>> 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.

>> Dyanmic 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.

>> Purpose of the exercise

; Addresses the problem many newbies have to screnwriting:

How to convey visually any sense of inner conflict if emotions.

Film

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

- Dialogue reveals character

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

- Dialogue estasblishes 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 it.”

- 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 has got too much black, too much ink on the 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 decision by telling us that:

“It’s how the character speaks.”

; Students tend to create radio shows with images.

>> Film is a visual medium

>> A screenplay is a story told in pictures

Speech is affected by:

- Age (how young/old, speed of speech)

- Gender

- Educational qualifications

- Social status

- Race (ethnic)

- 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.

Exercise: Writing Dialogue

The Scenario:

; 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 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

- True Stories are not necessarily good stories.

- Good stories have to be worked and re-worked.

- True life stories do not offer neat and relevant endings.

- Life is unpredictable.

- Life being predictable – Fixed routine – Stability.

- 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, there is no conflict.

- Without conflict, you have no story.

- Without a story, you have no screenplay.

Developing Characters

- 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?

1. Establish your main character.

Characters should have a 3 Dimensional Structure.

- Physiology

; Sex

; Age

; Height/Weight

; Colour of your skin, eyes, hair

; 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 organization, suitability for work

; Education: amount, kind of schools, marks, favourite subjects, poorest subjects, aptitudes

; Home Life: parents living, earning power, orphan, parents seperated/divorced, parents’ habits, parents’ mental development, parents’ vices, neglect, character’s marital status

; Religion

; Race, Nationality

; Place in the Community; leader among friends, clubs, sports

; Political Affliations

; Amusements: hobbies, books, newspapers, magazines he/she reads

- Psychology

; Sex life, Moral Standards

; Personal Permise, Ambition

; Frustrations, Chief Disappointment

; 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

; IQ and EQ

; 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

+ 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 with/to his parents?

> What kind of child was he?

> Was he married/single/widowed/seperated/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 in relationship to other people or things.

- All dramatic characters interact in 3 ways.

1. They experience conflict in achieving their dramatic need.

(eg. Need money – Rob a bak, rob a store, rob somebody?)

2. They interact with other characters.

(either in an antagonistic, friendly or indifferent way)

3. They interact with themselves.

(eg. He overcame his fear of being caught by pulling it off the robbery successfully)

- How do you invent characters?

; Try turning them/their lives 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 eat and cook only fine food.

- How were you affected by the action/incident?

- How have the emotions you felt then changed now that time has lapsed?

>> Purpose Of The Exercise

- The letter is a practical, personal example of how a character – YOU – undergo an inevitable process of change.

- This process of change is an essential ingredient of any effective story.

- In dramatic writing, the very essence is character change.

- 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.

Universal Themes

- First day at school

- First/puppy love

- First baby

- Loss of a loved one (death)

- Hanging out with friends, etc

Translatable

- Language

- Culture

- Setting
Movie Remakes

- Title

- Premise/Summary

- What stays?

- What changes?

- Why it’d would work in the local context?

Storytelling Tool 2: Experience (True)

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.

; All people have fragments of stories. (initiate what follows along).

; 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 (Manufactured, true/false)

- 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.

Tip:

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

- There is always room for personal discovery.

; What is the difference between memory and experience?

; How do we use memory to build creative content?

Assignment 1

Write 2 stories

- One is completely true

- One is completely false

- Post these on your blogs under a page under True/False Stories by Tuesday, 3 June 2009, 10am.

Assignment 2

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

Why would we classify Andy as a tragic hero?
; Tragedy started with the murder Andy was framed for.

What was his flaw and how did it cause his fall from grace?
; Not an assertive person.
; Indifferent.
; He did not “fight” for his innocence.

(His flaw was his strength)

What lessons did he learn from his mistake?
; To show his concern for the people around him.

How did he change and how did he change others.
; He learned to be a better man and helped the others be a better person too.
; Gave hope.

Assignment
Letter To The Past:
- Select a person that meant something to you in your past, but whom you no longer speak to now.
- Write a letter which expresses all the things you wish you could to the person but couldn’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 (optional)

Find an image, and tell the story that comes to your mind as you see it. You can locate this image anywhere: in a magazine, on the internet, in a shoebox in the closet. You can even have taken the photograph yourself, but you cannot photograph something in order to complete this assignment. You must imagine a story simply because the image inspires you to do so.

You must incorporate the principles of tragedy into your writing. That 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, depending on whether you think men or women are more tragic.) Do this while remembering our rules about third person, present tense, and visual voice.

Stories that attract our attention:

- Descriptive

- Twist (unexpected)

- Ambiguity

- Hook/cliffhanger

Restrictions help writers;

- Focus

- Be creative

Professional writers face problems like:

- Time (lack of time)

- Deadlines

- Ideas

- Casting

- Directors

Storytelling Tool 1: Observation

- Observe in a conscious way

+ Physical outlook

+ Body language

+ Speech patterns; words they use

+ Gait (the way you walk)

+ Gestures

-  Train yourself to see and record:

+ Movements

+ Phyical Characteristics

+ Settings

- Adopt a keen eye

- Develop a nautral sense of curiousity

+ 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.

- 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?

Awareness Level

- People rarely observe familiar people or things closely

- Most people pass through the day with 20%-30% awareness

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 are in

PEOPLE-WATCH

- Different gnders

- Different settings (locations)

- Photo?

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. Transcribe all these details into the “People Watch” page that you will create on your blog.

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.”

Visual Writing mostly used for;
- Screen Plays (for an urgent and immediate feel to the story)
- Thrillers and Suspense Genres

Passive Voice
- Uses weak verbs
- Tells what’s happening in the character’s head
- Creates a distance between the reader from the story

Active Voice
- Uses strong action verbs
- 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
- 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) is a no-no.
- Don’t be too hard on yourself, what you write at the beginning is seldom good but eventually…

Excerise 1A. Openers
Leonard walks towards the box …

Guidelines
- Whose story am I telling?
- What is the point of this story?
- How can I engage the attention of the audience.

Story Comments
- Credibility
- Passages drawn from reality or experience
- Passages created artificially to keep the flow of the narrative going

Excerise 1B. Openers
Write 12 opening phrases in your blog under the Openers Page.
Examples:

Sally keeps glancing at 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 …