Audience engagement through storytelling on social media and mobile apps
A slightly esoteric one this - so what's new?!
Reading a very good book called 'Lines - A brief History' by Tim Ingold which is about the anthropology of lines, threads and traces and covers some very interesting ground about such diverse things as weaving, seafaring, writing, drawing, threads and writing. One of the riffs is about the difference between wayfaring and travelling and it's logical double storytelling and plotting.
Full disclosure: This is glossed from 'Psychology for Screenwriters' by William Indick (see his run of books on Amazon.co.uk) and his chapter is in itself a reworking of The Heroine's Journey by Maureen Murdock (again on Amazon - looks like she does some interesting books on the Father/Daughter relationship too.
So with that out of the way lets take a quick look...
One of my twitter peeps has decided to write a play and posted this wonderful tweet:
Have been planning a play! So, I use the three act structure but in two acts?! Help!
I think that's the least of the screenwriter's troubles when they set out to write a play! There is plenty more to watch out for, but mostly I would encourage new playwrights to think about some of the salient differences between the two, how these differences play out in the writing process, and how EXCITING these differences can make playwrighting...
As I've been writing some fairly traditional work of late I have been taking the time to refresh my understanding of the three act form. Yes, I've been indoctrinated with three act form for many years, but this time round I am looking at it more technically.
The horror genre is a chance to look into the dark heart of human nature - both personal and societal.
At a simple level a horror movies are meant to be scary. The audience must be frightened. This happens through mechanisms of the chase, the capture and the killing of victims. Emotional impact is made through the use of terror, fear and revulsion:
The land of the Hero falls under the shadow of a preternatural Monster. The hero receives a special weapon and goes to battle the monster. After a long hazourdous journey he reaches the monster and engagaes it in battle. Almost killed himself, with a last effort he finally defeats the monster with the aid of his special weapon, frees the kingdom and gets a partner.
I thought I would take a moment to review one of my latest buys: 'The Sequence Approach; The hidden structure of successful screenplays' (Paul Gulino Continuum press, 2004). I bought it at the recommendation of Colin and Jak from the London Scriptwriters Consultancy at one of their excellent 'Soho screenwriters' evenings.
