• What is dialogue?
o What the character says
o Not necessary be a conversation. Involves voice over also.
• Elements of Dialogue
o Dialogue reveals character
• A character talks about himself or herself
• Other people talk about that character
 Introduce another character to help define the 3 dimensions of the character.
o Dialogue establishes relationships between characters
• Characters express attitudes and opinions that are in opposition to one another.
 Via tone, and words that they use.
• Good effective dialogue will move the story forward.
• Dialogue communicates faces and information to audience
 It conveys essential exposition
• Exposition – key information in the plot of the story that the audience must understand before it can move forward.
 Characters will talk about what happened, establishing the storyline.
• Dialogue ties the script together.

• Elements of bad dialogue
o Using too much of dialogue
• Dialogue should be used sparingly, never telling the audience what they can see for itself
 Dialogue is no substitute for action.
o Dialogue should not match conventional spoken dialogue, “real talking.”
• Real talking is boring, for it not going anywhere.

• Points to remember
o Film is a visual medium.
o Dialogue is not visual
o A script is a story told in pictures.

Something that God placed in my heart sometime back went like this:

God (Source) -> Me -> Talents -> Work -> People’s Heart -> God /
God (source) -> Me -> Talents -> Work -> God

Using our talents to touch people’s heart to worship God, and using our talents to worship God. If you see, our main source is really God and really ultimately the ending point is not on the screen, sound from the speakers, but really, the end result is back at God, at people’s heart.
Now this is something different from the world, where the end result is the “screen” which ultimately ends up with money and fame, but in God’s kingdom, can one say that money and fame are what we are after?
Really cool to see how much people will put so much into God’s kingdom. I mean look at it. How many out there will actually come down to help support an event for free (media wise). How many will actually not only be willing to come down to support an event for free, but not only that, spend money out of their own pocket in order to help out and even aspire to do even better then the industry outside?

Once again, the emotions come tumbling over and lots and lots of self reflections flooded my mind once I step out of the house. I do agree with what Danny said in SocialPhyschology last sem that it is really the closest people around you that creates the biggest impact in your life and of course negative remarks do stay in your heart longer then the positive ones. I can’t really be sure if I’m just being negative in my life, insecure or its just this one emotional phase that I’m currently facing now.

Always coming back to the topic of parenting. I can’t really say how good I am at parenting; after-all I’m just at seventeen years old kid, and I don’t really say have ANY experience at all being a parent. Lifting it off in my other blog, I once talked about how much the neglect of the emotional provision from the parents that is often the cause of how the kids of today are becoming more and more drifted away from the family, and for some to the extend of leaving the family or even getting involved in “gangs”. Back again to my self-reflection; ok, i do have to admit that there is some sense of insecurity and biasses towards this area, but really what can I do? I know that most parents of the modern 21th century are all so involved in trying to earn enough money to provide bread and shelter for the family, and how simply they have to work everytime and simply just feel that material provision for the children are just enough. At a certain point in my life, this certainly worked for me; material provision for me just seemed to me as the love gifts for me from them, but rather, recently as one starts to mature that I feel this sense of emptiness in the gifts. Sure, all the hard work and sweat put in to get us that gift, I am grateful for them to provide me with these gifts, but is that all? Does a love for someone simply just stop at giving that someone a gift?

Perhaps due to Tuesdays being the days that I am required to wake up very early in the morning that sort of kick me into being a very cor and mel person that kind of amplifies these emotional feelings inside me or it could also be that I’m using the excuse that I’m tired to really just “feel emotional”. Somewhat, today’s drama didn’t really affect me that much, maybe it could be that I’m really too tired to really feel any more emotional that I’m really am.

I peeked at my younger sister’s handphone once, and i do feel the sense of guilt in my heart; guilty for not being able to provide her the kind of atmosphere that I too wanted.

*i think i look retarded in the photo*

I bagged two cakes home from two different celebrations this year. One from my media team and the other one from my caregroup.

My team celebrated by birthday on last Friday while we are having our training for the coming Youth camp. The gift that was given to me by them to me were not only just any gifts, but gifts of love and time. The gift of praying for me, the gift of spending so much time to prepare the video affirmation, and the gift of loving me so much as to take the initiative to plan for my birthday. This one boy in my team that I would really like to use this place to thank is WeiKeat. Really want to thank him for taking the initiative to plan for my birthday and taking the effort to use what he has learnt to create a video clip for me. I’m really touched not just by the content of the clip and the celebration, but rather more to the process leading to the clip and the celebration.

My caregroup celebrated my birthday for me on Wednesday. I was in Nexus preparing for the coming Youth Camp stuffs and I was really surprised when the band started to play a birthday song for me and my caregroup mates “poped” up behind me with a cake. I think the thing that really got me to almost tear is really seeing how loved I am by them and seeing the effort that they have put in. knowing that they actually made a trip down to Nexus just to celebrate my birthday; especially since I know that my sheep mate stays in the hostel in NTU which is like freaking far, I really felt loved my them.

Apart from these two celebrations, the other gifts that I got are really the words of love. The words of love that came from people that care for me. Two of them that really “got” me is the letter from my spiritual buddy and the words from a blog of someone that I really cared for.

Although I do admit that I’m a little disappointed amidst all the celebration (note, I only got two cakes). Its not really how many cakes I got this year, but rather who are the one that are giving me the cakes that matter… I guess as start to grow older, material things doesn’t really play much of an impact in my life anymore.

Jesus had no servants, yet they called Him Master.

He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.

Having known Him for slightly more then two years, I have come a long way since then. From where I were then, as a secondary 3 student; still playing a fool, unsure of what I wanted to do in life, to now, a year one Ngee Ann Poly Student; although still quite unsure of what I want to do in life, but yet assured that my tomorrow is in this one guy that I trust and love. These two years plus of journey is not all the way easy. Acceptance from my parents, overcoming pressure from peers around me… But I have never regretted my decision I made in this place where I now call my second home (The Nexus Auditorium) on 16th July 2005.

I am very thankful as what Daniel (one of my leaders) shared during caregroup on Sunday, about how much God has shown His Favor upon me and how much Grace He has given me. Blessing me with results that are so well that got me into the Director’s list, results so well beyond the current standards that I am at right now. All these despite the huge amount of time spent in church. The numerous times that He brought me through breakthroughs in my life, enabling me to love the people me, allowing me to show care and concern to the people around me, softening my heart to trust the people around me. These are something that would not have happen last time; much due to some bad experiences during primary school, I found myself finding it hard to trust the people around me. But yup. I’m a changed guy now.
I am proud to say that I’m a Child of God.

*For all those who are wondering. BCODG stands for Beloved Child Of Daddy God.*

Where were Aristotle’s Poetics?
•    What Aristotle calls “poetry”
•    Attempts to explain poetry, and divides it into 3 genres
o    Tragedy
o    Comedy
o    Epic Verse
•    Poetics focuses mainly on tragedy and his examination of Tragedy.
•    Then Tragedy is a common topic due to religious reasons. It is to remind man that man is not God.

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; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions.
o    Imitation of action
•    Creating something that that looks real out of something unreal
o    Certain magnitude
•    It can’t be something that is too big or too small
o    Language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament
•    Words that are spoken out loud. People need to speak.
o    Form of action, not narrative
•    Shows action and not narration. Not someone on stage and telling the story.

Example of movies or play that follows Aristotle’s definition of tragedy?
•    The Passion Of Christ.
o    Tragedy defines as “a great person who experiences a reversal of fortune”
o    and that is very true on the life depicted for Jesus Christ, Jesus know as the son of God, is known to have great powers. He could heal the sick and bring life to those who suffered.
o    This is however arguable, as often, for a tragedy to happen, someone must be flawed.
•    Fantastic Four; Rise Of The Silver Surfer.
o    Tragedy defines as a change of fortune from bad to good.

Aristotle’s 6 Parts Of Tragedies (In order of importance);
•    Plot
o    The main content of the story
o    Different from the story
o    Plot are the arrangements of the story that we see in the movie itself.
•    Character
o    Protagonist (main character) should be renowned and wealthy/ successful, in order for his luck to change from good to bad.
•    Imagine this, how much can we take away from a rich and renowned person. How much to make him fall.
o    The character commits and error/ sin that turns his happy life around and leads to pity and fear
o    The character is then subjected to either purification or purgation in the end.
o    Have a character that we are able to make him fall =)
•    Thought
o    Found when something is proved to be or not to be or a general maxim is enunciated.
o    An idea. The writer is having a thought, and there is an overall purpose in why you are writing the story.
•    A plan/ structure that we have
•    Having an objective
o    Speeches should be able to reveal a character.
•    Diction
o    Words that the character says.
•    Song/ Melody
o    Brings audience into the mood of it.
o    Rhythm to their voice/ sense of music
•    Spectacle
o    A visual sense of the whole story.
•    Eg, digital effects
o    Parts of the visual effects, but shouldn’t be the most important.

Cause and Effect Chain
•    Makes up the plot
•    When planning, playwright should have the “effects” in mind because he is writing on the “cause”.
•    When writing on climax, both  “cause” and “effect” must not be neglected to archive organic unity
•    “Cause” should be focused on the resolution of the play.
•    Brings incidents, or tragedies, closely related with one another, with no necessary intervention from outside the compass of the play.
•    Eg:
o    The bombing of Johor (Effect) will be the “cause” when the Singapore Arm Forces attack Johor (Effect) which will in turn becomes a “Cause” for another effect.

How can a good plot create a “unity of action”?
•    Events happening in a story must be running smoothly
•    Action that lead to each other must remain undisturbed
•    Try to avoid coincidental thing unless there were to choice.
•    Everything in the plot should belong to the same chain

Episodic Plot (What Aristotle really didn’t like)
•    Quite literally where things happen in episodes
•    Storyline has Highs and Lulls in excitement value
o    No twists.
o    Generally proceeding in the same General Direction.

Difference between A Simple and a Complex Plot
•    A Simple plot would be one that involves a basic storyline
o    Only a change of fortune
o    Its not a tragedy, its just something sad
•    A Complex Plot
o    Has a reversal of intention “peripertcia” and recognition “anagnorisis” connected with the catastrophe
o    Not only having something bad happening to her, but also her realizing/ discovering what caused it.
3 Act Structure
•    Beginning
o    Introduces the character
o    An incident with a conflict that leads to middle plot.
•    Middle
o    Rising action. Built up of the conflict
o    Climax. The highest point of conflict
•    End
o    Anagnorisis
o    Resolution
o    Character learns from what happens

Perepeteia
•    Term describing a change in plot, a reversal.
•    The plot tiwst

Katharsis
•    Form of emotional cleansing.
•    It’s the audience that feels this.
•    Great sense of emotional release.
o    Eg, when you are so tensed up with the emotion of the characters and you get and eventual release of emotions.

Mimesis
•    Imitation.
•    Recreating life in a fake form.

Anagnorisis
•    When the character know and learns from the events.

Hamartia
•    Tragic flaw. The thing that we are describing that makes the character goes thorough the downfall.

*Lead me.

Something that I want to be thankful though is that I’m wonderfully blessed with people around me that I can talk to, people around me who understands, and people around me who loves me for who I am. Though I can say that I do not have many friends around, but I am confident that these few friends that I have are really people who I can call my brothers and sisters, someone who’s relationship with me is deeper then simply being friends. Just how many of your friends you can actually call upon in times of need?

*Help me become a better friend, someone that can be called upon in times of need.

Task: To write a story with subjects taken by YiChee and Fatimah for our People Watch Assignment.

Story:

Alex walks into the library after a strenuous session of sports and wellness. Wanting to just settle down and relax, he makes his way to a book self and takes a copy of the teenage magazine before settling down on the bean bag. He plugs into his portable music player and starts to flip through the magazine in his hands. After settling down for a while, his stomach starts to get the better of him. He then decides to make his way down to canteen one to have his lunch.

A everyday typical scene, canteen one is full of students having their lunch break. Cheryl, a year one business student sitting opposite of her friend, takes out a book and attempts to read the book. The bustling sound from all the chattering in the canteen however stands in front of Cheryl and her book, distracting her from being able to concentrate on her book. She looks around her and the actions and gestures of the people around her takes her a step back further from being able to read her book.

In the midst of all the noise and chattering, Alex makes his way through the crowds with a tray of food in his hands. It is something that he has been craving for since he woke up in the morning; Chicken Curry Noodles. Looking for a seat to settle down in, he sees a group of students leaving a table. Being the normal typical Singaporean with the “kiasu” genes injected into our blood stream, he attempts to make his way thru the crowd as fast as he can. What he fail to notice is the wet spot on the floor. Without any notice, he slip off the spot and the bowl of Curry Noodles left the tray and lands on Cheryl who happens to be sitting nearby.

Shocked at the sudden pour of curry noodles over her head, she stops for a while before screaming at her top of her voice. Her friend and Alex walks over and tries to calm her down and attempts to help her clean her mess.

“JUST WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?” Cheryl shouts at the top of her voice at Alex.

“Sorry! Really sorry for what just happened. I slipped and lost control of the tray and…” Alex replies apologetically while trying to get the noodles off her.

Another question that is raised during our debate session during IAC class is “Is identity influenced by social construct?”. I do feel that it is a paradox for us to answer this question as after attending one whole sem of social psychology class, we are pretty much conditioned to believe that we are all to a certain extend affected by things around us. However, I do feel that our identity that people around us see may not be our actual actual identity; but identity is something more. True enough, our identity will have external manifestation, but due to the stress and pressure of the society around us, there are still a lot to our identity then what is external. Identity as defined in the dictionary is the fact of being what a person or thing is (Oxford Dictionary), to me, I feel that identity is basically just knowing who you are. Society may construct our external manifestation of our identity, but our inner identity is something that lies on our own choice, and not just the people/ things happening around us. One maybe forced to wear a mask on the exterior, but ultimately, the mask is not our real identity.

During comIssues class, our presentation was postponed to the next week and we watched a show called “Voices Of Iraq” instead. Something that struck me is how threatened someone is of the smallest thing possible; in this case, threatened of loosing one’s power and control; being on the top. Example is this, imagine you are the the top student of the class, and then one day a transfer student from another school comes along and exhibits academic performance as good as you. Would you feel threatened? And imagine this, if you, apart from being the top student of the class, you are also someone that is able to influence the whole class. What are the chances that you will actually make the whole class turn against this new, innocent student that only wants to find a place to study and have totally no intention to take over your position. Just how much would one do to be on the top, just how much power does this addiction for power has on a person?

On a lighter note, the innocence of the children showed in “Voices of iraq” really touched my heart. The kind of innocence that the child have when they were asked to answer what do they aspire to be when they grow up. Touched my heart and really reminded me just how blessed it can be to just have that child-likeness and innocence. Something that most of us lost in our quest to become mature adults, and it is something that I’m trying to get it back.