Hi, there, and Welcome back! Metaphor
and Symbol
Welcome back! We've only got one more week to go, so I hope you've
been busy on your assignments.
One question frequently asked is how to walk the line between
those projects which are emotionally rewarding, and those projects
Hollywood seems inclined to make.
Well--if I were you I would have infinite faith in my own innate
creativity--that is, the ability to come up with idea after idea
all day long, if necessary. Then perform a thought experiment.
"A" is the set of ideas you can come up with, that you would find
entertaining and emotionally rewarding to write. "B" is the set
of ideas that will sell in Hollywood. Believe me, if the set "A"
is large enough, eventually the two sets will overlap--creating
set "C". "C" is what you spend your time writing--those ideas
which are BOTH potentially salable, and personally valid.
In the actual writing of your script, there is another important
thing which must be kept in mind:
In film, far more than in any other medium (including television),
the importance of the visual symbols cannot be overestimated.
In essence, in film all you have is the visual symbols. Everything
else is secondary.
What this means is that, basically, THE STORY MUST CARRY ITSELF
ON THE STRENGTH OF THE VISUALS. You should be able to turn the
sound off, and still understand everything going on--or at least,
enough to follow the thread of the story. In general (and there
are always exceptions), if you can't figure out what's going
on without the dialogue, your film will appeal to a smaller
audience. That might be fine with you--but it is still something
to take into account.
Take a look at the films in the top 20 of all-time box office.
Most of them are intelligent, or made by very intelligent people.
None of them are intellectual--in other words, they aren't meditations
on the nature of mind. Films like the "Indiana Jones" or "Star
Trek" movies are largely visual, as are "Jurassic Park" and
"Independence Day."
(Note that these are also basically "overstructure" films,
driven more by plot than character. However, the newly released
"Ransom" is very much character driven. It might be an interesting
exercise to determine if its core plot twists can be deciphered
without listening to the sound track. Perhaps not. And this
single fact will probably keep it out of the top 20. On the
other hand, it may well earn over 90 million, which is quite
enough success for anyone.)
At any rate, we must still take into account the impact of
the visual symbols. Here's an exercise, for which you'll need
a cork board and a stack of 3X5 cards:
Go through your story outline, and pick out the visual actions
and symbols. Arguments, love making, car chases, meetings, conversations,
ANYTHING which will be pictured on-screen. See if the basic
meaning of your story can be determined from the succession
of visual images. If not, you may have a story which is too
internal, more appropriate for a novel or play than a feature
film. If you are writing a television script, you are more likely
to get away with this. (In fact, I suspect that advertisers
LOVE scripts which are heavy on dialog and exposition--so that
if you leave the room to stir the soup, you don't lose the thread
of the story and turn the channel.)
Any way, try this exercise. It is important.
Obvious symbols (the American Flag symbolizing patriotism, a red
rose symbolizing love, crashing waves for passion, etc.) are the
hallmark of the student film. Such symbols are obvious, and in
essence exploit the creative vocabulary established by other artists.
To create art in this medium you must, as the expression goes,
"Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before." Note the film "Diabolique."
No, not the Sharon Stone/Chazz Palmentieri abortion, but the
original French film. It is one of the ultimate masterpieces
of suspense. And the filmmakers created an image system where
water, plain ordinary water, began to be perceived as an evil,
dangerous thing. Brilliant. The way you do this is by showing
something (say a clock) in a scene where someone is murdered.
Then every time you show a clock after that, there is heavy
danger, mortal peril, death or destruction. In your script,
you keep finding an excuse to show what time it is. The director,
hopefully, will pick up on what you are doing and roll with
it. If you do this carefully, your audience will get to the
point where the mere flash of a clock will make them feel very
uncomfortable. You have, in other words, established an alternative
meaning for a clock. "Time is running out," perhaps. Again,
it is very important that your audience not be consciously aware
of what you have done. If they notice it, you're sunk.
The next level above this is what is called Metaphor. In other
words, what is your story really about? It is the subtext of the
entire work. In general, this is only determined after you have
written your first draft.
DON'T START OUT WITH A "MEANING" IN MIND. Just tell your story.
Follow an idea that gets you hot. Then, as you race toward the
conclusion, you will slowly become aware that there are patterns
at work, that your subconscious seems to have been up to something.
You look at the story and realize that a theme seems to be emerging.
WARNING! WARNING! DANGER, WILL ROBINSON! (Sorry. I was having
a "Lost in Space" flashback.) If you start with a "Meaning"
or a "Theme" in mind, your work will almost certainly get preachy
as hell, and you will end up, at the very best, preaching to
the choir. But if you just tell a story, and you convey the
emotions honestly, then it cannot help but express your philosophy,
your own world view. And in that case, there WILL be a meaning,
a theme, a core of honesty to your work.
Let's say you are 3/4 of the way through your work, and you
begin to see the following theme: "Evil is a titanic force,
but love is stronger". You notice this because there seem to
be a number of scenes where evil does its nasty thing, and that
the only times it is beaten back is when people stand together,
or act out of love. You notice that sacrifice is often necessary,
but it does seem that selfless acts have the ability to defeat
even the most virulent evil. (This is not always the case--there
are definitely films which have the philosophy that Death Swallows
Everything, and even the strongest love is a weak and ultimately
futile defense.)
All right. Finish your draft. Then, on a 3X5 card, post above
your computer or typewriter your theme AND ITS REVERSE (COUNTER-THEME).
In other words:
- Evil is a titanic force, but Love is stronger
- Love is a titanic force, but Evil is stronger
Get it? Now, here comes the nifty part. Every scene in your script
can support one or the other point of view. You have a scene where
evil wins, followed by one where love triumphs, but just barely.
Then evil, then love. Evil, and then another evil. Love squeaks
one past. Evil has a CRUSHING victory! Dark night of the soul
time. All is lost. Then a good deed, done out of love earlier
in the story, comes back just in time ("cast your bread upon the
waters, and it will return to you many fold") and Evil, which
stands alone, is undone by the forces of good, which march shoulder
to shoulder even unto the pits of hell. Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Gosh, just brings tears to your eyes, doesn't it?
But here's another clue: WHATEVER YOUR THEME IS, NEVER STATE
IT DIRECTLY.
Comb through your script, and if your theme is ever stated,
TAKE THAT LINE OF DIALOG out. Why? Well...this is the nasty
and manipulative side of my personality coming out, and if you
tell anyone I said it, I'll just deny it. I never said it. I
was miles from there at the time, practicing golf swings with
O.J., or washing odd, pesky stains out of that Ford Bronco.
The reason has to do with the nature of subliminal communication.
If you have a controversial message, especially one of a political
nature, (Say--women are equal to men, or gay is as good as straight,
or blacks are as good as whites, or Save the Environment, or
anything else that you may wish to subtly propagandize for),
it is very important to NEVER give your audience a chance to
object to what you are saying.
Just tell your story, with the meaning encoded in the structure
of the events. If you EVER get up on a soapbox, and specifically
say "Women are equal to men", you give the audience a chance
to say: "No, they're not." If, on the other hand, you simply
show your female protagonist struggling mightily and honorably
to accomplish a worthy end, failing, suffering, and ultimately
triumphing--and if you have established audience empathy with
her, then her victories become the viewer's victories, and your
"meaning" slips right past a sexist's defenses.
An example? It is arguable that "Courage Under Fire" has a
substructure which states that women can do a "Man's" job, and
still be women. They don't ever hit that message "On the Nose"
(in other words, be obvious and unsubtle about it), but they
do give you alternative views of the lead character's struggles
in the Gulf War. They even cast Denzel Washington in an important
role, subtly connecting racism and sexism. In other words, by
the time the filmmakers are done with you, the only way not
to cheer Meg Ryan is to be sexist, racist, and un-American.
Wow. Pretty potent propaganda!