CA2012 S TORYTELLING FOR C OMMUNICATION S CRIPTWRITING

1. CA2012STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATIONSCRIPTWRITING

2. Writing a story?

3. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION WRITING A STORY What to tell How to tell

4. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION WRITING A STORY print Word count 1,500 – 3,500 7,500 – 17,500 17,500 – 40,000 50,000 > Short story Novelette Novella Novel

5. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION WRITING A STORY Point of View

6. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION WRITING A STORY POINT OF VIEW _ First-Person Point of View _ Third-Person Point of View _ Limited Third-Person Point of View _ Omniscient Third-Person Point of View

7. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION WRITING A STORY POINT OF VIEW First-Person Point of View The first-person point of view use “I,”“me,”“my,” and “our.” It permits the author to tell the story from the point of view of a narrator or of one of the characters in the story, major or minor. Only those feelings, observations, and reactions which that narrator or character experiences can appear in the story. The advantage of first-person point of view, or course, is that it puts readers close to the action

8. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION WRITING A STORY POINT OF VIEW First-Person Point of View EXAMPLE: I stood there contemplating the stack of sales records we had to compile before we could call it quits for the day. I just wanted to go home, be with the kids, watch the ball game. I hesitated. “Well, Krista,” I began, hoping she wouldn’t be her usual grouchy self, “what do you want me to do first?” She frowned. “Why don’t you sort the reports by department code?” She sounded cross. I thought I heard her stomach growl. I guessed she must be hungry.

9. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION WRITING A STORY POINT OF VIEW Third-Person Point of View Third-person point of view uses “he,”“she,”“they,”“them,” and “their” as well as people’s names. A narrator tells the story, but he or she is more removed from the story than if he or she is using the omniscient point of view. In fact, he or she tells the story from only one character’s point of view, as only that character can observe.

10. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION WRITING A STORY POINT OF VIEW Third-Person Point of View EXAMPLE: She stood there contemplating the stack of sales records they had to compile before they could call it quits for the day. She just wanted to go home, have a quiet dinner with Tom, and curl up with a good book. She looked at Jerod. ‘Lazy rat,’ she thought, ‘he doesn’t even know how to enter the basic data.’ “So what do you want me to do first?” he asked. Krista thought he sounded almost willing to help. She hesitated, looked at him again, frowning, unsure why he seemed so helpful. “Why don’t you sort the reports by department code?” she suggested. Silently, she added, “And we’ll see if you have any idea what you’re doing.”

11. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION WRITING A STORY POINT OF VIEW Limited Third-Person Point of View Similar to third-person point of view, the limited third person uses “he,”“she,”“they” and “them.” The significant difference is that this third-person narrator is not part of the story and cannot read any character’s mind.

12. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION WRITING A STORY POINT OF VIEW Limited Third-Person Point of View EXAMPLE: She stood there looking at the stack of sales records they had to compile before they could call it quits for the day. She looked at Jerod. It was not a friendly look. “So what do you want me to do first?” he asked. She hesitated, looked at him again, frowning. “Why don’t you sort the reports by department code?” she suggested.

13. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION WRITING A STORY POINT OF VIEW Omniscient Third-Person Point of View The all-knowing, all-seeing point of view is almost always that of the author-narrator. Only the author knows all, sees all, understands all. Only he or she can tell what each character thinks, knows, feels.

14. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION WRITING A STORY POINT OF VIEW Omniscient Third-Person Point of View EXAMPLE: Jerot and Krista stood contemplating the stack of sales records to be compiled before they could call it quits for the day. Neither wanted to work late; that was understandable. But Jerot liked to ease back and let Krista assume the real burden. He hoped she’d make quick work of it tonight. Little did he know that Krista resented his mere presence. ‘Lazy rat,’ she thought. ‘He doesn’t even know how to enter the basic data.’ Her stomach growled.

15. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION WRITING A STORY POINT OF VIEW

16. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION WRITING A STORY Selecting POINT OF VIEW Use First-Person Point of View if: _ readers must know your main character’s inner thoughts and feelings in order for the plot to advance. _ your main character is best revealed by your telling the story from his or her vantage point. _ you can best establish the conflict by sharing only your main character’s thoughts.

17. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION WRITING A STORY Selecting POINT OF VIEW Use Third-Person Point of View if: _ using the first-person point of view prevents your showing the main character’s weaknesses. _ your message will be more clear with a narrator, slightly removed from the scene, reporting your main character’s thoughts and actions. _ the objectivity of a narrator will add strength to either the character or your message. _ you can best establish the conflict by sharing only your main character’s thoughts.

18. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION WRITING A STORY Selecting POINT OF VIEW Use Limited Third-Person Point of View if: _ using the first-person point of view prevents your showing the main character’s weaknesses. _ the character is best revealed by permitting readers to observe only what your character does and says. _ suspense builds most effectively because an objective narrator reports what happens. _ your main character’s actions are more important than his or her thoughts.

19. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION WRITING A STORY Selecting POINT OF VIEW Use Omniscient Third-Person Point of View if: _ readers must know your main character’s inner thoughts or feelings in order for the plot to advance. _ using the first-person point of view will prevent your showing the main character’s weaknesses. _ your message is most effective when readers learn how all characters feel. _ you can best further the plot by showing all characters’ thoughts.

20. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION WRITING A STORY Putting it on paper

21. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION WRITING A STORY Putting it on paper 01_ Dialogue 02_ Description 03_ Action 04_ Thought 05_ Exposition

22. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION WRITING A STORY Putting it on paper 01_ Dialogue From Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White, illustrated by Garth Williams and Rosemary Wells

23. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION WRITING A STORY Putting it on paper 02_ Description From Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

24. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION WRITING A STORY Putting it on paper 03_ Action From The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

25. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION WRITING A STORY Putting it on paper 04_ Thought From The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

26. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION WRITING A STORY Putting it on paper 05_ Exposition From The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia I) by C. S. Lewis

27. Writing a script?

28. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION SCRIPTWRITING SCREENPLAY Screenplays are not intended for audiences to read as they would a novel. Rather, they used as a production tool for the director and crewmembers in the development of a film, game, or animation. The screenplay has become the Hollywood standard, which includes several elements such as the slug line, scene description, and dialogue. Font: Courier Size: 12 pt One page corresponds to one minute of screen time.

29. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION SCRIPTWRITING SCREENPLAY INT. or EXT. LOCATION– DAY or NIGHT Slug Line Action description Dialogue

30. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION SCRIPTWRITING Screenplay – Margin settings Page number SLUGLINE: 1.5” to 7.5” Action description: 1.5” to 7.5” CHARACTER NAME: 3.5” Parenthetical: 3.0” to 5.5” Dialogue: 2.5” to 5.5” Transition: 6.0”

31. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION SCRIPTWRITING Screenwriting – How Screenplays Begin and End • AFTERSHOCK • FADE IN: • XXX XXX XX XXX XXX XXX XX XX XX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX • FADE OUT: • THE END • A few lines down from the tip of the first page is the title of the screenplay. It is usually typed in ALL CAPS and centered. It also can be underlined. • The text of every screenplay begins with blank lines (like a blank screen in a movie theater) and must FADE IN: to the first image. Therefore, it is the first words of the screenplay. • Similarly, every screenplay ends with FADE OUT: and THE END

32. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION SCRIPTWRITING Screenwriting – Slug lines (aka scene lines) 1. The StagingINT. for an interior set EXT. for an exterior set 2. The Scene Location 3. The TimeDAY or NIGHTor even DAWN, MORNING, LATE EVENING, MID-AFTERNOON, RUSH HOUR, MINUTES LATER FADE IN: INT. JOE’S APARTMENT, BEDROOM – DAY • is always separated from whatever is above or below it by a single blank line • is always typed in ALL CAPS • should be contained on a single line

33. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION SCRIPTWRITING Screenwriting – Action description (aka Instruction, Directions, Narrative description) • General rules: • are written in standard prose (sentences or fragments) with appropriate punctuation • are written in block paragraphs separated by single blank lines INT. TELEPHONE RELAY STATION – NIGHT WARNER EVANS, late twenties, intense, handsome with closely cropped hair and a neatly trimmed moustache, is working with cool precision at one of the hundreds of banks of wiring terminals. He is dressed in coveralls and wearing thin latex gloves. He reaches into his toolbox and removes a plastic case containing a printed circuit board. He removes the board from the case and, in order to keep his hands free, holds the board gently in his mouth.

34. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION SCRIPTWRITING Screenwriting – Action description (aka Instruction, Directions, Narrative description) • Cover the following: • Sets which establish what décor and props are important to the scene • Characters who are present, how they are dressed and what they are doing • Actions which explain what happens as the characters interact with each other and their environment • Sounds other than dialogue that may be needed.

35. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION SCRIPTWRITING Screenwriting – Action description (aka Instruction, Directions, Narrative description) • VERY IMPORTANT: • You CANNOT tell what has happened or what will happen. You can only convey what is happening at the moment. • You CANNOT provide any biographical, psychological, or situational information unless you can find a visual means to do so (such as a newspaper article, a television program, a computer screen, etc.). INT. TELEPHONE RELAY STATION – NIGHT WARNER EVANS, late twenties, intense, handsome with closely cropped hair and a neatly trimmed moustache, is working with cool precision at one of the hundreds of banks of wiring terminals. He is dressed in coveralls and wearing thin latex gloves. He reaches into his toolbox and removes a plastic case containing a printed circuit board. He removes the board from the case and, in order to keep his hands free, holds the board gently in his mouth.

36. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION SCRIPTWRITING Screenwriting – The Dialogue-block • Evans leans over and kisses Amanda softly, then takes a seat. • EVANS (to the group)Sorry I’m late. This round’s on me. • JACKStuck in that accident on the Pontchartrain Bridge? • EVANSThat. (pointing to the front of his shirt)And these damned studs. You’d think someone would invent a shirt stud that didn’t require four hands to install. • Consists of three components: • the character-name specifies which character is speaking the dialogue • the dialogue reveals what is said by that character • a parenthetical, when necessary, instructs how or to whom the character speaks the dialogue

37. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION SCRIPTWRITING Screenwriting – The Dialogue-block • The Function of Dialogue • to inform • to advance the plot • to reveal emotions and show the nature of persons talking • Giving information • Avoid being too obvious • Use dialogue to reveal the backstory behind the characters or events • Introduce “bounce persons” – the people your characters talk to, someone who can ask the character the right questions

38. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION SCRIPTWRITING Screenwriting – Action description The Dialogue-block • Denotation • Surface meaning. • The most ‘immediate meaning, establishing the ‘bare facts’. • Connotation • Indirect meaning • An additional meaning that is clinging to the first. • the meanings of signs change with time and place. • Positive meanings can become negative and vise versa. • Culture-specific

39. CA2012 STORYTELLINGFOR COMMUNICATION SCRIPTWRITING Reference: Bowles, Stephen E., Ronald Mangravite, and Peter A. Zorn, Jr. The Screenwriter’s Manual: A Complete Reference of Format and Style. New York: Pearson, 2006. Sorenson, Sharon. How to Write Short Stories. New Jersey: Thompson, 2002.