periphery
turn of wheel, story twist, sudden turn of events or unexpected reversal (turning points, 2)
aristotle theory of tragedy
cause and effect, plot, character, diction, thought, spectacle, melody
Gustav Fretag
5 act structure, 1. exposition 2. rising action 3. climax - turning point 4. falling action 5. resolution
Hollywood structure 3 act
1 set up 2 confirmation 3 resolution
Act 1
intro to char, inciting incident, dramtic premise, dramatic situation
Act 2
obstacles, sub plot, first culmination, mid point, second turning point
Act 3
approaching defeat, close subplot, resolution of drama
MacGuffin
Hitchcock term, big element, some goal or desired object pursued declines after A1 sometimes forgotten
Act
series of sequences
Sequence
collection of scenes
scene
collection of action, beats, location
beat
movement of story, positive or negative charge - Robert McKee
4 Ps
people (root 4 them), place (add depth/conflict), plot (conflict, ask ? or lose interest), purpose
what reveals character
choices under pressure
what does conflict force
choices
what is the main characters desire
the drama
what is drama
anticipation mingled with uncertainty - mackendrick
unifying theory 2+2 = 4
audience wants to work but don't wanna be aware of it
balance between withholding and vouchsafing is essential task
david mamet (memo to the writers of the unit)
let camera do the explaining it is a visual medium
david mamet
make wonder what happens next, not to just follow around protag, don't suggest
david mamet
character and situation lead to
plot and then to theme
sympathy among characters
end drama
power struggles
create contrast and conflict
people who don't change are
antagonists
a true obstacle for a character leads to a
choice
the end of a conversation is
the truth
exposition
back story that you need to tell audience,
screen time
how important a scene is in relation to how long it should be in your film
characters psychological quest is created by
all the events and characters in a precise order (carl jung)
if characters don't explore their own psych esp. darker impulses then
universe will created circumstances so they must (carl jung)
a pro tags story beings in disunity and his impulses lead him to
unity (carl jung)
conscious goal
what protag wants
unconscious goal
what protag needs
tension of want and need is
core of disunity
write what is interesting as an audience not
what is fun to do as writer (emma coates)
come up with the end before the middle and if you're stuck
make a list of what wouldn't happen next (emma coates)
McKee's 10 commandments
1. do not take crisis/climax out of pro tags hands
2. do not make life easy for protag
3. do not give exposition for strictly exposition sake
4. do not use false master or cheap surprise
5. do respect ur audience
6. do know your world as god knows this on
when you're stuck for a 3 act think through your situation from the point of view of whichever char oppose the pro tags will. Role of antag may have more to do with structure of the plot than character of the protag
Mackendrick
Hard outs
end with strong beat ex- real fight, end with punching
Soft out
ends on lighter note, a pause after fight
Hard out in middle of scene
ends with first or second punch
Start scene at end of another
right after fight
Miss the big scene
aftermath, next day at breakfast
To improve pacing cut out at
strongest beat
Dramatic irony
audience knows something characters don't
Cornerstones of classic narrative technique
character development, plot structure and turning points
Tony Gilroy 4 pieces of writing advice
- 1. Know and understand human behavior 2. Start with small idea and write what you know about 3. Play with the idea and start small with dialogue and 2 characters 4. Write an outline and every time I've ignored my own rules I pay the price
The rule in question here is Aristotle's notion of unity of action, in effect that the play should be about one thing, and that one thing should be what the hero is trying to get. Unstinting application of this rule makes great plays because the only thin
- david mamet
What one wants to do is put the protagonist and the audience in exactly the same position. The main question in drama is always; what does the protagonist want? That's what drama is. It comes down to that. Its not about them its not about idea its not abo
david mamet
Theme -
an abstract, a generalized statement of a conflict, it describes something but doesn't dramatize it at all
Good writing is when a character does something we weren't expecting but - makes perfect sense given everything we know
david mamet
anagnorisis
character's discovery or recognition, sudden awareness of a situation, realization of the truth
back story
events previous to plot which are essential to an appreciation of present circumstances
ANIMA figures
love interest, the heroine
characters
personifications of the theme, figures necessary to demonstrate story in action
character color
mannerisms of speech/behavior designed to provide contrast
crisis
any heightening of dramatic tensions
denoument
unknotting of the dramatic tensions
disclosures and revelations
- story progression through exploration of past events
drama
inseparable from action, dramatic narrative is the sequence of performed events, things done before our eyes
foil
subsidiary char. Invented for exposition or to illuminate some aspect of another person
memesis
representation of nature and human behavior`
narrative
something that is related, a recital of events
plot
sequence of events and changing situations, narrative progression
hamartia
characters tragic flaw or error in judgment
Audience has to relate to characters but they don't have to approve of them
john yorke
Somebody's got to want something; something's got to be standing in their way of getting it. You do that and you'll have a scene -
john yorke
AbcdefGH
a is exposition, bcdef are cycles of rising action, G is obligatory scene, H is climax
Principles of Continuity
- 1. Exposition must be fully dramatized in terms of action 2. Exposition must present possibilities of extension which are equal to the extension of the stage action 3. two or more lines of causation may be followed if they find their solution in the roo
the cycle of conflict
a. recognition of difficulties and determination to overcome them b. progressive development of struggle c. partial achievement d. new difficulties and increased determination
a good plot
is a unified conflict involving sufficient complications for a climatic rhythm of intensity
a play opens on a situation of
unstable equilibrium
structure
selection of events from character's life stories that is composed into a strategic sequence to arose specific emotions and to express a specific view of life
story values
universal qualities of human experience that may shift from pos to neg neg to pos
a beat
exchange of behavior in action/reaction
story climax
series of acts that build to a last act climaxx which brings about absolute and irreversible change
arch plot
linear time , external conflict, one ptotag, active protag
minimalism
open ending, internal conflict, multi protag passive protag
anti plot
coincidence, non linear, inconsistent
setting
peeriod, duration, location, level of conflict
principle of antagonism
protagonist and his story can only be as intellectually fascination and emotionally compelling as the forces of antagonism make them