Hi All!
I read so much about beats in a story but don't grasp it. What excactly is a beat, is it a part of a scene or is it a short event? And how does it compare to a scene itself? I believe that it is the smallest element in a story, right? Maybe compared with music, it is a motive, being the smallest element?
Someone knows more about this?
André
I do believe writers put in (beat) when they want the actor to change their emotion, to offer a reaction such as realisation, or something like that.
I hope I've explained it right.
Thanks, so they are really little events then? And those make up the bigger scene? Are there some rules for where one beat ends and the next one starts?
André
k,
thanks
Oh.. so I guess I was barking up the wrong tree. 
Quote: Griff @ July 27 2008, 11:25 PM BST"Beat" has two meanings in scriptwriting.
(1) a beat is the smallest element of plot.
So some "beats" from a single scene in Peep Show might be -
- Sophie asks Mark to dance but he says no.
- Jeff gets to dance with Sophie.
- Mark leaves the party.(2) The other meaning of beat indicates a pause.
So:
SOPHIE: Will you dance with me Mark ?
MARK: (BEAT) No thanks.
It's not just a pause. It's an emotionally charged pause. A pause could indicate that someone is considering before giving an answer which isn't really the case. It's basically giving the actor a chance to do a bit of non verbal acting.
You can also use an epsilon for the same kind of effect.
GRIFF:
Do you love me Pete?
PETE:
I... I don't hate you.
The main thing is not to overuse the [BEAT] thingummy.
If you want to see how best to use "pauses" see Harold Pinter. And shouldn't this be in the writers forum?
I like Pinter (beat) alot......even if he is a little forced in his style.
Quote: Griff @ July 28 2008, 10:33 AM BSTYou should never, ever, see Harold Pinter for any reason whatsoever.
Racist.
I remember an interviewer once calling him Harold. To which
he replied, Harold, Harold? I'm sorry, did we go to school together?
Always makes me chuckle.
He is supposed to be a right grumpy bastard.
The Go Betweens are a pretty decent band, too. And to be fair, when playwrites do adaptations, they're usually doing it for the sake of their bank balance.
Quote: Griff @ July 28 2008, 10:39 AM BSTAnd he made an absolute f**k-up of adapting The Go-Between, one of the best novels ever.
I've been trying to see that for years, but every time it's broadcast on tv, usually at about 2 am, something goes wrong, namely...
1) A power cut during transmission.
2) Sport over-running so my timer recording only gets the first 20 mins.
3) Setting up the VCR to record the wrong channel.
When I finally do see it, I'll probably be disappointed. Of course!
I call my dog Pinter, because he has long paws...
...Is.
Quote: Griff @ July 28 2008, 10:39 AM BSTAnd he made an absolute f**k-up of adapting The Go-Between, one of the best novels ever.
He did a pretty good job on 'The French Lieutenant's Woman', to be fair. Unfortunately Jermey Irons & Meryl Streep hammed the script up atrociously (unless I'm a philistine and it was overacted in the spirit of melodrama?).