• Home
  • About Emmy-Winning Blog
  • ©2008-2023 Scott W. Smith (Contact Info)

Screenwriting from Iowa

…and Other Unlikely Places

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« Screenwriting Quote of the Day #65 (Shane Black)
Screenwriting Quote of the Day #66 (John Steinbeck) »

Writing from Theme (tip #20)

April 9, 2009 by Scott W. Smith

“I think what makes a film stick to the brain is the theme.”
William C. Martell

“There’s no place like home.”
Dorothy
The Wizard of Oz

There are many ways to attack writing your story and if you read enough of how writers ply their trade you will find quality writers who come from all kinds of angles; plot, character, situation. Another angle  is writing from theme. And even those who don’t start with theme have one emerge somewhere in the process.

Talking about theme can can get a little tricky but I like to say that it is not your story, but is what your story is really about. (Some also call this the controlling idea.) The story of Oliver Stone’s Scarface is a Cuban emigrant who rises from tent city to become a drug lord in Miami.  The theme of Scarface is the old standard crime doesn’t pay, or you could say, a life of excess and ruthless ambition will destroy you. Theme wise, Tony Montana (Al Pacino) is in the same family as Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

Variations of theme can pop up anywhere in the story. At the beginning of another Stone film Wall St., the first words out of Bud Fox’s (Charlie Sheen) mouth when he’s asked how he’s doing is, “Any better and it’d be a sin.” Bud Fox does much better and it’s not only a sin but he has to go to prison.

Stone uses the wiser, older Lou (Hal Holbrook) to be the voice of reason as he tells Bud, “that’s the problem with money — it makes you do things you don’t want to do.” Another time he tells Bud, “Enjoy it while it last — cause it never does.” (That film takes place in ’85 but they would have been fitting words for all of us in ’05, and probably will be twenty years from now. Good themes are timeless and universal.)

Again the theme of Wall St. is crime doesn’t pay, or a life of excess will destroy you, or even “the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil.” (Anyone working on a script for the Bernie Madoff story?)  The big difference between Scarface and Wall St. is Bud Fox doesn’t get killed at the end like Tony Montana. No, it’s more hopeful and Bud seems to have learned his lesson.

Speaking of hope … The Shawshank Redemption is all about hope and screenwriter & director Frank Darabont finds many ways to express that theme. On page 63 of the script Andy says while in prison “…there’s a small place inside of us they never lock away, and that place is called hope.”  Then there’s the most often quoted line from the film,”Get busy living, or get busy dying.” (Usually meant to get busy living.)

Some writers post the theme on the wall where they write to as a way to keep them centered and focused. On the front page of The Shawshank Redemption script are the words, “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies…” — words that echo throughout the film. Words that stick with us long after we leave the theater.

The theme of hope is one of the major reasons people watch The Shawshank Redemption again and again. We may not ever have been in a state prison but we can identify with the situation as we all at times know what it’s like to live in our own personal prisons or at least know what it’s like to almost lose hope in difficult situations.

Theme pops up at the end of Braveheart as the last word that William Wallace (Mel Gibson) yells is “Freedom!” Or as the screenplay says, “FREEEEE-DOMMMMMM!” Throughout the film the fleshed out theme “Live free or die” is clear and that resonates here in the United States of America. (Heck,”Live Free or Die” is even the official motto of New Hampshire.)

Paul Schrader has said he wrote Taxi Driver by recognizing “a rip in the moral fabric of society” and used the metaphor of a taxi driver to represent loneliness.

Of course the danger with theme is writers can become heavy handed with it and audiences don’t like being beaten over the head with it. Films work best not as an intellectual exercise but as an emotional experience. (At least that’s traditionally been true in American cinema.) Audiences want to be sweep away by your story. They want to discover the theme not have it handed to them.

Theme is powerful stuff. So remember as you write, “With great power comes great responsibility.”

Related posts: More Thoughts on Theme

Scott W. Smith


Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in screenwriting tips | Tagged Bernie Madoff, Braveheart, Bud Fox, Charlie Sheen, Dorothy, Frank Darabont, Hal Holbrook, Oliver STone, Scarface, The Shawshank Redemption, The Wizard of Oz, Wall St., William Wallace, writing from theme | 3 Comments

3 Responses

  1. on April 10, 2009 at 7:37 am joe

    Of cource it’s the combination of the story and the title that makes it stick to the brain.
    Field of Dreams?
    Ghost Player? (coming soon)


  2. on April 10, 2009 at 9:04 pm Scott W. Smith

    The is no doubt that “Field of Dreams” is a great title and a great story. But I do think its lasting appeal is the themes represented in the movie.
    1) Having a dream or vision to do something that most people think is a crazy waste of time.
    2) The desire to live a simpler way of life — including playing a game for pure joy.
    3) The desire to be reconnected again with loved ones who have died (or who we haven’t talked to in a long time).

    There is a point when some movies become more than just a story on the screen, but becomes our story. In some sense a story that we want to live in or incorporate into our lives. And I think it is the theme that wraps itself around our hearts and minds.

    In an interview with Chris Neumer back in 2004 the director of “Field of Dreams,” Phil Alden Robinson said this, “I just today was doing another interview and the journalist told me that shortly after the film came out his father died and one of the last things they’d done together was to see this film. So he went to see the film again and he bought a ticket and put the ticket in his dad’s pocket when his dad was buried. That is powerful. We heard a lot of stories like that when the film first came out. And then over the years, when somebody finds out [who I am] they feel compelled to tell me their ‘Field of Dreams’ story. At the time though I remember a lot of guys told me that they hadn’t talked to their dad in years and after I saw the film and called him.”


  3. on October 13, 2009 at 7:54 pm More Thoughts on Theme « Screenwriting from Iowa

    […] 13, 2009 by Scott W. Smith Earlier this year I did a post called Writing from Theme (tip #20) and I just came across a couple more related quotes on the matter so I thought I pass them […]



Comments are closed.

  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 1,362 other subscribers
  • Screenwriting from Iowa…and Other Unlikely Places

    Screenwriting from Iowa…and Other Unlikely Places
  • @scottwsmith_com

    Tweets by scottwsmith_com
  • Top Posts

    • Why Movie Stars Have Big Heads
    • Breakdown of the 1956 Movie Version of ’Moby Dick’
    • What Christopher Nolan Did When He Couldn’t Get Into Film School
    • The Perfect ‘Mad Men’ Monologue
    • How an Oscar-winning Screenwriter Uses Index Cards
    • The 30,000+ Hour Rule (The Unlikely Connection Between Eddie Van Halen and Howard Schnellenberger)
    • "You only need one."
    • John Ford's Advice to Spielberg
    • ‘Torture your heroes’—How to Write a Movie via Craig Mazin
    • Writing 'Good Will Hunting'
  • Recent Posts

    • Postcard #230 (Orlando’s Holy Land Experience)
    • Postcard #229 (The Villages)
    • Postcard #228 (Apalachicola, Florida)
    • How to Shoot a 4 1/2 Minute Scene in Under 5 Minutes
    • Postcard #227 (Chinatown in Orlando)
  • Pages

    • About Emmy-Winning Blog
    • ©2008-2023 Scott W. Smith (Contact Info)
  • Categories

    • Book Reviews
    • Film History
    • filmmaking
    • Filmmaking Quote of the Day
    • Miscellaneous
    • Most Viewed Posts
    • Movies
    • Off Screen Quotes
    • podcasting
    • Postcards
    • Quotes from the Road
    • Screenwriters
    • screenwriting
    • Screenwriting & Life
    • Screenwriting Biz
    • Screenwriting Quotes
    • Screenwriting Road Trips
    • screenwriting tips
    • Television
    • Video Blog
    • writing
    • Writing Quotes
    • YouTube Content Creating
  • Add to Technorati Favorites
  • Digg!
  • Archives

    • June 2023
    • May 2023
    • April 2023
    • March 2023
    • February 2023
    • January 2023
    • December 2022
    • November 2022
    • October 2022
    • September 2022
    • August 2022
    • July 2022
    • June 2022
    • May 2022
    • April 2022
    • March 2022
    • February 2022
    • January 2022
    • December 2021
    • November 2021
    • October 2021
    • September 2021
    • August 2021
    • July 2021
    • June 2021
    • May 2021
    • April 2021
    • March 2021
    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • October 2012
    • September 2012
    • August 2012
    • July 2012
    • June 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
    • December 2010
    • November 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • August 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • April 2010
    • March 2010
    • February 2010
    • January 2010
    • December 2009
    • November 2009
    • October 2009
    • September 2009
    • August 2009
    • July 2009
    • June 2009
    • May 2009
    • April 2009
    • March 2009
    • February 2009
    • January 2009
    • December 2008
    • November 2008
    • October 2008
    • September 2008
    • August 2008
    • July 2008
    • June 2008
    • May 2008
    • April 2008
    • March 2008
    • February 2008
    • January 2008
  • Meta

    • Register
    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.com
  • RSS Screenwriting from Iowa

    • Postcard #230 (Orlando’s Holy Land Experience)
    • Postcard #229 (The Villages)
    • Postcard #228 (Apalachicola, Florida)
    • How to Shoot a 4 1/2 Minute Scene in Under 5 Minutes
    • Postcard #227 (Chinatown in Orlando)
    • Remembering Storyteller Gordon Lightfoot (1938-2023) & the Only Time I Ever Had a Front and Center Concert Seat
    • Painting from Muncie, Indiana—The Unusual Life Story of Bob Ross
    • Postcard #226 (Tampa Bay Rays)
    • ‘I have a graveyard of unproduced screenplays too’—‘Air’ Screenwriter Alex Convery
    • The Writing Process of Taylor Jenkins Reid (‘Daisy Jones & The Six’)
  • Blogroll—Favorite Posts from Others

    • ASPIRING TO ACT, WRITE, DIRECT—TomCruise.com
    • BURN IT DOWN—John August
    • CASE STUDIES IN FILM EDITING—Oliver Peters
    • DAVID MAMET'S MEMO— Movieline
    • EVERY SALE HAS A STORY—Blake Snyder
    • FILM FINACE OVERWHELM—Stacy Parks
    • IT'S THE CONCEPT STUPID—Max Adams
    • LISTEN TO A MOVIE—Scott Myers
    • MISHA GREEN INTERVIEW—Scriptshadow
    • QUERY LETTER SAMPLE — Michele Wallerstein
    • RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK—Scriptsnotes, Ep 73:
    • THE 'RAIDERS' STORY CONFERENCE—Mystery Man on Film
    • THE "A" LIST—Christopher Lockhart
    • THE SCREENWRITER'S GUIDE TO MOVIE VILLAINS—Screenwriting Spark
    • THE TOTAL FILM-MAKER BY JERRY LEWIS—Cinephilla and Beyond
    • VINCENT LAFORET—chasejarvisLIVE

Blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


  • Follow Following
    • Screenwriting from Iowa
    • Join 1,362 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Screenwriting from Iowa
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Copy shortlink
    • Report this content
    • View post in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
%d bloggers like this: