  Drama
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| Excuse me as I slide in on my reindeer and join in the fun as guest editor, because ‘tis the season for some drama. One of my favorites hits the airwaves this season, and it’s a wonderful example of structured dramatic tension. The difference between a so-so piece and once that produces a response from a reader is structured dramatic tension. “It’s A Wonderful Life” is an excellent example of structured dramatic tension. You must look past any prejudices toward the season represented or the sense of simplicity and sentimentality and focus on the structure of the work. |
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First, the protagonist, George Bailey, is the quintessential everyman. He is a regular guy with dreams of successful and rewarding future “I'm gonna build things. I'm gonna build airfields, I'm gonna build skyscrapers a hundred stories high, I'm gonna build bridges a mile long....” (It’s A Wonderful Life,” 1949). Like many born and raised in a small town his dream includes “I'm shakin' the dust of this crummy little town off my feet and I'm gonna see the world.” (ibid) There is more behind this than just riches and fame, it is the universal need to have purpose in life.Being Everyman doesn’t mean the protagonist is perfect; on the contrary, he must have flaws for us to empathize and identify with him. As with Everyman, Life deals him a hand full of temptation and one blow after another until he reaches his breaking point. In order for this story to work we must identify with George on this basic “Why me?” level and the events leading up to his breaking point, suicide in this case, must have a logical flow. It took several years and changes in writers before Frank Capra accepted the screen play reworking of the short story, “The Greatest Gift.” In the screen play each road block in George Bailey’s path is carefully laid in such a manner that we are unaware of the significance, like Clarence, George’s guardian angel, we don’t understand why we must start with a twelve year old George in order to understand the twenty-eight year old George.
In order for a dramatic piece to work, the writer must take time to careful scaffold the protagonist and the events that lead to the conflict. In this case, George obtaining his dream is delayed because it is his nature to sacrifice for the good of others. The protagonist of a well constructed drama can not be perfect and survive scrutiny by the viewer or reader. On the other hand, the protagonist can’t be so flawed that the intended audience refuses to identify because there are no redeeming factors.
There must also be an antagonist who represents the polar opposite of the protagonist. It’s too easy to make the antagonist evil incarnate, throwing boulders down upon our protagonist. It’ll make a story that is true but will it make it memorable, thought provoking, and hold the scrutiny of a diverse readership?
Henry F. Potter represents the ultimate in characters we love to hate. He rivals Ebenezer Scrooge in shrewd business sense and lack of understanding of the human condition. He is a perfect foil for George Bailey because he represents the consequence of choice. However, his character is not one-sided, there is a redemptive turning point for Mr. Potter at which he actually pauses to consider the right and wrong of his action but in true Potter fashion he ignores the positive.
I invite you to watch this movie from the critical writing point of view, see how each piece fits together so magnificently and how what may be considered minor has great implications in the end. See how the drama of the piece is carefully constructed and assembly to make the action slowly build. Notice the way each character no matter how small has a place in the storyline. Then choose one of your dramatic pieces and do a comparison. Remember the ninety minute movie started out as a short story. Yours may not become a screenplay but you might release more power than you realized lay dormant in the piece. Take your time, think through the plotline scrutinize each character and each situation. Then begin constructing the dramatic tension around the elements so they lead the reader to the ultimate resolution.
REMEMBER
1. Choose a universal theme.
2. Choose a protaganist to whom the reader can relate on some level.
3. Choose an antagonist that is the polar opposite of the protaganist, think dark side with finesse.
4. Know where you are going, construct the dramatic tension. Don't leave it to chance.
5. Add enough situations that are believable and slowly build the tension between the protagonist the "world."
6. Add characters that add that are dynamic or static who have an effect on the protagonist.
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Drama: December 19, 2007 Issue [#2132]
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