Freytag's Pyramid

Freytag's Pyramid is a theory devised by Gustav Freytag in regards to the structure of story's. He discovered that in all stories there were several story developments that all basic story structures do adder to. 

Just like life, some stories are difficult to understand. Whether you are reading a novel or watching a play or film, there are times when you have to apply certain methods to better understand what you are reading or watching. Gustav Freytag, a German novelist and critic of the nineteenth century, observed the similarity of plots so he created a pictorial tool to visually illustrate dramatic structure. Called Freytag’s Pyramid, he constructed a pattern in the form of a pyramid to analyze the plot structure of dramas.

Freytag’s Pyramid and Aristotle’s Unified Plot Structure

In 350 BCE, Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote in his book Poetics that the unified plot structure of a drama is formed like a basic triangle. The lowest left termed by the Greeks as protasis is the introduction; the highest –middle or epitasis contains the crisis and the lowest right called catastrophe has the resolution of the conflict. Freytag’s Pyramid is a modification of Aristotle’s structure where he transformed the triangle into a pyramid and added two other levels, the first is the rising action (or complication) placed between the lowest left and the highest middle and the second is the falling action placed between the highest middle and the lowest right end. Freytag used these five parts to analyze the structure: lowest left -exposition, left middle-rising action, highest-climax, right middle-falling action and right lowest-resolution.

• Aristotle’s Poetics
• Aristotle’s Unified Plot Structure
• Biography of Gustav Freytag
• Freytag’s Pyramid

Freytag’s Pyramid: Five dramatic structures

Freytag referred to the five dramatic structures as the five dramatic arcs:

1. Exposition or Introduction

The exposition/introduction presents the setting (time and place), characters (protagonist – hero/heroine, antagonist – villain), and the basic conflict; it also establishes the mood or atmosphere of the story. The first dramatic arc enables the reader to know more about the circumstances and the relationship of the characters with each other. Then an exciting event happens leading to the conflict which impels the story to move forward. In the drama, the exposition starts in the first paragraph as Act I/ Scene 1; the circumstances may be stated in a narration. In the pyramid, arc 1 is at the lowest left part.

2. Rising action

Rising action is the second arc where the basic conflict is brewing and the reader is beginning to feel the rising tension associated with this conflict. At this juncture, the basic conflict is further complicated by the introduction of obstacles frustrating the protagonist and other characters to reach their objectives. Secondary conflicts are probably coming from the antagonist, or adversaries, of lesser importance. In a dramatic structure, rising action is another act/scene and punctuated to be distinct from the climax. In the pyramid, rising action is located in the middle left portion just above the exposition and below the climax.

3. Climax

The climax is the turning point and this third arc effects a change either for the better or for the worse in the protagonist’s situation. In a comedy, the protagonist positively faces his obstacles and there is a great chance that things will turn out well; but in a tragedy, the conflict of the protagonist is worsening which will ultimately turn disastrous for him. The climax is the beginning of another act/scene and punctuated to separate it from the rising and falling action. It occupies the highest point in the pyramid.

4. Falling action

A reversal happens in this fourth arc where the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist is beginning to resolve. The protagonist either wins or loses to the antagonist. There are unexpected incidents which make the final outcome suspenseful. The falling action designates that the main action (the climax) is over and the story is heading towards the end. This fourth arc is located at the middle right side of the triangle just below the climax and above the conclusion. It appears as a separate act/scene and is distinct from the other arcs.

5. Conclusion

The conclusion is the end of the story which is sometimes called dénouement, resolution, or catastrophe. If at the end of the story the protagonist achieves his goal, the story is a comedy; however, if the protagonist fails, the story is a tragedy. After conflicts are resolved, the characters resume their normal lives. The conclusion makes way for the catharsis - an event or events allowing the tension or anxiety to loosen. The denouement is an event that happened before or after the conclusion or is simply explained as untying the complexities of the plot. The conclusion is found at the lowest right side of the pyramid following the falling action. It is the beginning of another act/scene and punctuated as distinct from the other parts of the dramatic structure.

Sometimes, modern works do not have a dénouement for endings that are abrupt. In the novels, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007) and The Return of the King (1955), the denouement are quite long as they reveal what happens to the protagonists after the story's conclusion.

• Freytag’s Dramatic Structure
• Freytag’s Pyramid Animation
• PDF-Freytag’s Plot Pyramid
• PPT Freytag’s Pyramid - Plot
• Analysis of Dramatic Structure
• Generic Diagram of Plot of a Story
• Falling Action
• Freytag’s Pyramid – Story Terminology
• Analysis of the Denouement

Freytag’s Pyramid: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

1. Exposition: Nick is introduced to the reader as a resident in the summer house. New characters are introduced: Tom, Daisy and Jordan whom Nick met at the first party he was invited. The atmosphere or mood is established.

2. Rising Action: Many events started heightening the action. Nick got to know Gatsby and was fascinated by his lifestyle. Nick heard unsavory rumors about Gatsby that he was able to clarify through Gatsby and his friend Mr. Wolfsheim. During the party, a car crushed outside which was an omen of dark things to happen. Nick learned that Mr. Wolfsheim is a gambler and fixer of the World Series and that Gatsby is involved in illegal business. Tom’s affair with Myrtle, a girl who came from the Valley of the Ashes, brought up more complications. During the party, Gatsby reconciled with his lover Daisy after five years of separation.

3. Climax: This is the turning point in the novel. During the heat of summer, a fight ensued in the hotel between Tom and Gatsby over their relationship with Daisy. Daisy, disgusted with the behavior of the men left the hotel and was followed by Gatsby.

4. Falling Action: Daisy, in confusion over the brawl of the two men in her life drove her car recklessly. Myrtle, who thought it was Tom driving the car, suddenly appeared. Daisy hit her and Myrtle died on the spot.

5. Resolution: Gatsby waited for Daisy as he feared for her safety. Tom and George were upset but the latter planned to seek revenge. Tom and Daisy left town. Gatsby told Nick that Daisy killed Myrtle accidentally but he was taking the blame. George killed Gatsby and then himself.

Denouement: Gatsby is dead and George was called a “mad killer.” Nick was greatly affected and called on all the people who knew Gatsby. He met Gatsby father Henry who attended the funeral but Mr. Wolfsheim refused to come. Nick realized that only very few people cared to attend the funeral of the great Gatsby. (http://quickbase.intuit.com/articles/an-online-resource-guide-to-freytags-pyramid)

The above is an example of story structure in Gustav Fretag's Pyramid

Camera Exposure, Aperature, ISO & Shutter Speed

EXPOSURE TRIANGLE: APERTURE, ISO & SHUTTER SPEED

Each setting controls exposure differently:

Aperture: controls the area over which light can enter your camera
Shutter speed: controls the duration of the exposure
ISO speed: controls the sensitivity of your camera's sensor to a given amount of light

One can therefore use many combinations of the above three settings to achieve the same exposure. The key, however, is knowing which trade-offs to make, since each setting also influences other image properties. For example, aperture affects depth of field, shutter speed affects motion blur and ISO speed affects image noise

Shutter Speed determines when a cameras lenses open long enough to let the light infiltrate the lens.  The shutter speed specifically refers to how long this light is permitted to enter the camera. "Shutter speed" and "exposure time" refer to the same concept, where a faster shutter speed means a shorter exposure time.

Shutter Speed	Typical Examples
1 - 30+ seconds	Specialty night and low-light photos on a tripod
2 - 1/2 second	To add a silky look to flowing water Landscape photos on a tripod for enhanced depth of field
1/2 to 1/30 second	To add motion blur to the background of a moving subject Carefully taken hand-held photos with stabilization
1/50 - 1/100 second	Typical hand-held photos without substantial zoom
1/250 - 1/500 second	To freeze everyday sports/action subject movement Hand-held photos with substantial zoom (telephoto lens)
1/1000 - 1/4000 second	To freeze extremely fast, up-close subject motion

The Apperature setting will control the are light will cover in a lens. 

By the Numbers. Every time the f-stop value halves, the light-collecting area quadruples. There's a formula for this, but most photographers just memorize the f-stop numbers that correspond to each doubling/halving of light:

Aperture Setting	Relative Light	Example Shutter Speed
f/22	1X	16 seconds
f/16	2X	8 seconds
f/11	4X	4 seconds
f/8.0	8X	2 seconds
f/5.6	16X	1 second
f/4.0	32X	1/2 second
f/2.8	64X	1/4 second
f/2.0	128X	1/8 second
f/1.4	256X	1/15 second

The ISO Speed will determine the sensitivity of light within the shot.  However, unlike aperture and shutter speed, a lower ISO speed is almost always desirable, since higher ISO speeds dramatically increase image noise. 

Shot Variety

Source (http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/)

Shot Types

There is a convention in the video, film and television industries which assigns names and guidelines to common types of shots, framing and picture composition. The list below briefly describes the most common shot types (click the images for more details).

Notes:

• The exact terminology varies between production environments but the basic principles are the same.
• Shots are usually described in relation to a particular subject. In most of the examples below, the subject is the boy.
• See below for more information and related tutorials.

EWS (Extreme Wide Shot)
The view is so far from the subject that he isn't even visible. Often used as an establishing shot.

VWS (Very Wide Shot)
The subject is visible (barely), but the emphasis is still on placing him in his environment.

WS (Wide Shot)
The subject takes up the full frame, or at least as much as comfortably possible.
AKA: long shot, full shot.

MS (Mid Shot)
Shows some part of the subject in more detail while still giving an impression of the whole subject.

MCU (Medium Close Up)
Half way between a MS and a CU.

CU (Close Up)
A certain feature or part of the subject takes up the whole frame.

ECU (Extreme Close Up)
The ECU gets right in and shows extreme detail.
Variation: Choker

Cut-In
Shows some (other) part of the subject in detail.

CA (Cutaway)
A shot of something other than the subject.

Two-Shot
A shot of two people, framed similarly to a mid shot.

(OSS) Over-the-Shoulder Shot
Looking from behind a person at the subject.

Noddy Shot
Usually refers to a shot of the interviewer listening and reacting to the subject.

Point-of-View Shot (POV)
Shows a view from the subject's perspective.

Weather Shot
The subject is the weather. Can be used for other purposes, e.g. background for graphics.

Rules Of Thirds

The rule of thirds acts as a guideline in composing visual images in designs, films, paintings and photographs. These guidelines then act as easy methods to direct the viewers attention to something like the main icons eyeliner or centre of the the piece. if the image was not of this variety, we would find the image uneasy and odd to look at.

The rule of thirds was first written down by John Thomas Smith in 1797. " Two distinct, equal lights, should never appear in the same picture : One should be principal, and the rest sub-ordinate, both in dimension and degree : Unequal parts and gradations lead the attention easily from part to part, while parts of equal appearance hold it awkwardly suspended, as if unable to determine which of those parts is to be considered as the subordinate. "And to give the utmost force and solidity to your work, some part of the picture should be as light, and some as dark as possible : These two extremes are then to be harmonized and reconciled to each other." 

Analogous to this "Rule of thirds", I have presumed to think that, in connecting or in breaking the various lines of a picture, it would likewise be a good rule to do it, in general, by a similar scheme of proportion; for example, in a design of landscape, to determine the sky at about two-thirds ; or else at about one-third, so that the material objects might occupy the other two : Again, two thirds of one element,  to one third of another element (as of land); and then both together to make but one third of the picture, of which the two other thirds should go for the sky and aerial perspectives. This rule would likewise apply in breaking a length of wall, or any other too great continuation of line that it may be found necessary to break by crossing or hiding it with some other object : In short, in applying this invention, generally speaking, or to any other case, whether of light, shade, form, or color, I have found the ratio of about two thirds to one third, or of one to two, a much better and more harmonizing proportion, than the precise formal half, the too-far-extending four-fifths—and, in short, than any other proportion whatever. I should think myself honored by the opinion of any gentleman on this point; but until I shall by better informed, shall conclude this general proportion of two and one to be the most pictoresque medium in all cases of breaking or otherwise qualifying straight lines and masses and groupes, as Hogarth's line is agreed to be the most beautiful, (or, in other words, the most pictoresque) medium ofcurves.

Overview Of The Blog

Lenses (Cambridge In Color)

* This first post was my summary of research on camera lenses, their uses, abilities, limitations and overview of how they work in general.

- Lens' Continued = This second post was a continuation of my first post.

Media Evaluation 

* The post was an evaluation on an Art Gallery we visited and prepared some work for. This being an analysis of the artwork and our own interpretation of what the pieces could represent.

Character Bible - Scriptwriting

* This was the Character Bible I prepared for our scriptwriting class, in which we were instructed to create our own character in a set time and place and create their backstory, motivation, relationships and responses relating to a set situation.

5 Photo Story - Part's 1, 2, & 3

* These three posts detailed a story through images centred in Swansea Marina. Each post displays a continuation of the story.

Rule Of Thirds

* The purpose of the post was to help me understand and remind myself of the rule of thirds in photography.

Shot Variety

* An account of every type of shot, size and position used in filming and photography to always go back to while preparing shots.

Camera Exposure, Aperature, ISO & Shutter Speed

* A run down and explanation of exposure, aperture, ISO & shutter speed for use in visual studies.
Freytag's Pyramid
* An explanation and diagram explaining the concept of Freytag's Pyramid and it's thesis on story structure.
15 Photo Story
* These were the 15 images my group had gathered in regards to the 14 images assessment. The images tell a story through each shot.
Photoshop Tutorial
* This was just to account were I found a useful video on the internet that helped me pick up  skills to use on Photoshop in the future and helped me with the course.
Three Point Lighting
A quick overview of three point lighting, how its used and its usefulness.

Character Bible - Scriptwriting

Character Bible - Scriptwriting

My chosen character is a forty two year old mother whom I have chosen to name Linda has been living in the events of the Second World War and so far has been living in the blitzed London. She grew up in the rather poor working class conditions and married relatively young. She originally came from the North of England, were her father had worked as a coal miner until he fought and died in the First World War. Thus she has an uneasy relationship with war and the events going on around her. She originally had worked as a nurse for several years before eventually leaving her occupation to concentrate on looking after her children and supporting her husband.

More recently she has been working in a munitions factory with other women living in the local area to support the war effort. Due to her father’s death fighting in the last Great War, she has a strong sense of justice and fears greatly for her daughter dating a man in the army and frequently makes passing remarks for her to end her relationship with the young man, fearing it could only end badly. Living in London she has a somewhat unsettled phobia of life in the city having lived through the Blitz and hearing tales of German spies being in the area to bring down their war effort. She is also a Christian and has trouble justifying the war and fears for family’s safety, frequently wrestling with her own emotions as to whether Britain’s involvement in the war has had a positive effect or not.

Because of this she has become paranoid amongst new people and is discomforted by their presence and finds them suspicious. She can be quick to make accusations and saw a family nearby be killed in the events of the Blitz just a few years prior. Thus, this is another major cause for her paranoia. She often feels isolated in her dislike towards the propaganda of the war and views it as the wrong approach by glorifying such a violent mentality. Thus he holds ill feeling toward the authority figures of the time, in particularly the government. Despite all of her disagreements with the war she has enjoyed her renewed working life and would be at a miss to loose her employment status. She sees this as liberation of sorts and finds her working life very rewarding.

Media Evaluation

Mission Gallery Evaluation

In the Mission Gallery of Art we were treated to a series of pieces centred on ideas involving degrading of matter and the blurring of an image. Much of the pieces would vary from portrait to landscape and gave of at least the illusion that they were coloured entirely in black and white due to the red lighting in the gallery. One piece for example was an image of “The Thinker” the statue sculptured by Auguste Rodin. Though due to the lighting the image is barely visable until you examine the piece very closely, literally inviting you to think about the image you see. Other images in the gallery were of rather simple ideas and images such as a scene of greenery or human portraits, which have been corroded and subdued, with only a certain percentage of the image being visible. The pieces therefore are dark in color and difficult to place.

With these images your eye line is particularly focused on the non-corroded parts of the piece. For example one of the pieces was of that of a portrait of a woman but with much of the image corroded. The great contrast in what should be life, color and vibrancy is highly noticeable in each piece and brings a sense of darkness and mystique to the piece. This results in the texture being almost unreal veering into an uncanny valley type of feel. Much of the figures in the pieces are featured more in the back and midground with the degrading decaying effect brought forward and exposed in the foreground.  In some of the images involving people, the decay and erosion will often spread to involve the figures face.

The way that I interpret these pieces feels like the artist is attempting to create a very dark and ominous mood.  The literal decaying of the images could be seen as a real life parallel to actual decay and showing perhaps death and detereation are an ever present and evokes fears of mortality, vulnerability and fallibility. A piece of art can also be used to tell some sort of narrative, and by fracturing the image in such a way it creates something of an enigma code, disallowing us to place the work under any sort of narrative context or find a relatable journey within the piece. Thus there is an emptiness to the work and an absence compounding in the absence of light and a fully realised image. As such it feels as if the artist is not showing us their hand with us as the viewer, perhaps almost intentionally leaving us to craft our own interpretation as to what the artist wants us to see.

I feel the decay however and the black and white colouring does somewhat root the story in the past as it would be hard to envision this level of deteration taking place in a more modern context. This does give the work a rather old world type of feel almost reminiscent of a by gone Victorian world that is now gone and been destroyed and ravaged by time. The image of the old woman in one of the pieces is a good example of this through a literal old person decaying evokes a sense of the old world decaying.

To conclude and evaluate I choose to focus on this peace because it felt most evocative to me. The clash between the woman and the degrading picture quality evokes a strong sense of deprivation and emotional loss through the dark colours and look of misfortune on the woman’s face. It at times even could symbolise burning with the way the decay permeates through the image, which does not seem to be something we would associate with being man made and more the product of an environmental or natural process. The image is also rather appealing to me as it draws closer to my type of aesthetic being darker and provocative over the fun and enjoyable nature others would gravitate to and feels more like a work of art. Naturally therefore I tend to prefer Provocation to entertainment. I also think it would appeal to others with an interest in the arts and would be worth visiting and coming to your own interpretation on.

Lens' continued

Lenses Analysis Continued

• Comparatively, to the Zoom Lens there are other lenses such as the Prime Lens were you wouldn't have to sacrifice significant optical quality.

• An inexpensive Prime Lens can provide as quality an image as the zoom lens.

• Also a larger zoom lens does not necessarily magnify an image. Digital zoom is also not the same as optical zoom.

• An aperture Lens meanwhile, dictates the length you can open or close a lens creating youre control over the lighting in the shot.

• "Lenses with larger apertures are often described as being faster. The shutter speed can then be made faster with the same exposure.

• A lens with a greater spectrum of settings provide more flexibility for shooting both in terms of exposure and the depth of field.

• Certain types of photography such as portrait and sports/theater photography will require lenses with large aperture levels.

• "Lenses with larger maximum apertures provide significantly brighter viewfinder images - possibly critical for night and low-light. "

• The minimum apertures for lenses are typically not as significant as maximum apertures. This is due to photo blurring from lens diffraction.

• Some SLR & compact digital cameras can list a great degree of maximum aperture. This may depend on how zoomed out youre lens is.

"Lenses are typically have fewer aberrations when they perform the exposure stopped down one or two f-stops from their maximum aperture.

Lenses (Cambridge In Color)

Lenses

Source = Cambridge in Colour/Lenses

• The Use of Camera Lenses allows more creative control to youre shot

• The Use of a certain Lens can allow you to control the direction of "the path of light rays to recreate the image as accurately as possible on the digital sensor."

• This can be use to minimise aberrations

• An Optical aberration occurs when "points in the image do not translate back onto single points after passing through the lens"

• This can cause image blurring, reduced contrast or misalignment of colors.

• A focal length of a lens determines its angle of view, allowing an image to be magnified.

• Focal Length can determine the perspective of an image, but also we should note perspective only changes with one's location relative to their subject.

• A wide angle lens exaggerates or stretches perspective, whereas the telephoto lens compresses or flattens perspective.

• Perspectice Control is a useful way of compositing youre shots.

• "Other factors may also be influenced by lens focal length."

• A wide angle Lens is generally more resostant to flare.

• " Longer focal lengths require shorter exposure times to minimize blurring caused by shaky hands"

• This is because "slight rotational vibrations are magnified greatly with distance, whereas if only up and down or side to side vibrations were present, the laser's bright spot would not change with distance."

• For a 35mm camera, "the exposure time needs to be at least as fast as one over the focal length in seconds."

• Otherwise blurring could become a problem.

• A Zoom Lens best for differing with the focal length.

• But bare in mind the zoom allows you simply more flexibility with youre shot.