TIPS TO SCREENPLAY STORY WRITING



STORY/PLOT
A story is the series of casual events as they occur in chronological order, presumed duration and frequency. The relationships are directly implied as a cause and effect relationship; and a temporal relationship. The natural order of a story is for the events that constitute it to run from the beginning, through the middle, to the end.


The plot, on the other hand, is the order in which the story events [i.e. the event that constitutes the story] are presented in the work. The plot orders need not to be the natural order of beginningàmiddleàend. More often than not, it could be any of

Beginning-->end--> middle.
Middle-->end-->beginning
Middle-->beginning-->end
End-->middle-->beginning
End-->beginning-->middle

In other words, story events are juggled out of their chorological order. From the plot order, we can always work out the natural/story order.

In structuring story/plot, the critical areas of focus are causality, temporal relations, motivations, parallelism, and patterns of development.

Causality; the agents of cause and effect are;
[a] human characters.
[b] The supernatural [wizards/witches, vampires. God, as in ten commandment; gods as in ose sango]
[c] The natural [earthquakes, landslides, tidal waves as in volcano]
[d] Animals [jaws, King Kong]; and
[e] Social causes [as in one flew over the cuckoo’s nest and economic depressions; in the grapes of wrath].


THE NARRATIVE
The narrative occurs immediately before or after the dialogue. For practical purposes, we can define it as what the camera or audience sees-as opposed to what the camera/audience hears. Thus, the narrative is the description of the action, the setting and the character. The narrative is to the screen play what the stage direction is to stage play. The format of the narrative has been standardized.
1. The narrative is always written in present tense “as though the writer were describing an action that is actually taking place”.
2. Phrases/incomplete sentences may be used in the narrative. In fiction writing, the writer can be as discursive and prolix as he desires. He can afford to characterize action by use of similes, tropes and poetic comparisons. But in screen play writing, the purpose of description is not to give reading pleasure but to impact information. There fore, all descriptions must be absolutely direct. The narrative should be brief and to the point; it needs not be a complete sentences.
3. The narrative should be confined to only what appeals to the eye not the ear or the mind. Whatever the camera cannot record has no place within the narrative. Thus, whereas the playwright in writing his directions could go into his character’s mind only where it is possible for such thoughts to be shown on the screen.
4. A character making his/her first appearance in the narrative should be briefly described. Such a description should of course, tap on his/her physical appearance and his character.


CHARACTERIZATION

We think of characters in a screen play in terms of their actions and the consequences of their actions, which is to say that we think of them as major or minor characters; as well developed or not. All this is from the point of view of the audience, i.e. when we encounter such characters on the screen. A different situation arises when the screen play writer builds up or packages the characters in his play. True action and character become indistinguishable, meaning, that for all practical purposes, the best way he can portray character is by illustrative action. However, he works essentially with character traits. When such traits are put in a cause-effect relationship with illustrative or revealing actions, a real and interesting character is born, a character with whom the audience can empathize.

The screen character is an aggregate of three broad traits; body, voice and motivation.
BODY VOICE MOTIVATION

Control accent age
Costume intensity education
Facial expressions pitch environment
Gestures range ethnic background
Hair style rhythm expertise
Make up singing habits handicaps
Walk speaking habits illness
Tempo physical size
Timbre religion
Self image

DIALOGUE
A writer should write a scene as the camera’s eye or audience will see it.

Every dialogue on the screen must do at least one of the following;
1 presents an immediate problem
2 reveal character
3 advance the plot and
4 provide exposition


SETTING
Setting has been graphically defined as a container for the action, which is to say that the story, the characters, their dialogue do not occur in a void. They occur in [specific] places, in a setting.
On the screen or stage, setting becomes much more than a mere container for the action. It becomes an indistinguishable part of the action. The human being is all important in the theatre. The drama on the screen can exist without actors. A banging door, a leaf in the wind, waves beating on a sea shore, can heighten the dramatic effect. Some film masterpiece use man only as an accessory, like an extra, or in counterpoint to nature, which is the true leading character

FUNCTION OF PLACE/SETTING;
Placed setting has four important functions;

[a] lends credibility to the story
[b] Creates the proper mood and atmosphere.
[c] Reinforces the significance of whatever is being said/done

In the film adaptation of Shakespeare’s merchant of Venice, Anthony and shylock contract of a pound of flesh is played out against a busy row of butchers’ stalls. The impact was simply stunning.
[d] Setting can be used to create props, perhaps the best example of this remains the murder scene in psycho, the shower curtain is at first an innocuous part of the setting but it serves as a scene for the murderer and as a wrap for the victim’s body.

UGWUJA GEORGE
+2348038843041

The Birth of Zowetho

SPEECHLESS; it’s an epic fiction about love and unity. It potrays an inexisting names and a rich cultural ingenuit based in an African context. Two brother cities ZOWEN AND LOSATHO were separated over the years. They now have separate kings and celebrates occasion separately. Not withstanding their originating from the same father. Zibara has been struggling for thirty four years to reconcile the affairs of this brother cities, but to no avail. He was getting old and it sounds to him as an unachievable task. He shed his tears and prayed to the god of their fore fathers.
The prince of [prince jimmy dean] of ZOWEN returns from Spain where he went to read foreign arts and got engaged to the beautiful princess of LOSATHO [ princess ketuya].now, the prime minister from the government town wants to marry princess ketuya. but, it is an abomination for a man without a royal background to mary a princess in LOSATHO. It was an ugly situation because the prime minister was desperate to inherit ketuya’s beauty so,he planned for abduction.
Now, the two kings had to come together to send their worriors to the government town. Is it an answered prayer to Zibara? or are there going to be tragedies as even the prince of ZOWEN prince jimmy dean escaped to the government town in search of his love………did the two cities come together to become ZOWE-THO or did Zibara die before the next season of sherry tyrell festival? [georgeoadverts@yahoo.com. +2348038843041]

Condy's Mistake

NOVEL WRITING; this is where we talk about publications. Book reviews are done here and publishers are invited to come to this category and pick interesting stories and talented writers to work with. You can also write in your view in publication business as articles in this category could be forwarded to publication houses.


UNPUBLISHED; …. unlike other days, no figure would be seen in school till thirty minutes before the resume time. But today, condison heard footsteps. I believe it should be the ugly skeleton. It has been killing for generations, yet not satisfied.
Condison listened again for twenty seconds, but could not hear even a single shake. The breeze also stopped shaking the flowers. There was total calmness everywhere. He now consoled himself that he misapprehended the fall of a leaf to a footstep. He would not finish, when he heard a controlled sneeze. “should it be the ugly skeleton?” condison was at alart and so many things crossed his mind. “should it be those killers my father arrested their fellow, should it be just a thief, do I believe in ghosts?. All these and lots more was in his mind when he unintentionally made an audible statement “I must know what this may be” when he finished, he realized he has made an implicating move. He blinked his eyes, to beat away sweats from his eyebrows. As he raised his leg to walk, he uncontrollably brought it back to it’s origin. He was still in that state when suddenly the footsteps increased and a cry was heard.
“condison..condison! where are you?” the caller, no doubt has been crying for long; for the voice is filled with fear and terror. Maybe that ugly skeleton has victimized someone. That ugly fool, or was it about doing so?. Then, codinson must act fast to save a life or to fall a victim. which ever………
[This is a sharp extract from my mouth gaping suspense filled 116 page high school story. for the purpose of security, I will stop here. If interested, you can write or call through georgeoadverts@yahoo.com +2348038843041

WRITING TIPS

FILM WRITING; Are you really talented?. Do you want to be a screen play story writer? Well, I can give you the tips. The plotting, characterization, setting and even the screenplaying. It’s fun. believe me, you will enjoy it. Ok, if you want to write about the master and his slave then, you will be the master and also the slave. Two people in one body. You must be what you want to write. Never mind if you raise your shoulders while writing the part of the king, and shading tears in the part of the slave. you are just possessed. You could be in such emotions for days, it’s strange. I’ll tell you more if you want.




MUSIC WRITING; It takes more than a fine voice to be a singer. Sometimes music writing could be a talent given to someone that does not have a good voice. so also, someone with a fine voice might not know how to drop music lines that could teach the listeners. so, for equilibrium to be achieved in the system, there must be mutualism. This is a category where singers can source for their lines and writers could also bake their cake here. you can translate your song to any language, you can also feat an international artiste by applying in this category.
It also has a format. The verses, refrain, chorus. There are lots of tips. You can send in your questions or views.


MUSIC WRITE UP;
VERSE.

I’VE BEEN TRYIN TO LET HER BE MY WIFE
COS SHE’S THE ONE THAT I NEEDED IN MY LIFE
EVEN AS SHE THINKS THAT I’M HERE TO PLAY HER GAMES
I’M HERE TO LET HER KNOW THAT MEN ARE NOT THE SAME
BUT SHE SAID SHE NEEDED A SERIOUSE LOVER BOY
A LOVER BOY THAT SHE CAN TRUST
I WON’T STAY TO LET HER WALK AWAY
I WON’T LET HER WALK AWAY FROM ME
EVEN AS SHE THINKS THAT I’M NOT MAN ENOUGH
I’LL DO ANY THING TO MAKE HER SARTISFIED.

CHORUS

MY BABY TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT
ANY THING YOU WANT
BABY TELL ME WHAT YOU NEED
I’LL DO ANYTHING…..FOR YOU
TELL ME WHAT YOU NEED
ANYTHING YOU NEED.

VERSE
I GUESS I SHOULD TELL YOU HOW I FEEL ABT YOU
EVEN IF YOU DOUBT IT, I’LL NEVER ARGUE
BABY YOU SHOULD HAVE TRUSTED ME
YOU SAID YOU WANTED ME TO GO AWAY
YOU NEVER THOUGHT OF ALL THE CIRCUMSTANCES
THAT I WILL FACE
IF YOU LET ME WALK AWAY
BABY WHAT AGAIN CAN I SAY
YOU BETTER GO AWAY
I DON NEED YOU NO MORE
………BRIDGE………..
YOU BETTER GO AWAY
I DON NEED YOU NO MORE
COS YOU NEVER WANA TELL ME HOW YOU FEEL
OOOOOOOOHHHHH

CHORUS AGAIN.

…………………
…………………

COMEDY SCRIPTS

MY COMEDY; Tom and John were two funny teenagers. I would say they are from my town. They were coming home from school when luckily they saw John’s uncle driving home from lagos. “that’s my new car, jump in …jump in” that was uncle Zik’s words as he wined down his side glass. The boys opened the door and wanted to enter “hei” John shouted. They saw that the car inside was very beautiful and decided to remove their legs from their sandals. They left their sandals on the road and entered the car. Uncle Zik took them on the one mile journey home and when they alaited at home, they started rushing back bare footed to pick their sandals; but, would they find it? What else happened?. Well, these boys did a lot of things more. I wrote the story last year and I have a preview of it on a VHS tape. You can reach me for negotiations…..
UGWUJA GEORGE
+2348038843041


FILM WRITING; Are you really talented?. Do you want to be a screen play story writer? Well, I can give you the tips. The plotting, characterization, setting and even the screenplaying. It’s fun. believe me, you will enjoy it. Ok, if you want to write about the master and his slave then, you will be the master and also the slave. Two people in one body. You must be what you want to write. Never mind if you raise your shoulders while writing the part of the king, and shading tears in the part of the slave. you are just possessed. You could be in such emotions for days, it’s strange. I’ll tell you more if you want.

OUR BITER KOLA PLANTATION

OUR BITTER KOLA PLANTATION.

LOCALITY; in the part of Africa where I come from, my village was said to be blessed by the gods; according to my grand father. The gods made their soil viable for growth of bitter kola trees. This locality among others, were engaged into farming with the plantation of palm trees, bitter kola trees as their major farm trees. Within the eighteenth century, my great grand father who was known to be a great farmer and a researcher was clearing a virgin thick forest for the cultivation of an African classic yam called water yam [aballa]. He was absorbed into the work with a concept of sparing some trees every ten meters of his advancement. He was sparing those trees as it would create a climbing environment for those water yam buds. According to him, he discovered that most of these trees he spared had the same color of leaves and nature of growth. He also observed that the same variety of insects including the honey bees were seen hanging around in every part of it. He discovered that the grown ones amongst them developed beautiful round green balls that turn pale and some dark red when ripped.
He ignored these fruits arguing that it is just one of the thick forest monkey fruits. Not until his first son (Alekeja) whom he knew to be an adventuress came with a calabash of roasted yam and red palm oil. He greeted the father as he kept the food and rushed to pick this fallen seed. Agere (his father) shouted on him to desist as children of his age were not allowed to go into virgin forests because of reptiles. He insisted in picking a seed and rushing out to a cleared place to explore the seed. He first of all admired the seed as he broke it. The soft liquid filled tissue inside attracted his system and he started salivating. His father who now seated in an anthill to enjoy his meal warned him not to taste the one that will kill him. He ignored his father and went behind a grown iroko tree to stay out of his father’s sight. He first of all inserted his tongue on this tissue but realized it’s sour. He wanted to spit out but realized it was sweet at last.
He also discovered that in between the tissue are the seed. He detached the seed and started rolling it on the sand to reveal its true shape and color. He was amazed to discover a medicinal seed which some strange traders from the west have brought to their exchange place in exchange of their livestock and palm oil. He rushed to his father shouting that he has discovered the seed which they popularly called IGOGORO.
His father out of mixed emotions collected the seed and bit it into two as the taste is the only distinguishing factor. He was filled with joy when he realized it was true;
Agere first of all threatened his son not to mention the discovery to any man at home, not until they were able to clear all the sides of the forest that contained the trees. He dropped his food, he also involved his son as he was now sure of a reptile free forest knowing full well that the seed is an anti snake seed. They went deep into the forest and marked the end of the trees which is now their major target.
Within the month, they worked all day to clear the bitter kola forest and he always tranquilized his son (ALEKEJA) with palm wine so he could stay at home and avoid interaction with his play pals. In the next farming season, AGERE has become a wealthy man as people came from miles away to exchange their livestock to this wonder fruit known as bitter kola.
FARMS; when agere died, my grand father migrated with his fathers wives and children to the bitter kola farm. They lived there to take care of the farm. But one strange thing still required an audience. They wanted to enlarge the farm but in each occasion, any of its trees grown outside the primary location will dry away. He was only able to develop other trees around the old ones and fruitless ones.

Why can’t the bitter kola tree survive in other farms? His friends also wanted to establish their own kola nut farms but could not culture the bitter kola trees. It now becomes a question of why? Well, my grand father was not able to explain the reason without adding some spiritual inclinations; that the seed is sacred and should not be too common to be looked down on. Up till date, we are still leaving within the farm and recycling without exceeding the farm limit.
TREES; in our farm, the bitter kola trees has its limit of growth. It grows into full tree with plenty of branches that carries its evergreen leaves. It creates shade within some fifteen meters of its stand and creates a nice home for birds and squirrels. We have also taken note of the fact that within the corners of its growth, no snake will be found crawling, no matter how bushy. This is only a study of my grand father’s farm and did not apply to any bitter kola farm around the world. This reason was because of its seeds falling around the trees as it has a round the year period of seed production.
SEEDS; the seeds develop under the cover of its ball like flesh that has a succulent tissue inside. Depending on its formations, one ball might contain four, three, two or even one seed inside but the philosophy is that the higher the number of seeds per ball, the smaller the seeds and vise versa. There could be a purposefully harvesting of these balls, whereby we climb and pluck them but that was done only when we had urgent monetary needs. But naturally, the balls got ripped and falls conveniently which now reduces the job to picking and braking.

PROCESSING; my great grand father conceived a method of processing the seed, and ever since, we have not desisted from the style.
After picking it from the trees, we went home and spread it all over our compound. The children and even with their mother would be braking it with their pistil. After the braking, the seeds which are attached to the tissues will be removed. After every basket full, we moved them to a corner where we dug pits. We poured the seeds on the pit and now spread a lot of ash from our fire wood coking place.
The effect of the ash is to cause friction which guarantees easy breakdown and decay of the slippery tissues. This pit will favorably be covered by the sand we dug out of it. This is to curse easy decay. After four days, we dig it up from the pit and start to press out the seeds from the tissue. The seeds would be taken to the stream where we washed it clean. We subsequently spread it in the sun to dry it and now packaged it in sacks for sale.
LIFE SPAN; the already processed bitter-kola has no definite life span. I can say that a healthy bitter kola seed can last for five years and still retain its medicinal value. The longer it stays, it dries up and the seed shrinks. The shrinking is due to lost of water molecules in it but the active ingredients will still undoubtedly be there. In some cases, we would store the seed when the exchange value was low till when it appreciates.
USES
Medicine; in my locality, biter kola was valued immensely because of its sophisticated uses. It’s a must have for every family in my domain.
Sour throat; In the treatment of cough,. A cough patient in my locality will just throw a seed of biter kola in his mouth and will be going about his daily activities. This leads to slow extraction of the juice which fights cough seriously.
If in a critical situation, the biter kola seed will be roasted on fire and ground into powder. The black powder will be mixed with palm kernel oil or honey and the patient leaks the paste, it fights the cough immediately.
; the local singers who sings in local gatherings in my locality takes bitter kola before going for such events. This clears their throat and increases their vocal production.
Snake/dog bites; when a dangerous animal bites you in my locality, the first medication given to you will be bitter kola. This undoubtedly subsidizes the reaction of the venom by enhancing the function of your antibodies.
It is also spread within the compound of every home as it wards of snakes.
Menstrual regulation; a woman with menstrual disorders takes a bite of biter kola and the problem are settled. More especially, if there is a delay of menstruation, the woman eats a seed or two of biter kola and menstruations might start where she was standing.
Stomach ache/ ulcer; bitter kola was used to cure stomach problems by just chewing to your satisfaction. It is also used in the attraction of dirt. When you drop a seed of biter kola inside impure water, the dirt in the water starts to accumulate around the seed leaving other sides of the bowel considerably neat. There is thousand and one medicinal use of biter kola. It can be administered to anybody, no matter the age. The only side effect is temporal disorder of the taste bud but is restored within few minutes.
Anti toxin; judging with the African context, a traditional African witch doctor can manipulate some herbs and while given to anybody inside food or wine, the person dies out of the poison. This toxin has defiled even foreign medications but a person with one seed of bitter kola in his mouth can eat the poison without being harmed. This is however, the only means of succeeding these diabolic poisons. My grand father lived over hundred years with the help of his bitter kola farm which was part of his daily routine. He escaped the attack of these witch doctors and their patronizers by always having some seeds of bitter kola in his possession everywhere he went to.


CULTURE:
In Nigeria where I belong, the Igbo tribe is known with rich cultural diversity they try to keep the behavior of their four fathers without digging to find out the economic benefits of such acts. It is a respect of pride and continuity.
In marriage events, bitter kola is used as a welcome and acceptance conduct. Any family you enters that presented bitter kola to you assures your safety and humane acceptance of your personality. It is exchanged during marriages, funeral rites, coronation ceremonies, naming ceremonies, house dedication etc. up till date, the use of bitter kola can not be overemphasized, I keep asking, are there no research institutes that could give us a breakdown of the active ingredients in bitter kola. I can stand in to supply materials from our farm. For those that know and use the contents of bitter kola in their pharmaceutical productions, I can supply you the product. It is right there in my grandfather’s farm.
Ugwuja George

A TRUE LIFE STORY

I started writing when I was very tender and have not had much of formal education. It was my eleventh birthday and I wanted to surprise my family and friends with a short story of my past and what I would love to be in the future. After locking myself up in my brothers room; where I believed would create a beautiful environment for concentration and inspiration, I came out with a little piece I called my foundation story.

As my cousin stood up to read it in the midst of eleven people, all eyes were on me and I started sweating on my palms even as the quietness of the room marveled me. As he finished, there were echos of laughter and my spirit was filled with joy. Suddenly, my brother summoned quietness and asked me if I knew why they were laughing. I simply answered with certainty “because my story is interesting”. He discarded my answer saying that I wrote grammatical blunders. For me, I was not discouraged, I vowed to be a writer hence my first story made eleven people to laugh out of control. I did not care why they were laughing, all I knew was that I entertained my eleven quests on my birthday with my story.