WRITING THE SCREENPLAY

Comm2339electronicmedia.wordpress.com

HISTORY AND STRUCTURE All good movies depend on a well

written and structured screen play. This involves:

CharactersA worldActionEventsDialogueThemeMust be organized and have some sort of

unity to them.

ARISTOTLE Philosopher (384 to 322 B.C.) that

taught in Ancient Greece. Issues he discussed were logic, biology,

metaphysics, ethics and politics. He also dabbled in the study of theatre. For Aristotle – he believed that tragedies

and comedies had a basic structure.

ARISTOTLE’S POETICS: He approaches the story line like a

science – The components of drama he said are:

Plot: The arrangement of incidents. Character: The personalities. Diction: Modes of utterance. (how you

speak). Thought: The ideas or themes behind a

story. Spectacle: Costumes or effects. Song: Largely irrelevant now a day – except

in musicals or bollywoods.

ARISTOTLE CONT… Each of the components must have

unity – they must all come together to bear on a single subject or “spine.”

WHERE TO FIND UNITY? Comes from the likelihood and necessity

of each incident. The incident (set ups) must be probable

and essential to the story. Probability doesn’t come from real life. It

comes from internal logic of a story. Cause and Effect between incidents.

STORIES THAT DO NOT CONTAIN UNITY Are called Episodic: Which Aristotle

regarded as the lowest form of story telling.

Episodic: In which the episodes or acts succeed one another without probable cause or necessary sequence.

Sitcoms – each episode is usually unrelated.

ARISTOTLE DEFINES DRAMA - People’s lives happen by accident. Drama doesn’t and it is well crafted. Therefore, there needs to be something

that holds the plot together and the characters together. Otherwise the whole story falls apart.

Order and Magnitude – This forms the beginning, middle and end.

STRUCTURE OF GREEK TRAGEDY Beginning: Protagonist leads a good life,

but he or she has a character flaw. At the end of the beginning there is a

reversal of fortunes. This is brought on by the character’s own flaw.

STRUCTURE OF GREEK TRAGEDY… Middle: Protagonist fights against his

change in fortune.After denying it’s his fault for a time and

blaming everyone and everything else the light bulb turns on and he/she realizes it’s he/she who needs to change.

He changes in ignorance and knowledge but it’s too late.

STRUCTURE OF A GREEK TRAGEDY… End: There is a catastrophe that brings

great suffering and soul cleansing in the protagonist and for the audience.

The world, once unbalanced is now in order.

WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT… Aristotle argued that in order to make

sure a good drama flowed well, you had to make sure you limited your story telling to a limited scope of the story, or the character and not try to imitate an entire life.

He said, you only need to look at one small part of a life and find a sequence of incidents that have a beginning, middle and end to it.

FOR ARISTOTLE It was not whether or not the story was

good or bad – but rather if it worked.

GEORGE POTIRI’S 36 DRAMATIC SITUATIONS. This was published in 1921. For Potiri there was only 36 themes in a

drama that you could pick and choose from and modify.

Plot: Was based on limited range of human emotions and therefore there was a limited number of structures or ideas.

LAJOS EGRI AND THE ART OF DRAMATIC WRITING. 1940. Considered an essential in Hollywood

circles. Egri argued that:

Plot: grows naturally and out of premise, character and conflict.

JOSEPH CAMPBELL AND THE HERO’S JOURNEY. Details how plot structure of most heroic

quest and myth – no matter what country or what culture – are all virtually the same.

THE HERO’S JOURNEY: 12 STEPS 1. The ordinary World: A myth begins

with the hero in his own element.

2. Call to Action: A problem or challenge is presented that will unsettle the ordinary world of the protagonist.

3. The Reluctant Hero: Hero balks at the edge of adventure. He faces his fears.

THE HERO’S JOURNEY: 4. The Wise Old Man: Hero acquires a

mentor who helps him make the right decisions.

5. Into the Special World: Hero makes decision to undertake the adventure and leaves his own familiar world behind to enter a special world of problems and challenges.

THE HERO’S JOURNEY 6. Test, allies and enemies: The hero

confronts allies of his and opponents as well as his own weaknesses. He takes action while dealing with the consequences of his actions.

7. The Inmost Cave: Hero enters place of great danger. World of the antagonist.

8. The Supreme Ordeal: A dark moment occurs. Hero must face a crucial failure, defeat – which he will achieve the wisdom to succeed in the end.

THE HERO’S JOURNEY. 9. Seizing the sword: The hero gains

power. With his new knowledge or greater capability he can now defeat the enemy.

10. The Road Back: The hero returns to the ordinary world. There are still dangers and problems as the antagonist or his allies pursue the hero.

THE HERO’S JOURNEY. 11. Resurrection: The hero is spiritually

or literally reborn and purified by his ordeal.

12. Return with the Elixir: The hero returns to the ordinary world with the treasure that will heal his world and restore balance.

EXAMPLES OF HERO’S JOURNEY Batman Returns Star War’s Luke Skywalker. The Hobbit Lord of the Rings Harry Potter

Also another common theme – most of these hero’s have been orphaned in some way or grew up raised by somebody else.

EXERCISE: Pick a movie (drama) and using

Aristotle's theory of how a Greek Tragedy is structured describe who the protagonist is, what their character flaw is, the trials they face, etc.

The Hero’s Journey: Pick a movie with a heroic theme. Label the 12 steps in the film.