• Dialogue is a conversation between two or more people.
• Dialogue is essential to fiction writing.
• Dialogue brings characters to life and adds interest.
• Dialogue must do more than just duplicate real speech.
• Writing dialogue consists of the most exciting, most interesting, most emotional, and most dramatic words.
I want you to create a ten line dialogue, working with a partner:
The situations, or you can use one of yours…
• Parent - Teacher: How much money might it take for my son/daughter to get a '90'?
• Friend - Friend: Who's dating whom?
• Teacher Upholding the Integrity of School Rules - Student cheating on a Test: How much is a zero going to hurt?
• Girlfriend Catching Boyfriend with another Girl - Boyfriend Claiming It Was His Sister: Why boy was making out with his alleged sister?
• Teenager - Parent: What possibly Jose could have been doing out until 3:00 A.M.?
• Your 10 line dialogue should:
o Provide Information
o Describe a Place or Character
o Create a Sense of Time
o Create Suspense or Conflict
o Move the Story Forward
o Reveal a Character's Thoughts
o Summarize What Has Happened
o Create a Sense of Place (10 min.)
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Aim: How can we write great dialogue for our characters?
http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/10663/writing/writing_good_dialogue.htmlCLICK ON THE ABOVE LINK.
Read the tutorial on writing GOOD, realistic dialogue...
TURN and TALK to your partner, what do you need to do to have good dialogue?
(1 min.)
SHARE OUT: What is GOOD DIALOGUE in SCREENPLAYS?
GUIDED PRACTICE:
USE YOUR TREATMENT to write a CHARACTER BIO FOR YOUR MAIN CHARACTER:
CLICK ON THE LINK FOR INFORMATION: http://writing-novels.suite101.com/article.cfm/building_a_character_biography
HOME WORK: FINISH YOUR CHARACTER BIOGRAPHY, IT SHOULD BE WELL DETAILED AND CONTAIN A LOT OF DETAILS ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER.
REMINDER: We will be having a lot more home work, failure to do these assignments will result in parent notification and the lowering of your grade!
Read the tutorial on writing GOOD, realistic dialogue...
TURN and TALK to your partner, what do you need to do to have good dialogue?
(1 min.)
SHARE OUT: What is GOOD DIALOGUE in SCREENPLAYS?
GUIDED PRACTICE:
USE YOUR TREATMENT to write a CHARACTER BIO FOR YOUR MAIN CHARACTER:
CLICK ON THE LINK FOR INFORMATION: http://writing-novels.suite101.com/article.cfm/building_a_character_biography
HOME WORK: FINISH YOUR CHARACTER BIOGRAPHY, IT SHOULD BE WELL DETAILED AND CONTAIN A LOT OF DETAILS ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER.
REMINDER: We will be having a lot more home work, failure to do these assignments will result in parent notification and the lowering of your grade!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Mr. Oliver's Screenplay!
INT. QUEENS COLLEGE- DAY
TITLE COMES UP: June, 2007
HELICOPTER SHOT- We see THOUSANDS of QUEENS COLLEGE GRADUATES assembled in the quad of the school. There is a literal sea of people, all with BLUE GRADUATION GOWNS and BLACK GRADUATION CAPS on. PROUD PARENTS and RELATIVES are seated in plastic chairs on every side. There is a STAGE set up toward the front of the quad. We can HEAR the ROAR of JOY from all everyone assembled.
(Notice how I am telling the audience EXACTLY what they will be seeing! First time we see a CHARACTER it is in CAPS! SOUNDS are always in CAPS)
CLOSER- We see a MONTAGE of some GRADUATES near VARIOUS BUILDINGS, the SCIENCE BUILDING, the ENGLISH BUILDING, the EDUCATION BUILDING. They take pictures, laugh, goof around, sign yearbooks. PROUD PARENTS are nearby.
(notice how I make a break from the HELICOPTER SHOT to a CLOSER CAMERA ANGLE here. Notice how scripts are ALWAYS THIRD PERSON, WE are always the observers of the scenes!!!!)
LONG SHOT- We see RICH, age 34, beaming with pride, he has a kind, freckled face, blue eyes, and brown hair. He wears the graduation cap and gown too. His sister, JACKIE, age 25, blue eyes, reddish brown hair, pretty, takes a picture of him with his back to the CAMERA.
(This is the first time you see me, notice how I describe EVERYTHING about me the FIRST TIME you see me)
RICH
Jackie! Don’t take it yet!
(notice how the dialogue is in the middle of the page)
JACKIE
I’m trying to get some natural shots!
REVERSE ANGLE- We see RICH’S MOM, 58, she is very well dressed and has the same blue eyes as her children. She looks very nervous but still beams with joy. Next to her is TARA, 30, Italian, pretty, brown hair. She wears a pretty but simple white dress.
MOM
Rich, you better get back with your fellow grads.
RICH
We have time, mom. Let’s take a few more.
A SERIES OF ANGLES- We see several SHOTS of pictures being taken, RICH and MOM, TARA takes the CAMERA and shoots ALL THREE. Then one of RICH and TARA. RICH smiles throughout.
RICH
(V.O.)
It was one of the happiest days of my life! Next stop, becoming a teacher!
(notice this method called voice over, this is when the CHARACTER SPEAKS OVER the IMAGE)
Q: So, turn and talk to your partner, what is this scene in my screenplay about? (30 sec.)
TITLE COMES UP: June, 2007
HELICOPTER SHOT- We see THOUSANDS of QUEENS COLLEGE GRADUATES assembled in the quad of the school. There is a literal sea of people, all with BLUE GRADUATION GOWNS and BLACK GRADUATION CAPS on. PROUD PARENTS and RELATIVES are seated in plastic chairs on every side. There is a STAGE set up toward the front of the quad. We can HEAR the ROAR of JOY from all everyone assembled.
(Notice how I am telling the audience EXACTLY what they will be seeing! First time we see a CHARACTER it is in CAPS! SOUNDS are always in CAPS)
CLOSER- We see a MONTAGE of some GRADUATES near VARIOUS BUILDINGS, the SCIENCE BUILDING, the ENGLISH BUILDING, the EDUCATION BUILDING. They take pictures, laugh, goof around, sign yearbooks. PROUD PARENTS are nearby.
(notice how I make a break from the HELICOPTER SHOT to a CLOSER CAMERA ANGLE here. Notice how scripts are ALWAYS THIRD PERSON, WE are always the observers of the scenes!!!!)
LONG SHOT- We see RICH, age 34, beaming with pride, he has a kind, freckled face, blue eyes, and brown hair. He wears the graduation cap and gown too. His sister, JACKIE, age 25, blue eyes, reddish brown hair, pretty, takes a picture of him with his back to the CAMERA.
(This is the first time you see me, notice how I describe EVERYTHING about me the FIRST TIME you see me)
RICH
Jackie! Don’t take it yet!
(notice how the dialogue is in the middle of the page)
JACKIE
I’m trying to get some natural shots!
REVERSE ANGLE- We see RICH’S MOM, 58, she is very well dressed and has the same blue eyes as her children. She looks very nervous but still beams with joy. Next to her is TARA, 30, Italian, pretty, brown hair. She wears a pretty but simple white dress.
MOM
Rich, you better get back with your fellow grads.
RICH
We have time, mom. Let’s take a few more.
A SERIES OF ANGLES- We see several SHOTS of pictures being taken, RICH and MOM, TARA takes the CAMERA and shoots ALL THREE. Then one of RICH and TARA. RICH smiles throughout.
RICH
(V.O.)
It was one of the happiest days of my life! Next stop, becoming a teacher!
(notice this method called voice over, this is when the CHARACTER SPEAKS OVER the IMAGE)
Q: So, turn and talk to your partner, what is this scene in my screenplay about? (30 sec.)
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Aim: How can we turn our TV show ideas into a treatment?
Wednesday, SWBAT: begin writing their TV show idea treatments
Aim: How can we turn our TV show ideas into a treatment?
Do Now: Please write in your notebooks what a treatment is, based on what we learned yesterday,, you have 2 minutes. This will be collected! (2 min.)
Materials:
• Macs, Class blog
• Paper, pens, Microsoft Word docs.
• Story graphic organizer
Procedures:
1.) Elicit Do Now Responses:
2.) Pairs: Okay now I want you to work with the person that you created your TV idea with to work on turning your idea into a treatment.
Remember that each scene should be described.
It should be simple, clear, concise, full of action words, and should avoid flowery language, straight and to the point like journalism.
It should be in Times New Roman and on a 12 Point font.
a.) One person should be the writer, but you should both collaborate
It should be at least 2 pages!
I will circulate to help you.
b.) Distribute graphic organizer:
Spend 3 to 5 minutes taking your basic TV idea and plotting it on the graphic organizer.
I will tell you when you should start writing the treatment.
(3 min.)
3.) After five minutes: Okay, now you should start putting your idea into the treatment form.
(5 min.)
Pairs: Take the rest of the period to finish these first drafts
(30 min.)
Summary: Save your work, tomorrow I’ll assess how far along most of you are in this project.
(1 min.)
Aim: How can we turn our TV show ideas into a treatment?
Do Now: Please write in your notebooks what a treatment is, based on what we learned yesterday,, you have 2 minutes. This will be collected! (2 min.)
Materials:
• Macs, Class blog
• Paper, pens, Microsoft Word docs.
• Story graphic organizer
Procedures:
1.) Elicit Do Now Responses:
2.) Pairs: Okay now I want you to work with the person that you created your TV idea with to work on turning your idea into a treatment.
Remember that each scene should be described.
It should be simple, clear, concise, full of action words, and should avoid flowery language, straight and to the point like journalism.
It should be in Times New Roman and on a 12 Point font.
a.) One person should be the writer, but you should both collaborate
It should be at least 2 pages!
I will circulate to help you.
b.) Distribute graphic organizer:
Spend 3 to 5 minutes taking your basic TV idea and plotting it on the graphic organizer.
I will tell you when you should start writing the treatment.
(3 min.)
3.) After five minutes: Okay, now you should start putting your idea into the treatment form.
(5 min.)
Pairs: Take the rest of the period to finish these first drafts
(30 min.)
Summary: Save your work, tomorrow I’ll assess how far along most of you are in this project.
(1 min.)
Monday, February 1, 2010
Aim: How can we take our TV show ideas and take them to the next level, a treatment?
Tuesday, SWBAT: continue to evaluate their TV show presentations and begin to learn how to write teleplays for their ideas
SWBAT differentiate the difference between their raw ideas, a treatment, and a finished screenplay
Aim: How can we take our TV show ideas and take them to the next level, a treatment?
Do Now: Let’s quickly finish any remaining presentations that we have left…
(7-10 min.)
Materials:
• Macs, class blog
• TV show presentation worksheets
• What is a treatment? http://www.writingtreatments.com/html/home.html
• Treatment model, http://e-luttrell0.tripod.com/scripttreatment-2.html (fictional) and reality based program.
• Treatment template
Procedures:
1.) Elicit: Finish presentations and have students evaluate and give feedback for their ideas
AR: I like this idea because… (7-10 min.)
2.) Whole Class: Well I hope everybody enjoyed their time off and did well on your Regents exams. Today we are going to begin the process of turning our basic ideas into what they call in the TV and film industry, a treatment.
Ultimately, after that, we will be creating a few pages of a screenplay, based on our ideas.
What is a treatment? Well, its name is deceptive, but it is basically your TV or movie idea as a short story.
Writing these will do one of two things, it will force us to more fully flesh out an episode of our TV show ideas, and it will give us a blueprint of how to write the screenplay.
Think of a treatment as the short story form of your TV show idea.
They can be as little as a page or two, or as many as 20 pages. I will require you to produce at least two to three pages. (2-3 min.)
a.) Please click on the link and let’s read what a treatment is. http://www.writingtreatments.com/html/home.html Take two minutes to read the web page.
(2 min.)
3.) Pairs: Now Exchange what you’ve learned with the person sitting next to you. (1 min.)
4.) Whole Class: So let’s see what you learned…
Q: Who can tell the class what is a treatment?
5.) Independent Read: Okay, let’s look at an actual treatment, this is one for a fictional show, called, “Bustin In” http://e-luttrell0.tripod.com/scripttreatment-2.html
7.) Whole Class: Q: So what kind of a show does this seem to be?
AR: a pretty crazy sit-com
Q: What did you notice about it?
AR: It tells the story simply and clearly, it was vivid and simple.
(1 min.)
a.) Okay now let’s read together this treatment, this is for a reality show.
(3 min.)
Q: What is different about this treatment?
8.) Whole Class Write: Now I’m going to distribute a template for a treatment that we can all write together as a class, so we can get used to the format…
(10 min.)
9.) Independent Practice: Okay, now I want you to break off and start independently finishing this treatment. Just continue it as you think the story should go.
(7 min.)
10.) Share out: Let’s hear how some of you continued it… (remainder of period)
SWBAT differentiate the difference between their raw ideas, a treatment, and a finished screenplay
Aim: How can we take our TV show ideas and take them to the next level, a treatment?
Do Now: Let’s quickly finish any remaining presentations that we have left…
(7-10 min.)
Materials:
• Macs, class blog
• TV show presentation worksheets
• What is a treatment? http://www.writingtreatments.com/html/home.html
• Treatment model, http://e-luttrell0.tripod.com/scripttreatment-2.html (fictional) and reality based program.
• Treatment template
Procedures:
1.) Elicit: Finish presentations and have students evaluate and give feedback for their ideas
AR: I like this idea because… (7-10 min.)
2.) Whole Class: Well I hope everybody enjoyed their time off and did well on your Regents exams. Today we are going to begin the process of turning our basic ideas into what they call in the TV and film industry, a treatment.
Ultimately, after that, we will be creating a few pages of a screenplay, based on our ideas.
What is a treatment? Well, its name is deceptive, but it is basically your TV or movie idea as a short story.
Writing these will do one of two things, it will force us to more fully flesh out an episode of our TV show ideas, and it will give us a blueprint of how to write the screenplay.
Think of a treatment as the short story form of your TV show idea.
They can be as little as a page or two, or as many as 20 pages. I will require you to produce at least two to three pages. (2-3 min.)
a.) Please click on the link and let’s read what a treatment is. http://www.writingtreatments.com/html/home.html Take two minutes to read the web page.
(2 min.)
3.) Pairs: Now Exchange what you’ve learned with the person sitting next to you. (1 min.)
4.) Whole Class: So let’s see what you learned…
Q: Who can tell the class what is a treatment?
5.) Independent Read: Okay, let’s look at an actual treatment, this is one for a fictional show, called, “Bustin In” http://e-luttrell0.tripod.com/scripttreatment-2.html
7.) Whole Class: Q: So what kind of a show does this seem to be?
AR: a pretty crazy sit-com
Q: What did you notice about it?
AR: It tells the story simply and clearly, it was vivid and simple.
(1 min.)
a.) Okay now let’s read together this treatment, this is for a reality show.
(3 min.)
Q: What is different about this treatment?
8.) Whole Class Write: Now I’m going to distribute a template for a treatment that we can all write together as a class, so we can get used to the format…
(10 min.)
9.) Independent Practice: Okay, now I want you to break off and start independently finishing this treatment. Just continue it as you think the story should go.
(7 min.)
10.) Share out: Let’s hear how some of you continued it… (remainder of period)
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