Idea, Rhythm, Pace, and Tempo

8 Idea, Rhythm, Pace, and Tempo Idea e use the term idea in two different ways in dramatic analysis. The Wfirst use, taken from college English texts for reading purposes, means the same as theme. In our case, for production analysis, the idea of a script is its basic meaning. The writer puts together characters and actions so that the actions result in an idea. The writer doesn’t usually come straight out and say—in big bold let- ters—what the idea is. Many times, but not always, one sentence said by one character contains the writer’s idea specifically. More likely, the writer may never actually state his or her idea directly in words. Usually, the idea is expressed indirectly or with some subtlety. Do not be upset if you find it relatively difficult to discover. You will find it—it is there. You can use a variety of means to find the idea. First, look at the title. What clues does it give you? Not all titles are clues, but it is a good place to start. What does Death of a Salesman mean? Star Wars? A Raisin in the Sun? The Maltese Falcon? Roosters? It’s a Wonderful Life? Some script titles contain a philosophical statement. That is not very common, especially in modern stage and screen scripts. Most writers do not like to come out and beat you over the head with the message. We save that technique for politicians and commercials. Scriptwriters con- sider that too obvious. Usually writers prefer to reach us through indi- rection. Intellectual statement is too obvious, too self-conscious. Start looking at the dramatic action of the principal character or characters. If you can make a simple sentence combining the characters and the main action, you probably have the idea. The sentence will be the idea stated in action: “This script is about a shy college student who, M.F. Monta et al., Directing for Stage and Screen © Marian F. Monta and Jack R. Stanley 2008 160 DIRECTING FOR STAGE AND SCREEN gifted by extraordinary powers, feels he must fight evil when he would rather pass math.” That is our made-up idea for Spiderman II. Flat-out philosophical statements, although occasionally pinpointed in specific speeches, are not very common in plays and screen scripts. Most dramatic writers shun obvious statements of meaning. They want to reach audiences directly on the most primitive level of understanding. Intellectual statement is too obvious, too self-conscious. Film studio head Samuel Goldwyn liked to say, “If I wanted to send a message, I would send a telegram.” We tend to feel cross and irritated when we are “preached at.” A lot of well-intentioned religious dramas preach so much, we can’t tell if we are in church or at a play or film. A good dramatic script gets its message across with subtlety. That is why inexperienced directors may have trouble locating it. The idea of a script should not beat you over the head and shoulders. The reader or viewer should have to discover it. In the way we use it here, idea is not quite the same as the theme. The theme is a generalized idea, something that can be applied to more than this script. Earlier we discussed that a good theme for Oedipus Rex could be “It is better to be physically blind than to be spiritually blind.” The idea might be “Oedipus is the story of a man who, by trying to avoid a terrible fate foretold to him by an oracle, made it come to pass.” The best means of uncovering the idea, then, is to examine the dramatic action of the principal character or characters. One of the easier ways to see an idea is to place it in a simple sentence combining characters and action. As we have said, this sentence will be the idea stated in action. For example, “This play is about a childlike woman who refuses to grow up and tries to live in her 1950s version of reality.” That is an example of an idea for a script we are thinking about writing. Now that you have analyzed your script and done all the homework, you have certain other tools at your disposal to shape the finished prod- uct and give it the final sense you want it to have. Tempo Tempo can be described as the changing rates of the dramatic action. When the varying beats of several consecutive units are strongly felt, you have identified the pulsations of a production, or its rhythm. Some of these terms are confusing because frequently they are used interchangeably. They are adapted from their musical origins. Even there, musicians don’t always agree on what the terms mean. A musical dictionary will tell you that rhythm is everything relating to the duration IDEA, RHYTHM, PACE, AND TEMPO 161 of a sound, while tempo is the rate of speed of the piece. Therefore, our definitions here are a bit arbitrary. Because all scripts are made in units of action, each unit has its own particular tempo. A script is made up of varying tempos, or unit beats. Therefore, a musical sense is one of the marks of talent in the director. Without a change in the tempo, the show becomes boring. Whether it is too frantic, without any breaks, or too static and still, it is boring. Even in a good script that is generally slow-paced and leisurely in its develop- ment, there are passages where the tempo picks up for a change to high- light the slow, gentle sections. Have you seen a production somewhere that you thought was boring? A bad director can ruin a great script. If the script is a good script, then the probable cause of your boredom was the tempo of the play. Each scene chugged along, the same as the last. Perhaps the director played each scene as if it were life and death, or dragged it out, trying to milk every moment. Boring! Either way it lacked tempo. The following are four characteristics of tempo: surges, rhythm, pace, and pause. These features—surges, rhythm, pace, and pause—are the elements of tempo. Frequently you will hear many of these terms used interchangeably. Don’t let it bother you. Even professionals use many of these words interchangeably. You get the idea. Surges Surges can be seen as an increase in pace and rhythm leading to a climac- tic moment. A surge will often lead to a crisis, and a story may have several surges resulting in a final climax. Think of a storm surge that accompanies a major hurricane. When a storm (the major conflict in a script) is coming, the waves increase in size, and their pattern becomes less regular than before. Local channels go live on camera. A script is made up of such surges, retreats, and new surges, all with accumulating force that finally culminates in a climax (the storm). A script doesn’t just have a weatherman. The 2005 movie War of the Worlds has some excellent examples of surges. The scenes build with increasing intensity, each event following the preceding one, faster and faster, until it reaches a crisis. The sky dark- ens, the wind picks up, we see strange lights in the sky, and finally everything comes crashing down. Then the pace slows down as we start to build another set of incidents toward another crisis, in a slightly different tempo, then move toward yet another crisis. As excitement builds in the scene, the pace may quicken, the speak- ing volume may rise, the camera shots may cut more rapidly, and the 162 DIRECTING FOR STAGE AND SCREEN background music may pick up tempo. A long period of excitement usually builds to a climax, and then we expect a return to a somewhat calmer state. A good director recognizes and capitalizes on these surges, no mat- ter what the medium. Rhythm Rhythm can be described as the total effect of the unit beats. Most writers use the term “rhythm” rather than “surges.” Rhythm is a way of describing multiple tempos brought together. It is similar to pace. A group of surges establishes the rhythm, and a group of rhythms establish the pace. So, after a surge, we generally see a period of relative calm, then another surge of a different duration, and so on. These changes in the tempos of the scenes establish the overall rhythm of the work. Some scripts demand a generally faster pace than others. But a dull script has no changes. A dull production is one in which the entire show is played at the same pace, whether the pace is very fast or very slow. Every production needs variety. Look at War of the Worlds again. Chart the rhythms. If you are a musi- cian, you can actually name the movements of this “symphony”—allegro, andante, furioso, and so on. If the tempos of film and television shows are correctly established in the editing process, then they don’t change with each viewing. Even with no change, a different audience will feel “the show is too slow or “that scene moves too fast.” The changes lie in the audience, not in the production. On stage during the performance, the actors control the tempo of the production. They control the tempo with the pace with which the dia- logue is delivered. Actors control tempo with the number of times they “take a moment.” A “moment” is a pause when the actor wants to have the focus totally on him or her—usually while he or she “suffers in silence.” (The audience usually suffers too, but not in the way the actor imagines.

Load more