Nancy J. Nabong
AC 103 : MWF / 1:00 – 2:00 PM

I. THE ELEMENTS OF DRAMA 1. PLOT * Most important element of a story: Summary of a play’s story, concerned with what happens in the story * The order of events occurring in a play is referred to as the plot of the drama. It is the basic storyline that is narrated through a play. The entertainment one derives from a play depends largely on the sequence of events that occur in the story. The logical connection between the events and the characters, which enact the story form an integral part of the plot of drama.

2. CHARACTER * These are the people presented in the play that are involved in the perusing plot. Each character should have their own distinct personality, age, appearance, beliefs, socio economic background, and language. * The characters must be shaped to fit the needs of the plot and all parts the characterization must fit together. * Protagonist – the person who is attempting to resolve the problem.
The conflict he faces, frequently involves a struggle with some force outside himself (external conflicts) as with an antagonist and or struggle within himself (internal conflict).

3. THOUGHT * What the play means as opposed to what happens (the plot). Sometimes the theme is clearly stated in the title. It may be stated through dialogue by a character acting as the playwright’s voice. Or it may be the theme is less obvious and emerges only after some study or thought. The abstract issues and feelings that grow out of the dramatic action. * 4. LANGUAGE * The word choices made by the playwright and the enunciation of the actors of the language. Language and dialog delivered by the characters moves the plot and action along, provides exposition, defines the distinct characters. Each playwright can create their own specific style in relationship to language choices they use in establishing character and dialogue.

5. THEME * The plot has been called the body of a play and the theme has been called its soul. Most plays have a conflict of some kind between individuals, between man and society, man and some superior force or man and himself. The events that this conflict provokes make up the plot. One of the first items of interest is the playwright\rquote s treatment of the plot and what them he would draw from it. The same plots have been and will be used many times; it is the treatment that supplies each effort with originality or artistic worth. Shakespeare is said to have borrowed all but one of his stories, but he presented them so much better than any of the previous authors that he is not seriously criticized for the borrowing. The treatment of theme is equally varied. * The same theme or story may be given a very serious or a very light touch. It may be a severe indictment or a tongue-in- cheek attack. It could point up a great lesson or show the same situation as a handicap to progress. The personality, background an d social or artistic temperament of the playwright are responsible for the treatment that he gives to his story or theme. We must, therefore, both understand and evaluate these factors. * * To endure, a play should have a theme. It is sometimes suggested in the title as in Loyalties, Justice, or Strife, You can't Take It With You, or The Physician in Spite of Himself. At other times it is found in the play itself, as in Craig's Wife when the aunt says to Mrs. Craig, "People who live to themselves are often left to themselves." Sometimes theme is less obvious, necessitating closer study. * * If a play has a theme, we should be able to state it in general terms and in a single sentence, even at the risk of oversimplification. The theme of Hamlet is usually stated as the failure of a youth of poetic temperament to cope with circumstances that demand action. The theme of Macbeth is that too much ambition leads to destruction; a Streetcar Named Desire, that he who strives hardest to find happiness oftentimes finds the least; and of Green pastures, that even God must change with the universe.
Of course the theme, no matter how fully stated, is not the equivalent of the play. The play is a complex experience, and one must remain open to its manifold suggestions. * As indicated above, the statement of the play in specific terms is the plot presented. Plot and theme should go hand in hand. If the theme is one of nobility, or dignity, the plot must concern events and characters that measure up to that theme. As we analyze many plays, we find that some posses an excellent theme, but are supported by an inconsequential plot. One famous play of this nature, Abie's Irish Rose, held the stage for many years. The theme said: Difference of religion need not hinder a happy marriage. The plot was so thin and both characters and situation so stereotyped, that justice was not done to the theme. This weakness was most obvious in the play's revival after twenty years. 6. CLIMAX / DENOUEMENT * Climax – the scene or incident that is the fruition of the accumulated suspense and that stirs the most intense feelings or emotions. It can also be described as the turning point of the story. It is very likely to be the most elaborately presented scene in the play. A full-length play will have several big scenes but the climax is to be distinguished from the other big scenes by its greater intensity and its structural relationship to the documentation and development. * Denouement – the working out of the plot following the climax. In this final part of the play, usually brief but sometimes a full act, the playwright brings the conflict to an end and explains how and why everything turned out the way it did. * It Is the phase of the final part in the plot-pattern that clarifies or simplifies the complicated situation and the solution, the phase that gives the answer whether favorable or unfavorable to the question that the plot has presented, developed and carried through a conclusion.

7. MUSIC AND SPECTACLE * Music can encompass the rhythm of dialogue and speeches in a play or can also mean the aspects of the melody and music compositions as with musical theatre. Each theatrical presentation delivers music, rhythm and melody in its own distinctive manner. Music is not a part of every play. But, music can be included to mean all sounds in a production. Music can expand to all sound effects, the actor’s voices, songs, and instrumental music played as underscore in a play. Music creates patterns and establishes tempo in theatre. In the aspects of the musical the songs are used to push the plot forward and move the story to a higher level of intensity. Composers and lyricist work together with playwrights to strengthen the themes and ideas of the play. Character’s wants and desires can be strengthened for the audience through lyrics and music. * Aside from background music, there is music of speech and of movement. Spectacle intensifies emotions whatever these emotions are. In the theater, the element of a spectacle heightens the atmosphere whether of vitality or terror or sorrow.

8. COSTUME AND MAKE-UP * Every costume should be comfortable and surely put together so that the performer does not have to worry about it once it is on. Before the dress rehearsal, all the parts of each costume should be hung together and tagged. A dressing crew from the costume committee should be on hand to help. * The make-up crew should be allowed plenty of time to do their work after each actor is dressed. Everything in the make-up box should have its own place and be covered when not in use. Make-up pencils should be sharp, sponges should be clean and when grease paint and other materials are running low, they should be replaced before they are needed.

9. SCENERY AND LIGHTNING * Scenery and lightning, furniture-painted backdrops or large props should be real. The scenery may be simple, for it is supposed only to suggest the scene. The imagination of the audience will complete the picture.

II. BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PHILIPPINE CINEMA

* 1926 – Hollywood silent pictures were shown in the Philippines * 1927 – the Silos brothers made THE THREE TRAMPS, a short comedy, where Miami Salvador, Manuel Silos and Enrique Espinosa played the principal roles. * 1929 – Carlos Vander Tolosa wrote and directed Collegian Love, w/c produced by Angelo Garchitorena under Araw Movies. The stars were Naty Fernandz and Gregorio Fernandez. (Salumbides, V. 1952) * 1933 – Jose Nepomuceno started making Tagalog talkies with American technicians and some cameras brought from Hollywood by Harris and Taft. Other talking pictures of Jose Nepomuceno followed. His productions were better but there was room for improvement. * World War II Philippine Movies – the outbreak of the second World War temporarily paralyzed the Philippine movie industry. The Japanese imposed censorship on American and Tagalog pictures before they could be exhibited and established Eiga Heikusa, a central exchange for all pictures. They introduced Japanese pictures with subtitles in English but most of the pictures were propaganda for the co-prosperity with subtitles idea of the Japanese (Salumbides, 1982). * Present Movie Development – from the period of Liberation up to the present, the local movies have been struggling hard but gradually improving. Despite this condition, there are some local producers who are creating quality pictures. The slow pace of the development of the Philippine movies could be attributed to some factors like: the limited market for local movies, lack of capital funding, inadequate facilities or equipment
In spite of these intervening factors, Philippine movies can compete with other Asian movies with regard to quality of production. Since the Philippine government is aware of the significant role of the cinema in the improvement of humanity, it sponsored the First Manila International Film Festival in 1982. One of its objectives is to improve the movie industry in the Philippines and to challenge the ingenuity of the Filipino in moviemaking.
• THE FIRST FILIPINO FILM PRODUCERS * Jose Nepomuceno, The Father of Philippine Cinema,Collection of Dennis Villegas. The very first Filipinos filmmakers were Jose Nepomuceno, Vicente Salumbides, Julian Manansala, and Carmen Concha. Later producers include the Silos brothers (Juan, Manuel, Cesar, Octavio), Carlos Vander Tolosa, Jose Domingo Badilla and Rafael Fernandez.Jose Nepomuceno is widely considered as the Father of Filipino Cinematography, long before the art of film-making was firmly established in the Philippine Islands.A dramatic scene in Nepomuceno's landmark film Noli Me Tangere, a silent film from 1930, Collection of Dennis Villegas.One of the best photographers in Manila in the early 20th century, Nepomuceno owned the Electro-Photo Studio Parhelio in Plaza Goiti (now Plaza Lacson). He evntually sold his photography equipments and studio to concentrate on making movies. As a cinematographer, Nepomuceno shot various newsreels and documentaries produced by his own production company, Malayan Movies(1917). His films were shown in many Manila theaters at that time. In 1919, Nepomuceno produced and directed Dalagang Bukid, the first ever Filipino-made movie. Based on the zarzuela play by Hermogenes Ilagan, Dalagang Bukid starred Honorata Atang dela Rama in the title role. Nepomuceno's other later movies include La Venganza de Don Silvestre (1920), La Mariposa Negra(1920), El Capullo Marchito (1921), and Hoy o Nunca, Besame(1923). In 1930, Nepomuceno produced his masterpiece, Noli Me Tangere, considered one of the greatest films in Philippine cinema history. * THE TALKIES * The arrival of sound in movies was heralded by the Hollywood movie "Jazz Singer" in 1927. Producers were eager to use the new technology to attract more moviegoers. Some were not so eager, such as the great actor Charlie Chaplin, who even satirized talking movies with his 1931 film "City Lights". However, the era of the silent cinema is already passing. In the Philippines, the sound technology arrived in 1929. The very first Filipino film to use sound technology was Ang Asuwang, a movie starring comedienne Patring Carvajal, and produced by George Musser of Talkatone. In 1932, Jose Nepomuceno produced Punyal na Ginto, a movie based on the novel by Antonio Sempio. It was the very first Filipino-produced sound movie made in the Philippines. Interestingly, though, the movie was partially silent and partially with sound, as Nepomuceno just experimented with sound in the later part of the movie.