#nonrealistic setting

[literaryvein-reblogs]

More Art-Related Vocabulary

Abstract Expressionist: An artistic movement of the mid-20th century emphasizing an artist’s freedom to express attitudes and emotions, usually through nonrealistic means.

Age of Exploration (also, Age of Discovery): From the early 15th century to the early 17th century, European ships traveled around the world in search of new trading routes, lands, and partners to supply an ever-growing European market.

Albumen silver print: A photograph made using a process that was prevalent until the 1890s. The paper is coated with albumen (egg whites), and the image is created using a solution of silver salts.

Brayer: A hand roller used for applying ink to relief printing blocks or occasionally for the direct application of paint or ink to a surface.

Caricature: A representation in either literature or visual art that includes a ridiculous distortion or exaggeration of body parts or physical characteristics to create a comic or gross imitation.

Ceramics: Vessels of clay made by using a variety of shaping techniques and then hardening or firing the clay with heat at a high temperature.

Chasing: A term encompassing two processes in metalworking: (a) modeling decorative patterns on a hand-shaped sheet-metal surface using punches applied to the front, and (b) finishing and refining a cast sculpture.

Classical: Describes a prime example of quality or “ideal” beauty. It often refers to the culture, art, literature, or ideals of the ancient Greek or Roman world, especially that of Greece in the 4th and 5th centuries B.C.

Collage: An art form and technique in which pre-existing materials or objects are arranged and attached as part of a two-dimensional surface.

Color palette: (a) A set of colors that makes up an image or animation, and (b) the group of colors available to be used to create an image.

Composition: The process of arranging artistic elements into specific relationships to create an art object.

Daguerreotype: An early method of photography produced on a silver plate or a silver-covered copper plate made sensitive to light.

Exoticism: Fascination with and exploration and representation of unfamiliar cultures and customs through the lens of a European way of thinking, especially in the 19th century.

Expressionism: A style of art inspired by an artist’s subjective feelings rather than objective or realistic depictions based on observation. Expressionism as a movement is mainly associated with early 20th century German artists interested in exploring the spiritual and emotional aspects of human existence.

Gelatin silver print: A photograph made through a chemical process in which a negative is printed on a surface coated with an emulsion of gelatin (an animal protein) containing light-sensitive silver salts.

Illuminated manuscript: Comes from the Latin words illuminare (to throw light upon, lighten, or brighten), manus (hand), and scriptus from the verb scribere (to write). A handwritten book, usually made from specially prepared animal skins, in which richly colored and sometimes gilded decorations, such as borders and illustrations, accompany the text.

Illuminator: A craftsman or artist who specializes in the art of painting and adorning manuscripts with decorations.

Impressionist: Referring to the style or theories of Impressionism, a theory or practice in painting in which objects are depicted by applying dabs or strokes of primary unmixed colors in order to evoke reflected light. Impressionism was developed by French painters in the late 19th century.

Inking plate: A flat surface used for rolling ink out in preparation for applying ink to a plate or block.

Inscription: A historical, religious, or other kind of record that is cut, impressed, painted, or written on stone, brick, metal, or other hard surface.

Source Art Vocabulary pt. 1

More: Word Lists

[sleepymarmot]

There are a lot of similarities between Anders from Dragon Age II and Johnny Silverhand from Cyberpunk 2077, but the reception of them is very different. It seems like the Dragon Age fandom largely rejects Anders's intended narrative role and either idealizes or demonizes him, while the Cyberpunk fandom embraced both Johnny himself and the way he is written.

Both Anders and Johnny stand for a good cause but act in a questionable way, culminating with a bomb set off in a tall building in the middle of a populated city. The explosion is supposed to be a viscerally horrifying, historically significant event with serious consequences in both games. In DA2, the explosion and its immediate aftermath are shown onscreen in the game's nonrealistic style, and the number of victims isn't confirmed until later, which leads some of the fans to call it a retcon and say that actually the explosion wasn't that destructive. In Cyberpunk, and specifically Cyberpunk 2077, there are conflicting accounts of the events leading to the explosion, but the game clearly conveys that it was extremely damaging and mentions large numbers of victims; the stakes are additionally raised by the bomb being nuclear: radiation is a threat that can't be easily dismissed by the audience.

Both Anders and Johnny have noticeable personal flaws that are likely to make players hate them despite general ideological agreement. Anders is dismissive of every cause except his own, and displays ugly jealousy towards other love interests, but these things come up in conversations in passing, can be easily missed, and aren't really problematized by the game. Johnny is a generally nasty person who treats everyone in his life terribly, and the lasting damage he has inflicted is central to pretty much every quest focused on him.

Dragon Age II presents both the oppression of mages and the chantry bombing as bad; Cyberpunk 2077 presents both the corporations and the Arasaka Tower bombing as bad. The Dragon Age fandom has people who disagree with the games' framing and claim that the oppression of mages is justified or that Anders's actions are justified. On the other hand, I haven't seen any significant discourse from Cyberpunk fans that would try to defend either the corpos or the nuke.

Anders's fans sometimes accuse his writers of being anti-change and pro-status quo; I haven't seen anything like that from Johnny's fans, even though his portrayal as a rebel/revolutionary/terrorist is far more negative. Anders's fans sometimes conflate support/rejection of Anders personally or specific things he does with support/rejection of the mage liberation in general; I haven't seen Johnny's fans accuse players disturbed by his actions of being corporate bootlickers. Dragon Age fans either love or hate Anders, and downplay his negative or positive traits accordingly, but Cyberpunk fans seem to be fine with Johnny as an asshole ally, even if the level of affection towards him varies from player to player.

Perhaps the Cyberpunk fandom is just smaller and less politically minded. Or maybe this discourse is happening somewhere, and I just haven't seen it. But from where I'm standing, it seems like Cyberpunk succeeded at conveying their vision of a morally grey rebel character where Dragon Age failed, even though the characters are quite similar and if anything, Johnny is a worse person than Anders in every way.

[localblackuclastudent]

Horror Movie Connoisseur

It has finally happened! After countless hours spent watching horror movies, I am proud to say that I can watch a horror movie without looking between my fingers. Being able to watch a different genre has made me truly appreciate the role that horror plays in our lives. Horror serves as an involuntary emotion/feeling that connects us as human beings. To be scared is to be human and to be human is to be scared. Whether this human emotion is enjoyable or not, you can’t deny its necessity to human nature. Horror and fear serve as an emotion that drives action. Whether this action calls for you to run, fight, or hide, it is something that can potentially save your life.

Watching the different assigned horror movies has also made me believe in something greater than myself. The different nonrealistic aspects of horror have expanded my scope of what I consider to be real. As a kid, I used to be infatuated with the notion of vampires. From the movie Twilight to the show Vampire Diaries, my obsession knew no bounds. It got to the point where I was adamant about the existence of these mythical creatures because they fueled my need for the unknown. Horror movies are also able to show us the potential of things that could exist. Since most of the Earth hasn’t been explored, who’s to say that vampires and mermaids are not a realistic probability.

One vampire movie that speaks to this idea of the unknown would be Blacula. Blacula was revolutionary for its time as it spoke up against the transatlantic slave trade and featured an intelligent African King. This King is turned into a vampire, is set free, and goes on a killing rampage. While the movie ends tragically, it is reminiscent of a vampire-themed Romeo and Juliet love story. In Blacula, the King ends up falling in love with a girl who looked like his late wife. He wants to turn her into a vampire so they could be immortal together but she, unfortunately, gets killed before that happens. Blacula then decides to take his own life because death is better than living an eternity without her. This movie, while within the horror genre encompasses many different things. It serves as a way to question the unknown, and show the power of love while filling us with fear. I have now learned that horror movies, while terrifying can portray the different universal themes of what it means to be human.

[delsheree]

Setting: Worldbuilding

Setting: Worldbuilding Learn how worldbuilding can help create a strong and engaging setting in different genres.

Fictional settings, whether modern-real world, historical, sci-fi, fantasy, or paranormal, require some level of worldbuilding. Setting should transport the reader to a particular location and not feel like it could have taken place anywhere. To accomplish that, some level of worldbuilding is needed in every story. Worldbuilding is creating a fictional world that still feels realistic. Details…

[rockislandadultreads]

Book Recommendations: National Reading Group Month

In honor of National Reading Group Month, here are some titles featured in our book club kits that you can check out to share with your own reading group! 

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

Trevor Noah’s unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents’ indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa’s tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle. Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the story of that young man’s relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother—his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life.

The Unreal and the Real by Ursula K. Le Quin

In this two-volume selection of Ursula K. Le Guin's best short stories - as selected by the National Book Award winning author herself - the reader will be delighted, provoked, amused, and faced with the sharp, satirical voice of one of the best short story writers of the present day.

Where on Earth explores Le Guin's earthbound stories which range around the world from small town Oregon to middle Europe in the middle of revolution to summer camp. Companion volume Outer Space, Inner Lands includes Le Guin's best known nonrealistic stories. Both volumes include new introductions by the author.

My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh

In the summer of 1989, a Baton Rouge neighborhood best known for cookouts on sweltering summer afternoons, cauldrons of spicy crawfish, and passionate football fandom is rocked by a violent crime when fifteen-year-old Lindy Simpson - free spirit, track star, and belle of the block - is attacked late one evening near her home. As the dark side of this idyllic stretch of Southern suburbia is revealed, the close-knit neighborhood is irreversibly transformed.

In My Sunshine Away, M.O. Walsh brilliantly juxtaposes the enchantment of a charmed childhood with the gripping story of a violent crime, unraveling families, and consuming adolescent love. Acutely wise and deeply honest, it is an astonishing and page-turning debut about the meaning of family, the power of memory, and our ability to forgive.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned - from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules. Enter Mia Warren - an enigmatic artist and single mother - who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community. When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town - and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia’s past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs.

[lady-of-the-spirit]

5, 6, 16, 24, 32, 37

5. What traits do you like about yourself?

To quote Andy Dwyer, "I'm nice!"

I'm also very creative, and when I set a task for myself I'm very determined to see it through.

6. What’s your last text that you sent (do not give any context)?

"she was bringing my stuff downstairs to help me pack up and she had randomly cut her hand somehow with her papery skin (her words) so now there's a little bit of blood on my knitting bag, my princess mononoke sweatshirt, and my grey cardigan."

16. Favourite article of clothing?

My light blue t-shirt with a dark blue image of a bird on top. my favourite shirt.

24. You can change one physical trait about yourself what would it be?

nonrealistic answer: I wish I could shapeshift and give myself wings or change my features whenever I wanted to.

realistic answer: make me a little taller.

32. Last thing you bought that was so bad that it was good

Salt and vinegar chicken wings. Do I know they're bad for me? yes. Do I love them anyway? yes.

37. What would a romantic partner say is your best quality?

I give good hugs!!!

[iriatatting]

NGV ART BOOKFAIR : (13th Of March 2020)

After our lecture ended regarding communication tools; we all went to the highly recommended Melbourne art book fair at the NVG.

I went there with some of my friends from other classes to have a look.

When I got there the fair was filled with beautiful striking colors due to the zines and other products shown. I absolutely loved every bit of it. The amount of beautiful different art styles I witnessed astonished me. They ranged from photography to comics and more. I took photos from all around to get some ideas and see what direction I would want to typically go with regarding my zine.

As you see in the images above, I alphabetized the kind of styles that stuck out to me and I would love to experiment with for my future zine.

A). COLLAGE: Collage is something that I’ve been in love with since a young age. Putting different pictures and illustrations together to create harmony or complete mess is something I really enjoy and am familiar with. I could definitely experiment the art of collage in different ways that I have before with either my cover or the insides of my zine – but time will tell.

B). REALISTIC LIKE DRAWINGS: I am more into flat – nonrealistic illustrations, so realism ones have always been something I’ve struggled with. I’m willing to take the challenge and possibly experiment with realistic like drawings. I did really love how it looked on the one I’m holding in the picture above for example.

C).CARTOON LIKE ART: This artistry is very cute and powerful at the same time for me. I love this kind of style and have experimented with it in the past, so as much as I love these type of covers and illustrations I would most likely put this at the back of my mind as I’m wanting to experiment with art styles I haven’t tried conducting before – to set up a challenge for myself and gain some new skills from it.

D). COMICS: I haven’t really experimented with comic like art styles before and I’m very open to trying it. I love the use of neon like colors, and just the beautiful detailed illustrations as shown above. They have a certain vintage like feel to them which I adore. I will be conducting some research and practice on making some comic art of my own since this is something I would definitely love to incorporate in my future zine.

E). SIMPLICITY: What I mean by this is the beautiful simple and powerful covers as shown above. It could be any colour harmony between 2-3 colors that represent a powerful meaning. I love the contrast and aesthetic this creates so I will definitely be wanting to experiment with this type of cover art.

F) SCANNER PRINT: I love the look this gave in some of the zines I was looking through. It gives a sense of realism and rawness that I might potentially want to adopt with in my zine. I could use scanning as option for some of my pages within to create an intimate feeling with the reader – as it did to me and those zines. This is something I will definitely play around and wrap my head with.

Another style I didn’t mark was the gif I’ve made above – from the KAWS exhibition at the NGV. I could experiment with those materials that help create different perspectives – when you turn the card the picture changes. It looks like a fun concept to play around with.

All these different styles and analysis helped me have a bit of a structure in my head of what kind of style direction I want to step into with my future zine. The book fair was way more fun and helpful than I had anticipated, and I’m very glad that I ended up going! :) 

[bukatra]

Ok, here's the thing. Pants don't normally sit that way. they literally folded and creased his pants in a very nonrealistic way to get that shot. If I am correct, that is a scene from CA:WS where he is entering Peirce's office. Which means he's been walking. Clothing might fold similar to that when sitting, if the clothing is particularly ill-fitting or your sitting weird. But when standing and walking, clothing that loose on his body should fall on the underside. tight on the top swell and the meaty part, but loose underneath. He's have to be wearing skin tight clothing for that underneath crease and he isn't. That means that this was a specific set up by the clothing department and filming team. Likely, it was creased like that immediately before the shot. Which is a ridiculous amount of work just to make his ass look absurdly and impossibly shaped.

We salute 🇺🇲🍑

[mukur0writes-blog]

@arahabakis

i guess the criticism i’m addressing here is kind of similar to discussions of fictional racism, like stories set in non-realistic settings dealing with such and such fictional race oppressing another… bc it detaches those issues from reality. you can absolutely talk abt cisheteronormativity or racism within a completely nonrealistic universe but it needs to be anchored in reality and not into fiction 100%, if you see what i mean?

No, I definitely do. that’s why I asked how you’d portray this particular thought, like, what kind of story would you use? what conflict? I’m looking at it rly seriously and trying to think of like...readers’ understandings, and how to make things clear without inundating them with stuff that just drowns out the point. 

like I said, it’s...1984 vs Hunger Games. using fiction to highlight reality vs using reality to highlight fiction. and it’s a good point, it can be a real tightrope to tread. 

I talked to a friend abt it last night when u raised the concern and she made some really really good points about how to keep it 1984 instead of HG (like emphasising bizarreness of the setting, but in such a way that it’s emphasising criticism of the concept, and hyper-focusing on the theme instead of doing distracting worldbuilding). 

i feel like a bizarro fictional setting would help...emphasise the particular theme of communal issues (this thing we have, where society has said “you have to prove yourselves on OUR terms,” and many lgbt have clutched that and are pushing to “validate” us with genetic and medical research, and the danger in giving society control of the goalposts). and I feel like a very real-world setting would be more appropriate for the same theme but individual, about individual people struggling to prove themselves the same way. 

this is honestly a really cool thought. how much fic should go into spec fic before it’s just fiction. how to connect to real-world problems and make it plain that it’s real world problems, without being preachy, and the tools of fic (the ability to emphasise and magnetise certain issues) to highlight those real world things, vs the danger of drowning them out. 

i don’t want to be the next ray bradbury with fahrenheit 451 lmao 

[plans-for-the-future]

LSD

Wow I don't even know where to start. The past few months I've been tripping an abnormal amount of acid. I did it at first to try and forget my problems and live in a trip for 12 hours not prepared to face my reality. Boy was I fucking wrong. Instead of escaping what I hated about my life I was forced to face every single bit of it. I started off taking 1-2 tabs and basically enjoying myself so much I didn't believe it was possible to have a "bad trip". Being a dumbass I decided to take 3 tabs only two days after taking 2 tabs. I was launched straight into an ego death experience and had no idea what I got myself into. I tried with every piece of my being to hold on to my ego leading me down many negative thought loops. After many dabs and lots of consolation from my trip sitters I was able to calm down. I promised myself I wouldn't trip for a very long time. After the trip was over and I could reflect on it, I realized that all I had to do to avoid an experience similar was to just let go. Let go of my ego and surrender to the LSD. Two weeks later a very close friend of mine and I decided we would take 3 tabs. I was prepared this time. I knew I was going to be faced with allowing my ego to dissolve and face every "demon" for what they were. I was taught a valuable lesson. LSD is like a waterfall. You need to let it flow and don't fight the current or you will make yourself exhausted. It's impossible to swim back up the waterfall. The waterfall of your ego. Letting go of that ego and everything that makes you, well, you is the key to finding great insight. It helped me to accept all my life situations for what they are. Your thoughts are not you. Every thought, good or bad, comes and goes. We need to learn to acknowledge every thought and not dwell on them. Focusing on bad thoughts will only set you back and make you feel like you are these terrible thoughts. Focusing too much on good thoughts will put you on a high horse of nonrealistic expectation. We must be able to let every thought come and go and accept them for what they are. You are NOT your thoughts. This world will throw a perfect balance of bad and good in your direction, and it is how we deal with these situations is what makes us. Acid has taught me a lot in recent times, but it is not to be taken lightly. Psychedelics will not tell you all the answers to the universe, but it does provide a shortcut to getting on the right path. A good analogy I once heard was that there are 100 doors to life. Psychedelics will give you a head start and only open about 60 doors. The other 40 doors are left up to you. You are then left with the tools to be able to open the rest of the doors on your own. We cannot rely on psychedelics to be able to open every door to life because that is not their intention. Our own experiences and lessons we learn through psychedelics give us the blueprints to life, it is up to you to build your own story.

[keith-against-sheith]

I was wondering if you could explain how the keith and allura arc was building off an anti-black narrative? I'm not saying it isn't but I also wanted to see your take :)

I’m not black, so here is @delphinidinrose​‘s take:

“basically in a lot of fantasy/scifi stuff instead of races as we know it races become like elves or aliens all that stuff. but just bc that transition exists doesnt mean there isnt racial coding like. some of its rooted in like physical traits or language, some in various shitty stereotypes but a lot of times writers use racial coding as a way to develop characters in nonrealistic settings.

w allura, shes an alien. BUT shes coded as black, her hair's afrotextured, she has a skintone seen in black women, and as a result of this, she's susceptible to black and antiblack narratives...things get hairy when u put the galra and galra keith into it because in the voltron verse the galra are universally known as an oppressive race. in a hivemind sci fi kinda way, but ya its still seen as oppression.

theres colonization of planets for resources and slavery, genocide of "unsuitable folks" and imo the whole galra-ruling-all thing sounds a lot like a master race and allura and coran (and haggar if u rly wanna get plucky) are so far the sole survivors of attempted genocide by the galra.. coran is clearly p white/british, haggar is purple, but allura is the one whos black coded and it becomes relevant as soon as its establisheed that the team knows keith is part galra and no one gets corans reaction, therefore no one expects anything of him.

but ppl expect a lot from allura. the whole "u gotta forgive ur oppressors" thing is fresh bullshit. but the emotional labor, apology, and effort is all on allura's part. someone she considered a friend ended up being part of the race that oppressed her, killed almost everyone she loved, etc BUT shes still expected to be okay with this and villified for being angry.

i would b a bit more okay w her reaction personally if it wasn't so clear that she was the ONLY bad guy in the situation. no one attempted to empathize with her. it's kinda a white person (i'll just say in america)'s wet dream to hear a darkskinned black woman b like “its OK ur white i accept u im SORRY” it was so unreasonable it put keiths feelings and guilt above alluras real trauma and oppression. and idk if i explained everything super thoroughly if u wanna ask more i can go back but thats what i got for now!”

so yeah that’s basically what the problem is with the galra arc, and you could really tell the writers are all white

[amissaeppersonseniorthesis]

Hallmarks of Fantasy

e-set in a strange, nonrealistic, fictional world

-magical elements such as talking animals or mythical beings

-plot, theme, or conflict is tied up into some supernatural or magical element

-characters can have special powers

-usually power of good vs. evil

examples: How to Train Your Dragon, Epic, Pan’s Labyrinth

[essayonterrorismus-blog]

A Brief History of Film

'History of image has been dominated by the discovery and testing of the paradoxes inherent in the medium itself. take up uses machines to record images of vitality; it combines still photographs to hallow the illusion of unvarying motion; it seems to personate life itself, provided it also offers un realisticistic unrealities approached only in dreams.\n\nThe motion meet was genuine in the 1890s from the coalition of still PHOTOGRAPHY, which records tangible reality, with the persistence-of-vision toy, which made wasted figures appear to move. quartette major exact traditions obtain developed since then: assumed narrative film, which promulgates stories slightly people with whom an audition keister break because their reality intuitive feelings beaten(prenominal); nonfictional docudrama film, which focuses on the real world all to instruct or to reveal almost sort of right active it; shake film, which makes drawn or sculpted figures look as if they arg on moving and public speaking; and experimental film, which exploits films great power to create a purely abstract, nonrealistic world un standardised either previously seen.\n\n take aim is considered the youngest art throw and has inherited much from the older and more traditional arts. worry the novel, it can tell stories; like the drama, it can outline competitiveness between detain characters; like painting, it composes in lieu with light, color, shade, shape, and metric grain; like music, it moves in time fit in to principles of rhythm and spirit; like dance, it presents the case of figures in quadrangle and is often underscored by music; and like photography, it presents a placoid rendering of what appears to be three-dimensional reality, victimization perspective, depth, and shading.\n\nFilm, however, is one of the some arts that is both(prenominal) spatial and temporal, designedly manipulating both set and time. This synthesis has stipulation rise to twain conflicting theories about film and its historic development. Some theorists, such(prenominal)(prenominal) as S. M. EISENSTEIN and Rudolf Arnheim, have argued that film moldinessiness take the form of the other modern font arts and turn not on telling stories or representing reality precisely on study time and space in a pure and consciously abstract way. Others, such as Andre Bazin and Siegfried KRACAUER, contain that film must fully and guardedly develop its federation with nature so that it can portray human events as excitingly and revealingly as possible.\n\nBecause of his fame, his success at publicizing his activities, and his garb of patenting machines before rattling inventing them, Thomas EDISON reliable most of...If you privation to get a full essay, ball club it on our website: Looking for a place to buy a cheap paper online? Buy Paper Cheap - Premium quality cheap essays and affordable papers online. Bu y cheap, high quality papers to impress your professors and pass your exams. Do it online right now! '

[chiefcupcakeavenue-blog]

Reading

Dialogue by Robert McKee

Dialogue, especially those spoken during conflict, allows readers to perceive the 3 types of thoughts and feelings of characters. Those he chooses to express to others, those he expresses to himself, and those in his subconscious. Good dialogue should allow the reader to completely empathise with the characters.

No matter when, where, or to whom a character speaks, their speech must be character-specific. Whether mental or vocal, all speech should be a response to an inner need. Writers must therefore be clear of what the character wants, what would he do, and how would he do it. Dialogue also moves the scene from one segment to another.

The choice of medium greatly influences the composition of dialogue. Stories in literature are performed in the imagination rather than on screen, therefore offering a greater variety of dialogue techniques than the screen.

Exposition

Virtually anything shown in imagery or explained in narration can be implied in dialogue.

The dialogue should give the reader only what she needs to know when she needs to know it. Exposition should be enough to maintain empathy, yet little enough to maintain curiosity. Not all expositional facts deserve equal emphasis. They should be ranked in importance and certain facts stressed to guarantee that readers remember them at key changes in the story.

In writing dialogue, do not force characters to stop their struggles toward core desires to talk about their history, thoughts, or emotions unless doing so furthers their pursuit(reminiscing with a past lover to gain back their love).We must ensure the dialogue comes from the character's need to act rather than our need to express our opinions. During conflict, dialogue invites readers to empathise with the character to understand unspoken thoughts and feelings. Exposition not intrinsic to the character not only feels unnatural and slows pace, it removes the need for this process, reducing curiosity.

Most exposition must be given to the reader without their awareness. This can be done using narrative drive or expositional ammunition.

Narrative drive is a result of engagement, which compels her to try to predict future changes in the story. Expositional ammunition is when characters use exposition to satisfy core desire.

In every story, the most important expositional facts are secrets, kept from others, themselves, or the reader. Secrets are revealed dramatically by characters when they face a lesser of two evils dilemma. Revelation of secrets, especially those hidden from the reader, are most effective at exposition while driving story.

Characterisation

Characters are designed around true character and characterisation. True character is the character's fundamental psychology and morality remaining after pressure forces him to choose between values. Characterisation is the sum of all surface traits and behaviors. A unique characterisation compels readers to question the character's true character, investing them in future revelations. An effective characterisation distinguishes the character from others in past fiction.

Action

Mental action occurs when thoughts cause character change. Physical action involves body language and activity.

Dialogue implies thoughts and feelings, but action confirms/subverts them, establishing concrete identity.

Conflict disrupts 4 aspects of life: the physical world, social world (separating organisations, destroying public trust in institutions, changing social norms or corroding societal ideals), personal relationships, and the character himself.

Complex stories embrace multiple aspects of conflict.

The more sensory the description, the more memorable it's effect.

Line design

The periodic sentence withholds it's core idea till the end to compel uninterrupted interest. The cumulative sentence places it's core idea in front and modifies it along the way. It is more conversational.

A paragraph should contain no unnecessary sentences, a sentence should contain no unnecessary words. This does not mean we should write in short sentences or avoid detail. Instead, we should ensure our writing is meaningful.

Credibility

Characters must talk in a way that aligns with their nature and setting. Unconvincing dialogue cannot be fixed with mimicking actual conversations because they lack expressiveness and significance. Even in the most realistic setting, dialogue is filled with meaning.

Create honest motivation for behavior. Motivations are needs fundamental to human nature. When they are not recognised, excuses are created by characters to explain their own behavior. Create and contrast motivation and justification. Then, mask motivation with justification to add depth to dialogue and character.

To avoid melodrama, raise the character's motivation to match his behavior, then question whether the character over or understates his action.

Language

Avoid dialogue which is unnecessarily expressive, calling attention to the language. The greater the emotion and activity during conflict, the shorter their words and sentences.

Passive dialogue uses verbs that describe states of existence. Active dialogue uses action verbs. Active dialogue is preferred during conflict.

Content

A writer must be sure of whether his work is realistic or nonrealistic (fantasy, science fiction, supernatural). Non realism frequently contain more archetypical characters. To clarify a character's nature, non realism diminishes psychological complexity and subtext.

Repetition

Record and playback your dialogue to avoid repeating lines, behavior or meaning. A beat is a pair of action and reaction in characters. Changes in beats drives the scene until the value at stake changes at the turning point. Synonyms do not effectively change a repetitive beat.

Stylistic choices only become clear on paper, so write every idea down.

Creating Dialogue

The more complex and unique the psychology of a character, the more distinctive his dialogue must become.

A unique writing style cannot be created self consciously. It is a result of the interaction between talent bred from continuous practice and a story's content.

First, know what your character senses in a scene. Then, understand what the character feels from the interaction between his thoughts and subconscious, which shapes the vocabulary, grammar, and pacing of his dialogue.

Constraint inspires creative achievement.

In dialogue, subject indicates knowledge while predicate(information about the subject) indicates the speaker's individuality via adjectives and modals (can, should, must).

Dialogue issues indicate story problems. Instead of continuously rewriting dialogue, rethink character and event.

Story Design

A story contains an event that upsets the equilibrium of a character's life. The impact flips the core value at stake for the character in the story (love/hate). Minimally, every scene contains at least 1 value at stake and 1 turning point for the character which relates to the core value. A turning point arises only via an action or revelation.

Desire is comprised of a conscious want, subconscious need (reframes conscious want in terms of his subconscious), motivation (Why does he have this want/need? Will attaining the want satisfy the need?), scene intention (What the character wants in the short run in his journey towards his want), and background desires (the desires in other aspects of a character's life which limit his choice of action).

Behavior is comprised of desire, sense of antagonism, choice, action, dialogue.

Story progression occurs when a turning point has an impact on the character which surpasses that of the previous scene.

Scene progression occurs only when beats change.

Conclusion

Eavesdrop, note down interesting phrases and take note of subtext. Read good text, rewrite bad ones. Act your character out.

[explorationofibtheatre-blog]

Parable of the Sower

This show is set in 2024 but reflects things happening in America and around the world. It is a production tackling change and the effect it has on a conservative family. The main character is a fifteen-year-old girl who doesn’t believe in the religion her father follows anymore. This is similar to life in America now with the progression of this generation. Due to the development of technology and access to different viewpoints through the internet, people are more exposed to cultures and religions different than their own. This causes them to adapt these ideas by making them their own, which causes a dispute with the community/family they are in since these progressive ideas and change is different than the mindset they have been enveloped within for generations.

The burning moment that was shocking and scary was when the darkroom switched on with all the light was directed at the audience. It made the audience hold their breath as if they were being confronted with something they don’t want to face. The light was blinding and as your eyes adjust to the light, you begin to see all the performers standing and looking at you, the audience, with menacing looks and threatening stance. They didn’t do or say anything; they just stared. Technical wise, the lights were bright, nonrealistic, and set on the audience. The sounds of the music before the light was slow but as the light directed at the observers, the music built itself up all at once and became so loud and scary and confrontational. The plot was reaching its climax, which was the community reuniting after the separation and the conflicts that arose with that. It was intense yet beautiful in the sense that you feel like you are apart of this play.

[konvolutes]

Letter to a Man

Robert Wilson / Mikhail Baryshnikov

Saturday, November 10, 2016 8pm

Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

This was an insane performance.

From Joan Accocella of the New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/06/27/baryshnikov-as-nijinsky-in-letter-to-a-man

If Nijinsky was perfect for Wilson, so was Wilson for Nijinsky. I have seen many plays and films and dances about Nijinsky, and most of them have been very bad, because the weight of sorrow in his story is so hard to carry. The author is never able to get the thing strong enough without its tipping over into a sort of freak show. (But WIlson) belongs to the nonrealist, nonnarrative, visionary strain in modern theatre, the line stretching from Wagner down through the Symbolists and the Surrealists. (In 1971, when Wilson first showed his work in Paris, Louis Aragon, a surviving Surrealist, wrote that he was “the future that we predicted.”) Wilson’s dramatis personae are not regular people but wraiths, saints, murderers. In his skies are floating chairs, hanged men. Such imagery is obviously the product of strong feeling, but the image has closed over the feeling, shutting out psychology—the tears, the explanations—and thus keeping melodrama at bay.

Pure Imagery and Dance

Probably to the annoyance of some choreographers, Wilson, who has had no formal dance training, speaks of himself as a choreographer. “All theatre is dance,” he has said.

“Letter to a Man” is a sort of vaudeville show, a series of acts, most of them featuring Nijinsky-Baryshnikov in a tuxedo and elaborate whiteface: the face of Pierrot, of Petrushka, of Joel Grey in “Cabaret”—all those figures in whom the smile meets the horror. In one scene, he appears on a set flanked by cliffs; in another, big wooden cutouts (a little girl, a chicken) slide across the stage like targets in a shooting gallery. The lighting, always a special concern of Wilson’s, is elaborate: thick, inky shadows; then sudden, slicing lights; then something else again. (In the show’s seventy minutes, there are more than three hundred lighting cues.) In the first scene, we hear jaunty little tunes, and Nijinsky, in his tux, does a bit of foxtrot, a bit of Suzi-Q. A big cutout photo of Diaghilev, sitting in a spangled bathtub, floats across the backdrop. We hear a shot, and the great man’s hat flies off. Nijinsky can handle him, he thinks. No problem: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2016/10/21/theater/letter-to-a-man/s/21LETTERSTOAMAN-slide-WBK4.html

Nijinsky wrote in his diary for only six and a half weeks. Then the text breaks off, because Romola told him she wanted to take him to see a nice nerve doctor in Zurich. He agreed, but reluctantly. He was afraid that she was going to have him institutionalized. That is what happened. In the asylum, he was soon screaming and attacking people and declaring that his arms and legs weren’t his—they belonged to someone else. He lived for thirty more years, but he never recovered. In his worst periods he smeared feces on the walls. In better times he was simply acquiescent, a typical “chronic” patient. He could not tie his shoes. He rarely spoke.

In “Letter to a Man” we never hear about that part. Instead, in the last scene, Wilson gives us back the suave, roguish Nijinsky from the opening of the show, doing little snatches of dance in his patent-leather shoes. Behind him is a red-curtained proscenium. He bids a defiant farewell to Diaghilev (“You are not king, but I am”) and assures him that he is working. He’s doing fine without him. Then he disappears behind the curtain. This is pretty chilly, but, as with the tract of ice, what might have seemed distant or cold comes off, rather, as an act of forbearance, restraint—art. ♦