english creative writing what is dramatic? tutor dr. jack shu
TRANSCRIPT
English Creative Writing
What is dramatic?
tutor
Dr. Jack shu
Elements of Drama
ActionCharacter’s ConflictTension
The Given Circumstances
ie the context, the background, the setting, etc Environmental facts and background:
geographical, historical, economic, social, political, religious, etc
Previous action:
exposition, scattered clues Protagonist vs antagonist
Dramatic action
Through action—what the characters do and try to achieve in the whole story
Scene action—what the characters do in one scene overall, e.g. Michael does his best to finish his first-day work
Unit actions—what the characters do in one scene that make up the scene action, e.g. Michael turns into a woman, catches a taxi, talks to the director, etc
The protagonist’s predicament(the character’s struggles/conflicts)
Drama is
a representation of the will of man in conflict (i.e. two forces in opposition)
--Ferdinand Brunetiere
Predicament/Struggle/Conflict
There are 3 types of conflicts:
“Human” vs Self “Human” vs “Human” “Human” vs Nature
Tension
The tension of the Task, ie dramatic action The tension of the Relationship The tension of the Mystery, usually related
to some supernatural forces or strange things deliberately unexplained
--adapted from John O’Toole
Tension is the felt force resulting from a conflict.
Character
Wants
(what are desirable) What are the super-objectives of the main
characters? What do the main character want to happen
in the scenes they appear in? Are there conflicts or tensions between what
different characters want?
Character
Moral stances
(what are correct) How do culture, morality and upbringing
shape the main characters’ behaviours? How does the main characters moral stance
encourage, justify or constrain the fulfilment of their wants?
Identifying existing conflicts and creating new conflicts
Between Michael and his agent, George Between Dorothy/Michael and the director,
Ron Between Dorothy/Michael and the actor,
John Between Michael and his roommate, Jeff Between Michael and his “girl friend”,Sandy
Before you improvise the scene, you should set the followings:
The given circumstances, i.e. previous action, time, space, etc;
The characters’ moral stances / wills / wants, i.e. the reasons for the upcoming conflict (try to base on the existing relationships);
The characters’ dramatic actions; Then you improvise the lines and physical
actions.
Example
Scene title: The attractive “Dorothy” Place & time: The TV studio, break time Conflict: John tries to woo Dorothy (because
he thinks she deserves) but Michael tries to escape (because he wants to keep the job).
Actions: John asks Dorothy out for dinner. Michael (in Dorothy’s disguise) tries every means to turn him down.