English Creative Writing What is dramatic? tutor Dr. Jack shu

Elements of Drama Action Character’s Conflict Tension

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.