Story-Telling Unit: Research - Ingredients of a script & story

Ingredients for a script:

- Characters
- Locations
- Sounds
- Story
- Plot
- Theme


Ingredients for a story:

- Goal
- Problem to overcome
- Change



GOAL

- This will be the main goal of the protagonist. (Something they haven't got/ need to solve/ need to find)
- Great story-telling involves a goal that's no longer wanted.

PROBLEM

- The story must have a problem(s) for the protagonists to overcome. The problem might be a goal. But there should be problems all the way.

CHANGE

- By the end of the story we have a change of affairs.
- The "world" we understand at the start must be different by the end.
-Your protagonist must change.






STORY

- What idea gives you the best gut reaction?
- Who is it about? What? When? Where? Why? How?
- Is it dramatic? Can I dramatise it in a series of scenes?
- Look for the unpredictable, the original, uniqueness?
- Do I feel strongly about the story? Will an audience care about it? Is it something I know I should care about (war, homelessness) but don't truly?




Wilkinson's Wrap Up:

Basically, a story cannot function without the three ingredients. Your goal allows the viewer to understand what they are watching. Your problem can create drama; tension; conflict, it depends on the genre of the product and what the content is. the change is the result of your problem: has the entire diegesis changed? or just one characters' life?

When writing ideas, constantly think of how it's looking: what's your gut reaction? If it's going nowhere   or you're not 100% feeling it, scrap it.