Class Notes about Collage

Title: Our/Secret

inclusive/exclusive

could be "our secret get your own"

Methods:

Collage

Juxtapose

Opposition

Discourse

Comparing 2 unlike things with metaphors.

Secrets-->Nucleus (inside, protected)

Mixes academic writing with creativity

Scientific part of academy, scientific writing: Fact, objective

she signals a change in discourse with word "like" comparing two things, which is verboten in scientific writing. She uses a similie

uses emotive adjectives "precious" which is a value word

griffin as a writer is not only interested in combining different stories and facts, she also interested in combining different discourses (languages of the field)

Inclusive & Exclusive discourses

the allow some people in and exclude other people, this method of juxtaposing different discoures together becomes part of her subject matter.

Who are we? How would a psychologist answer, how would a historian answer? Using different discourses

How does this change the lens through which we look at the problem??

First paragraph

begins narrative

what they talk about is intimate but the set up tells us a good deal about the nature of their relationship, set up as an interview (certainly not a couple of friends talking about the past)

"Darkness" revealing her past, but doing it under the cover of darkness; Anonimity

"The space between us grows larger" the woman is no longer there, she's some place else (elsewhere) the idea of DISTANCE

"Outside, the sea has disappeared" -->Epistomology

i'm writing about her, and i'm thinking about her, but i'm also thinking about Epistomology: the study of knowledge (how do we know what we know)

Senses: if youre at the developmental stage where you have to see it touch it feel it, and the sea disappeares (it is actually gone) if you're at the next stage you know it exists because the world is now a place yyou know through your senses AND your experiences. Events that we can only know in a fragmentary way (the past) we can make sense of with our own experiences.

Himmler

an example of exploration of the past

Journal: even though its a diary it doesn't contain thoughts, feelings, secrets, emotions

as a historian she can reports what she finds, but she can't do much more so she switches discourses

What would a psychologist say?

what did he dad do? (fact or fiction--Fiction) invented by the writer to fill in the blanks to give shape to that darkness

First paragraph pg 303

verbs change from conditional: who, what, why?

As a writer she's trying to imagine that place herself, and then tries to PLACE the reader there.

As the paragraph moves forward it gets quicker more insistent.

The way thorough which we manipulate reality for representation is it positive or negative?

1st Missile paragraph

V-1 rocket in its attempt to be neutral it masks "Vengeance Weapon" it masks that science doesn't think about the consequences. The language makes us complicit with violence.

Threads:

What kind of damage is done through parenting, the relationship between parenting and upbringing

Google Project Entry 6--GWTW

I've been looking more closely at my Gone With the Wind case study, and, as i'm trying to focus on dialogue the research is a little harder than I anticipated. Here is a link that talks about obtaining the rights to the novel, the costuming/make up, and the search for Scarlett O'Hara Click

While that is a helpful site, it's not as helpful as I'd like. So, I am trying a different approach. I want to look at the script for the film and compare it with the books.

Script by Chapter

General Information

Novel plot summaries/chapter summaries

more trivia

interesting movie article

It's difficult because the more I discover about the movie, the more I want to just write about how this particular novel translated to film. Hmm, "I'll think of that tomorrow." (Scarlet O'Hara)

Google Project Entry 5

Notes from "The English Novel and the Movies" by Michael Klein and Gillian Parker

• See only if interested in specific instances where Dracula plots are mismatched between the first version of the movie and Stoker's story.

Notes from "The Art of Adaptation: Turning Fact and Fiction into Film" by Linda Seger

• "Dialogue becomes an exchange between the actor and the audience" (40)
• "In The Empty Space Peter Brooks says:

A word does not start as a word--it is an end product which begins

as an impulse, stimulated by attitude and behavior which dictate the

need for expression. ... Both may be only conscious of the words, but

both for the author and then for the actor the word is a small visible

portion of a gigantic unseen formation." (40)

• "When adapting dialogue, be aware of the actual words as well as the subtext of what's being said." (143)
• "Sometimes the dialogue can't be directly translated to film, but the subtext could be used as a guide for other dialogue." (143)

Google Project Entry 4

Notes from readings: (yes real books)

Note: focusing on Dialogue adaptation, not imagery because imagery always translates as setting, how accurate imagery is depends on the set designer.

Principles of Adaptation for Film and Television: Ben Brady

From chapter 8 "Dialogue" This chapter talks about dialogue as an element of film.

• "The principal aim of good dialogue is to convey clearly and succinctly the information that the audience must know in order to be continually involved in the story. But, far more important, these utterances must reveal the characters' feelings, both apparent and hidden."
• "Dialogue is genuine only when it grows out of the emotions of the situation itself. In short, dialogue should present not the situation itself, but rather the situation as it is felt by the characters who are experiencing it." (56)
• "Good dialogue must (A) sound conversational, (B) suit the characters, (C) reveal their values and traits, and (D) advance the plot...with the most economical, minimal choice of words." (57)
• "If a character's speech can be delivered by a character other than the one from whom it was was written, that dialogue is defective." (57)
• "Always exclude excessive words, phrases, and speeches that go beyond dramatic need (that is giving the play meaning)
• "Authors often attempt to indicate the pronunciation of dialects by spelling them out for the reader. In drama, such a procedure is more hurtful than helpful, because it makes the script arduous to read and difficult to understand The actor or actress who is chosen for the part will probably have an aptitude for dialect. If not, no amount of phoneticizing will help him or her to sound like the genuine article." (This means that casting is crucial in film adaptation)
• "Another grievance among actors is a writer who constantly describes the manner in which each speech is supposed to be spoken." (Necessary in literature because there are no actors, a PRO) "Only when the meaning of a speech i not clear int he normal reading of a line is it useful to include an instruction."
• "A speech should speak for itself. If a line that calls for anger or sadness is not provoked by the situation, look to the motivation rather than the speech description." (58)
• Curtain Lines and Tag Lines "Should gather all the emotional power of the scene or the act into a final focus." (Think of the lines used at the end of each "part" in GWTW versus the lines used at the ends of the scenes in the movie, the same, different? Impact same or different? is the movie divided as the book is?) (59)
• "the stage is a playground, not a pulpit; characters talk, they don't make speeches; a scene is a setting where commonplace words are used dexterously. Good dialogue states the facts with the most refreshing use of language and demands a sensitive grasp of the emotional significance of each sequence of action, which is consistent with the characters' values and traits."

Google Project blog 3

So, I've changed my mind.

Instead of simply exploring dialogue as an element of classical literature I am going to look at how dialogue and metaphor (being key elements of literature) translate into film.

I'm going to look at what is lost in film adaptations, and what is gained by having actors, and therefor facial expressions. I'm going to try and look at how several different directors approach dialogue (and facial expressions). I'll try to have several examples within my final project in the form of video clips and block quotations. I will use Gone With the Wind, as the dialogue in both the film and novel are exquisite. I will also look at the different directing styles of the film adaptation of Dracula, compared to the novel. And, as Gone With the Wind and Dracula are very different genres, but set in time period's very close to each other, I will TRY to look at the differences and similarities between American dialogue and British dialogue.

Main Idea:

• How do dialogue and imagery translate into film? (Film adaptation of classical literature)

Building ideas:

• What is lost? (In general) What is gained? (In general)

Case studies:

• Gone With the Wind: Margaret Mitchell set during the 1860's and pre/during/post civil war era
• Dracula: Bram Stoker set during the 1890's (turn of the century)
• Seek to compare and contrast case studies, as they take place 30 years apart. One being realistic romantic fiction, the other being gothic fiction, and both canonical pieces of classical literature.
• Film: Gone With the Wind released 1939 directed by Victor Flemmings
• 27 versions of dracula story see here for list

Google Project Entry 2

What is Dialogue?

Dialogue by definition is a "conversation between two or more people as a feature of a story." (dictionary) There are many questions one can ask about dialogue, is a conversation in a book just like a conversation between two friends? The answer is no, dialogue has several specific jobs in literature; "Dialogue must do one of the following:

• Establish the tone or mood
• Provide exposition or back story
• Reveal character and motivation
• Create immediacy and intimacy (build reader empathy)
• Move the plot forward and/or increase its pace
• Create or add to existing conflict
• Remind the reader of things they may have forgotten
• Foreshadow"

A good rule to live by is "The richer the Dialogue's meaning,the richer the story."

Dialogue is "a condensed, distilled version of real talk, thick on meaning, thin on chatter."

Be sure to "Use language particular to a character and organically reflective of their background and personality."

Google Project entry 1

I've been throwing around several ideas to work into an essay. So i'm going to outline everything I want to cover in each potential essay in this blog. These ideas are all questions i've been rolling around for a while, and all things i'm very interested in.

Ideas:

1. How dialogue and metaphor work in both classic literature and film adaptation, AKA how dialogue and imagery translate to new media.
2. May be a separate idea, or included in idea #1. The loss of dialogue and metaphor in film adaptation because of direction or acting style
3. How different directing styles effect film adaptation of classic literature
4. Dialogue (and surrounding elements) as an element of classic literature

Considering I'm currently fascinated with dialogue, i'll probably work on #4. So, i'm going to block in my outline, and give myself a few resources to use later.

What is dialogue? (What are its functions?)

On dialogue

How does one write dialogue?

On writing dialogue

Does dialogue change with characterization?

On functions of dialogue and accent

How do different authors link dialogue with their characters?

Does this make the authors essentially actors, by which they play every character? (how does one incorporate accents?)

On characterization through dialogue

See book mentioned "you just don't understand" by Deborah Tannen

What is good dialogue?

Why is dialogue a key element in classic literature?

I'll probably edit this post a dozen times, at least. In my next post I'll actually start writing down some ideas in the form of paragraphs, working, of course, towards my complete project.