Character and Story Development

Character Drawing

STORY 1

The Romantic Warrior

Hung

Kim

Nick

STORY2

Tạm biệt

(Goodbye)

Hao

Tien

Bao

STORY4

BINH the BEAR

Story Planing and Development

Tạm biệt

- Goodbye -

"Story about a Little Vietnamese Boy who trapped in a war, know nothing and tried to be saved by his family"

Thursday, 9 March 1961.

uhhh.. where am i...?

its so noisy..

uncle Bao..? auntie Tien..?

he is driving.. but where are we going..?

why does his face look so scared..? huhhh..

auntie..? why are you crying..? don't cry..

and don't hold me so tight.. i cant breath..

uhhh.. im so sleepy...

mom....

mom..

Saturday, 25 February 1961

Today's school was so tiring.. but fun yet..

thanks to Phong.. haha he is such a funny guy..Its nice to be his new friend..

phew.. When I get  home, I'll definitely finish my toy car!

mother surely will help me make it..hehe
uh..! there it is..my lovely small house..

"IM HOMEE.."

"Moomm.. let's finished the car..!"

"eh..? uncle Bao..? and auntie Tienn..! waahh..!"

Uncle Chau Bao Chien is a really cool guy, 

and aunt Thuy Tein Tu is also a really kind lady..

i like both of them..

but..Why were they here..?

both of them lived in South Vietnam, 

mom said that it's very far from our home in North Vietnam.

hm.. but why are they talking so seriously..?

uncle's face looks so wrinkled, auntie and mom looked so sad..

i can't understand..

but it feels uncomfortable..

i hope everything is alright..

ok, let's get started with the car..!

Sunday, 26 February 1961

I think.. i saw mom crying..

i never saw mom cried before..

what happened to her..??

uhh.. did i make any mistake..?

"Momm.. what happened to you..?

did i do something wrong..?"

Mom huged me.. ever so tightly..

she cried and said i didn't do anything wrong.

but why did she cry..?

when i asked, she didn't answer anything..

she just looked at me,

and kissed my cheek.

Monday, 27 February 1961

Mom said that I didn't have school.

she said that i have holiday for 2 weeks..!

it means that i can play all day long and spend my time with mom..

heheh i love it!

Tuesday, 7 March 1961

Mom takes me to the hill near our house.

On that hill, there's one hut that mom said it was made by Dad for her.

on that hut, we told a lot of stories while I sat on mum's lap.

we saw stars on that night, it was so beautiful.

Wednesday, 8 March 1961

uh i'm so hungry! 

mom made corn soup that i was my favorite.

before we ate,my mom and I usually prayed together first.

we do pray. but this time, mom prayed for so long!

she grabbed both of my hand so i couldn't eat..

something was different about her prayer. she bow her head so i couldn't really see her face.

but she held my hand so tight.

after she finished her prayer, i gobbled down my food..!

mom looked at me eat, i love her smile..:)

usually, mom tells me some stories before my bedtime.

stories about my dad that went to war when i was a child -which i liked the most-

stories about My father with his North Vietnamese troops trying to 

defeat South Vietnamese people which get help from America, 

story about how mom and dad met, fables, legends, ANY STORY!

tonight, she told me a story about a kid that moved to another place to survive.

she also told me that if we have to move to America to evacuate, we should be able to survive.

"if mom comes with me, ill be OK" i comforted her.

she looked so sad while telling the story, especially after what I said. 

she did sigh a couple of times as if she was trying to hold her tears.

i rather enjoyed the story.. while getting very sleepy.

after the story finished, mom hugged me again and said that she really loved me.

-i get a lot of hugs these day.-

i remembered when mom said that hugs could cure any pain in heart.

so i hugged her back that night.

"i love you mom", I said.

mom also asked me about sleeping together with me that night, 

and i thought of an answer, and I agreed.

then i went to my sleep.. funnily, i feel terribly sleepy that night.

Saturday,11 March 1961

the last thing i remembered, Auntie Tien said,

the reason they take me with them is that we will find my Dad.

but it will happened when the war has ended. 

Uncle Bao also said that mom will find us when the war has ended. 

she needed to do something at home.

i hope i can meet her again soon..

i need my mom..

The Romantic Warrior

"A story about a Romantic Vietnamese Guy who feels that he was never meant to be a warrior, but he was obliged to do it for his country. trying to survive to return to his family while protecting his best friend and himself. " “I cannot believe that war is the best solution. No one won the last war and no one will win the next."

Eleanor Roosevelt quotes

PAM HÙNG DUNG, "HÙNG" which means Heroic and "DUNG" means Brave, 

really does not describe my personality best... 

for me, i really hate war. 

it's better for me to be a writer or a poet because i know i have a talent for it.

like the way i attract my wife Chau Hong Kim,

In 1949, i met Kim when i was 17, and she was 15.

It was love at first sight and everyday since, i tried to attract her in anyway i could. 

one day in 1950, it was June, we're walking together besides a small river at our town side. 

we had our first kiss there. 

and we made a symbol that only two of us know. 

i took a leaf and placed it on top of Kim's head, covered it with my hand, and i said, 

"whenever i put this leaf, it means that i really do love you. i know that there will come our hard time and when everything goes wrong, i hope this leaf will tell everything from my heart.." 

i really remember when she blushed and she punched my stomach at the end of that moment. Everything was so beautiful back then..

we lived in a small town called Bee-Enn Foo, North Vietnam. during that time, our government was in an unstable position because of  a clash between the communist and democratic party. my wife and i lived in the communist territory  and in a matter of time, we really didn't want to be involved in any of this nonsense.

but obligation beats everything. i had to leave Kim and PHAM HAO PHUC, my only son. 

My little treasure that born on 21 January 1953 from my marriage with Kim a year before. 

the farewell was the hardest. 

Probably because she aware that she should be the one who go to war better then me. 

for the first time, i saw Kim cried in front of me.

questioning that this strong hearted girl could drop her tears for me. 

i put leaf on top of her head, and then cover it with my hand and we prayed. 

we hugged and kissed. 

my war start at 3 May 1959, at the border between South and North Vietnam.

at this war, i met a young boy named Huỳnh Công Út. 

he was 19 when he entered the war, not as a soldier but as a Photographer.

Nick and I became good friend since then, maybe you can say he's my only friend.

to be honest, 3 years of my duty, i NEVER killed anyone.

until that day comes when i have to choose between taking live or let my friend die.

it was dusk, middle August 1962, in the middle of an ambush, guns firing everywhere.

my squad was trying to win the ground. and Nick was there hiding and taking a lot of pictures.

i stood 7 meters away from him.

then, one american soldier ran blindly towards Nick holding a bayonet, trying to killed anybody  in his way.

i stood and screamed to Nick to run, but Nick couldn't hear me, he couldn't even move because of the killing pressure from that american guy.

i fired. 

it was my first time shooting a person. Nick was shocked. 

everything seemed to move slower and a thousand of emotional thoughts came into my mind.

i smiled. and trying to scream "You own me one NICK!"

but,

BANGG...

i heard a gun shot really near my spot. and i felt something touching my body.

everything went so quiet. i saw Nick's face so ugly like screaming and crying. but no voice came from him.

and suddenly, i breathing began to hurt.

i fell. i got shot. i'm dying.

Nick comes to me, he grabs my hand and screams my name.

i tried to grab any leaf around me and put it upon his head.

hardly, i said to him.

"Please nick.. find my wife.. and do this to her.."

i believe that nick would find my wife. i showed him picture of my wife once and if he need to see it again,

i always kept the picture inside my pocket. he knows it.

then,

i prayed.

that day, the most talented poetic, the Romantic Warrior, died in a war.

not for his country, but for his friend.

Story and Script Terms

- 1 
SENTENCE 
PITCH

one sentence that's intriguing and attention-grabbing without giving away the end of the book. 
The important thing to remember is that a good pitch is a description of what actually happens. It's a one sentence description of the plot,not the theme.


- LOGLINE
 
brief summary of a television program or film, often providing both a synopsis of the program's plot, and an emotional "hook" to stimulate interest.



- SYNOPSIS
 
a brief or condensed statement giving a general view of some subject.



- CHARACTER
 
BIO
 
character's background


- STORYLINE

The plot or subplot of a story



- SCENE 
BREAKDOWN

 
You breakdown a script you read or movie you watch per each scene and scene sequence.


- BEATS
 
A beat is a the smallest unit of story telling. It is a piece of the story in which something happens.



- PLOTS


(mini story line)
Plot is a literary term defined as the events that make up a story, particularly as they relate to one another in a pattern, in a sequence, through cause and effect, or by coincidence.

- sub PLOTS
A subplot is a secondary plot strand that is a supporting side story for any story or the main plot. Subplots may connect to main plots, in either time and place or in thematic significance. Subplots often involve supporting characters, those besides the protagonist or antagonist


- TURNING 
POINTS

(point which the character should chose about the future.)
A decisive point at which a significant change or historical event occurs, or at which a decision must be made.



- SCRIPT

(voices to your character)
A script is a document that outlines every aural, visual, behavioral, and lingual element required to tell a story.




All situations/plots can have these: 


- HOOK
a literary technique in the opening of a story that "hooks" the reader's attention so that he or she will keep on reading. The "opening" may consist of several paragraphs for a short story, or several pages for a novel, but ideally it is the opening sentence


- CLIMAX
its point of highest tension or drama or when the action starts in which the solution is given.


- MOTIVE 
something to achieve/ to get/ something that we need.




- DRAMATIC SEQUENCE
Sequence of events-eg.One thing leads to another to another to another


- RESOLUTION
a resolve or determination 


- OUTCOME
a final product or end result; consequence; issue.




- PARADIGM

model/example/diagram of a script/template (hang it like a painting) 


- ACTS

Act1, Act2, Act3

In general, Act I is the beginning setup, Act II is a middle confrontation, and Act III is the ending resolution.

- SET UP

is where all of the main characters and their basic situation are introduced, and contains the primary level of characterization (exploring the character's backgrounds and personalities).

- CONFRONTATION

is the bulk of the story, and begins when the inciting incident (or catalyst) sets things into motion. This is the part of the story where the characters go through major changes in their lives as a result of what is happening; this can be referred to as thecharacter arc, or character development.

- RESOLUTION

is when the problem in the story boils over, forcing the characters to confront it, allowing all elements of the story to come together and inevitably leading to the ending.

- PLOT POINTS

In television and film, a plot point is a significant event within a plot that digs into the action and spins it around in another direction. It can also be an object of significant importance, around which the plot revolves. It can be anything from an event to an item to the discovery of a character or motive. The plot point is usually introduced at the exposition of the movie.

- MOTIVE

Want to achieve/get/see/needs/etc

- CONFLICT

is a necessary element of fictional literature. It is defined as the problem in any piece of literature and is often classified according to the nature of the protagonist or antagonist.

- DRAMATIC ENTERTAINMENT

drama to entertain