Notes 07

Dialogue

What is a dialogue?

-       A conversation between two or more people.

Functions of dialogue?

-       Effective dialogue moves the story forward

-       Communicates facts and information to audience

• Conveys essential exposition
• Characters will talk about what happened, establishing the storyline.
  • “He should have known better. She’s nice but not blind. Sooner or later, she’s going to dig out those roving eyes of his.”

-       Reveals character

• A character will talk about himself and other people will talk about him.
  • “I’ll be embarrassed to interrupt once the event has begun.”
  • “Jon would be appalled if we don’t show up on time.”

-       Establishes relationship between characters

• Once the main character’s POV is established, use his dialogue with other characters to show their differing attitudes on the same subject matter.
• The dialogue exchange creates varied and alternative POVs
• Differing POVs in turn, sustain the element of CONFLICT between characters.

-       Dialogue comments on the action on screen

-       Used to tie various elements in the script

• Characters, actions, intentions, etc.

-       Used to expand and enlarge the characters.

Writing Tips:

-       Dialogue should be used sparingly.

-       Never tell the audience what they can see for themselves.

• “If you can see it or hear it, don’t write it.”

   –  Neville Smith (British screenwriter)

-       Dialogue is no substitute for action

-       Eavesdropping

• Pay attention to the expressions that people use in daily conversations. It’s helpful to get a sense of ‘authentic’ dialogue.

-       Genuinely fake

• In writing dialogue, remove words (that may seem realistic) that don’t contribute to the plot in some way.

-       Reveal information sparingly

• Don’t tell the audience everything up front. Trust them to remember details from the earlier points in the story.

-       Punctuate dialogue with action

• For ease of comprehension, long periods of dialogue should be broken with action and vice versa.

-       Avoid stereotypes, profanity and slang

• Cliché stereotyping (widely fixed but oversimplified view)
• Profanities (vulgarities/obscene language)
• Slang (informal phrases/words)
  • Blur like sotong
• These elements may distract or alienate your viewers

-       Read (scripts) widely

• Think about the point you taken out of the story’s actions
• When do you stop believing the character?
• Is the character larger than life and how the dialogue help accomplish that?

-       Punctuate dialogue correctly

• Take time to learn the basics. Viewers/readers should feel the impact of your words — not feel lost trying to follow your dialogue.

Elements of dialogue

-       Good dialogue is the illusion of reality

• You’ve got to know how to edit what people say without losing any of the spirit.
  • “A good story was life, with the dull parts taken out”

   -  Alfred Hitchcock

-       Common mistake: Students tend to create radio shows with images

• <<Film is a visual medium>>
• A screenplay is a story told in pictures.

Notes 06

Characters

-       Despite being any type of character, it is good to have human-like traits

• Eg. Nemo – curious, defiant, etc.

-       Easier to relate

-       The character is

• Heart (feelings), Soul (the core, like good or bad?), Nervous system (react, reflex)

-       Through characters, viewers experience emotions

• Without character, no action
• Without action, no conflict
• Without conflict, no story
• Without story, no screenplay

-       Developing character:

• Who is the character? (Without any idea, difficult to describe)
• What does he want? (To know what he wants and what obstacles to place)
• What is his quest? (To create a journey of the character)
• What drives him to the resolution?

-       Characters should have a 3 Dimensional Structure

• Physiology (the physical appearance, the looks)
  • Gender
  • Age
  • Height, weight
  • Colour of hair, eye, skin
  • Posture
  • Appearance
  • Defects, abnormalities, deformities
  • Birth marks, diseases
  • Heredity

• Sociology (social status, the ‘class’ in the society)
  • Class (lower, middle, upper)
  • Occupation (income, type, condition, attitude, suitability)
  • Education (amount, type, marks, favourite/poorest subjects, aptitudes)
  • Home life (parents living, earning power, orphan, parents’ mental development, parents’ vices, neglect, marital status)
  • Religion
  • Race, nationality
  • Place in Community, leader among friends, clubs, sports
  • Political Affiliations
  • Amusements: hobbies, books, newspapers, magazines he/she reads

• Psychology (the mental state [his thoughts, his believes])
  • 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, judgment, taste,, poise
  • I.Q
  • What is the deep and personal secret this character has which he is desperate to protect/hide?

-       Separate the contents of the character’s life into 2:

• Interior
  • Takes place from birth until moment your story begins
    • Implied/revealed through dialogues or actions during ‘exterior’
    • Process that forms character (History? Life? Etc?)

• Exterior
  • Takes place the moment your story begins to it’s conclusion
  • Process that reveals the character (Current situations?)

-       Interactions between characters

• The personalities and traits are revealed through interaction with other characters in story world
• Audiences must see your characters in relationships with other people or things

-       Interact in 3 ways

• They experience conflict in achieving their dramatic needs
  • Eg. Need money – rob bank
• Interact with other characters
  • Either antagonist, friendly, indifferent way
• Interact with themselves
  • Eg. Overcame fear for being caught by pulling off robbery successfully

-       Inventing characters

• By turning the characters upside down (twist from the norm)
  • Eg. serial killer… obsessed to kill other serial killers
  • Eg. Monk devoted to his religion… but a football fanatic

Notes 05

Tool 2 – storytelling – EXPERIENCE

-       Storyteller should be able to identify the potential of every experience

-       Everything about you is unique

-       Event may be similar, but reaction to the experience are personal to you and irreplaceable

-       Many experience are universal, translatable and can be used in any location

• School bullies
• Cyber bullying
• Accident
• Loss of loved ones
• Friendship
• Family problem
• Abused by the rich
• Lost of virginity
• 1^st day of school
• First crush
• Moving house
• School camp

-       Why people are able to relate? —- Because they have probably undergone the same thing

-       Writer must connect to readers through most vital aspect —– EMOTIONS

-       People connect with emotions that are evoked in stories

-       TAP ON PERSONAL BACKGROUND —- UNIQUE

-       Things that has happened and currently happening make terrific stories

• Remember the emotions back then

-       If you are unsure of how to proceed with the character’s development, imagine YOU are the character.

-       How the character copes? What is his state of mind at the time? Emotions?

-       Everyone have fragments of stories

-       These potential ideas prompt your desire to know more

-       Respond emotionally and intellectually to what you hear

-       Good stories are born in the heart, not the head

-       What appeals to you is likely to appeal to someone out there

Tool 3 – MEMORY

-       Your memory is a delightful cabinet of past incidents which you have experienced or been told

-       These memories serve as points of references to your own past (highlight / big change)

-       Types of past incidents that tend to be embedded into one’s memories:

• Good
  • Birthday
  • Outings
  • Holidays
  • Hanging out
• Bad
  • Teachers
  • Dentals
  • Trauma

-       Be brave — write on what you do not know as well

-       Can write through

• Research
• Interview
• Find some part of you that you know

-       Difference between memory and experience

• Memories can be manufactured, depending on stat of mind and emotions during that period of time
• Experienced are deemed as more authentic and real

-       Memory can be used as a spark to initiate new story

Notes 04

-Principles of tragedy-

- not only something bad that happens

- not only about character dying, and story ending

- Is something bad that happens as a result of a flaw in the character

—– Examples:

—– Insecurity, low EQ, arrogance, obsessions

- Character need to be forced to learn and change.

Notes 03

Problems faced by writers:

-        Word limit

-        Target audience

-        Budget

-        Time

-        Language

Being aware

-        Most people are not as observant

-        Most people are self-absorbed

-        Do not find anything which stands out from the rest

-        Distracted by other things (such as gadgets)

-        Many people have only 20 – 30% awareness level

Observation

-        Adopt a keen eye

-        Develop a natural sense of curiosity

-        Always questioning even minor details

• Observe events, gestures, and situations to develop stories.
• Stories can spark from observations

-        From gestures, verbal, body language, attire, items, manners, habit, gestures… can tell

• Relationship between people
• Social class

-        Observe in a conscious way (being aware of what u are observing)

-        Facial expressions can tell about feelings

-        Train yourself to see and record:

• Movements (speed)
• Physical characteristics (size) (hair)
• Behaviors

-        Settings /place may affect the manner

Think about:

-        Who is it about

-        Who is the character

-        What the character is like

-        What he do (occupation)

-        What happens

Mindless VS True observation

- Observe with a purpose, and not just observe for nothing.

ABCs observational chart

A – Attire, attitude

B – Behavior

C – Characteristics

D – Dialogue

E – Expressions

F – Facial expressions

G – Gestures, gait

H – Height

I – Idiosyncrasies

-To Be Updated-

Notes 02

Date: 3/5/2011

Conflict

- Important in stories

- Definition: “Opposition of persons or forces” (Eg. Traffic, weather, parents)

- Can result internally or externally

• Eg. Internal: Decisions, choices.
• —- Usually harder to show and put on screen
• Eg. External: Arguments among friends, misunderstandings
• —- Easier to be shown directly.

-Interaction of opposing ideas, interests, or wills, that create a plot.

- Dramatic — Protagonist’s struggle against someone or something

• Man VS Man (against individuals)
• Man VS System (the government, way of life)
• Man VS Self (Addictions, Expectations)
• Man VS Environment (Natural disasters, catastrophe

ㅇCauses And Effectsㅇ

- Arises when there is a change

• Eg. Seasons, Lives, Relationships, Feelings, Bodies, Locations, Technologies

- May be minor or major

- Universal and common, but not always accepted

- Arise when changes are resisted and not accepted

- The intensity depends on how the character reacts to the change

- People need to adapt in order to survive the change

- Conflicts results to Actions in a show

- Plots require conflicts

- They are the central feature of screenplay

- Characters attempt to reach their goals, then conflict comes in

- End of story nears when protagonist and antagonist approach their goals, and conflict rises to generate maximum suspense and excitement.

- End the story with either success, or failure (to attain goal)

ㅇWriting for audienceㅇ

- Cinematic experience —- Not just on paper, but audiences emotional reaction to it

- Audience feel nothing = Fail storyteller

- Screenwriter = Storyteller

- Audience must be able to feel, and be drawn to story.

- Reasons for writing —- Connect readers to:

• Themselves
• A unique vision
• Highlight stated issue
• Drama of plot
• Other characters facing the same situation

- Where to look for story?

• Within self (through experience, memories, emotions)
• Practice observing, listening and reading body language of people
• Think of how to connect your viewers to the story through the use of emotions, characters, etc.

Notes 01

Date: 26/4/2011

Stories:

- Every concept leads to stories

• Stories can be generated and developed from a single concept

- A story is a sequence of events

Written Assignments:

Must be in…

- Present tense

• Since the story is still ‘taking place’ when read.

- 3rd Person

• Commonly used in screenplays

• Story unfolds as being read
•  Provide an urgent / immediate feel
•  Usually seen in Thrillers / Suspense Genre.

- Contain visuals

•  Created images for audiences / readers
•  Allow readers to visualise the current scene

~ These will make it seem as though the characters are narrating the scene to the readers at the current point of time

~ To give audience / readers something to imagine, thus easier to understand and interpret scenes.

Types of writings   -   PASSIVE vs ACTIVE

Passive:

• Weak Verbs (eg: Close, Walk, Throw)
• Tell about actions and thoughts
• Increases the distance between readers and characters
• Delayed / non immersion of scene

Active:

• Strong Verbs (eg: Slams, Storms, Smash)
• Show the actions and thoughts
• Decrease the distance between readers and characters
• Immediate immersion of scene

Tips for writing:

• Stop / Don’t procrastinate
• Think of a title
• Add descriptions
• Review the ‘star’ / main character in the story
• Task the character with a goal for he / she / it to achieve by the end
• Simmer the idea ( Take some time to develop and generate )
• Try to stop the character from achieving the goal (create conflicts / problems / obstacles )
• Observe what the character is doing
• Trust that he will obtain the goal… Or even not obtain it ( Not necessary to achieve goal, as long as there are signs of efforts and struggles during the process)

• Don’t look for inspirations, it will come on it’s own.
• Relaxed and quiet environment is an optimum condition to obtain inspirations
• Take a break
• Solve a problem in the story, before stopping for the night
• All 1st drafts are bad. Make more drafts to improve on the previous drafts

Others:

- Stories work when

• Credible
• Readers can easily relate to the story through their previous experiences
• Readers are willing to suspend their disbelief to allow you to create artificial narrative events for their appreciation and enjoyment from your tall tales.