Difference between Stage and Television

 Stage dramas have limitations of scenarios and sceneries but television

drama has no limit! The stage has just the stage, no matter how many times it is re-
set and re-decorated, but television has a wide vista of scenes to be exploited. While the
scenes of the stage are artificial, even when they are made to look like natural settings,
television gives us the view of real life settings. Please, take note that television here does
not refer to the electronic box you switch on and off, but to scenes and situations taken on
video to be seen on television. So video and television are synonymous. And you may
ask: what about staged television dramas? Yes, some television dramas are staged –
happening for the most part indoors. But it still has far greater potentials than the theatre
stage. While television staged dramas can allows us film in a garage, or a swimming
pool, or at a car park, or a in bedroom, the theatre cannot produce the same effect on us
because it is limited in size and scope. Stage performers can only give us mimicry of
actions obtainable in, for example, a swimming pool. In television, actors can actually
swim in a pool, but on the stage, they put their belly on the stage floor and lie to us that
they are swimming. Now you see the difference!

 Staged drama lacks special effects, but television has an abundance of

screen effects, and there is no limit to effects producible on screen. Think
of all those special effect you see on television that wow your senses, such as a man
flying in the sky, or a car exploding. The stage cannot give you that, no matter how wide
or high the stage may be. But with television you can create a lot of those effects, even
such effects as a man blowing off a mountain. When you think about ‘all’ the special
screen effects television offers, you know what power is at your disposal to make very
interesting stories.

 Stage Drama tells, but television shows. The biggest difference between stage
drama and television drama is that the stage tells us the story, while television shows us
the story. Stage drama utilizes words to tell the plot of the story and to evoke emotional
response from the audience. The extent of what could be performed on the stage gives
limitation to how far the plot of the story can be shown. And the emotions of performers
are relayed in what they say. With television, there is a difference to all of that.
Television can show you even the sequence of a mental dream and it can also perfectly
portray the emotions of the characters with a single word from the characters. You see the
advantage of telling your stories on television? The only limit is your imagination. How
far can your imagination go?

With these in mind, we will now step into the subject proper.
The Fundamentals of screenwriting
 Plot

Plot is the most crucial element in storytelling, no matter what medium is being used to tell the
story – novel, stage or television. Our concern here is plotting the story for television (that is,
how the audience sees it) and thus we must understand how plotting relates to the screenplay.

The Plot of a story is the causal sequence of events and situations that unfolds the story a writer
is trying to tell. It gives us a compass of the story, a map of events, a chronology of things, as
they take place from start to finish involving characters in diverse situations of emotions,
intrigues, suspense and conflict.

The plot is the skeleton of story itself, while the screenplay is the fleshing on the plot so that the
whole structure can stand to be seen on television. The plot of a story answers the following
questions:

 What is the situation?

There is uproar down the street where you live. You, being curious to know what is
happening, take a walk down the very street. When you get there you seek to know what
the cause of the uproar is – you seek to know the situation. The uproar is the situation. A
situation is the arrangement of events in which one or more characters of a story are
enmeshed. It is the very thing around which all the events of the story are lined. The
situation is the plot.

In the movie, The Figurine, the whole events of the story took off towards the figurine
(you know, that ugly looking scary miniature statue) and then the rest of the events also
took off from the figurine. So the figurine is the center of the plot, it is the driver. Two
serving corps members found a dusty figurine in the line of service and decided to keep
the figurine because the object has an historical significance. The figurine gives
blessings, and then gives curses. That is plot! The other events which are now sewn
round the plot, having elements of emotion, conflict and suspense, are the situation. You
dig?

 Where is the situation taking place?

This is the question of setting. Where is the plot unfolding? Is it in the jungle, on the
mountain, in the sea, in a community, or in your bedroom? This is called the location.
Where? Where? And where is the story taking place? In the case of the uproar, it took
place down your street. In the case of The Figurine, it took place at different places,
taking off from a campus, to the corps camp and to the city.

The plot of a story can unfold in as many locations as the story demands. As a writer, be
careful not to play around with too many locations. Creating a location which does not
help the advancement of the plot would only hinder it.
 What are the elements of the location: time, weather, social conditions?
Every screenwriter must bear this in mind when writing scripts. Stories have elements of
time, of weather, and of the nature of the peoples, how they dress, what language they
speak, and what is the prevailing social conditions. If you are writing a drama which has
a Christmas theme and you miss creating the Harmarttan phenomenon, as in the case of
Nigeria, or the snow, as in the case of, say, America, then your story has a fault. Because,
at that time of the year, Mother Nature lets us have these elements!

Time also means at what period of the day do certain unfolding of the plot takes place -
morning, night, dusk or dawn? Where the element of time is most important is when you
are telling an historical story. For example, the story of the Biafran struggle. You will
need to include such detail has the dressing of the time, the social condition prevailing
then, and other characteristics of that particular time of history. Likewise, if you have to
tell a futuristic story, you must be imaginative enough to surmise what the future could be
at the time in which you are telling your story.

So bear this is mind that the setting of your situation is important to the realization of
your story. And you can employ the elements of the story to push your plot forward.

When you write, think about what setting is most appropriate to your story. Is the story fit
for a village or the big city? And if one of these settings comes to mind, do you have
enough information and imagination of conditions as they exit in a city or a village. And
can you vividly give narratives of these?

The principle of observation is crucial to any writer who will be successful in realistic
storytelling. Observing your environment and taking note of details would enrich your
storytelling ability. Work on it!

 Who is the character and what does he or she wants? Television dramas are
not driven merely on blank pictures. Characters drive the plot of a story. And no matter
the number of characters you have in a story, there is one central character around whom
we set our eyes to see unfolded through the plot. Who is your central character? Who is
your protagonist? Someone we can identify with on an emotional level.

Characters are what drive a story. Characters move the plot in the direction we want it to
go. Your plot is created around a major character and other characters. Remember that as
the writer of your story, you are like a god bringing events into being through people. So
every story plot you create must be done to have a character who is after something.
Every character must be after something even when something is after him/her. If your
character wakes up in the middle of the night and sets out at becoming popular, the goal
of fame is what he or she wants. But if the character finds himself the target of an
assassin, then the goal of security, or the goal of defensive attack, would be what he/she
wants. So, no matter what it is you are working on, ensure that the plot of your story is
structured to make the character seek after something, even if at the end of the story that
something is elusive.
 Who and what is the obstacle to what your character wants? Even in real we
don’t get everything so easily, there sometimes are obstacles that pop in our way,
hindering us to what it is we want. So it is also in the world of storytelling. No matter
what it is that your character is after, there must be obstacles to his getting it, whether
those obstacles come in persons, in things, in the fault of their own character, or in
supernatural entities. Things would not just fall on your character’s lap on a platter of
gold. He must fight for it, just as in life we fight for what we want. Most times, the
antagonist is not always the obstacle against the protagonist. There might be other little
obstacles on the way of the protagonist’s journey to the antagonist. The nature of your
plot would determine what kind of obstacles you create on your character’s way. And
your character’s overcoming of such obstacle should mark a growth in his life, no matter
how seemingly insignificant that may be.

 What is the character doing to get what he or she wants? What your
character does in overcoming the obstacles that confronts him is the advancement of the
plot of the story. It is his response to the situations he is confronted with, and since it is
you who is the creator of the obstacles of your own character, you should allow him the
freedom of willfully responding to the blocks you have set in his way. If your character is
trying to confront the challenge of an assassin, you can give him the freedom of
becoming belligerent, taking arms against his oppressor. Think about the goals you set
for your character, the obstacles you set on his/her way and then how he/she responds to
it would come off naturally. Except in the case of you writing a biographical or historical
story where you have to stick to the truth of events would you be careful in creating
extraneous events in the character’s life. And in this case, you will still have to make your
creatorship of the story felt.

 What is the conflict?

Drama is conflict. The substance of drama is conflict. From the beginning of the story to
the end of it there must be conflict. What is the conflict of your story? Drama is all about
character, action, struggle and conflict. The encounter the character has on his/her way to
getting what he/she wants creates conflict. The test of the writer is in his ability to
effectively create conflict from a start through a build-up to a climax. Conflict is the hook
of drama, conflict of the character with natural and human elements, or with the nature of
his/her personality. Your character is trying to win the heart of a righteous lady but has to
battle with his addiction to alcohol which is unacceptable to her, or with his philandering
which she also finds unacceptable. That is conflict. Your character wants to steal a
figurine to sell to a foreigner but has to confront the ordeal of the process of breaking into
a well secured building where the figurine is set. That is conflict. Or, your character
wants to free his abducted daughter from a group of kidnappers but has to fight his way
through deadly terrain. That is conflict. And eventually when your character confronts his
antagonist the battle of confrontation is conflict. To hold your audience hooked to your
story, you must be skillful in weaving conflict from the beginning of your story to its end.
Drama is conflict, conflict, and conflict.

In the next paper, we will continue on the fundamentals...