WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH DRAMA?

DEFINITION

A DRAMA IS… A story told in dialogue form

SORRY, RIGHT NUMBER

Drama Teleplay:

A drama meant for Hollywood

WHAT’S IMPORTANT?

SETTING Since a drama unfolds on stage or

screen, the setting is extremely important.

PLOT EVENTS No narrator Plot unfolds through character’s actions

and speech

CONFLICT There is no story without a conflict. Give the characters something to cope

with Drive the plot through character

actions

CHARACTERS They’re the stars in a drama. We get our information through them.

PAY ATTENTION TO THESE THINGS AS WE READ:

Setting Plot Conflict Characters

READING A TELEPLAY

LIST OF CHARACTERS Allows us to know who’s involved in the

story. We’ll treat it as a cast list and divvy up

the parts.

WHO’S SPEAKING? A character’s name will appear before

his or her lines

SCENE CHANGES Often happen quickly, seamlessly.

CAMERA DIRECTIONS Allow the reader to visualize what the

camera men would be doing in a performance/taping of the story.

Example: An extreme close-up pans to the inside of a telephone receiver. What do you imagine? What’s the effect?

STAGE DIRECTIONS Italicized text Describe

Location of the scene Actions in the play Sounds

Allow readers to visualize what’s happening