How to Write a Screenplay

THEME

In storytelling and dramaturgy, a protagonist (whose attributes and abilities are meaningful) comes into conflict with forces of antagonism (that has meaningful and opposing attributes).  The way in which the character overcomes, or fails to overcome, those forces is where theme is defined and ideas are created.  Therefore, the strongest expression of theme will be created by the way that the protagonist resolves his or her ultimate dilemma at the climax of your story, and the meaning of your story will be honed in the resolution.

Many movies end in the same or similar action.  However, the distinct character and the orchestration of ideas embedded in the ACTIONS of the characters create unique meaning.  Consider the action of a good guy shooting a bad guy (or a Death Star).  Here are several different films where the main character shoots someone (or something) in the climax, yet you can see that with different setups and different characters, the meanings are completely different.

Movie: L.A. Confidential

Character: Exley           

Flaw: Too much superego; by the book.

Action: Shoots Smith.   

Meaning: He chooses to get his hands dirty by doing the exact thing he said he wouldn’t do at the beginning (“shoot a hardened criminal in the back”), owns his dark side.

Theme: You have to be touched by evil to fight evil.  Or you have to use your dark side to be as powerful as you can be.

Movie: Star Wars

Character: Luke

Flaw: Doesn’t have mastery of force.

Action: Shoots Death Star and destroys it

Meaning: Instead of using the technology, he uses the force, a human power.

Theme: Trust yourself. Or people are more important than machines.

Movie: Shane

Character: Shane

Flaw:

Action: Shoots Wilson and henchmen.

Meaning: Instead of a classic character arc, Shane is a character who starts off trying to change and then ultimately chooses to revert to his old ways.  He tries to be civilized and shun violence.  When family man Joe Starett and his family are at risk, he realizes he is the only one who is suited to defeat the gunslinger at his own game.

Theme: The sinner dies for the sins of the innocent.  One man’s sacrifice/regression is necessary for a world/community to progress. Progress doesn't come easily.

Movie: Memento

Character: Leonard

Flaw: Leonard kills Teddy.

Action: A man has short-term memory loss, which is like an extreme case of denial and inaccountability. 

Meaning: The inciting incident and climax are reversed.  The killing, which would take place in the climax if the story were told chronologically, becomes the inciting incident.  The answer to why he did it, the inciting incident in a chronological retelling, becomes the climax.  He kills him because after Teddy tells him the truth about himself, Leonard writes, “Don’t believe his lies.” A guy who is so in denial about the truth must label an honest person a liar.  With only his short term memory, Leonard has to rely on the only piece of information he has on Teddy, that he is a liar.

Theme: The struggle to find meaning in one’s life is overwhelmingly powerful.  Or our desire to cling to the lies that serve us can destroy us or put us in a perpetual hell.

Movie: Training Day

Character: Jake

Flaw: Jake is optimistic and inexperienced.  It’s not necessarily his flaw.  Jake’s struggle, in a way, will be to not change.  He will be pushed into morally grey areas, so we can find out if he can do the right thing even when put to the test.

Action: Jake does not shoot Alonzo.

Meaning: Instead of shooting him, he outs Alonzo for who he is in front of his people and does not have to stoop as low as him and kill him.   Alonzo does end up being killed by people he betrayed earlier.  In conjunction with the fact that Jake’s life is saved because he saved a girl from being raped, the theme seems to be....

Theme: What goes around comes around.

What’s great about all of these movies is that the thematic ideas are not spelled out explicitly.  There is no 2-page scene where the antagonist explains his plan and motivation.  Another exciting thing to notice is the vast range of genres represented: crime, thriller, action-adventure, sci-fi, Western and an indie with an alternative structure.  Yet, each film’s theme and ideas are organically derived from the characters, their conflicts, their flaws and their choices.  The actions themselves create the ideas. 

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