http://dream2screen.blogspot.com/2012/12/seven-signposts-for-successful.html
Tepat plauktiņā nolikšu dāņu seminārā sasmeltās gudrības. ( precīzāk - Nīlsa sasmeltās un mums ar karoti iekšā barotās).
The
fundamental dramatic tension is
SOMEBODY
WANTS SOMETHING BADLY AND IS HAVING DIFFICULTY GETTING IT
A
dramatic action appear when a change creates a conflict. Without the conflict,
there’s no drama.
Main
tension. What
is the main tension, that the audience feels through the story? You can state
it as a question.
A
distinction are made between external/internal conflict.
Conflict
Hope
vs. Fear? What
does the audience hope for ? Which way do they want the character to go? What
does the audience fear? What ́s the wrong, frightening turn the story could
realistically take? Both outcomes must be possible in order to create a strong
main tension.
What’s
at stake/risk? If
the story goes this way or that (audience ́s hope vs. fear) what is the ”price”
that the character must pay? If there are no consequences to the characters
actions (in emotional terms, financial terms, etc.) then why should we care
which path the character takes?
Theme?
In a
word. Distilled down to the simplest possible statement,what is the story
about? Trust, greed,responsibility, selfacceptance, power, generosity and so
on. No matter how convuluted and sophisticated your story, there should be one
central element, some focal point which all the story machinations revolve
around. How is the theme ( or a variation of it) reflected in the main
character ́s story?
Character
Whose
story is it? With
whom do we really identify? Whose phlight or problem do we worry about? They
don ́t have to be a ”good guy” but we should have some sympathy for this
character. Sympathy comes from creating an interesting character for whom we
have some empathy. Is this person compelling? How so?
What
he/she want? What
does the character wants? Not last week or next year but now within the
confines of the story. What is the objective or ”goal” the character pursues
during the story? This ”want” usually leads us to a particular question or
”main tension” which will shape the charachter ́s pursuit ( and audience ́s
experience).
What
he/she needs? What
does the character need in the world of the story ? It can be identical to what
he / she wants, but the need more often is quite different from what the want.
A story in which a character sacrifices his ”need” for what he wants, or fails
to recognize his need in time, is usually a tragedy.
Character
Life
dream? If
this character had a magic want and could change the world to his or her
favour, what would that ideal world be? What does he envision life to be like
for himself? This dream may not be explicitly presented in the story, but
knowing it can give the writer (and audience) a ”window” into the soul of the
character.
Life
at odds with life dream? How is the world in which the story takes place making it
difficult for the character to reach his ideal? If it ́s easy for the
charachter, then where ́s the conflict? An easily achieved life dream doesn ́t
leave room for much of a story. The ”world” of the story is a subjective and
particular milieu unique to each film, the rules of which are established for
the audience early in the script.
Character
questions
1.
Who is your main character ? / sympathy
2.
Why should we be interested in him ?
3.
What attracts you to him ?
4.
How dou you make us empathize with him ?
5.
Why do you believe we will find him sympathetic? What is the reason exactly?
6.
What makes us curious about him ? What ́s his mystery? What ́s his ”magic”, his
charisma? How does it show ?
Some
demands to character
• 0-100 % - from low to high
• Consistence but unpredicable and assure audience
fascination.
• Believability with a chance to make its goal
• Identification
• Dilemma between want and need
• Backstory that motivates important parts of the
character’s actions.
• Ressourceful.
• A complex conflict.
• Both internal, personal or social conflicts.
Further
dimensions to character and story
Family
background Social background Emotional background Physical appearence Social
status Emotional status
Finally
... Do you like him ? Hate him? Why do you need to write about him ? Why should
people be excited about him ?
Construction
If
the character Protagonist and her objective constitute the first two important
elements in the construction of a story, the various obstacles collectively
constitute the third.
There
may be but one obstacle, and it may be simple and easily identified. On the
other hand, there may be more than one.
A
distinction must also be made between conflicts and hassles. ”A flat tire” is
an obstacle if it’s truly an inconvenience to a preestablished want.
Construction
as both structure and plot
Archplot
is classical design which structures a story built around an active protagonist
who struggles against primarily external forces of antagonism to pursue his or
her desire, through continuous time, within a consistent and causally connected
fictional reality, to a closed ending of absolute, irreversible change.
ARCHPLOT:
Causality, Closed Ending, Linear Time, External Conflict, Single, Active
Protagonist, Consistent Reality He dismisses everything else as minimalism or
anti-structure.
MINIPLOT:
Open Ending, Internal Conflict, Multiple, Passive Protagonists
ANTIPLOT:
Coincidence, Nonlinear Time, Inconsistent Realities
Construction
through interviews
1) Ask open
questions.
2) Keep an open
mind to the persons telling.
3) Topic
(loneliness, religion), is a door opener.
4) Do not insist
on your topic, if the person has other stories to tell.
5) Dangerous,
insulting topics need a ”key” which are connected to the topic.
6) Accept lies and
be true to her truth, otherwise trash interview.
7) Listen!
8) Do not
interrupt.
9) Don’t please.
Beware that the person is glad to tell her story.
10) Don’t be
afraid when things gets emotional.
11) Inform about
the context where interview is used. You can admit that you don’t know how it
will end up.
12) Offer the
person to keep her name out of the publication.
13) Set a
deadline. Tell how long the interview will take, fx one and a half hour.
14) Pick a place
for the interview not too public, preferable in private.
15) Record the
interview and don’t spend time taking notes.
16) Note visual
impression.
Construction
Show,
don’t tell. Documentary
is telling, of presenting the facts, but fiction creates the illusion of being
there in the story, seeing events happen without the writer telling you.
Go
right to the story without
establishing it.
Use
Point of View (POV). 1. First person - The POV character tells the story
as "I." Strong identification with POV character. Listeners discover
story events as character does.
Try
to hit the way the person speaks and his characteristics. Use all the
senses.
Use
specific, picture nouns and action verbs. Use specific, concrete nouns
instead of vague ones like happiness, kindness, arrogance, and courage. Instead
describe how characters being happy, kind, arrogant, and courageous. Also use
the most vivid, active verbs, and avoid the passive or linking verbs.
Write
in scenes. For
any length, scenes are the building blocks of the story.
Construction
depends on the person and audience
A
good story is not simply the pursuit by a protagonist of a solution to his or
her predicament. A good story is not constructed or created for the conflict or
characters.
...
A story is created for the audience.
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