nothing interesting happened today, except i was a little bit depressed and i saw a man jogging with a gas mask on and another man sitting at the bus stop looking out for his bus and never blinking once for like 30 seconds.
feeling completely demotivated and sick and tired of shitty feelings and situations that i can’t change.
#1:
INTRODUCTION
- Every concept eventually leads to a story
- Every media article (eg. Advert, news article etc) is outlined with a story
- A story CAPTIVATES & CONNECTS people
- A story is defined as a ‘sequence of events’
- An event by itself is an event, but when stringed together, becomes a STORY
VISUAL WRITING
FORMAT
- Must be in PRESENT TENSE
- In 3rd person’s point-of-view
- Write “visually”
- Being able to imagine the scene immediately
- However, concise & not with excessive details
- Style of writing should describe the scene to be as though it is HAPPENING
- Giving sufficient information, yet leaving room for expectancy and imagination
- Commonly used in:
- Screenplays – the story / film unfolds as we read it
- Less dialogue, more action (as opposed to Theatre plays)
- Fosters an IMMEDIATE FEEL to the story
- Especially in THRILLER & SUSPENSE
PASSIVE VS ACTIVE WRITING
PASSIVE
- Uses WEAK verbs
- Tells what the character is THINKING
- Increases DISTANCE between reader & characters in the story
- Delayed or non-immersion into story world
ACTIVE
- Uses ACTION verbs
- Shows what the character is DOING that reveals what he/she is THINKING
Eg. “ Mark was angry with Jane.” ← PASSIVE
VS “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.” ← ACTIVE
TIPS FOR WRITING
1. Think of a TITLE to start off
2. Write a short description of your story
- Helps to keep you focused
3. Review who should be the ‘star’ in your story
- You will be ‘dealing’ with your character all the time
- Task him/her with something to attain by the end of the story
4. ‘Simmer’ your story idea
5. Stop your ‘star’ from getting what he/she wants
- ie. The ‘Conflict’ section of the story
6. ‘Observe’ what he/she would do to get round the obstacle
7. Trust that he/she would eventutally attain his/her goal or die trying to do so………………………………..
8. Don’t bother looking for inspiration……………………
- It will come when your soul is calm
9. A writer’s block is best handled with a short break
10. Always solve the problem in your story before you turn in
- Your state of mind will be different and your emotions will be lost
OPENERS
“ Jeremiah walks towards the closed door… “
Ask yourself:
- Whose story am I telling?
- What is the next point of action?
- What is the POINT of this story?
- How can I engage the attention of the audience?
A story work when:
- It is credible
- Something that readers can relate to
- Consider the TARGET AUDIENCE as well
- Readers are willing to suspend their disbelief to allow you to create artificial narrative events for their appreciation and enjoyment of your tall tale
#2:
CONFLICT
- Opposition of persons or forces
- Can be in terms of internal or external
- It’s more difficult to express internal conflict VISUALLY
- Thus, it is easier to start off the story with an EXTERNAL conflict
- Conflict is the interaction of opposing ideas, interests, or wills that creates the plot
- This is what DRAMA is all about!
- DRAMATIC CONFLICT is the protaganist’s struggle against something or someone
- Eg. Man VS Man conflict → people who constantly surround the character are more likely to have an eventful conflict with him/her Eg. Family, co-workers
- Eg. MAN vs SYSTEM → eg. The government
- Eg. MAN vs SELF → most explored in stories eg. Sexual orientation
- Eg. MAN vs ENVIRONMENT → eg. Castaway
- Conflict usually comes about when there is CHANGE → more of than not, you become thrown out of your comfort zone
- Change is universal and common, but not always accepted
- Slow change → eg. Seasons
- Fast change → eg. Technology
- Conflict arises when people resist changes
- INTENSITY depends on how people REACT to the change
- People must learn to cope with change with they want to survive
- The ACTION in drama depends on CONFLICT
- The 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 when the protagonist and antagonist approach their goals and the conflict rises to generate maximum suspense and excitement (CLIMAX)
- When writing your story, keep in mind your TARGET AUDIENCE
- Take note of the emotions you want your audience to feel as well
- The story has to engage and connect to people and their emotions, everything else (ie. Camera angles, music) is superficial in comparison
- The story sometimes connect to the other characters facing the same situation
#3:
How do writing constraints help?
- Gives the writer a certain structure
- and focus
Eg. Of constraints → completion by the deadline
→ Considering the target audience
→ Feasibility of execution of story (esp. in film/shows)
→ Budget
→ Cast
Awareness
- We rarely utilize our observation skills
- Distractions compete for our attention
Story-telling tool 1: Observing
- Being alert
- Adopt a natural sense of inquisitiveness
- Being kaypoh is just needing the information, without having any use for it
- An observed event, subjected to simple questions, can set up a series of possible events that will develop into a story worth telling
Questions to ask from an observed scenario
Eg. A couple having a meal yet totally not talking...
- What is their relationship?
- Why are they not chatting?
- How is their relationship?
- What is their social class? (From the clothes the wear, manners, speech etc…)
Eg. Fast pace of talking → nervousness?
Slow pace of talking → confidence?
- Observe in a conscious way. Ie. Know what you are looking at and looking for
- Be aware of what’s not said but implied (through words/tone/eye contact etc)
- A thought can manifest itself through behavior
- Train yourself to see and record people’s MOVEMENTS/PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS/BEHAVIOUR
- The SETTING/PLACE they are in
- WHO is my character?
- Is he/she featured in most scenes?
- HOW is he like? Eg. Occupation?
ABCs of observation:
- A: attire, attitude
- B: behavior
- C: characteristics
- D: dialogue
- E: expressions
- F: facial features
- G: gestures, gait
- H: height
- I: idiosyncrasies (peculiar habits)
#5:
PRINCIPLES OF TRAGEDY
What is tragedy?
- LOSS
- Eg. Loss of loved one/ loss of valuables/ loss of innocence/ loss of familiarity/ loss of identity
- A tragedy is not as simple as just having something bad and having someone die
- Tragedy means something bad happens as a result of a flaw in your character
- The flaw may be a tragedy in disguise of a blessing, in the beginning
- How does this force your character to learn something about herself or himself?
#6:
EXPERIENCE
- A storyteller should be able to identify the potential of every experience
- Everyone is unique! Eg. Place of birth, birthmark, type of food you prefer etc.
- Any small unique detail has the potential to be developed into a story!
- The events in your life may be similar to others but your REACTION to these experiences are PERSONAL to you and irreplaceable.
- Many experiences can happen almost anywhere! Eg. Birthdays, New Year’s Day, weddings, funerals etc.
- People connect with the EMOTIONS that are evoked in stories, rather than the actors, location, camera angles/shot sizes etc.)
- Tap on your PERSONAL BACKGROUND!
- If you don’t, you might find yourself to be limited with resources to tell a story.
- If you are unsure about your character’s development, just imagine that you ARE him.
- Ask: how would you cope with the situation you’ve put your story character in? what is your character’s state of mind?
- Everybody has fragments of stories, these potential ideas prompt your desire to know more
- We tend to respond EMOTIONALLY first, then INTELLECTUALLY.
- Good stories are born in the heart, not the head.
#7:
CHARACTERIZATION: DEFINING THE CHARACTER
- 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
- without story, you have no screenplay
- who is your character? What does he/she want?
Characters should have a 3D structure (PSP):
1. Physiology (character must have a certain visual appearance)
2. Sociology (social status, what he/she does)
3. Psychology (how the character thinks)
Physiology:
- sex
- age
- height, weight (overweight → lazy? | tall → strong?)
- colour of hair, eyes, skin
- posture (hunch→insecure)
- appearance
- defects, abnormalities, deformities, birth marks, diseases
- heredity
Sociology:
- class (lower, middle, upper)
- occupation: type/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 (we don’t really “see” this when we meet a someone): parents living, earning power, orphan, parents separated/divorced, parent’s 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 premise, ambition
- frustrations, chief disappointments
- temperament: choleric (extremely irritable), 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
- What is the deep and personal secret this character has which he is desperate to protect / hide?
Components of your character’s life
- A) Interior (takes place from birth until the moment your story begins)
- Eg. When Andy is in prison, we get to know that he was a successful banker, but we never really get to see him working as one before he got convicted, so Andy being an ex-banker is the INTERIOR component of the character
- It is a process that FORMS the character.
- 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?
- B) Exterior (takes place the moment your story begins to its conclusion
- The process that REVEALS the 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?
Eg. Taxi Driver:
- not well-educated
- was in the marines, honorably discharged from military (might have faced certain unknown issues)
- had a lowly and cynical impression of all the people he drove around
- insomniac
- your characters’ personalities and traits are revealed through their interaction with other characters in the story world.
- Audiences must see your characters in relationships with other people or things.
All dramatic characters interact in 3 ways
- they experience CONFLICT in achieving their dramatic need.
- They interact with other CHARACTERS
- They interact with THEMSELVES
Try turning your characters upside down.
Eg. A serial killer……
… whose obsession is to kill other serial killers...
