The Art of Drama

1
The Art of Drama

• Drama is the word we use when we want to indicate
  that we are studying something, like plays or
  screenplays, in the written form when it is
  really intended for performance.
• The written form of the play or film will give
  important instructions to the director or others
  involved with the production that may not be
  apparent to the audience during the performance.

2
Theme

• What is the main (or one of the main) ideas or
  lessons that the writer is trying to convey to
  the audience through the play that would be
  relevant to the audience members lives?
• How do the elements of the play work to convey
  this idea or lesson?

3
Stage Directions

• In a play, these instructions are called stage
  directions.
• They may include
• References to set and props
• Directions or actions for actors
• Lighting changes
• In a film, these may include camera angles or
  changes, as well.

4
Difference Between Drama and Fiction

• A main difference between drama and fiction is
  that in drama, the action must be carried out
  largely by the dialogue and actions of the
  characters. In fiction, this can be helped along
  by the narrative point of view.

5
Similarities Between Drama and Fiction

• There are a number of similarities between drama
  and fiction
• The settings are equally important and likely to
  be equally symbolic.
• Characters will have the same general functions
• In a play, the main character is the protagonist,
  while the character who opposes the protagonist
  is the antagonist
• The characters will have motivation, or an
  incentive or reason for their behavior
• Sometimes the characters will have a flaw or
  defect, called hamartia, and that defect will
  often lead to the characters downfall.

6
Similarities, continued

• Dramas, like works of fiction, will rely heavily
  on plot to communicate the story and theme.
• The common pattern of most dramas is depicted in
  Freytags Pyramid, below

7
Freytags Pyramid

• A German critic, Gustave Freytag, derived his
  pyramid from Aristotles concept of unity.
• Basically, a plot will present a problem or
  conflict that will need to be resolved by its
  end.
• The play provides the audience with needed
  information in the beginning of the play,
  generally called exposition, and then increase
  the dramatic tension with various plot
  complications.
• As the action rises to its climax, the point of
  highest tension, the audience anticipates the
  resolution.

8
Another Version of the Pyramid

• Barbara F. McManus, professor of classics emerita
  at the College of New Rochelle, has created an
  alternate diagram of the pyramid.

9
Questions for Analyzing a Plot (Understanding
Movies, pages 332-337)

• What does the exposition include?
• What are the rising plot points or twists?
• What, where, or when is the climax?
• How does the film get resolved? Is that
  resolution satisfying to viewers? Why or why not?

10
Setting

• Physical Location and Cultural Background
• How does the playwright use the setting to convey
  character traits, theme, conflict, or irony?
• How or why is the cultural or physical
  environment important to the readers
  understanding of the play?
• How important is the setting to the play as a
  whole?

11
Style

• Imagery, symbolism, sentence structure, or type
  of dialogue by characters (soliloquy or asides)
• Are characters distinguished from each other by
  their stylestheir use of imagery, diction, and
  sentence structure?
• How does the playwright use language to develop
  characters or to convey them?
• Does the playwright use any structural devices to
  convey meaning? How?

12
Character

• People created by writer (and actors during the
  performance)
• Main character protagonist
• Protagonists opposing force antagonist
• Motivation, personality, physical description

13
Questions for Character Analysis

• What type of characters are presented? Are they
  stereotypes or individuals? Dynamic or static? If
  they are dynamic, how do they change and grow?
  How is their depth or complexity revealed by the
  writer?
• What does the dialogue tell us about the
  characters? Does it individualize them? Do stage
  directions contribute to this process?
• How does the writer impart to the audience the
  thoughts, feelings,, and ideas of the characters?
• What are the characters motivations? What
  actions reveal the characters traits,
  personalities, or motivations?

14
Sources

• Field, Syd. Screenplay The Foundations of
  Screenwriting. New York Dell Publishing,
  1994.
• Henderson, Gloria and William Day and Sandra
  Waller. Literature and Ourselves. New York
  HarperCollins College Publishers, 1994.
• Giannetti, Louis. Understanding Movies.
  Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey Prentice Hall,
  1999.
• Internet Movie Database. http// www.imdb.com
• Niccol, Andrew. Gattaca. Dir. Andrew Niccol.
  Sony Pictures, 1994.