dialogue (Notes for week 8)

Story Telling Holiday Assignments:
1.    Story Assignment (2nd July)
2.    Dialogue (26th June, 10am)
3.    Complete all online exercises + notes (26th June, 10am)

Elements of Dialogue
•    Reveals Character
Good dialogue Bad dialogue
Sounds Real                  Not concise (Long Winded)
Is Short                          Too real

•    A character will talk about him and other people will talk about him.
•    Establishes relationships between character
•    Once you have established your main character’s point of view, you can use dialogue with other characters to show that they have other attitudes, creating opposite/alternative point of views.
•    This helps to create and sustain the element of conflict between characters.
•    Good effective dialogue will move the story forward
•    Communicates faces and information to the audience
•    It conveys essential exposition
•    Characters will talk about what happened, establishing the storyline.
•    IT COMMENTS ON THE ACTION
•    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”
•    DIALOGUE SHOULD BE USED SPARINGLY
•    NEVER TELL THE AUDIENCE WHAT THEY CAN SEE FOR THEMSELVES!!!
“DIALOGUE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR ACTION”
•    Fyi: In Hollywood when they look at a page it’s got too much black, too much ink on the page, they say: SHIT! IT’S FREEZE THE CAMERA TIME!!!”
•    Common Mistakes
o    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”
•    Dialogue is affected by:
o    Age (Speed of Speech)
o    Gender
o    Social Status
o    Educational qualification
o    Race
•    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 got to know how to edit what people say without losing any of the spirit.
•    COMMON MISTAKE
o    Students tend to create radio shows with images
“Film is a VISUAL MEDIUM”
A Screenplay is A Story told in pictures”
EXERCISE: WRITING DIALOGUE
The Scenario:
•    A middle aged man returns home from work
•    He had to stop 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)

True/False Stories (Notes for week 7)

Purpose of true/false stories
•    Life is un predictable
•    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
•    Character
o    Heart,
o    Soul and

o    Nervous System of the story•    It is through your characters that the viewers experience emotions.
•    <WITHOUT a CHARACTER, the is NO ACTION>
•    <WITHOUT ACTION, you have NO CONFLICT>
•    <WITHOUT CONFICT, you have NO STORY>
•    <WITHOUT STORY, you have NO SCEENPLAY>
Developing Character
•    When Developing a Character, Ask yourself:
–    Who is the Character?
–    What does he Wants?
–    What is his quest?
–    What drives him to the resolution of the story
•    Establishing your main character
–    Characters should have a 3 dimensional structure
a.    Physiology
b.    Sociology
c.    Psychology
Physiology
•    SEX
•    AGE
•    Height, Weight
•    Colours of hair, eyes, skin
•    Posture
•    Appearance
•    Defects, abnormalities, deformities, birthmarks, 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, favorite subjects, poorest students, aptitudes
•    Home life: Parents living, earning power, orphan, parents separated/divorce, 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 Affiliations
•    Amusements: hobbies, books, newspapers, magazines he/she reads
Psychology
•    Sex life, Moral Standards
•    Personal Premises, Ambition
•    Frustrations, Chief Disappointments
•    Temperaments: choleric, easy-going, pessimistic, optimistic
•    Attitude Towards life: resigned, Militant, defeatist
•    Complexes: obsessions, inhibitions, phobias
•    Personality: extro/introvert
•    Abilities: Languages, talents
•    Qualities: Imaginations, judgments, taste, poise
•    IQ/EQ
•    What is the deep and personal secret this character has which he is desperate to protect/hide?
Separate the component of his life into two categories
1.    Interior
2.    Exterior
Interior
•    Takes place from birth until the moment your story begins
•    It is a process that forms character. [when you start formulating your character from birth, you see your character build in body and form]
o    How old is he when the story begins?
o    Where does he live?
o    Does he have siblings?
o    What kind of childhood did he have?
o    What was his relationship to his parents?
o    What kind of child was he?
o    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 the character.
o    Who are they and what do they do?
o    Are they sad of happy with their life?
o    Do they wish their life was different? Another job, another wife
YOU MUST CREAT YOUR CHARACTERS IN RELATIONSHOP TO OTHER PEOPLE OR THINGS.
All dramatic characters interact in 3 ways.
1.    They experience conflict in achieving their dramatic needs. [eg, Needs money-Rob a bank, rob a store, rob a person]
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 off the robbery successfully]
How do you invent your 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 eat and cook food.
NEXT WEEK
Storytelling quiz #1
Review

Experiences (Notes for week 6)

Story Telling Tool 2 (Experiences)

• 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 experienced are unique and irreplaceable.
• Many of your experience are universal and translatable and can be used in any location
• Universal Themes
  • Friendship
  • Love
  • Family
  • Death
  • Betrayal
  • Loneliness
  • Hardship
• Translatable
  • Settings
  • Characters
  • Language
  • Culture
• 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 Back ground
• 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

Story Telling 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 manufactured / eg, can be true and false

Tip:

• WRITE what you do not know because you will find some part of you that does know.
• What is the different between memory and experience?
• How do we use memory to build creative content?

Assignment:

• Write 2 stories
• One is completely True
• One is completely False

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

A letter to the Past (Notes for week 5)

Assignment:

A 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 has made you a different person now than you were before.

Tragedy (Notes for week 4)

Principles’ of Tragedy

–    Incorporates principles of tragedy into your writing
–    WHAT IS TRAGEDY?

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

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

Assignment:
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

People Watch (Notes for week 3)

Week 3
Professional Writers Face:
•    Deadlines
•    Plagiarism
•    Casting Problems
•    Problem with directors (Directors may change the writer’s idea)

Story-Telling Tool 1:

•    Observe in a conscious way (Observe with awareness)
•   Things to observe
o    Dressing
o    Way they carry themselves
o    Speech (fast, slow, mumble)
o    Expressions
o    Gestures
•   Train yourself to see and record:
o    Movement
o    Physical Characteristics
o    Settings
•    Adopt a keen eye
•    Develop a natural sense or curiosity (Curious BUT NOT intrusive)
•    Ask questions
o    An observed event, when subject to simple questions, can set up a sequence of possibilities that will develop into a story worth telling
o    E.g., When you observe a couple having a meal yet totally not talking…. What questions come to mind?
•     Think about:
o    Whom am I talking about?
o    Who is my character?
o    What is he / she / IT like?
o    What does he / she / IT do?
o    What happens to him / her /IT in the story?

Homework: Awareness Level
•    People rarely observe familiar people or things closely
•    Most People pass through the day with 20%-30% awareness

MINDLESS OBSERVATION vs TRUE OBSERVATION
•    OBSERVE in a conscious way
•    DEVELOP the ability to SEE and RECORD people:
o    Their MOVEMENTS
o    Their PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
o    The SETTING/PLACE they’re in

EXERCISE: PEOPLE WATCH
1.    WALK into the canteen/library, etc. And watch people pass by.
a.    Diff Gender
b.    Diff Setting
c.    Diff Age
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.

Conflicts (Notes for week 2)

Definition:

-Opposition of persons or faces
-Can result internally or externally
-Interaction of opposing ides, interest, or wills that creates the plot.

Types of conflict:

-Dramatic conflict is the protagonist’s struggle against something or someone
-man vs man
-man vs environment
-man vs system
-man vs self

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

Causes and Effects:

-Conflict arises when there is CHANGE
-Changes may be major or minor
-While change is universal and common, it is not always accepted
-Examples: Seasons, lives, relationships, feelings, bodies, locations, technologies
-Conflicts 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 conflicts

Importance of conflict:

-Plot cannot be constructed without conflict
-Central feature of the screen play
-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

2001, Singapore, 31:00

Summery:

The secret heaven
Written and directed : Sun koh

2002, Singapore 16:00

Summery:

Writing for an Audience
Screenwriter=Storyteller
-The cinematic experience is not just made up of text on paper, but the audiences’ emotional reaction to that information.

Director to People (wrong)
Writer to people (wrong)
Camera to people (wrong)
PEOPLE TO PEOPLE (CORRECT)

What is the writer’s purpose?

To connect the audiences:

-Themselves
-Their unique vision
-The material/Issue
-The drama
-Others

Audience want to be transported by a screen play

Where do you look for a story?
Within you, e.g. Experiences, memories, emotions
Practice observing, ‘listening’ and reading body language or people
Figure how to connect your viewers to your story through emotions, characters, etc.

Assignment
-Write five 50 words stories of exactly 50 words each posted to your blog.
(keep between 50 words)

Openers (Notes for week 1)

Your writing assignments must use:

• In Present Tense
• Write in 3rd Person
• A Visual Voice
• Descriptive voice
  o    Only write things where we can see visually
  o    Not writing a story

The 3rd Person Present Tense:
Voice Over Narration

• A person narrating the story as it is happening

o    Eg “Mark picks up the gun and holds it in his hand. It begins to tremble, as if alive.”
o    Narrating the story.
o    Visually exciting

• Used in Screenplays/Thriller and suspense games

o    The story unfolds
o    Fosters a scarier and for thrilling story

Passive vs. Active voice

• Passive

o    Use weak verbs
o    Tells us what’s happening in the mind
o    Creates a distance between the reader from the story
o    Eg. Mark was angry with Jane for tricking him into helping her

• Active

o    Uses strong action verbs
o    Shows the action
o    Uses an immediate sentence structure
o    Conveys the story in a lively manner
o    Eg. Mark storms across the room to pour himself a drink. He slams the bottle down and gulps his drink. When Jane steps into the room, Mark turns around and smashes his empty glass at her feet.

TIPS FOR WRITING:

• Everyone has NO PROBLEMS coming up with a list of excuses for procrastination
• The BIGGEST PROBLEM is GETTING STARTED
• Once began, ideals will flow
• Begin with a short description
• Take a break when you have a writer’s block (run out of ideas), find inspiration.
• Don’t fall asleep while writing. Solve the problem in your story first
• Don’t be too hard on yourself; what you write at the beginning is seldom good but eventually… …

Opener:
Leonard walks towards the box… …
Ask yourself:

• Whose story am I telling?
• What is the point of the story?
• How can I engage the attention of the audience?

Cliffhangers can be used to engage the audience
Exercise:

• Its credibility
• Passages drawn from reality or experience
• Passages created artificially to keep the narrative flowing.

Homework:
1. WRITE 12 OPENING PHRASES in your blogs under the Openers Page
2. REFLECTION

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 …

YOU MAY DOWNLOAD THE DOCX FORMAT BY CLICKING HERE

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