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Quotable Quote: There's no doubt about it, show business lures the people who didn't get enough love, attention, or approval early in life and have grown up to become bottomless, gaping vessels of terrifying, abject need.

Please laugh.
.........--Dennis Miller

Feature Article
by
Barry Pearson

The Essence of Theme - Part II

"I believe that theme may be the most significant single aspect of our process of creating a screenplay.

"Why? Because theme is our opportunity to dramatize our deepest beliefs, and our deepest understandings, about human beings and their lives."

--Excerpt from The Essence of Theme - Part I

One of the best examples of how Theme powers the impact of a story is in Witness, written by William Kelley, Earl Wallace, and Pamela Wallace, which collected a shelf full of Academy Awards.

At the beginning of the movie John Book (Harrison Ford) is a human being who is "dead" inside. He has no larger community, only one family member, and one friend.

But he grows to care so deeply for Rachel (Kelly McGillis) and her son that he risks his life to save them.

By the end of the movie, his connection with the Amish community, and with Rachel and her son, have changed him profoundly. We get the feeling that he has found the wisdom and understanding to live his own life better than he did before.

That's dramatization of theme.

Question: What belief about "the best way to live in the world" are the writers expressing?

Well, we can never know for sure, but you can put it in words for yourself. It comes out something like, "The best way to live life is to belong to a family and community and to care for them and let them care for you."

You can go through the film and find many examples of this theme being expressed through the action.

For example, it's dramatized in other parts of the movie like the barn-building scene. This is the longest scene in the film (in almost any film), and the director, Peter Weir, textures it beautifully.

We see the fun the community is having. We see the satisfaction that John Book derives from working at a common task with other members of his temporarily adopted community, and we see the happiness of the young newlyweds at the end of the scene as they benefit from the collective effort of their neighbors.

These scenes demonstrate how dramatization can effectively deliver thematic ideas in movies.

Sometimes, though, a character can become an advocate for thematic ideas.

Jan Rubes plays the Elder, Eli. In one powerful eloquent scene he expresses the tenets of non-violence through dialogue. It's a memorable moment.

But the power of theme is best served through dramatic action and images. To illustrate, see how one of the layers of theme in Witness plays out in action.

Here's my wording of one of the central themes of Witness:

The strength of a loving, caring community promotes individual happiness and can defeat individual evil.

This is how it plays out in action: In the film, the urban world of violent human beings intersects with the rural, Amish world of non-violent human beings.

The final sequence in the film is a powerful dramatic proof of the strength of the community to defeat individual evil. When the three bad guys arrive to kill John Book, he eliminates two of them by using violence, but he fails to conquer the main villain, Schaeffer, who forces John Book to drop his weapon by taking Rachel hostage.

Book then puts down his weapon, but when we fear that Schaeffer will kill him, or will escape, the Amish neighbors arrive in answer to the bell that Rachel's son has been ringing.

The neighbors become a throng of witnesses to the scene, thus forcing Schaeffer to surrender.

Next time, in the final installment on this topic, we'll look at themes in two more of my favorite movies, one romantic comedy, and the other, one of the most highly acclaimed classics of all times.

[Click below to see The Essence of Theme Part I]

The Essence of Theme - Part I

[This article is adapted from an article that I wrote for Screentalk Magazine.]

CYS Newsletter, July 21, 2005

PEARSON'S
INDEX

45,000 -- Number of scripts registered with the WGA in a year.

100,000 -- Estimated number of scripts written each year.

1,000,000 -- Estimated number of scripts circulating around Hollywood at any one time.

1 in 50,000 -- Your odds of getting your script produced.

1 in 100 -- Your odds of getting your script produced if you avoid basic mistakes in writing and submitting.

100% -- The odds of getting your script produced if you are Steven Spielberg or George Lucas.

HINTS AND ALLEGATIONS

Copycat, Copycat

Lesson of the day: Don't trust anyone who tells you your screenplay has to be original.

Upcoming release The Joy of Funerals features the adventures of a young woman who seeks love -- guess where -- at funerals of total strangers.

Change the names and the genders and what have you got?.

Similarities to Wedding Crashers notwhithstanding, The Joy of Funerals has a pedigree. It's an adaptation from part of Alix Strauss's "Novel in Stories" book of the same name.

Strauss has been tapped to pen the screenplay, and Stockard Channing Produces and Directs for the first time.

If Channing behind the camera is anything like her TV alter-ego from West Wing (i.e. Martin Sheen's steely First Lady, Abigail Bartlett) actors beware -- you better come with
your "A" game.

CONTEST CORNER

Early entries being accepted until August 29th, 2005. Last minute to October 31, 2005.

First prize: $1000

ALL competition winners, runners-up, finalists and semi-finalists will earn the chance to have their scripts read by established production companies and agents in LA and NY.

Presenters: American Screenwriters Association & Gotham Writers Workshop

Prizes:
1st -- $10,000 cash plus a
value package worth $10,000,
including a $7500 Networking and
Script Development trip to Hollywood.

2nd -- $1,000 cash and $3,100 in
services and merchandise, plus a promotional ad of you and your script in the Hollywood Reporter (value -- $1500).

3rd -- $3,500 Cash & Prizes.

4th -- $3,250 Cash & Prizes.

5th -- $2,500 Cash & Prizes.

Deadlines:
Early --October 31, 2005
Late -- November 30, 2005

Fees:
Early -- Member ASA $40
Non-Member $50
Late -- Member ASA $50
Non-Member $60

The Craft of Screenwriting
Barry talks to writers about--

The Odds of Getting an Agent

Q-I am graduating in a few weeks with a B.A. in creative writing (most of my time has been focused on screen writing) and am in the process of producing a short film I wrote and directed on Digital Video. I am interested in film school, but am wary of the amount of money I'll need to spend. With a short film on my resume and a good screenplay to show, how likely am I to get, and how do I go about getting, an agent?

A-No one can really say how likely you are to get an agent. There are too many variables.

I'll try to give you some insight that could help you in managing your career.

First, understand that there are a number of avenues to explore in furthering your career. Getting an agent is only one of those avenues--and it is not the first priority in your case.

Second, don't go to "film school." That will only delay your progress and divert your energy.

Third, move to L.A. unless your personal situation absolutely prevents it. Any effort you make toward your career is accelerated if you're living where your industry is centered.

Fourth, one good screenplay is not enough to go seeking an agent with. You need at least two or three.

Fifth, your short film is useful if it's extraordinarily good, and has won awards. If not, talk about it, but don't show it to anyone.

Last, let me say that you are in an enviable position. You have a post-secondary degree. You have shown the tenacity to complete a screenplay, you are producing material you have written, and you appear to be literate and intelligent. Send me an email requesting my free minibook CREATING SUCCESSFUL SCREEN STORIES (see below). Analyze your current script and see whether or not the structure of the story is the best that it can be. If not, rewrite it. Then have it read by a professional.

I provide a reading and development service, but I'm not pushing it. Only you can decide whether you need and can benefit from such a service. There are many good professionals available, most of whom you can find on the web. Then choose for yourself. Having your script read and analyzed by a knowledgeable, successful writer will give you a better indication of whether or not it is really "good." -- BP

(For my Development Service click here or copy and paste http://www.createyourscreenplay.com/developsubmit.htm)

CONTEST CAVEAT

This newsletter prints updates about screenplay writing contests. We have no reason not to believe that all of
these entities are reputable, and trustworthy.

But we're publishing information, not endorsements -- so -- screenwriters need to make independent judgments
about whether any particular contest is legitimate
and will be worth the time and effort of submitting to.

The site below is run by the Science Fiction Writers
of America.

The information on board is geared mainly to writers in general, but a quick read reveals that the warnings
they publish apply to screenwriters as well.

There are tips on how to spot a scam, as well as
links to other sites that deal with contests and how
they're conducted.

http://www.sfwa.org/beware/contests.html

BARRY'S BOOKS

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my new ebook IT'S ALL ABOUT THE STORY,
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Click here to Read Chapter 9

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