Rochester Writers Workshop

Think of the theme of your screenplay as something the main character has to learn. Traditionally, they believe the opposite, then learn the lesson represented by the theme.

What is the essential question your movie is asking? Make your theme a declarative statement. The answer to that question.

One of my favorite examples of theme and anti-theme is in the recent Murder on the Orient Express. In the first act, Poirot states his world view. “There is right, there is wrong. There is nothing in between.” The anti-theme, because…

Poirot then spends the movie investigating a crime that puts his view to the test. By the end, he admits to himself that sometimes murder is justified. He comes to believe there IS a place between right and wrong, and acts on that belief.

So the essential question, “Is there a gray area between right and wrong?” is answered as “Yes”. The theme as a statement would be “Sometimes, murder can be justified.”

When I looked up this scene online, I found the dialogue quoted on IMDB (see below).

When I compared it to a PDF of the screenplay dated 2/20/15, I did not see that crucial line of dialogue. That tells me that the writer and producers at some later point decided that Poirot’s worldview needed to be spelled out more clearly for the audience. By doing so, it underlined the theme more clearly.

Writers should be able to think about any situation from any point of view. Maybe the story you’re considering would be more interesting from a different person’s perspective. So, for example, a bank robbery could be told from the point of view of the bank robber, the teller, the manager, the security officer, a five-year-old kid who just happens to be in the bank, etc.

What about inanimate objects? Can they have a point of view? Take a listen to the Everything is Alive podcast, where objects and animals get voiced through the power of improv acting.

Listen at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/everything-is-alive/id1388419519

In this article from the Stage 32 blog, Shannon K. Valenzuela breaks down several elements that make for good characters.

She covers:

• Character Outlines
• Character Mapping
• Conflict
• Choice

Read the article at https://www.stage32.com/blog/how-to-develop-complex-characters-in-your-script-3320

Here’s a different way of thinking about 3 act structure for features… break it into 8 segments! Not that different from the Save the Cat structure, but I’m finding it useful.

https://thescriptlab.com/screenwriting/structure/the-sequence/45-the-eight-sequences

What are themes in movies and TV series, and how can you use them in your stories?

In this article from Screencraft.org, Ken Miyamoto writes about the importance of theme and the way a good theme triggers empathy and catharsis.

Read more at the link below:

What Is Theme?

What are themes in movies and TV series, and how can you use them in your stories?

In this article from Screencraft.org, Ken Miyamoto writes about the importance of theme and the way a good theme triggers empathy and catharsis.

https://screencraft.org/blog/what-is-theme/

What does a screenplay for an animated feature look like? Not that different from live action! Generally, animation scripts have more description of imagery, even camera directions. Studio Binder has a collection of sample scripts on their website.

Visit the site here:
https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/animation-scripts/

What a treasure trove of pitch and bible documents! Sometimes writing is writing ABOUT writing. See what many TV show producers and writers have put together in the past on the Shore Scripts website.

Visit the site here:
https://www.shorescripts.com/tv-series-bibles/