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Writing for Single Cam TechniquesPaulU22

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Unit 22

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Aims This lesson is about getting into the swing of stories, coming

up with ideas for them and knowing how to make a good one

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Objectives By the end of this lesson you should be able to:

Identify different kinds of story structures Rip off some story ideas and build on them Create decent 3-D characters

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Different story types There are 7 (seven) root story types

Achilles Cinderella Circe Faust Orpheus Romeo and Juliet Tristan

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The Achilles Story About an invincible superhuman A single flaw is their downfall Superman is a good example, as is The Great Gatsby

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The Cinderella Story Someone has dream come true Various obstacles and opponents are in the way A set of transformations need to happen

Emotional? Intellectual?

The wonderful goal is then achieved Examples = Pretty Woman, Dirty Dancing

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The Circe Story About a chase A goal needs to be achieved in a race against time, or

opponents, etc Examples could be The Matrix, Pirates of the Caribbean 4 or

The Italian Job

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The Faust Story About a bargain Desire to exceed one’s limits There is a trade, sometimes one’s soul for worldly power “Deal with the devil” Consequences occur, debt must be paid Examples are Goodfellas, Wall Street

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The Orpheus Story The loss of something or someone The the effects and lessons learned from that loss Quest for restoration Examples are Gladiator, The Full Monty

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The Romeo and Juliet Story Love is pitched against ignorance, hate, politics, small-

mindedness Romance Tragedy Examples are Titanic, Bridget Jones’ Diary

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The Tristan Story Falling in love with one who is already betrothed Unrequited love Examples are Fatal attraction, 500 Days of Summer

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Genre Conventions

Events that usually happen A showdown in a western A young girl is attacked in a horror film (screams)

Codes Clues that identify the genre

Cowboy hat and 6-gun = western Lasers and spaceships = sci fi Large chef’s knife = horror Includes text fonts and music

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Exercise 1 Look at the handout Fill in the blanks Think:

low budget for TV high budget for cinema

This sometimes gets creativity going well

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Good Writing Stories need good content Stories need good delivery

More important Which of the following is better…

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Dialog 1It seemed as if they had been in the air in their flimsy plane for hours, but at last the battle was almost over. The relief showed on their faces, and Tom spoke cheerfully to his gunner.“I’ll be glad when we get back home after this little lot, Jimmy. It’ll be roast beef and Yorkshire pudding at the mother in law’s for Sunday dinner, and forget about looking for the Hun for a while”“You and your Sunday dinner! It is a wonder you can fit in the cockpit the amount you eat. You wife deserves a medal feeding you up the way she does.”“Look out, here comes another of the blighters, straight out of the sun as usual, the crafty devils. Get him, Jimmy!”

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Dialog 2It seemed as if their flimsy plane had been in the air for hours, but at last the battle was over. Relief showed on their grimed faces, but Tom still spoke warily to his gunner.“Nearly there mate! What do you say to a pint at the local when we get back to Blighty-?” He swore under his breath as a flash of silver came straight towards them out of the sun. The Hun was on their tail, and he wasn’t done with them yet.“You’d better save any thoughts of that pint until we’ve finished with this little lot!” yelled the gunner back. “Give me all the speed you’ve got, Skipper.”

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Analysis The dialog in the first example holds up the tension and

drama It feels tedious “Crafty devils” is weak writing “Straight out of the sun as usual” is more for the reader’s benefit

Second piece is much more brisk Dialog gives sense of drama, augments the action

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Other points There’s lots more that goes into a good story

Making decent main characters Making believable bad guys Supporting characters Conflict and motivation Character development Treating it all in a cinematic way

i.e. audio/visual storytelling

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Main characters Get to know them inside out Indirect descriptions give a good feel for the character Make them likeable As stars, they need to “stand out in a crowd”

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Villains Opposed the heroes objectives Could be:

totally evil “western” villain An anti-hero A “gothic villain” – appears good until the end

Take them seriously Give them reasons why they are like they are Have love/hate relationship with them

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Conflict Main characters need obstacles that change their plans

Arguments Problem/danger emerges A stranger comes to town/someone leaves Emotional upsets Economic crisis Birth/marriage/divorce Deaths

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Motivation Motives are a good source of conflict Characters need their actions to be informed by their own

personal motives Why was the little boy staring off the cliff edge? Why does the old woman sit at the bar every night dressed in her

finest clothes? Why does the main character drink heavily?

Motivation makes curiosity in the audience Why do your characters do what they do?

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Character Development For each obstacle a character clears, they need to learn

something Morally Intellectually Physically (Rocky montage) Gains hope Gives up Finds true purpose Moves from bad to good, or vice versa

It changes them from that point forth

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Themes throughout a story The desire for justice The pursuit of love The morality of individuals

Through their choices in the situations they are in The desire for order The pursuit of pleasure The fear of death Fear of the unknown The desire for validation

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Let’s invent some characters 1The story is one of a gunslinger that terrorizes a prairie town in the wild west.

Who is the main character? Who is the villain? Who else needs to be in this story? How does it end?

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Let’s invent some characters 2The story of a cat who is brought to a new home and has to adjust to his new life living with a dog.

Who is the main character? Who is the villain? Who else needs to be in this story? How does it end?

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Let’s invent some characters 3The story of a survivor of a massive natural disaster that wipes most everything out.

Who is the main character? Who is the villain? Who else needs to be in this story? How does it end?

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Let’s invent some characters 4The story of a teacher arriving to teach unruly pupils in a rough area.

Who is the main character? Who is the villain? Who else needs to be in this story? How does it end?

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Let’s invent some characters 5The story of a swallow leaving a European city and heading south for the winter.

Who is the main character? Who is the villain? Who else needs to be in this story? How does it end?

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Let’s invent some characters 6A man falls in love with a woman far higher than him in society and plans to make her his own.

Who is the main character? Who is the villain? Who else needs to be in this story? How does it end?

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Narrative Structure Plot is the way the story is told The Classic 3 Act Structure

Introduce everyone, set up the situation A disruption or complication occurs

It may be a series of them Builds towards a crisis

A resolution is made Is it a satisfying end that ties up all loose ends?

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Recap We looked at:

Different story types Good dialog writing Main characters and Villains Conflict and Motivation Themes Made up some characters Had a look at a 3 act story structure

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33Unit 22

Fin!

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