What is Plot?
Story is bigger than the plot itself – things tht occurred before the film started/after
- Plot is the actual arrangement of incidents that occurs in the film
- It is not the story itself, but the way the incidents are presented to the audience
- The structure of the play
- The most important feature of tragedy.
Beginning
- The incitive moment
- It must start the cause and effect chain.
Middle
- Climax
- It must be caused by earlier incidents and itself cause the incidents that follow it.
No longer accurately followed in modern stories (now its usually at the end)
End
- Resolution
- Must be caused by the preceding events but not lead to other incidents
- The end should resolve the problem created during the incitive moment.
Episodic Plots
- According to Aristotle, the worst kinds of plots
- The acts (episodes) succeed one another without the probability or necessity
- The only thing tying together the events in such a plot is the fact that they happen to the same person
Simple and Complex Plots
SIMPLE:
- Simple has only a “change of fortune”
COMPLEX:
- Complex has a reversal of intention “peripeteia” (when things change) and recognition “anagnorisis” (moment of recognition) connected with the catastrophe.
Things have changed – something that worked one way now works another way.
Character
- Character supports plot
- Personal motivations are connected to the cause-and-effect chain
- The protagonist in a tragedy should be renowned and prosperous (rich and famous), so his change can be from good to bad.
(the fall is greater for the rich and famous as opposed to taking things away from someone who is poor)
- (main character is not evil, still morally acceptable, still the hero, just tht he has a flaw. Something about him tht he doesn’t understand about the world and cos of tht he’s gonna be punished a.k.a “hamartia”[when the character doesn’t know enough]) – In the ideal tragedy, the protagonist will mistakenly bring about his own downfall – not becos his is sinful or weak – but becos he does not know enough
- this lack of self-knowledge is called “hamartia”
3 Act Structure
Advantage of working in three act structure is it breaks down the story and makes it more manageable
- 1st act: set up
- story begins with a goal-oriented character introduced at a point of crisis
- the character meets roadblocks produced by the plot and antagonist
someone wants something and its hard to get it – most movies
- 2nd act: confrontation
- action intensifies
- an event happens which forces the character to make his or her choice.
- 3rd act: resolution
- level of effort rises to new heights
- both plot and character is resolved
- but the main character either achieves or does not achieves his goal (essentially, the character can lose)
Super Vocabulary
- katharsis – emotional release that the audience experiences
- mimesis – imitation of the real world in art and literature
- anagnorisis – moment of recognition
- perepeteia – when things change from good to bad
- hamartia – lack of self-knowledge
When and Where was Aristotle Born
• Born on 384-322 B.C.E., in Stagira in North Greece.
What was Aristotle’s Poetics
• It was a much-disdained book in response to his teacher, Plato, who argues in The Republic that poetry is representation of mere appearances and is thus misleading and morally suspect.
What is the definition of Greek tragedy?
• Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its katharsis of such emotions. . . . Every Tragedy, therefore, must have six parts, which parts determine its qualityﾑnamely, Plot, Characters, Diction, Thought, Spectacle, Melody
• http://www.cnr.edu/home/bmcmanus/poetics.htm l
What is an example of a movie or a play that follows Aristotle’s definition of tragedy? Explain your selection.
• An example of a movie would be “Forbidden Planet” (1956)
• Forbidden Planet follows Aristotle’s rules for tragedy. A great man is brought down by a single tragic flaw ﾑ his belief in his moral superiority, which supposedly follows his intellectual superiority. The same flaw destroyed the “noble Krell” as well. And, as Aristotle preferred, the story takes place over 20 years, yet is told almost entirely through exposition. (http://www.answers.com/topic/forbidden-planet-film)
Seek out and find Aristotle’s 6 required parts of a tragedy.
(ranked in order of importance)
I. PLOT
o Most important feature of tragedy
o Defined as “the arrangement of the incidents”
II. CHARACTER
o Supports the plot
o Must be able to evoke pity and fear in the audience
Seek out and find Aristotle’s 6 required parts of a tragedy.
III. THOUGHT
o Found “ where something is proved to be or not to be, or a general maxim is enunciated”
o Includes ‘themes’ of a play
IV. DICTION
o “expression of the meaning in words” which are proper and appropriate to the plot, characters and end of the tragedy
Seek out and find Aristotle’s 6 required parts of a tragedy.
V. SONG OR MELODY
o The musical element of the chorus
o Aristotle argues that the Chorus should be fully integrated into the play like an actor
o Should contribute to the unity of the plot
VI. SPECTACLE
o the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet
What is the “cause-and-effect” chain?
o Relates what may happen – what is possible according to the law of probability or necessity
o Beginning – incentive moment, must start the cause-and-effect chain
o The middle, or climax, must be caused by earlier incidents and itself cause the incidents that follow it
What is the “cause-and-effect” chain?
o The end, or resolution, must be caused by the preceding events but not lead to other incidents outside the compass of the play.
o E.g. In tragedy, it imitates not only a complete action, but also events inspiring fear or pity
How can a good plot create a “unity of action”?
o Structurally self-contained
o Incidents bound together by internal necessity
o Each action leading inevitably to the next with no outside intervention.
o Do not have to add in things that do not make a visible difference to the story.
What is the responsibility of characters in an Aristotelian tragedy?
• The characters of an Aristotelian tragedy are the second most important feature to the tragedy. The responsibility of the characters in an Aristotelian tragedy is to support the plot.
• For the characters to efficiently carry out the plot, these are the essential qualities to be considered.
• - Morally fine
• - Suitability to their roles
• - Realistic
• - Consistency of their personality
• - The necessity of having them
• - They should be represented as perfect, or at least better than reality
Aristotle originated the concept of the three act structure. What is it, and how does it apply to scriptwriting?
• The three act structure consists of a beginning, a middle and an end. According to Aristotle, every story should follow this structure.
• The Beginning introduces the audience to the setting, the characters, the situation they are in and their goal/aim.
• The Middle is when complications arise. Every problem the characters encounter is temporarily resolved. But it will all lead up to the biggest problem in the whole story, the climax.
• The End is where the loose strings in the story are tied up and the climax gets resolved. We will also see how the climax has affected the characters here. Because it is hard to sustain interest from audience for a long time after the climax, the story should end here.
• Similarly in scriptwriting, there should be a Beginning, Middle and an End. This is because a story should start from somewhere and end at somewhere with some things happening in between.
• The Beginning is there as it is essential to have a proper introduction to the audience. The Middle consists of the climax, which is the most affective part of the story. The story revolves around the climax. This is why a script MUST include it. Finally, everyone wants to know what happens in the end, nobody likes to be left hanging there at the climax, so when writing a script, it should be noted that there should be a conclusion.
What is the definition of Anagnorisis?
• It is the point in the plot especially of a tragedy at which the protagonist, who sees himself as a tragic hero, believes he has the supernatural ability to perceive events.
• The moment of recognition or anagnorisis will allow him to comprehend that kind of fate he has entangled himself with.
