PLAYWRIGHTS 2/15
Monologues...
We’re going to write some of those today. Knock out the following.
A character dredges up a painful memory and cries.
A character looses his or her temper at another character and completely lets them have it in a scathing, brutal, primal rage.
A character confesses to having done something despicable.
A character expounds on their major personality flaw and how it causes them all sorts of problems.
All of these are serious monologues, except the last, which is humorous.
Write them all in a single Celtx file, as separate scenes. Call the file
your_name_monologues.celtx
Email them to me as STAC Play Intensive 6.
Knock it out!
Showing posts with label Playwriting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Playwriting. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Playwrights Sprint 1/3 and the Life of the Object
Day 3
FIRST:
A treat or torture! You’re going to hear your scripts read aloud! I’ve changed the names on them and cleaned up Julian’s so hopefully there will be no embarrassment. They’ll be read by the acting students as cold reads.
After the read, you’ll REVISE. So, having heard it, what is wrong, and what can be fixed. This will be your final revision and then this is done. Send it to me as
your_name_fight_final.celtx
and the subject line reads STAC Play Intensive 3.
Now, you’ve seen the weird found object. You’re going to write the life of it.
THE LIFE OF THE OBJECT:
This is to be written in Screenplay format! So far you’ve been writing Stage Plays, which are driven by text. A screenplay is driven by visuals - remember that.
You have to write three moments from the life of this object - that means at least three scenes. How did the object come to be? How was it received? How was it lost? How was it re-found? Was it inherited?
We’re not interested in the life of the people as much as we are the relationship of the people as transmitted to each other through the object. The scene from Pulp Fiction, marvelous as it is, is all backstory. Try to avoid this in your scene - make your scenes active in the moment.
Write your script, label it
your_name_object.celtx
and email it to me - the subject line is STAC Play Intensive 4.
The rewrite must get to me by 2:30 (this is realistic. If you were on a film set and you were called to rewrite a scene you’d have a limited amount of time to knock it out).
Life of the Object is due tomorrow (Thursday) in the evening. So, you’ve two days to work on it.
FIRST:
A treat or torture! You’re going to hear your scripts read aloud! I’ve changed the names on them and cleaned up Julian’s so hopefully there will be no embarrassment. They’ll be read by the acting students as cold reads.
After the read, you’ll REVISE. So, having heard it, what is wrong, and what can be fixed. This will be your final revision and then this is done. Send it to me as
your_name_fight_final.celtx
and the subject line reads STAC Play Intensive 3.
Now, you’ve seen the weird found object. You’re going to write the life of it.
THE LIFE OF THE OBJECT:
This is to be written in Screenplay format! So far you’ve been writing Stage Plays, which are driven by text. A screenplay is driven by visuals - remember that.
You have to write three moments from the life of this object - that means at least three scenes. How did the object come to be? How was it received? How was it lost? How was it re-found? Was it inherited?
We’re not interested in the life of the people as much as we are the relationship of the people as transmitted to each other through the object. The scene from Pulp Fiction, marvelous as it is, is all backstory. Try to avoid this in your scene - make your scenes active in the moment.
Write your script, label it
your_name_object.celtx
and email it to me - the subject line is STAC Play Intensive 4.
The rewrite must get to me by 2:30 (this is realistic. If you were on a film set and you were called to rewrite a scene you’d have a limited amount of time to knock it out).
Life of the Object is due tomorrow (Thursday) in the evening. So, you’ve two days to work on it.
Playwrights Sprint 1/2
PLAYWRIGHTS 2/6 to 2/10
Day 2
Today - another stage play scene.
Yesterday, we did the fight. After a fight comes the make-up, the apology.
You’re going to write a series of scenes that explore the possibilities of an apology.
Scene 1: a direct apology. The parties make-up and the issues are directly discussed. Now, the approach into the apology might be a bit more indirect, but the apology itself is a direct discussion of the issues. Now, don’t be a slave to the fight scene. If, in the apology scene, some new material comes up, then go with that. The scenes are related but not symbiotic. Pick your own length, write it, title it
your_name_apology_1.celtx
Most apologies are indirect. My wife gets mad at me, yells, feels bad, and then doesn’t apologize. Instead, she gets really nice and tries to connect somehow - she makes me tea or something. So, your characters make up indirectly this time. Make sure the apology is understood and accepted by both parties.
Save the scene with the name
your_name_apology_2.celtx
For your last scene, take your favorite of the two apologies and combine it with your favorite of your two fight scenes, and blend it into a two scene sequence. This will be your chance to fix whatever bothered you in your fight scene, and chances are some new creative material will spring up from the apology scene, so expect that both of the two scenes will change each other as you fuse them together. Save it as...
your_name_apology_3.celtx
You’ll email me all three scripts. Put “STAC Play Intensive 2” on the subject line.
Write about your experience in your blog.
Get going. You must get this ALL DONE TODAY!
Day 2
Today - another stage play scene.
Yesterday, we did the fight. After a fight comes the make-up, the apology.
You’re going to write a series of scenes that explore the possibilities of an apology.
Scene 1: a direct apology. The parties make-up and the issues are directly discussed. Now, the approach into the apology might be a bit more indirect, but the apology itself is a direct discussion of the issues. Now, don’t be a slave to the fight scene. If, in the apology scene, some new material comes up, then go with that. The scenes are related but not symbiotic. Pick your own length, write it, title it
your_name_apology_1.celtx
Most apologies are indirect. My wife gets mad at me, yells, feels bad, and then doesn’t apologize. Instead, she gets really nice and tries to connect somehow - she makes me tea or something. So, your characters make up indirectly this time. Make sure the apology is understood and accepted by both parties.
Save the scene with the name
your_name_apology_2.celtx
For your last scene, take your favorite of the two apologies and combine it with your favorite of your two fight scenes, and blend it into a two scene sequence. This will be your chance to fix whatever bothered you in your fight scene, and chances are some new creative material will spring up from the apology scene, so expect that both of the two scenes will change each other as you fuse them together. Save it as...
your_name_apology_3.celtx
You’ll email me all three scripts. Put “STAC Play Intensive 2” on the subject line.
Write about your experience in your blog.
Get going. You must get this ALL DONE TODAY!
Playwrights Sprint 1
PLAYWRIGHTS 2/6 to 2/10
Day 1
Think back to the most recent or most memorable fight you’ve had with either a friend or a family member. It must be a real fight, and it must have had yelling and all that stuff. Change the names to protect the innocent. You are writing something from memory, not making up something new. There isn’t a lot of imagination required here; it is more memory.
Write this fight out in Stage Play format on Celtx. Write as fast as you can and write at least 6 pages of dialog. Try not to use parentheticals and go easy on the stage directions — this is really about writing dialog and throwing up stuff quickly. Get through this as fast as you can — spend no more that 40 minutes on it. Shut the heck up and write the entire time.
When you’ve finished the 6 pages, title it like this:
your_name_fight_6.celtx
Then save it again, but with a new name, like this:
your_name_fight_3.celtx
Now, take the fight scene and cut it down to 3 pages. Eliminate anything superfluous or unnecessary. Again, go quickly. Save the scene when you’re done.
Save the scene again with the name
your_name_fight_1.celtx
Cut this one down to 1 page. Try to get the essence of the fight, the most important bit of it.
You’ll email me all three scripts. Put “STAC Play Intensive 1” on the subject line.
Write about your experience in your blog.
Get going. You must get this ALL DONE TODAY!
Day 1
Think back to the most recent or most memorable fight you’ve had with either a friend or a family member. It must be a real fight, and it must have had yelling and all that stuff. Change the names to protect the innocent. You are writing something from memory, not making up something new. There isn’t a lot of imagination required here; it is more memory.
Write this fight out in Stage Play format on Celtx. Write as fast as you can and write at least 6 pages of dialog. Try not to use parentheticals and go easy on the stage directions — this is really about writing dialog and throwing up stuff quickly. Get through this as fast as you can — spend no more that 40 minutes on it. Shut the heck up and write the entire time.
When you’ve finished the 6 pages, title it like this:
your_name_fight_6.celtx
Then save it again, but with a new name, like this:
your_name_fight_3.celtx
Now, take the fight scene and cut it down to 3 pages. Eliminate anything superfluous or unnecessary. Again, go quickly. Save the scene when you’re done.
Save the scene again with the name
your_name_fight_1.celtx
Cut this one down to 1 page. Try to get the essence of the fight, the most important bit of it.
You’ll email me all three scripts. Put “STAC Play Intensive 1” on the subject line.
Write about your experience in your blog.
Get going. You must get this ALL DONE TODAY!
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