Notes

I have  ze powerpoint slides. muahahaha.

Tell a story

Best storytellers are liars

Writing is about putting in the good parts..putting them in

TONE – fuck you man..! (jokingly) as opposed to FUCK YOU! (angrily)

Expositon – EXPOSE – giving information to the plot

Exposition – spoon feeding the audience “bond, james bond”

Exposition is a shortcut technique – can be done well

Exposition – example spiderman 3

• DIALOGUE COMMENTS ON THE ACTION’

(Pipe bursts) “Oh my god the pipe bursts” (Vincent Vega accidentally shot the nigga in the in face “Oh my god, I shot the nigga in the face”

-       used too frequently its accepted

•DIALOGUE TIES THE SCRIPT TOGETHER

-       -It is one of the devices that YOU as a writer can use to expand and enlarge your characters.

Actions are universal..dialogues are not.. FILMS ARE VISUAL MEDIUMS

Actions speak louder than words

Expositions

Dialogue establishes relationship between characters – Ah Ma – TH

(door opens)

Danny: Shhh. I’m sorry. I brought drinks.

Angie: You’re crazy. This whole dinner was your idea and you punk’d me.

Danny: I did but with drinks. So that makes a difference.

Angie: Jackass.

(Danny opens a can of Heineken and walks towards the kitchen)

Danny: Wow. Meatballs.

(takes a sip, Angie still sitiing at the sofa watching tv looking pissed)

Danny: Come on..

Angie: Shut up

Write openers

Renee peered through the keyhole of the antique wooden door, and noticed something sparkling. She steps back and hit something with a thud. The large ballroom with the broken chandelier was gone, she found herself in a small tight closet. She reached for the knob.

Wife:            Where you go…?

Man:            I was with Azmi and Osman…discuss at KTM

Wife:            I cooked you know

Man:    Eh? Sorry..wahhhhh so nice.. heat it up ah. Looks good.

Wife:            Just now talk about what..?

Man:            The esplanade show…lee foundation say they coming in.

Wife:   My feet pain ah..just now at office

Subject 1

Alias:                                                Maria Aroyo

Address:                                    Block 333 Sembawang Close #13-423

Location:                                    MRT

Gender:                                    Female

Suspected Nationality/Race:            Filipino

Age:                                                Early 30s

Long curly hair. Orange knitted top. Brown fake snake skin handbag. Cheap denim blue jeans – “No Baby” brand. Brown slippers. Puma bracelet. Holding a white plastic bag. Holding an ah pek’s hand.

Acne problems. Looks like a hooker. Behaves like a hooker – redundant kisses suggests sexual interest. The fresh plastic bag from a retail outlet tells me that the ah pek has just brought her shopping. This might be the opening of a sexual activity later on. This is disgusting. I wanna puke.

Subject 2

Alias:                                                Matthew Lee

Address:                                    Blk 266 Bishan St 22 #06-308

Location:                                    MRT

Gender:                                    Male

Suspected Nationality/Race:            Chinese Singaporean

Age:                                                19-20

Long straight hair up to the shoulders. 6 piercings on right ear. Bullet for my valentine t-shirt. Leather boots you can get at far east. Rubber necklace with metal cross. Audio technica headphones. Can hear the music from opposite. Some loud metal shit. Eyes staring blankly to the ground.

He looks like he’s going to meet his friends as he’s constantly checking his phone.

What would Maria do to annoy Matthew?

EXT NIGHT. Maria stands outside lorong 14 holding a lighted cigarette. It was a bad day for business. The rain hasn’t stopped for 2 hours. She walks by the sheltered shop houses looking for a customer. She sees matthew sitting by the corner shop. She approaches and sits next to him. Despite the hardcore metal image Matthew portrays, he is secretly a homosexual. Maria puts her right arm around him with her left hand still holding the cigarette. “Short time…” In shock and disgust, Matthew pushes away her arm. Maria insists on the cheap quickie and even offers a discount. Already standing up, Matthew points his middle finger to the cheap hooker and dashes off. Maria was fuming. She hastened behind Matthew and stubs out her cigarrete on his neck. Matthew screams and turns to grab his neck. He struggles to punch her. Maria runs away. She was soon stopped by Matt’s boyfriend on the other end of the sheltered shophouse and punches her in the face. Maria drops and takes off her shoe. She swings the heel to his eye and keeps stabbing it until the eyeball comes off and stuck to the heel. She then lighted another cigarette and dropped the ashes into his eye socket. Matt quietly approached behind her and slammed a wooden plank onto Maria’s neck. She passes out.

Notes:

Defining characters

The world is full of potential stories!

The character is made up by what his name is..where he lives

A guy who grows up with a name

Every story starts with a character

Anthropomorphic

The character is the heart, the soul, and nervous system of your story.

It is through your characters that the viewers experience emotions

It is through your characters that they are touched.

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

Developing characters

When developing a character, ask yourself:

Who is your character?

What does he want?

What is his quest?

What drives him to the resolution of the story?

Developing Characters

1. ESTABLISH YOUR MAIN CHARACTER

Characters should have a 3 Dimensional Structure.

A)Physiology

B) Socialogy

C) Psychology

A) Physiology

- sex

- age

- height, weight

- colour of hair, eyes, skin

- posture

- appearance

- defects, abnormalities, deformities, birth marks, diseases, scars

- heredity

B) Sociology

- class (lower, middle, upper)

- occupation: type of work, 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: parents living, single parent

- religion

- race, nationality

- plae in the community – leader among friends, clubs sports

- political affiliations

- amusements – what he enjoys

C) Psychology

-  sex life, moral standards

- personal premise, ambition

- frustations, chief disappointments

- temperament: choleric, easy-going, pessimistic, optimistic

- amusements – what he enjoys

- attitude towards life: resigned militant, defeatist

- complexes: obsessons, inhibitions, superstitions, phobias

- personality: extrovert, introvert

- abilities: language, talents

- qualities: imagination, judgment, taste, poise

-I.Q

- what is the deep and personal secret this character has which he is desperate to protect/hide?

Developing Characters

1. Separate the components of his life into 2 basic categories: a) interior b)exterior

Interior – Its is a process that forms character. [when you start formulating your character from birth, you see your character build in body and form]. (background story) – before the movie

Exterior – The exterior life takes place the moment your story begins to it’s conclusion.

It is a process that reveals 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 house)

You must create your characters in relationship to other people or things

How do you invent characters?

Try turning them upside down

A monk who is devoted to his religion…

but is a football fanatic.

A serial killer…whose obsession is to kill other serial killers

A common street rat…who loves to eat and cook only fine food.

The role of Conflict

CONFLICT is the central feature of the screenplay

- man against man

- man against environment

- man against self

Exercise: 50 Word Stories

write an essay of exactly 50 words

post 5 stories each on a “50 word stories” page on your blog.

Hide pages (save as draft)

Openers, people watch, 50 word stories, 4 blog posts.

Example:

I live with my grandmother as a matter of convenience. She has long since gone senile. She had a pet parakeet that died a week ago. She accuses me of killing it. I feel sory for her, but if she accuses me one more time I’m going to flatten her.