(Story is not plot, bigger)
Plot is the most important feature of tragedy.
- Arrangement of incidents
- Is not the story itself, but the way the incidents are presented to the audience
- Structure of play
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.
Important vocabulary
- Katharsis – releasing strong or repressed emotions
- mimesis – miming, mimic
- anagnorisis – a moment of recognition
- perepeteia – change of events (good to bad)
- hamartia – lack of self-knowledge
True – observation VS Mindless looking
- people
- u walked the place so many times that u dun really pay attention to it.
- Observe in a conscious way.
- Develop the ability to see and record movements, physical characteristics, and settings.
=========================================================
Thanks to Vivian, this is a more detailed notes taken from her blog with her approval…
Group A:
Aristotle’s birth
-Born on 384-322 B.C.E., in Stagira in North Greece.
Aristotle’s Poetics
-It was a much-disdained book in response to his teacher, Plato, who argues in The Republic that poetry is representation of mere appearances and is thus misleading and morally suspect.
Definition of Greek tragedy
-Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action 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; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its katharsis of such emotions. . . . Every Tragedy, therefore, must have six parts, which parts determine its quality, namely, Plot, Characters, Diction, Thought, Spectacle, Melody
-http://www.cnr.edu/home/bmcmanus/poetics.html
Example of a movie or a play that follows Aristotle’s definition of tragedy. Explain your selection.
-“Forbidden Planet” (1956)
-Follows Aristotle’s rules for tragedy. A great man is brought down by a single tragic flaw and his belief in his moral superiority, which supposedly follows his intellectual superiority. The same flaw destroyed the “noble Krell” as well. And, as Aristotle preferred, the story takes place over 20 years, yet is told almost entirely through exposition. (http://www.answers.com/topic/forbidden-planet-film)
Group B:
Aristotle’s 6 required parts of a tragedy (ranked in order of importance)
-PLOT
=Most important feature of tragedy
=Defined as “the arrangement of the incidents”
-CHARACTER
=Supports the plot
=Must be able to evoke pity and fear in the audience
-THOUGHT
=Found “where something is proved to be or not to be, or a general maxim is enunciated”
=Includes ‘themes’ of a play
-DICTION
=“expression of the meaning in words” which are proper and appropriate to the plot, characters and end of the tragedy
-SONG OR MELODY
=The musical element of the chorus
=Aristotle argues that the Chorus should be fully integrated into the play like an actor
=Should contribute to the unity of the plot
-SPECTACLE
=the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet
“Cause and effect” chain
-Relates what may happen – what is possible according to the law of probability or necessity
-Beginning – incentive moment, must start the cause-and-effect chain
-Middle, or climax, must be caused by earlier incidents and itself cause the incidents that follow it
-The end, or resolution, must be caused by the preceding events but not lead to other incidents outside the compass of the play.
-E.g. In tragedy, it imitates not only a complete action, but also events inspiring fear or pity
How can a good plot create a “unity of action”?
-Structurally self-contained
-Incidents bound together by internal necessity
-Each action leading inevitably to the next with no outside intervention.
-Do not have to add in things that do not make a visible difference to the story.
Group C:
Episodic plot
- Plot begins near the beginning of the story
-Shows the audience a series of scenes, actions or episodes that show various events
-No rising action that increases the energy and suspense of a story
-Instead any change in routine will be caused by one specific event that does not move the plot forward.
Are episodic plots the worst kind of storytelling?
-Episodes or acts succeed one another without probable or necessary sequence
-Stretches the plot beyond it’s capacity and usually breaks the continuity of the story
-No connection between events that occur except that it happens to the same person
-Playwrights should avoid coincidences from their plots
-However in tragedies, such coincidences serve to evoke fear or pity from the audiences
-Large impact and irony
Definition of Katharsis
-The process of releasing strong or repressed emotions
-Sudden emotional breakdown or climax that constitutes overwhelming feelings
-Refers to the sensation that would ideally overcome an audience upon finishing watching a tragedy
Definition of Mimesis
-Representation or imitation of the real world in art and literature.
-A reflection of the real world to get the audience to identify with.
6 Required Parts of A Tragedy
-Plot
-Diction
-Spectacle
-Characters
-Thought
-Melody
Group D:
simple plot VS complex plot
-Simple: Straightforward
-Complex: Requires recognition
-Simple: expected
-Complex: UNexpected
What can scriptwriters today learn from the opinions of Aristotle?
-Writing a complete plot and character is important
-the plot structure is the decisive influence in bringing about the ‘proper pleasure’.
The Greek word peripeteia means:
-a sudden turn of events or an unexpected reversal, esp. in a literary work.
-So a complex plot contains peripeteia
Group E:
Responsibility of characters in an Aristotelian tragedy
=The characters of an Aristotelian tragedy are the second most important feature to the tragedy.
=Responsibility in an Aristotelian tragedy: support the plot.
=For the characters to efficiently carry out the plot, these are the essential qualities to be considered:
-Morally fine
-Suitability to their roles
-Realistic
-Consistency of their personality
-The necessity of having them
-They should be represented as perfect, or at least better than reality
Aristotle originated the concept of the three act structure. What is it, and how does it apply to scriptwriting?
-The three act structure consists of a beginning, a middle and an end. According to Aristotle, every story should follow this structure.
-The Beginning introduces the audience to the setting, the characters, the situation they are in and their goal/aim.
-The Middle is when complications arise. Every problem the characters encounter is temporarily resolved. But it will all lead up to the biggest problem in the whole story, the climax.
-The End is where the loose strings in the story are tied up and the climax gets resolved. We will also see how the climax has affected the characters here. Because it is hard to sustain interest from audience for a long time after the climax, the story should end here.
-Similarly in scriptwriting, there should be a Beginning, Middle and an End. This is because a story should start from somewhere and end at somewhere with some things happening in between.
-The Beginning is there as it is essential to have a proper introduction to the audience. The Middle consists of the climax, which is the most affective part of the story. The story revolves around the climax. This is why a script MUST include it. Finally, everyone wants to know what happens in the end, nobody likes to be left hanging there at the climax, so when writing a script, it should be noted that there should be a conclusion.
Definition of Anagnorisis
- It is the point in the plot especially of a tragedy at which the protagonist, who sees himself as a tragic hero, believes he has the supernatural ability to perceive events.
-The moment of recognition or anagnorisis will allow him to comprehend that kind of fate he has entangled himself with
Ryan:
Plot
-Story is bigger than the plot itself – things tht occurred before the film started/after
-the most important feature of tragedy.
-It is the arrangement of incidents in a movie.
-It is not the story itself. It is the way it is being presented to the audience.
-The structure of the play.
Beginning
-The incitive moment
-It must start the cause and effect
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.
-resolve the problem created during the incitive moment
Episodic plots
-according to Aristotle, the worst kinds of plots.
-the acts (episodes) succeed one another without probability or necessity
-The only thing tying together the events in such a plot is the fact that they happen to the same person.
Nothing to do with the rest of the movie on the whole;
doesn’t keep the story focused on the main action.
Just because its episodic, does it really mean its bad??
Thus, is it truly bad to be episodic?
Audience MAY become irritated with not getting what they came for – the plot.
Simple VS Complex Plots
Simple: Only a “change of fortune”
Complex: Has a reversal of intention “peripeteia” (when things change) and recognition “anagnorisis” (moment of recognition) connected with the catastrophe.
[Things have changed – something that worked one way now works another way.]
Character
-supports plot
-Personal motivations are connected to the cause-and-effect chain
-The protagonist in a tragedy should be renowned and prosperous (rich and famous), so his change can be from good to bad.
(the fall is greater for the rich and famous as compared to taking things away from someone who is poor)
(main character is not evil, still morally acceptable, still the hero, just that he has a flaw. Something about him that he doesn’t understand about the world. And because of that, he’s going to be punished. 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. This lack of self-knowledge is called “hamartia”.
3 act structure
-Advantage of wrking in 3 act structure is it breaks down the story and makes it more manageable
-1st act: set up
-story begins with a goal-oreientated character introduced at a pt of crisis
-the character meets roadblocks produced by the plot and antoganist
-someone wants something and its hard to get it (most movies)
-2nd act: confrontation
-action intensifies
-an event happens which forces the character to make his or her choice
-3rd act: resolution
-level of efforts rises to new heights
-both plot and character is resolved
-but main character either achieves or does not achieve his goal
5 important vocabulary
-katharsis: emotional release experienced by audience
-mimesis: imitation of the real world in art and literature
-anagnorisis: moments of recognition, when character realise that its his fault
-perepeteia: when things change from good to bad
-hamartia: lack of self-knowledge (goes away when anagnorisis occurs)
true observation VS mindless thinking
-Farhan (mindless thinking)
-unfamiliar place (observe)
Storytelling tool 1: Observation
-Observe in a conscious way
-develop the ability to see and record movements, physical characteristics, and settings.
