ELEMENTS OF A DRAMA

DRAMA
 Greek word: dran = do or act
 West: Tragedies – earliest forms of drama (by the Greeks)
 As a form of literature/performance – drama = work of PERFORMED ART or LITERATURE representing an action
o Dramatic – show the action of plot thru a character’s acting
 Action – not as gawa or kilos but as ganap (something is being acted thru acting)

RAMAYANA BALLET
 Represents actions of gods in Hindu mythology and epic literature thru acting

LA LA LAND
 Represents the actions of the couple Mia and Sebastian and their attempts to fulfill their dreams

NOH THEATER
 Represents the actions of heroes from traditional Japanese stories

SHORT STORIES – POEMS vs DRAMA

 Dramatic works have a lot of elements == work together to form and convey meaning – they work together to form the theme
of the dramatic work
1. Dramatic elements
a. Plot – refers to the sequence of causal events in the
drama arranged to form the beginning, middle, and end
 FREYTAG’s PYRAMID
Example:
A  B  C
The king died. The queen died I became king
 An example of a plot because each element in the example cause the
next element

HOW TO SAY IF DRAMA HAS A GOOD PLOT

A. DRAMATIC ELEMENTS
- If the next events are probable (connected to each other – not PILIT)
 Event is probable event based on A and B
o LA LA LAND
A – Mia is a barista aspiring to be an actress
B – Mia goes to a jazz bar – meets Sebastian – a jazz pianist
C – Both being aspiring artists, they vibe well together
D – They both encourage each other to pursue their dreams
ABCD – there is an organic cause-and-effect relationship between the elements of the plot

b. Characters - characters and their actions are the ones who move the plot forward
 Characters are the figues who move in the plot and make the plot progress
 A character’s personality (or character) is revealed thru other elements
i. Acting (performative)
ii. Costume (technical)
iii. Dialogue (literary)
c. Dialogue – lines spoken between the two characters (can either be sung or spoken)
d. Music/rhythm
 Music = Refers to song or singing or background music
 Rhythm = the rhythmic (patterned) enunciation of words of lines in the drama
 Both Music and rhythm = contribute to: MOOD is established
How DIALOGUE is spoken

2. Technical elements
3. Performative elements

LA LA LAND
1. How would you describe the characters Mia and Sebastian based on the dialogue?
2. What dramatic work is all about can be understood thru the dramatic elements
 a. Plot
b. Character
c. Dialogue
d. Music / rhythm

Three dramas given – feel so different === WHY?

_ Due to the other two categories of elements
(1) Technical elements
a. Costumes and make-up (wigs, dresses, etc)
b. Lighting
c. Properties (aka props)
d. Sound effects
e. Scenery or set (curtain, backdrops, platforms, etc)

Technical elements of:

La La Land
Dimmed – purple lighting
Semi-formal costumes
Scene set in Hollywood
Ramayana Ballet
Costumes reveal certain aspects of
character (character status)
Noh Play
What does it tell you about the
performance? Explain
Costumes reveal certain aspects of
character (character status)

Set, scenery, and lighting evoke a

certain wistful mood that
compliments the theme of the
drama
Although all three works are representative of a certain “ganap” = they have different effects BECAUSE OF
THE DIFFERENT TECHNICAL ELEMENTS THEY HAVE

These elements all contribute to SPECTACLE

SPECTACLE
❊ Visual effect that the elements have on the viewer
❊ Term bridges the technical and performative elements

(2) Performative elements

o Refers to the acting of the actor – how the actors move
 Actors represents the character (thru his acting, dancing, and movements) – these relate
back to spectacle (or overall visual effect) of the dramatic performance
o How the acting is done – this is determined by the character = NO CHARACTER = NO
ACTING CAN BE DONE
PRACTICE
Watch LA LA LAND CLIP – answer
1. Identify the technical element. Describe
2. Based on no. 1, how does your chosen technical element contribute to the mood of the clip
3. Describe the acting in the scene
4. Based on no 3, how does the performative element contribute to building Mia’s character. Explain how
the acting reveals Mia’s character.

REFERENCE
  (verb) to point back at something; to assign
 (noun) a relationship between two objects where one links to the other objects

REFERENCE MATERIALS
 Tell us some more info about something – by linking us to the unknown

TYPES OF REFERENCE MATERIALS

1. Books (dictionaries, thesauruses, anthologies)
o Using books as reference: allow you to get a comprehensive and in-depth discussion of a
particular topic
a. Dictionaries – used to get the definitions (including pronunciations, etymologies)
b. Thesauruses – used to get the synonyms and antonyms of words
c. Anthologies – book which collects writings from various authors under a common theme
 Editor collates these writings and writes the introduction to the anthology
 Good for learning about various perspectives about a particular topic
2. Encyclopedias
o Huge volumes of books
o Contain information about a particular topic arranged alphabetically
o Has contributors and an editor
o Can give the reader a broad understanding about a particular term of topic
3. Journal articles
o JA are relatively short essays (15-20pages long) about a particular topic
o Seeks to talk about an object of study and argue for something about the object
o Useful in getting as reading a book chapter is useful === you get an idea about some issues
surrounding a topic and a particular author’s position on the said topic
4. Archival materials (of different media = maps, photos, etc.)
o Can be any media (photos, maps, etc.) are kept in archives
 ARCHIVES – a location in a library which contains old historical documents
o Can be used to get historical data about something
o Examples: post cards

MEDIA AND SIGNS

SIGN
❊ SIGNIFIER = things that give meaning (a word or an image)
❊ SIGNIFIED = what is evoked in the mind (mental concept)

Example: image of an apple with leaf on a stem

The sign: the object / thing = apple
Signifier: the physical existence (sound, word, image) = red – leaf – round – apple
Signified: mental concept = fruit – apple – freshness – healthy – temptation – teacher’s pet – computer

Example: red roses

The sign: passionate roses
Signifier: roses
Signified: romance – passion – love
Example:

Sign: half empty medicine pad with bullet

Signifier: bullet – half empty medicine pad
Signified: killing yourself by self medicating