Posts

Showing posts from December, 2012

Super Short Excerpt: The Parts of a Scene for Graphic Novels

Image
Something I've been working on in irregular bursts, and will take a long while to finish. This part is not complete yet. Just sharing... - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Just like traditional film and stageplays, a graphic novel story is divided into Acts. Acts are divided into Sequences. Sequences are divided into Scenes. Scenes are divided into Beats. All of these have a beginning, middle, and end. The main difference between them is the level of change that takes place. Changes on the Beat level are not as pronounced as those on the Scene level. Changes in the Scene level are not as pronounced as those on the Sequence level, and so on. The process of the change is what is known as the Arc (though beats aren’t normally described as having an Arc, since it’s the smallest unit of a narrative.) If you’re creating a love story, for instance, the Story Arc could begin from the time Mr. Wrong meets Miss Right, and ends at the point when Mr. Wrong and Miss Right get married an

One of My Brain Farts: More Money for Original Philippine Theatre?

I've been mulling on this idea for a couple of years, and I don't claim to be the first to think of this. But I thought it best to write it down and get it out of the way. It might work. It might not. And since I don't know exactly how Philippine theatre operates, I'm considering this one of those brain farts I'd have from time to time, which may not be taken seriously. (Disclaimer: I wrote this with Metro Manila-based theatre companies in mind. But I think any theatre company in the Philippines can adopt this model.) Original Philippine theatre has always had a problem when it came to money. (Actually, it's a problem that's common among theatre companies anywhere in the world.) Setting up a commercial production is a massive undertaking, involving dozens of people and huge sums of money, but always carries a huge risk. Very few companies are willing to sponsor shows, and it would almost take a miracle to pack the theater houses during the production'