Greetings, Class,
Remember that your homework is to complete the assignment you started in class.
- Propose a commercial campaign for a product. Describe the campaign idea and the target audience. Include a sample script in one of the script formats provided.
Bring your assignment, printed and stapled, to class. =)
Remember to download the script templates from the link I emailed to you. If you did not receive that email, make sure to email me at mlichtenstern@aii.edu, so I can forward it to you.
- Your reading for this week is Chapter 9 of Story and Chapters 18 & 19 of Adventures in the Screen Trade (you can scan through Adventures pretty quickly-no close reading required).
- Blog a short blurb on what you learned from the reading in the comments section below this message.
Have a wonderful week!
5 comments:
Now I will leave a comment in the right post. ?
I agree with McKee that in writing, if you think you've got life figured out, and eliminate all the outward problems that infect everyday living for the satisfaction of existing in a world that resembles paradise, then you have created boredom for the reader or viewer. There always seems to be chaos and conflict wherever you look, if you take the time to look. To me, a good writer can stay with the law of conflict, avoiding the "flabby middle", and expand on the quality of the conflict. I also liked the idea that "death is like a freight train in the future." I personally don't have trouble finding emotion in both personal and existing conflicts, but when you add the element of a train coming at full speed to somewhat less than interesting ideas, it changes your outlook.
It was educating reading into the development of plots, multiple plots and subplots, as this was a good and detailed refresher from what we learned in Storytelling.
I found the story "Da Vinci" in "Adventures" to be a good example of how a really simple story in what seemed to be a short period of time can be changed dramatically by turning it into a screenplay. The story as originally written is from the boy's (Willy) point of view, where we, as a reader, hear all his thoughts and follow the story through him. Now when you recreate your story for screenplay there are many ideas to consider to let the characters act out the parts that you have just read, which is completely different for on screen. I have little experience in this conversion, but have taken notes so that I can plan my story and characters into a format that will maintain the essence of the original story without butchering it all up.
I Believe Mckee's comment was ingenious because it puts in perspective why people are in a rush all time. specifically America where we work well over 40 hours a week and lose sleep at night in order reach our "self actualization" before we die with a since of accomplishment. funny thing is people never realize time is there most valuable commodity and hardly Enjoy life while thier running the rat race.
the whole train concept gives the perfect since of time and how much of it is left at any point in our lives. in Story, the character is always fighting against time. and the way they make thier decision in this amount of time determines thier fate no matter if they no it or not. for example, in romeo and juliet (modern theatrical version) if Romeo had waited just awhile longer he would have been in the loving arms of his juliet instead in pain and agony dieing on the floor while she awakes to his suprise then kills herself.
For me, McKee's proposed structure illuminates the paradigm of a story in a much more thoughtful and insightful way than the Heroes’ Journey. I like his quote on life, on how the quality of problems in life doesn't remain constant, but the quantity of problems always does.
I think that sometimes we forget as writers, that stakes don't have to escalate to ridiculous means to grab our attention. His section on the 2nd act drag hit home, as I've been a perpetrator if this crime many times before.
Goldman's short story was sweet and well told, and contained a lot of character and dimension for a story about a man who loses his job. During his review about adaptation, I agreed with his insight on which characters could be cut and the reasons on why maybe they shouldn't.
While each character seemed secondary to a marble-playing-ten-year-old, they all played a fundamental role in bringing together the story of a family on the verge of fracturing. What I took out of his analysis was the importance of retaining the intention of the author, if not the literal word itself. More often than not, the adaptation must change in order to retain that intention, if only in spirit.
For me, that was the unifying theme of this weeks reading: knowing the intention of your work and maintaining it throughout. You cannot effectively portray a conflict if you don't understand the characters through and through, and it must tie in to the central plot without detouring from the emotional content.
I actually enjoyed the short story from Chapter 18 of Goldman's book. It was easy to read and relateable to anyone with parents or children. I felt for the father in that story beacuse I imagine that it could be frusterating and sort of embarrasing to have your son perfer haircuts from another employee. His pride was definately hurt.
I thought it was interesting all he had to say about adaptations in the follwing chapter. I agree with his comment that there is no one right answer as to what the story is about. I think a good story should have mulpitle answers to that question.
I found that the reading in "Story"
was very informative and helpful. The section on points of no return was interesting becuase it makes sence to me and seems like a pretty good rule to follow. My favorite section of the chapter was the part about complication vs. complexity. I thought his explanations of the 3 levels of conflict and how complexity is reached when a character has conflict on all the 3 levels. His Kramer vs. Kramer example was great.
I think McKee found a good way to explain Act Design, what it consist of and how to keep the audience interested and not bored. He empathized not to let your audience get bored and told you how to get them engaged in your story by conflicts. I knew the three act structure before, but he really went in depth with what helps the acts move along and how to keep the audience watching. When he broke down complications versus complexity, right away I saw these techniques in my favorite movies. I was always concerned on making these too complex or jumbled in my story lines, so this section really gave me direction how to make basic complex stories interesting. When you are jumbling multi conflicts or subplots, it could get confusing, so I also liked how he gave examples on how to spread them out through out the different acts. After reading this, I am more confident in what order and direction my conflicts should go, how intense they need to be in the comparison to the previous conflicts. He takes act design to the next level also using examples of false ending and rhythm and how to use subplots to support the central plot and the theme of the story. This chapter will defiantly help me with structure and how to use conflicts within those structures.
-Rachel
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