Joker: Day 2

This morning, please take the first 5-10 minutes to complete the film idea worksheet. Turn this in as participation credit today. If you did not drop off your list of 100 films of all time packet, please do so (late). 

As you continue to watch the film Joker, please take notes on the film analysis sheet provided. We will complete the film next class and discuss it. Notes are due at the end of the screening. Remember: you do not receive credit for disrupting, being distracted with your Chromebooks, or sleeping during the film viewing. 

HOMEWORK: None.

Film Studies (Intro); 100 Films Survey; Joker Script & Screening

Introduction (of sorts): 20 min.

This course is designed to provide you with a wide foundation of Film History and Film Studies, while also giving you experience writing film scripts and film reviews/critiques (as such found in the field of Journalism). By its end, you will understand the art of film hopefully more than you do now, and will gain a better appreciation for the art of filmmaking.

Some of you may like this course of study so much you will take film courses in college, major in film studies, or become professional filmmakers. Others will at least benefit from knowing (and appreciating) the art of film.

This course (as Playwriting) will mostly be found online. Deadlines and assignments (with instructions) will be posted on the blog as needed. Please check the blog daily (even when absent) so you do not fall behind. Written assignments and copies of scripts/terms/materials for this course can be found on our Google Classroom site.

To start this morning, please note the following resources that you will be able to access throughout the course.

Handouts (Film vocabulary/terms; resources; sample script)

• Film Glossary
• IMDB.COM
• IMSDB.COM
• Film Script Format

WRITING TASK: Today, please look at the top 100+ Films of All Time to see which films you have seen. It will serve as a basis for our course.

A. For each film you have personally seen, circle or highlight the title of the film.
B. Count the # of films you have seen personally.
C. In the COMMENT section below make a reflective statement about the top 100 films of all time you have actually seen. 

• How many of the films have you seen?
• How much of a film buff are you? How often do you watch films? Do you like watching films? Why or why not? 
• Would you consider these films to be representative of the best films ever made? Why or why not? What films or filmmakers have been left off? 
• What can you conclude about your experience as a student studying film?

2. Keep the handy handouts throughout this course. You can find extra copies in our Google classroom. We will be using these terms and the vocabulary will help you analyze and criticize films we watch. We'll start using this today!

Around 8:00, let's dive into our film experience. Let's take a look at the script and film Joker. Here's some stats. This course gets very historical and detailed. It's important that:

A. You take notes on the films we watch or screen.
B. You come to class on time and consistently (if you miss a film, you will need to make it up on your own time)
C. And as much as I hate to say this, please watch the films. Putting your head down, falling asleep, disrupting class by talking during a film screening, or reading/interacting with your internet while screening a film will cause you to lose participation during class.

PREMISE: In Gotham City, mentally troubled comedian Arthur Fleck is disregarded and mistreated by society. He then embarks on a downward spiral of revolution and bloody crime. This path brings him face-to-face with his alter-ego: the Joker.

Director:

 Todd Phillips (known for producing A Star is Born, 2018; Wardogs, 2016; The Hangover, parts 1, 2, 3; Starsky & Hutch, 2004)

Writers:

 Todd Phillips, Scott Silver (The Finest Hours, 2016; The Fighter, 2010; 8 Mile (2002)

Stars:

 Joaquin Phoenix (Joker/Arthur Fleck), Robert De Niro (Murray Franklin), Zazie Beetz (Sophie), Francis Conroy (Penny Fleck), Brett Cullen (Thomas Wayne)

We'll read the first few pages of the script today. Please complete the reading of the script for homework (see below).

As we watch the film, please note the following (or see the film analysis handout):

• Title
• Director
• Producer or studio producing the film
• Actors & their roles
• Setting
• Relevant film artists (special effects, music, cinematography, editing, writer, etc.)
• Premise
• Opening shot/establishing shot (how does the film begin?)
• Inciting incident (what causes the protagonist to get involved in the story?)
• Conflicts/complications/crisis (rising action)
• Dark moment/turning point (what scene indicates the lowest end for the protagonist(s)?)
• Enlightenment (what scene allows the protagonist to face the challenge of meeting his/her adversary or antagonist?)
• Climax
• Resolution (how does the film end?)

Hand in your notes at the end of the screening for participation. Students will NOT get full participation if they fall asleep, do not watch the film, disrupt class, are absent/tardy, etc.)

HOMEWORK: Please read Chapter 1: Viewing Films and answer the questions on the packet for Friday. Complete your reading of the script Joker (2019). If you did not post your comment today during class, please do so. A late penalty applies.

Playwriting Workshop; All Work Due!

Final play projects are due today! Please send these drafts to me today through Google Classroom. 

Drafts of work that are submitted (and done) will be workshopped today.

Why workshop?

• Theater is a collaborative art. 
• You can learn more about your own writing by reading/analyzing other writers' work.
• You can get feedback on how to "unstick" or improve your work.
• It's worth easy participation points in class.
• Helping other people with their art is worthwhile. 
• Other*

EXTRA CREDIT: Geva's Young Writer's Showcase:

Submit up to 3 of your 10-minute play scripts (after you proofread them) to this link:
youngwriters@gevatheatre.org

Please include a title page with clear contact information:
Name
Full Address
Phone #
Email

PS. Do not keep my name on your play draft. It's yours. Who cares why you wrote it...

NOTE: Cover pages with character lists don't count, but your play scripts should NOT EXCEED (go over) 10 pages. You may have to edit/cut/revise or reformat your work to fit if you have 11-13 pages. Remember: play/film scripts are NEVER double-spaced!!! (only radio plays...)

IMPORTANT: If/when you submit your drafts to the contest, please write a quick note to me telling me the date you submitted and the title of the piece(s) you submitted to the contest.

HOMEWORK: Up next: Film Studies. Feel free to start reading/answering the questions for the handout on Chapter 1: Viewing Films. This assignment is not due yet.

Playwriting Final; Final Play Project & Workshop

Please review your notes for the next five minutes at the beginning of class. We will then take our final exam for playwriting.

When you have completed your test, you should continue working on your play projects (these are due next class). If you are finished with your draft, or you would like some feedback on your play so far, you are welcome to share your play draft file with other peers in the class and seek feedback through a workshop. We will continue and conclude our workshops Thursday at the end of the course.

Please return all scripts either to me or the library.

HOMEWORK: Please complete and prepare your play project for submission. The end of the marking period is Friday, January 31.

Playwrights' Festival auditions are next week Tuesday and Thursday from 2:30-3:30 after school in room 238.

Play Project; Absurdism, Beckett & Waiting for Godot; Review for Final

Period 1: Lab.

Please continue writing your play projects. Use what you have learned in this class to make sure your play is exceptional: i.e., your play is exemplary, thoughtful, creative, has a definite beginning, middle, end, uses Aristotle's advice, your play is producible for the stage, it is well written & original, it uses theatrical conventions, it includes monologues to develop character or plot events difficult to stage otherwise; it uses imagery & specific diction; the dialogue sounds natural and/or poetic.  Your play has a clear theme and interesting dramatic conflict. Characters change. Scenes and transitions flow. Grammar is perfect. Commas are placed correctly, play is proofread, language is exact & correct. [See grammarly for help.]

At 8:00, we will stop writing and learn about Theater of the Absurd. Crash Course #45. After taking notes (use them to study for your exam), please go to the library to pick up Waiting for Godot. See homework!

Period 2: Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett

Absurdist Theater:

The weather got you down? Feeling as if there's no point to life? Check out this style of writing...

Characteristics of Absurdism:

1. Characters are often threatened by an unknown outside force.
2. The world or diegesis of the play/film is unpredictable or lacks meaning which the characters must contend with.
3. There is often an element of horror or tragedy; characters are often in hopeless situations or trapped.
4. Dialogue is often playful, full of nonsense, repetition, or engages in silly wordplay or banter.
5. Plays are often funny, although theme is usually serious and symbolic. Absurdist theatre is often called "tragicomedy", having elements of broad humor and tragedy.
6. There is often a good deal of farce (mistaken identity, physical comedy, slapstick, sudden entrances and interruptions, etc.)
7. Theatre of the absurd often presents characters failing at something without suggesting a solution to the problem. Characters are often "losers" who cannot dig themselves out of the problems they find themselves in.
8. Characters are often unable to communicate with others (particularly about their feelings, desires, or needs).
9. Plot is often cyclical or repetitive.
10. Plots have a dreamlike or surreal quality to them, akin to nightmare. Plot events are often taken at face value; characters are unwilling or uninterested in examining "why?" something happens and instead react to "what" happens. Therefore plot is often lacking the cause. The effect is often stressed as being more important.

A Quick Writing Prompt: in your journals/notebooks, please write a metaphor or two. While one half of the metaphor may be a grand human idea: freedom, love, justice, revenge, marriage, hope, wealth, etc. the metaphor you create should be fairly concrete: "hope is a thing with feathers", "love is a battlefield", "revenge is a dish best served cold". Come up with up to 3 metaphors.

Once you have some metaphors, select one to build an absurdist play around. Use the characteristics of Absurdism above to help give you ideas. See EXTRA CREDIT below.

Although various classical and important plays have toyed with absurd situations, it was the futility of WWII combined with the surreal and existential that birthed such a movement. When any moment we are threatened with total destruction, what else is there to do but sit stunned and blankly in misunderstanding, or weave a web of words that lack meaning?

Traditional theater often attempts to show a realistic portrayal of life. Situations and characters are firmly rooted in reality and the common human actions that result in drama. Most plays trust the word. Words we use carry meaning. But what occurs when, with the threat of nuclear annihilation, we are not able to use our human reason and the symbol of such reason (our words) to alter our own fate? If we remove the trust in language, reason, logic, and traditional conventions of storytelling, we are left with something that has no inherent meaning, but in that shape is given meaning by its opposite. Modern life is futile, lacking a sensible God figure, in which the answer to the question "what is the meaning of life?" is a resounding blackness or emptiness. All is meaningless, particularly that which is supposed to bring the comfort of meaning (i.e., words).

In the hands of playwrights like Samuel Beckett, the portrayal of such meaningless absurdity becomes a metaphor for our own modern lives--filled as they are with anxiety, fear, hesitation, incompetence, misunderstanding, and the lack of fulfillment.

Samuel Beckett:

Endgame. Here's the full play with actor Michael Gambon (better known as Dumbledore).
Happy Days by Samuel Beckett. The characters are Winnie and her husband Willie. The play is essentially a monologue. The theme is domestic life. Same thing as Endgame.

And another very strange play is the play Play. This one with late actor Alan Rickman. Similarities to the two previous plays are obvious, I think.

And finally Beckett's masterpiece: Waiting For Godot part 1, and Waiting for Godot, part 2. Another version of the play with actors Zero Mostel & Burgess Meredith. And Waiting for Godot & Elmo. Please read this play (it will show up on the final exam). Enjoy!

HOMEWORK: Complete your play projects; Study (please study!) for your final exam. And complete your reading of Waiting for Godot after wherever we stop at the end of today's class.

Extra Credit Opportunity:

Our lab will be open next week. Feel free to stop by and use it if you need it.

Write a 10-minute absurdist play. Use the characteristics of the Absurdist theater style (see above) in your play. One easy way to start is to take your metaphor and make it real for your characters. Love is a battlefield...set a romance in a DMZ during a raid, or make a date during a military coup, or work the metaphor into your plot creatively.

You are welcome to use any of the major plays we've read in this course on your Regents exams--also, study for your final exam in this course:

The plays & playwrights: [we read over 20 plays during this course!]

• The Colored Museum by George C. Wolfe
• The Mountaintop by Katori Hall
• Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhry
• Spic-o-Rama by John Leguizamo
• 'Night Mother by Marsha Norman
• Oleanna by David Mamet
• "The Loveliest Afternoon of the Year" by John Guare
• "Words, Words, Words"; "Arabian Nights"; "Variations on the Death of Trotsky"; "Sure Thing" by David Ives
• The God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza
• The Mystery of Irma Vep by Charles Ludlam
• "The Play That Goes Wrong" by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields, & Jonathan Sayer
• The Vampire Lesbians of Sodom by Charles Busch
• Red Scare on Sunset, Tale of the Allergist's Wife, Psycho Beach Party, The Woman in Question by Charles Bush
• Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee (coming soon)
• Picasso at the Lapin Agile by Steve Martin
• The Lion in Winter by James Goldman
• Hamilton: The Musical by Lin Manuel Miranda
• Agamemnon by Aeschylus
• Antigone by Sophocles
• The Darker Face of the Earth by Rita Dove
• Othello by William Shakespeare
• Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare
• Hedda Gabler by Henrick Ibsen
• Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett

Proper script format
How to create characters/characterization; tips about writing effective characters, plots, themes, and writing effective dialogue; etc. See handouts in particular!
Techniques to motivate and gather ideas (from the blog, articles, and class advice)

Play Vocabulary:

• Playwright
• Play
• Premise: a deeply held belief by the playwright which shapes a script.
• Conflict & the basic types of conflict
• Structural Unity: all parts of the plot (exposition, rising action, turning point, climax, resolution, etc.) should work and fit together.
• The classical unities: the unity of time, place, and action. A well-written play should encompass only a short amount of time, use one main setting, and have only one main plot (subplots can occur, but only one plot should be the main plot). 
• Inciting Incident: the point of attack, the inciting incident forces the protagonist into the action of the play's plot.
• Events
• Major Dramatic Question (MDQ): the hook that keeps an audience interested in a play; a dramatic question that a reader/viewer wants answered by the end of the play.
• Major decision: A decision a character makes in the plot that creates the turning point for their character.
• The main event: the main plot or action of a play.
• The three C's: Conflict, crisis, complication: obstacles characters must face for an interesting and dramatic plot.
• Rising Action
• The dark moment/crisis: the lowest moment of a character's struggle--when all the world seems lost, the fight unbeatable, the "darkest hour before dawn" -- a stunning reversal of fortune and sense of failure.
• Deus ex machina: a contrived ending. Often one in which the characters did not have a hand in solving. (It is more interesting to see a character deal with their own problems rather than an outside force solving it for them.) literally, a "god from a machine"
• Enlightenment: When the protagonist understands how to defeat the antagonist. A revelation that begins the movement toward a climax.
• Climax
• Catharsis
• Roots of Action; Dramatic Triangle(s)
• Developing character, plot, and theme in a script (tips & advice) 
• Ten-minute play format
• One act plays
• Full-length plays (2 or 3 act)
• Monologues/Soliloquies; internal/dramatic monologues
• Theatrical conventions
• Commedia d'ell Arte 
• Cross-dressing; pantomime
• Generating ideas for plays 
• Farce
• The Event: a uniquely significant moment in the character's lives
• Time lock: setting up a time limit or specific deadline characters have to meet in order to spur them into action (for example having a script project due...)
• irreconcilable needs
• Obstacles, motivation, and desires: the roots of action
• Universal truths/lies
• The vise
• Mono-dramas
• Musicals
• Place & setting
• Realistic vs. suggested set designs (realistic sets and suggested sets & the use for each type)
• Theme
• Scenario: an outline for a writer to identify major/minor characters, plot, and setting used BEFORE writing a script
• Catalyst: the event in the play that causes a character to take action
• Character flaw or tragic flaw
• Creating credible and well-developed characters
• Subtext: what is not said in a character's line. The subtext is the subtle details or clues used by the actor to develop their character.
• Beat: a short exchange of dialogue
• Different types of beats: physical, behavioral, inner-life
• Scene
• Time lock: a deadline for a character to achieve his/her goal in a scene or play
• Signpost/Pointer: foreshadowing or hints that something will happen in a play
• Backstory
• Character types: major/minor, flat/round, dynamic, ally, foil, mentor, protagonist/antagonist, sympathetic/unsympathetic, etc.
• Confidante: a character the protagonist or antagonist can talk with to reveal necessary backstory
• Dialogue (tips and advice) 
• Play development (advice & instruction on how to create a dramatic scene/play)
• At Rise: indicates the beginning of the play or act or scene
• Exit/Enters: directions to indicate a character/actor entering or exiting the scene in a playscript.
• Cross: indicates how a character moves from one place to another on stage. 
• Curtain: indicates the end of an act or scene break
• Lights: indicates lights coming on or off stage. 
• End of Play: indicates the play is over
• Motifs: repeated objects, symbols, or actions that hold significance or meaning in a story
• Theater of the Ridiculous
• Contributions of various playwrights: (see list above)
• Titles, characters, and plots of various plays we read (see list above)
• Aristotle & the 6 parts of a play from the Poetics: plot, character, idea, musical, language, spectacle.
• Greek Theater & the origins of theater; Thespis, the contributions of Sophocles and Aeschylus to Greek theater, etc.
• Dithyramb, anagnorisis, hamartia, peripety, verisimilitude, catharsis, comedy, tragedy, etc.
• The Orestia & the structure of a Greek play (episodes, parados, exodus, strophe, antistrophe, etc.)
• Alliteration & kenning
• The House of Atreus
• The Trojan War
• The English Renaissance playwrights
• Shakespeare & the Globe Theater
• Elizabethan Theater and plot structure of a 5-act play
• Polti & the 36 Dramatic Situations to build a plot
• Julie Taymor & the film Titus (1999)
• Plot forms: linear, Shakespearian or epic, circle, pattern, generic synthetic form, etc.
• How to cultivate ideas for playwriting; how to motivate yourself
• Symbolism, Naturalism, Ibsen & Strindberg's contributions to the theater
• Theater of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett's contribution to theater

HOMEWORK: Complete Waiting for Godot. Our lab will be open Monday through Thursday in the morning if you would like help with Gannon or Sokol entries.

Your final exam will be given Tuesday, Jan. 28. Play projects are due Jan. 30. Extra credit is due Jan. 31.

Play Project: Writing Time

Butts in seats, sharpened pencils on paper, fingers on the keyboard...Let's go!

Please work on your play projects. Instead of watching Hedda Gabler (which is due today, please make sure you submit your play analysis for it), use the time in class to write. You got this!

Consider this time a gift--since most of you only write the day or two before an assignment is due. A longer work, though, requires you to write your first draft relatively quickly--allowing you the day or two before the assignment is due to revise, add details & specific language, poetic devices, and development of character through dialogue and monologues.

Use your time wisely in today's class. Plug in, avoid interaction with your peers at this point, and focus on the writing process, please. You may be visited by some special guests later in the class to allow you the comfort and guidance you need. If you need it, here's some motivation about writing...

• How to Motivate Yourself to Write Every Day
• How to Motivate Yourself to Write: 10 Tips

Workshop: For those who want feedback, at around 8:30-8:45, please choose one peer you feel you can get good feedback from and share your draft if you wish. This is not a requirement, but it will allow you to get some immediate feedback to consider as you continue your writing.

At around 8:45, go back to your writing and end class around 9:00 trying to figure what your play still needs in the days to come.

NOTE: During midterm week (next week) the writing labs will be open all day. You are welcome to stop by and visit us to work on your writing.

ALSO NOTE: There is a final exam for this class. On Friday, I'll cover what material you should study for the final.

HOMEWORK: None. You should probably work on your playscript. Play scripts are due Thursday, Jan. 30. No late work will be accepted because the marking period ends Jan. 31. Our final exam will be Tuesday, Jan. 28.

Titus (Conclusion); Play Project Writing Time; Ibsen

Today we will conclude the film Titus (1999).

You may take an extension on reading/analyzing Hedda Gabler (due next class--Wednesday, Jan. 15, although if you are done with it, turn it in early). But before we move on, we have to watch and take notes on this Crash Course video: Symbolism, Realism, and a Nordic Grudge Match #33.

Turn in your graphic organizer notes on Ibsen & Strindberg today for participation credit.

With time remaining in class, please continue to write your final play project. Some details:

--Your play can be of any genre. Consider the play styles we have read for this class.
--Your play must be between 20-30 pages in length. It can be more, but this is unlikely. You should format your play in the standard, professional format for play scripts. See previous posts, Google classroom resources, and handouts for assistance if you need it. [This longer length gives you the opportunity to develop and work on your plotting!]
--Please include a title page and a cast list, including the TIME and PLACE information to describe your set. Details about what happens when the lights come up on the play are indicated by AT RISE: ...
--Plot includes the following elements (which should be seen clearly in your play structure/project): status quo, inciting incident, rising action, complications/conflicts, crisis or turning point (dark moment), enlightenment (anagnorisis), climax, falling action/resolution, denouement.
--Your play should have a premise.
--Your play should have a theme (idea).
--To develop characters it's important to include a monologue or two (or more) for your characters.
--Your play should show you understand how to create a stage-able play. Use theatrical conventions creatively to enhance the spectacle and meaning of your playscript. Your play, ultimately, should be producible on a black box stage (the Black Box theater, for example).
--Happy writing!

HOMEWORK: Complete Hedda Gabler (with play analysis). Work on your play projects. These are due January 30. No late scripts will be accepted due to the fact the marking period ends Jan. 31.