Week Six

This week we were introduced to a screenplay concept completely foreign to me to be honest, Chris taught us about "Scene actions" and "Unit actions" and explained the difference between the two.
A screenplay is made up of many scenes, each with it's own story action (scene action).
A scene is made up of one or more units, each with it's own story action (unit action).

The scenes of a screenplay are usually divided in to smaller, more manageable sections called units which are usually named after either what the characters are doing or wanting. This is done so we don't miss any key points and can explore sub-text.
Units can usually be found where a new action begins and where it ends, Chris referred to these moments as ''beats" which is when there is usually a change in emotion or mood. It defines the action and not the subject matter, I am still trying to wrap my head around it so to speak.
Scene actions and unit actions are psychological actions, NOT physical actions! We use strong verbs to describe them so as actors know how we the director is interpreting the script and there is no confusion as to what we are trying to extract out of them in terms of their performance, we have to be specific. (Usually the unit action is written in pencil on the right hand side of the script as it can change).

The class watched a scene from Ridley Scott's "Gladiator", and this is what we came up with:
Scene story (Psychological) - "Caesar pleads with Maximus for the future of Rome".
Key moments - "Let us sit & talk as men".
Maximus talks about his home.
Caesar "I want you to be protector of Rome"

 During all those key moments or beats, the emotion changed to suit the situation and the actors were entirely convincing and believable which I put down to great screen direction more than being great actors (which they are and it helps I know).

Like I mentioned at the start of this blog, this was the first I had heard of this concept and it's a bit tricky but I think I get it in theory, in practice is another matter all together though. So I may have to do some more research in to it and try applying it in to my scriptwriting as well.

We also briefly covered the archetypal story structure of the hero's journey as apposed to the traditional three act structure. The hero's journey is split in to four or more acts instead of three.

• Orphan - Ventures out alone.
• Wanderer - Obstacles.
• Warrior - Takes action.
• Martyr - Prepared to sacrifice himself.

Christopher Vogler maps it out more precisely here in this diagram of the "Hero's Journey"- http://www.dramatica.com/theory/articles/vogler-plot.html .

So as far as directing goes there's much to think about right now, almost feel like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole...just wonder how far it goes?