dagblog - Comments for "Moving The Needle With Spike Lee"

Man, I love all of you

Michael Maiello — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 12:50:15 +0000

In reply to But the adapted TV series,

Man, I love all of you people.

But the adapted TV series,

MrSmith1 — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 05:57:55 +0000

In reply to To be fair though, that

But the adapted TV series, 'Malcolm X in the Middle' had a nice run.

To be fair though, that

tmccarthy0 — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 02:57:49 +0000

In reply to But strangely, Malcolm XXX

To be fair though, that version went straight to video.

But strangely, Malcolm XXX

Doctor Cleveland — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 17:25:48 +0000

In reply to Moving The Needle With Spike Lee

But strangely, Malcolm XXX got funded right away.

When I first learned about

MrSmith1 — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 20:14:12 +0000

In reply to I never have. I'm going to

When I first learned about it, I was astounded that someone had figured out the commonality of plot structure that most great plays had, and which most bad plays lacked. It consists of the Condition of the Action, which lets you know what the play is going to be about, The Cause of the Action, which sets the plot in motion and leads to the Resulting Action, which is the question the play will attempt to answer and the Climax, which answers that question.

For example, In a town divided by two feuding families, Romeo a member of one of the feuding families, sees Juliet, a member of the opposing family, and falls in love at first sight. (The Condition of the Action.) Then, Romeo marries Juliet, (The Cause of the Action), which raises the question; "Will these lovers live happily ever after?" (The Resulting Action) The climax comes when Romeo kills Tybalt in Act Three, thus sealing their fate, and answering the question, for, given the Duke's decree, there is, from that point on, no happy ending possible. (Of course, Shakespeare, being Shakespeare, manages an additional two acts to wring the emotional anguish out of us, as we desperately hope for some other possibility.)

I've written plays using it, and others without it. I think you can get away from it with certain types of one-person shows, which are basically extended monologues, but most full length plays, I think, benefit from such an invisible structure. But eh, what do I know?

Sorry, to go off on a tangent. I like Spike Lee.

I never have. I'm going to

Michael Maiello — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 17:39:16 +0000

In reply to Have you read about William

I never have. I'm going to check that out, though. I've always found that you can take a form that works and then knock it on its head somewhere in the middle to pretty good effect. Though, I have to admit it's been a pretty limited effect in my "career," as it were.

Have you read about William

MrSmith1 — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 17:32:24 +0000

In reply to Moving The Needle With Spike Lee

Have you read about William T. Price's "The Proposition?" Bernard Grebanier wrote about it in one of his books on play-writing. The Proposition is a nice tool for analyzing and understanding the structure of a play. Unfortunately, some see it as a template for cookie-cutter replication and a play-writing short-cut rather than as the necessary under-wiring on which a playwright can hang their creativity.

Sad. Once again, money is

Ramona — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 16:17:48 +0000

In reply to Moving The Needle With Spike Lee

Sad. Once again, money is everything. "To Kill a Mockingbird" might be made today, as an Indy, but I doubt it would be a hit, or get anywhere near the Oscars.

We don't value science and

Dan Kervick — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 14:02:41 +0000

In reply to Well, I believe this has a

We don't value science and math much either.

Well, I believe this has a

tmccarthy0 — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 13:47:40 +0000

In reply to Moving The Needle With Spike Lee

Well, I believe this has a great deal to do with the subject you wrote about yesterday Des. At this point, we seem to value science and math (not to say those intellectual pursuits shouldn't be valued) over art and culture. As a society we would be better off if we supported and valued all aspects of life.

Malcolm X is one of the greatest films ever made, Lee's interpretation captures the dire/dark side of that tumultuous time in our history. If he couldn't make that film today, we are definitely worse off for that, but I think it is because we lack balance and seem to need to value one aspect of life over others. We won't change it until we realize that balance and variety and a rich mixture of culture and science cultivates our being and contributes to a better understanding of our world. Certainly culture helps us understand our world as much as discovering how the world works through science.

Excellent piece Des.