HOW WE WERE YOUNG AND STUPID

Wife: Do you know what time is it now?
She is in the kitchen, emptying the rice into the trash bag.
Husband: I thought I told you that I’m not coming home for dinner. Darling, you are aging and you can’t even remember what I said. Go get a check-up or something. You might be suffering from Parkinson’s disease.
He looks down at the dishes as he speaks, picking on the dishes that his wife left on the kitchen table.
Husband: And your disease is making the dishes salty as well.
Wife: All these weren’t meant for you, you drunk old head. Look who’s talking? You are obviously the one who’s suffering from Parkinson’s disease.
Her husband did not even bother looking at her and he continues picking on the food.
Wife: Look at you. You didn’t change that pants of yours for several days. You drank. And you smell like shit with the combination of sweat, grease and alcohol. If you continue being like this, you will die.
He wipes his oily hands on his wife’s blouse, shaking his head. He then takes off his shirt and throws it to his wife.
Wife: I’m not cooking anymore. Be it breakfast, lunch, dinner or supper. Just satisfy your hunger with more alcohol.
She then throws his shirt out of the kitchen window.

Written Assignment Two

Dad: Honey, I’m home!
He proceeds into his room immediately.
Mum smells the alcohol that is filling up the house.
Mum: Wait a minute. Have you been drinking? Oh my goodness! You drink!? I thought you said that alcohol stinks?
Dad puts his stuff down in the room and comes out of the room.
Dad: Well, yes I drank. But it’s only once in a blue moon. My friends and I were just hanging around and we just drank. I’m sorry that I forgot to call you to tell you that I’m not coming home for dinner.
Mum is making herself busy by wiping the utensils.
Mum: Okay, so, do you still want to eat? If you don’t want to, then I’m throwing them away.
Dad: Okay, I’ll have some then.
He immediately helps Mum with the dishes.
Mum: Do tell me if you are not coming home for dinner next time. So that I won’t cook much. You know, it’s a waste.
Dad nods his head in reply.

Dialogue

Elements of Dialogue
Dialogue reveals character.
- A character talks about himself or herself.
- Other people talk about that character.

Dialogue establishes relationships between characters.
- Characters express attitudes and opinions that are in opposition to one another.

-Good effective dialogue will move the story forward.

-Dialogue communicates faces and information to the audience.
•    It conveys essential exposition.
•    Characters will talk about what happened, establishing the story line.

-Dialogue ties the script together.

What makes a bad dialogue
- Writing too much

Common mistakes
- Dialogue should be used sparingly, never telling the audience what they can see for itself.
•    Dialogue is no substitute for action.
Dialogue should not match conventional spoke dialogue, “real talking”

Points to Remember
Film is a visual medium.
A script is a story told in pictures.

Character
-A story starts with character.
-The character is the heart, the soul and the 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 character, you have no action.
Without conflict, you have no story.
Without character, you have no action.
Without action, you have no conflict.
Without conflict, you have no story.
Without story, you have no screenplay.

When developing a character, ask yourself:
-Who is my character?
-What does he want?
-What is her quest?
-What drives him to the resolution of the story?

(preparation for written quiz 1)
Review
3 storytelling tools
-observation
-memory
-experience

•    Aristotle’s storytelling theories
•    3 act structure
•    developing 3 dimensional characters
•    writing for an audience

Memory

Your memory is a wonderful cabinet of past incidents which you have experienced or been told.
These memories are points of references to your own past experiences.

Writing for an Audience

Screenwriter = storyteller
The cinematic experience is not just made up of words you might put on paper, but the audiences’ emotional reaction to that information.

Audience is NEVER: Director to people, Writer to People or Camera to People.
BUT IT IS PEOPLE TO PEOPLE.

What is the writer’s purpose?
- To connect:
-Themselves
- Their unique vision
- The material
- The drama
- Others

- Audiences want to be transported by a screenplay/letter/etc.

Where do you look for a story?
- Inside yourself.
- Everything learn about other people is already inside you.
- Everything you want to share with other people is already inside you.
- Now you only need to figure out how to connect to it.

MEMORY VS EXPERIENCE

Experience – something that actually happens
Memories – filtered through time, not as vivid
-    Something you didn’t want to change, just because you want it to be retained within your mind

Aristotle’s most important key in writing a tragedy: PLOT
However, character is just as significant.

What is plot?
- the most important part
BEGINNING
- the incitive moment
- it must start the cause and effect chain

MIDDLE
- climax
- it must be caused by earlier incidents and itself cause the incidents that follow it

END
- resolution
- must be caused by the preceding events but not lead to other incidents

CHARACTER
- in the ideal tragedy, the protagonist will mistakenly bring about his own downfall-not because he is sinful or weak-but because he does not know enough

Who is Aristotle?
- Greece
- 384 BC – 322 BC
- First person to put around philosophy in play/story

What were his poetics?
- Attempts to explain poetry and teaches that poetry is divided into three genre; Tragedy, Comedy and Epic Verse: since these are the most common ones
- Not all his words are existent in his book on Poetic

What is Greek Tragedy?
- A dramatic action that might cause the audience to feel emotional imbalance
- Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action (imitation of reality) that is serious, complete and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions.

An example of a movie or a play that follows Aristotle’s definition of tragedy
- The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer; a change of fortune from bad to good – how he suffered to get over the flaw to turn good.
- The Passion of Christ. Aristotle defines tragedy as “a great person who experiences a reversal of fortune” and that is very true on the life depicted for Jesus Christ.

Aristotle’s 6 parts of Tragedy

1. Plot; the complete content of the story – with beginning, climax and conclusion. (series of incidents taking place)
2. Character; Main character MUST be rich and famous, so that at the end he’ll be taken off the high place that he originally was.
-the protagonist(main character) should be renowned and wealthy/successful, in order for his luck to change from good to bad
3. Thought; the writer’s overall thought to be conveyed to the audience, main purpose of message in tragedy to be well-conveyed.
- Overall thinking/plan in a movie; trying to prove something
4. Diction; the characters’ script.
- What the character says (spoken words)
5. Song or melody; rhythm to voice or sense of music to captivate attention and portray mood better.
- The music should play as an actor too, holding an important role, which brings the audience into the mood of the play
6. Spectacle; not to be distracted by simple stimulations, but also look at the change in atmosphere, etc.
- Simple stimulations to the audience (least important factor)

The “Cause-and-effect” Chain

- Makes up the plot
- Playwright should have effects in mind because he is writing causes. (takes place when planning for a beginning of a plot)
- Both Causes and Effects must not be neglected when writing on the climax, since this series of event and incidents have to have organic unity.
- While writing on the resolution of the play, the “cases” have to be stressed because the playwright is writing on the effects.

How a good plot creates a “unity of action”.
- Events happening in a story must be running smoothly (unity of action).
- Action that leads to each other must remain undisturbed.
- Must remain in same chain.

Episodic Plot (or what Aristotle really didn’t like)
- Just a small part of the story (quite literally where things happen in episodes)
- Storyline has highs and lows but no complete turns into story.
i.e. Jean gets home, then finds a robber has broken in, calls the police and the robber gets caught.

Difference between a Simple and a Complex Plot
- Simple plot: “change of fortune”
- Not tragedy, just something sad
The simple plot is defined as a unified construct of necessary and probable actions accompanied by a change of fortune.

VS
- Complex plot: has to have “peripetia” and recognition “anagnorisis” connected with the catastrophe

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS PERIPETIA?!
ANS: A REVERSAL OF CIRCUMSTANCES

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS KATHARSIS?!
ANS: KATHARSIS IS WHEN A CHARACTER HAS AN EMOTIONAL EPIPHANY, A COMING TO AWARENESS OF AND RESOLUTION AND REMAKING OF SELF – ** EMOTIONAL CLEANSING **
- Audience goes through Katharsis – feeling an emotional epiphany
Katharsis is the term in drama referring to a sudden emotional breakdown or climax that constitutes overwhelming feelings of great sorrow, pity, laughter or any extreme change in emotion that results in the restoration, renewal and revitalization for living.

Using the term “katharsis” to refer to a form of emotional cleansing was first done by Aristotle in his work of poetics. It refers to the sensation, or literary effect, that would ideally overcome an audience upon finishing watching a tragedy. (imposed on the audience)

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS MIMESIS?!
ANS: MIMIC (imitation) – RECREATING LIFE IN THE FAKE FORM.

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS ANAGNORISIS?!
ANS: RESOLUTION – WHEN CHARACTER LEARNS FROM HIS EXPERIENCE. FROM BAD TO GOOD.

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS HAMARTIA?!
ANS: THE TRAGIC FLOW – WHAT CAUSES THE CHARACTER TO GO DOWNFALL.

Definition of a virtuous character
Excellence (of character) is a choice and is not based on our habit. It also actually means the settled condition that we are in when we are well off

Responsibility of characters in an Aristotelian tragedy
Characters are used to differentiate between the good and the bad (to prove that a person has both good and bad sides).

Aristotle’s concept of three-act structure
BEGINNING
-Dramatic situation
-Introduce main characters
-End by an inciting incident
MIDDLE
- “Rising action”
- Depicts the good guy (protagonist) attempting to solve the problems caused by the bad guy (or incident).
- End by the conflict

END
- Resolution
- Subplots

LAST REFLECTION! Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Well, it has been a pretty wonderful week, with all those movies and stuff. And I discovered something this week somehow! You know, we always learn new things everyday. And this is what I learnt.

I was watching television this certain day at home and there was this super loud and annoying shouting that came from somewhere. I don’t like to be disturbed when I’m watching television or movies, thus I went to the window to see what exactly was happening. To my bewilderment, this man was hitting a boy who is definitely still in primary school. Why am I so certain? Well, he was wearing my primary school uniform! That’s why! Haha. This man just kept hitting him. He punched the boy with his fist, banged his head towards the wall. However, the boy wasn’t fighting back or crying or anything. He just let the man hit him. Normally, I would expect the person to fight back or something. However, he didn’t! Afraid that something serious will take place, I shouted out at that man to stop hitting the boy. Come on, it’s child abuse! I can’t just sit back and watch the show. I wanted to call the police because the man just simply ignored me. However, my mum stopped me.

My mum then told me that that man is the boy’s father. His father is always drinking and his mother passed away when he was still young. The father doesn’t know how to teach the son and didn’t like the idea of him returning home late. Many neighbours wanted to call the police but were afraid of the results. What will happen to the son if his father has to go to jail? What will happen to them if they called the police? Get beaten up by the father? Yes, it’s a sad story. But! I still don’t think that that’s a reason to hit the son. He might turn deaf from the punch! And it’s definitely not a way to lecture children. It might affect him from young. Do you think that the boy hates the father?

Two days after which, the boy and I were in the lift. He was riding a bike at that time. I recognised the primary school uniform as well as the floor that he stayed in. So, I was confirmed that he was the little boy. He had bruises on his hands and he looked down on the ground most of the time. He looked rather depressed. I’ve heard from my mother that many people said that he is bad and rude and everything crude. However, I don’t feel so. Why? Because he thanked me for letting him out of the lift first. I mean, will any crude person thank a stranger who helped in one way or another? Sigh. I feel really, really, really sad for this boy. God bless him. If I were to see this situation again, should I report it to the police or just let it be? I hope to see a Good Samaritan one day.

As a bonus for the last reflection, I’m going to talk about this movie that I’ve watched this week. The Green Mile.

It is a story portraying the lives of the guards who worked in prisons whereby the prisoners are sentenced to death. The most important part of this story is about this black guy who is wrongly accused of raping and killing two young girls.

In this story, it is believed that the Blacks are always wrong; they are the ones who commit most of the crimes in this world and that they have bad reputations amongst the Whites. Unfortunately, this black guy named John Coffey is sentenced to death, as the jury believed that he is the one who raped and killed the girls. While waiting for the execution of John, the prison guards realise that John is wrongly accused and that he has powers of faith healing. In other words, he can heal any sicknesses. One of the prison guards, Paul Edgecomb, only realises this when John healed his bladder infection. The prison guards and the judge slowly believe that John is wrongly accused when he cured the judge’s wife’s cancer and revived one of the prisoners’ mouse, which is believed to be ‘talented’.

As a punishment to accuse the wrong guy, Paul was touched by John’s powers whereby he could see the real culprit behind the rape and murder. Also, Paul will have to live longer than expected to witness the deaths of his closed ones. Although John could be released from his death sentence, he didn’t want to due to the fact that others didn’t welcome him and that he has no friends as a result of the racial discrimination.

“The Green Mile” is a very touching story whereby conflicts are well portrayed. It shows the change of attitude between the prison guards and the prisoners slowly. Why is it touching? Because John died in the end. “The Green Mile” is one of the movies that made me cry due to the ending. Overall, I think that it’s a great show! I would love to watch it again. You guys should watch it too!

I’m sure many of you have heard that Miss China emerged as the overall champion of Miss World 2007. Well, surprising I shall say. I’m not saying that I’m looking down at China or something. Well, it’s just that my perception of women from China is pretty much similar. Their appearances are almost similar; small eyes, black hair, single eyelid, big face, persuasive. Sounds bad I know. But, so far, of all the China women that I’ve seen in Singapore, I realised that they really look almost similar. I don’t think that I can even recognise my uncle’s wife from China even if I happened to walk pass her on the streets some day.

All right, why did I say that women from China are persuasive? There was this time that I went to Shen Zhen, China, with my mother. Oh my god. I simply just can’t stand the way they persuade their customers to buy something from them. They can talk non-stop for quite some time and every sentence that comes out from their mouth includes a word ‘Sister’ in it. Mind you, I’m younger than them and they called me ‘Sister’. Thanks for the superiority. Sometimes, when you really can’t stand them, you will buy things from them. I really think that they make such good salesperson. If they all can speak English, Singapore salesmen and saleswomen will definitely lose out.

Now, take a look at Miss China.

Pretty,eh? Well, I did my research and I found out that all the contestants from Asia are quite pretty, unless the photos are frauds. There are many global beauty competitions going on, which I didn’t know until I searched for them in the Internet. Let’s see. There is Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss earth, Miss International, Miss Tourism Queen International and the list goes on. I have to say. Is there any difference among all these competitions? Their common goal is to search for the prettiest among all and get them to be the so-called ambassadors to portray world peace. Don’t they remind you of Miss Congeniality?

Miss Japan was crowned Miss Universe 2007.

Miss Thailand emerged as the first runner-up for Miss Tourism Queen International 2007.

(Miss Thailand is the second one from the left.)

Miss India emerged as the first runner-up for the Miss Earth 2007.

All right, did you realise that I’m actually listing down all those from Asia who actually achieved something from all these global beauty competitions this year? Asians did not win much of the competitions in the past years. I have to say that it’s good that Asia has done us proud. Asian beauty is emerging! However, somehow, I think that Singapore shouldn’t disappoint us further. You see, the champion of Miss Singapore is shocking us nowadays.

Well, my definition of pretty will be both beauty and knowledge. Some girls may be pretty, but they are stupid. Some girls may be smart, but they are not that pretty. So, to get into my list of pretty women in this world, you have to be both smart and beautiful! So far, I think that Coco Lee is really pretty. Do you know that she could be a doctor actually?