Storytelling foundations
By Brett Oppegaard
Washington State University – Vancouver
Creative Media and Digital Culture 354.02 Digital Storytelling (Fall 2010)
What are the 6 elements of drama?
As defined by Aristotle in “Poetics”
• Plot – What happens in the play, “arrangement of the incidents,” with
beginning, middle and end
• Characters – Who carries out those actions, also symbolic, and
interwoven with the plot
• Thought – What those actions mean symbolically, the theme(s)
• Diction – How those characters express themselves, from language to
dialogue to delivery
• Song – More than just music, the rhythm and melody of speech as well
• Spectacle – Visual support ... scenery, costumes, special effects
What are the 7 plots?
As defined by British literary critic Christopher Booker
• Tragedy – Flawed hero meets tragic end, MacBeth
• Comedy – Happy ending, romanticism, A Midsummer Night's Dream
• “Overcoming a monster” – Toppling all-powerful evil, Frankenstein
• “Voyage and return” – Leaving home, returning changed. Alice in
Wonderland
• “The Quest” – Mission/mission accomplished, or not, Lord of the Rings
• “Rags to Riches” – The Horatio Alger myth
• “Rebirth” – Central character is transformed, A Christmas Carol
Hemingway's 6-word story
“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
Complication. Resolution.
All people have basic needs, such as food, water, shelter, love,
companionship, etc., which leads to complications and
endlessly interesting resolutions
What are the 45 master characters?
As defined by American screenwriter Victoria Lynn Schmidt
Female heroes / villains
•
Aphrodite – Seductive muse / Femme fatale
•
Artemis – Amazon / Gorgon
•
Athena – Father's daughter / Backstabber
•
Demeter – Nurturer / Overcontrolling mother
•
Hera – Matriarch / Scorned woman
•
Hestia – Mystic / Betrayer
•
Isis – Messiah / Destroyer
•
Persephone – Maiden / Troubled teen
What are the 45 master characters?
As defined by American screenwriter Victoria Lynn Schmidt
Male heroes / villains
•
Apollo – Businessman / Traitor
•
Ares – Protector / Gladiator
•
Hades – Recluse / Warlock
•
Hermes – Fool / Derelict
•
Dionysus – Woman's man / Seducer
•
Osiris – Messiah / Punisher
•
Poseidon – Artist / Abuser
•
Zeus – King / Dictator
What are the 45 master characters?
As defined by American screenwriter Victoria Lynn Schmidt
Supporting cast
•
Friends – Magi, mentor, best friend, lover
•
Rivals – Joker, jester, nemesis, investigator, pessimist, psychic
•
Symbols – Shadow, lost soul, double
Foundations
•
Protagonist
•
Antagonist
•
Setting
•
Complication
•
Passage of time / chronology
•
Denouement
•
Wolfe's four devices:
Point of view / scene by scene construction / dialogue / status life