age
- height, weight
- colour of skin, eyes, hair
- posture, appearance
- defects, heredity
b) sociology : social makeup eg. background
- class (low,middle,upper)
- occupation (type of work, income, condition of work, attitude towards organisation, suitability for work)
- education (amount, kind of schools, marks, favourite subject, poorest subject)
- …..
- religion, race, nationality
- place in the community (leader among friends,clubs,sports)
- political affiliations, amusements (hobbies, books, newspapers, magazines).
c) psychology : how he/she thinks
- sex life, moral standards
- personal precise, ambition
- frustrations, chief disappointment
- temperament (choleric, easy going, pessimistic, optimistic)
- attitude towards life (resigned, militant, defeatist)
- complexes (obsessions, superstitions, phobias)
- personality (introvert, extrovert)
- abilities (language, talents)
- qualities (imagination, poise, judgment, taste)
- I.Q
- what’s the deep and personal secret this character has which he is desperate to protect/hide?
Separate the components of your character into 2 different categories : Interior and Exterior
INTERIOR
It is a process that forms character. [when you start formulating your character from birth, you see your character build in body and form]
EXTERIOR
It is a process that reveals character.
*watched Taxi Driver
You have to create characters in relationship to other people or things.
All dramatic characters interact in 3 ways:
- They experience conflict in achieving dramatic need. (eg. need money- rob bank, rob store, rob a person)
- They interact with other characters. (either in antagonistic, friendly and indifferent way)
- They interact with themselves. (he overcame his fear of being caught by pulling off the robbery successfully)
How do you invent characters?
- try turning them UPSIDE DOWN
eg. 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 only eat fine food
next week : storytelling quiz #1
REVIEW
3 storytelling tools
- memory
- observation
- experience
Aristotle’s storytelling techniques *impt
why episodic plots are bad?
3rd person present tense
developing 3d characters
writing for an audience
unity of action
Week #8
Elements of dialogue
- dialogue reveals character
- a character will talk about himself and other people will take about him.
- dialogue establishes relationships between characters
- 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 in the element of conflict between characters.
- good effective dialogue will move the story forward
- dialogue communicates faces and information to the audience
- conveys essential exposition
- characters will talk about what happened, establishing the storyline
- dialogue comments on action
- explains on his/her actions
- dialogue ties the script together
- transition to other scenes
- 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 actions
- Common mistake
- students sometimes never achieve a level of competence as they tend to reproduce conventional
spoken language, long statements of “REAL TALKING”, defend their decision by telling us that “It’s
how they speaks”.
- When giving the characters a voice, think about:
- age, gender, educational qualifications, race
- GOOD DIALOGUE is not somebody’s ability to write authentic speech as heard in real life.
- GOOD DIALOGUE is an illusion of reality
- you’ve got to know how to edit what people say without losing any of the spirit
- common mistakes
- students tend to create radio shows with images.
- FILM IS A VISUAL MEDIUM.
- Screenplay is a story told in pictures.
Exercise: Writing Dialogue
Scenerio:
- A middle aged man returns home from work.
- He had stopped for a few drinks with his friends and forgot to phone his wife to tell her that he’ll be late.
- The dinner is ruined.
Exercise:
- Write a short scene composed of dialogue between husband and wife.
Man: “I’m home.”
Wife: “Why are you late back home, smelling like a drunken man?”
Man: “I met my friends just now and had a few drinks with them.”
Wife: “So? I waited for you to have dinner together. And now the dinner is cold and i have..”
Man: (interrupts) “I’m sorry that i forgot to call you to tell you that I’ll be home late.”
Wife: “I have to reheat them now and are you supposed to do it for me?”
Man: “I’m so tired now and i need a bath to wake myself up.”
Wife: “Excuses, excuses. You shouldn’t have gone for a drink and now you need a bath to wake yourself up.”
Man: “Okay okay. I’ll do it for you after i take a quick bath.”
Wife: “Alright. I expect you to be out in 5 minutes.”
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.)
- will be marked for realism, delivery of speech
Week 11
Review Exercise: DIALOGUE
purpose:
- we write best what we know well
- don’t drag on and on for no particular reason.
DYNAMIC ACTION
- something simulating in progress
- gives reason to actions (why the person does an 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 actions.
<film is behaviour>
- Action is the manifestation (taking the form) of behaviour.
- The complexity of the human psyche and interaction is better understood when it is possible to watch actions, nuances (little actions) 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.
- The power of any story lies in the narrator’s ability to project a mental picture for the audience.
Moving Pictures
Exercise: Translating emotional responses into actions.
Purpose: Addresses the problem that many newbies have to screenwriting: How to convey visually any sense of inner conflict of emotion.
Story assignment
- write a 1st draft of an original 1-2 page story (give a title)
- write in 3rd person present tense
- use 12pt courier single space
- no less than 1 page and no more than 2 page
- besides writing your name, student ID, tutorial group, also label your story as 1st draft
- due week 10 at tutorial
- remember film is a visual/aural medium
- “show” vs “telling” (to show, not tell
Week 12
- What is a location?
- a physical location
- the place in your story when event occur and characters interact
Interactive Location
- a setting and surrounding that interacts with the characters of the films by adding importance to their actions
- an environment which interacts the action and heightens the stakes
- Location: Jurassic Park is a zoo/amusement park 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.
Interactive location in “Heisenberg”
- Desert
- isolation : have lots of time to think
- to give the feeling of being trapped
- upside down : makes the audience think why it is upside down
Watched Godfather Part2
- start of the scene to leaving the cafe
Vivid characters: Vito is calm and silent, F is arrogant
Interactive locations: Cafe (separate them)
Dynamic action: The pinch on Vito’s face and The offer made by F (Vito is of lower status and F is of higher status)
- The festa
Vivid characters: F don’t avoid people around him (blatant). Vito tries to avoid people (cautious).
Interactive locations: Rooftop, separation (cover); stalk
Dynamic action: Planting the weapon
- The killing
Vivid characters: Vito is powerful but F is not.
Interactive location: Dark (unscrewed bulb) and nobody is there. Shooting (gun) and fireworks is covering the sound of the gun.
Dynamic action: Killing of F
- Leaving crime scene and rejoining his family
Vivid characters: Vito more powerful, F less powerful
Interactive locations: Hides weapon
Dynamic action: Rejoining of family
