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Writing Drama
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Writing Drama (French: La dramaturgie) is a treatise by French writer and filmmaker Yves Lavandier, originally published in 1994, revised in 1997 and 2004.
Writing Drama explores the mechanisms of dramatic story telling. The author makes a clear distinction between what is written to be seen and/or heard (theater, cinema, television, radio, opera and to a lesser extent comic books) and what is written to be read (literature).
The book's principle is the same as Aristotle's Poetics. Yves Lavandier examines works by major scriptwriters and playwrights (Samuel Beckett, Bertolt Brecht, Charles Chaplin, Hergé, Alfred Hitchcock, Henrik Ibsen, Ernst Lubitsch, Molière, Dino Risi, William Shakespeare, Sophocles, Orson Welles, Billy Wilder, etc) in order to answer three questions:
- what do dramatic works consist of?
- why is this so?
- how does one go about writing them?
The author scans all the tools of dramatic narrative: conflict, protagonist, obstacles, suspense, characterisation, three-act structure, preparation, dramatic irony, comedy, activity, dialogue. A play written by Molière, The School for Wives, and a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, North by Northwest, are analysed in detail. Several appendices deal with writing for children, drama and literature, short films, documentaries, etc.
Writing Drama is considered a reference textbook amongst European playwrights and scriptwriters.
Yves Lavandier is also a filmmaker. He has written and directed several shorts and one feature film called Yes, But....