Screenwriting Masterclass | Subtext

there will be tons of clips in today's episode and will open with a montage of a few clips that set the tone that uh set the point of discussion and it will allow me to you know set a few things straight and maybe help you look at subtext in a different way from what you might have thought so far have some fun why do i always have to be the one trying to make this work [Music] i don't want to do this right now [Music] you can't just keep ignoring this what are we gonna do andrea i don't know i don't know [Music] we have to figure out something we have a kid what do you want me to do i want you to try seriously you do this every damn time we talk i'm done [Music] [Music] this is a garth mourinho's dark place uh movie like i i know writers who use subtext and they're all cowards at multiple like multiple multiple times throughout the movie characters just straight up say exactly like oh my god the water the water the water the water i still have another glass of water wait a minute it is the water don't drink that look it's bright green thank god i only took a tiny sip there's that line thank god i only took a tiny sip um and if you take a tiny sip of this you're all right i know writers who use subtext and they're all cowards okay what i was asking in that scene is what if politicians continue to pay doctors peanuts could they literally turn into monkeys and no one's asked that before from merengue's dark place subtext seems to be a bad thing but this is satire so you gotta flip it and we do need subtext many people would have said that the first two clips you saw are from films that were lacking subtext and for that reason failed i would look at it differently i think they were just bad films they were not properly executed and there the dialogue was on the nose and the visual storytelling was direct it was not indirect and it was probably also poorly performed i don't think you can blame subjects for that when the scene is about what the scene is about in the words of robert mckee what he meant by that is when there's only one layer of meaning when what you see is what you get and when you dig through it there's nothing underneath now the reason subtext is important and the reason we need to communicate things indirectly is because that's exactly what we do in the real world we communicate the most important things indirectly we don't say them they come through our speech and subtext they come through our body language i read once that 87 percent of everything we communicate actually we communicate unconsciously so we don't even know that we're saying the things we're saying in film we go by putting this in a secondary layer so on the surface layer we have something that the audience can relate to that is often dramatic but underneath something else is going on and it is a secondary layer that you need to write in as such in many cases you'll fi you'll write your first draft with having just that one surface layer and then later you go on and and you you look at the scenes again and you see how you can layer in the additional subtext but you have to make sure that there is the surface layer first let's have a look at a scene that clearly illustrates these two layers on the surface we're talking about wine underneath we're talking about something else just to be clear um i'm a red wine drinker that's fine okay cool uh i only drink red wine okay and up until last night i was under the impression that you two only drank red wine but i guess i was wrong i see where you're going with this um i do drink red wine but i also drink white wine and i've been known to sample the occasional rose and a couple summers back i tried a merlot that used to be a chardonnay oh which got a bit complicated yeah so you're just really open to all wines i like the wine and not the label does that make sense yes but it does um this is just very new to me no as long as you didn't roll over and cry yourself to sleep with regret then we're good right no no i absolutely did that just wept for hours in the dark i say we go with this one it's the biggest in this case the subtext was pretty essential if you missed it i think you missed the point of the whole scene there were two layers here they were talking about wine and we saw the wine so that was plausible but what this scene was really about was gender preferences and in that respect this is a great example of mckees saying that if the scene is about what the scene is about well in this case it was not what the scene is about we have another example later in our master class that shows us subtext maybe somewhat more subtle also relating to wine now if in our real lives we speak through indirect communication and we use subtext to get our point across what would the world look like if there were no such thing and people would say exactly what they think and what they feel it's an interesting experiment and effectively richie ricky gervais did that experiment in his film the invention of lying let's have a clip tell me something about you though you already know a lot about me you know i'm good-looking because well here i am and you know that i'm successful because you've seen my apartment and the clothes that i'm wearing and you know i'm happy because i'm smiling are you always happy usually some days i stay in bed eating and crying there you go thank you i had a little sip of this okay i'm right there so you guys ready to order do you need a moment i'm good oh i'll have the caesar salad with chicken because i think i'm fat but i also think i deserve something that tastes good i'll have the fish tacos because it's what i had last time i was here it's all i know great i'll get those two started if i gave you my number would you call me no i'm going to give you an example where some people would call the scene being an example of subtext but i think it doesn't stand our test and i want you to try and figure out why that is this is from the show the wire where the show that is very well known for its um uh swearing so i apologize for the swearing that is to follow but it isn't it's just an essential part of how the characters and how you know the the demographic of this show speaks and that is that's important to know and also to understand why it works so let's have a look at the scene what you need to know is these two detectives are revisiting the scene of a crime long time after because some things didn't add it up didn't that [ __ ] and they're trying to now figure it out [ __ ] so they're kind of [ __ ] re-reconstructing [ __ ] [ __ ] [ __ ] the [ __ ] [ __ ] [Music] [ __ ] there is absolutely no subtext here because the scene is about what the scene is about the dialogue doesn't express what it is about so that as a as a joke they've replaced all the dialogue with the swearing and they are now telling the story visually and just with you know non-verbal because you can hardly argue that the the swearing is verbal communication um so that they're telling the story non-verbally and visually but there's only one layer and that layer is exactly what you guys picked up on is the finding out that there were errors made and the report that they filed was in incorrect but there is no no subtext so this is not a good example of subtext because it doesn't follow our rule there's only one layer and the layer is about the reconstruction of the scene is that clear yes so then let's go back to that scene we just watched from shit's creek where they were talking about wine there were two layers there because on the one on the surface layer they were talking about wine and and what he said about wine might well be the true the truth so he he may well drink those wines in the way and and you know with the light that he describes but then underneath there's another layer uh let's have a look at this clip from the billy wilder film double indemnity and we're going to try and see if there are two layers or just one how do you do mr dietrichson i'm waternet pacific all risk pacific all risk insurance company it's about some renewals on the automobiles i've been trying to contact your husband for the past two weeks but he's never in his office is there anything i can do the insurance ran out on the 15th i'd hate to think if you're having a smash fender or something while you're not fully covered perhaps i know what you mean mr nev i've just been taking a sun there no pigeons around i hope uh now about those policies mr dietrich and i hate to take up your time well that's all right if you will i put something on i'll be right down neddy show mr neff into the living room the first time he said while you're not fully covered he was talking about insurance and then brought that pun from subtext into the text and now it becomes a a seduction scene and she's responding to that so that there is clear into play so the subtext is that these two there is a spark something is going on and she wants to continue the conversation so you'll see that while the conversation about insurance is to a degree real the seduction kind of comes up from the subtext and becomes the text of the scene and that becomes stronger and clearer in the next example why don't you drop by tomorrow evening around 8 30. he'll be in then my husband you were anxious to talk to him weren't you yeah i was but uh i'm sort of getting over the idea if you know what i mean there's a speed limit in this date mr neff 45 miles an hour how fast was i going officer i'd say around 90. suppose you get down off your motorcycle and give me a ticket i suppose i'll let you off with a warning this time suppose it doesn't take because i have to whack you over the knuckles suppose i bust out crying and put my head in your shoulder suppose you try putting it on my husband's shoulder that tears it 8 30 tomorrow evening man that's what i suggested would you be here too i guess so i usually am same chair same perfume same anklet i wonder if i know what you mean i wonder if you wonder that's brilliant dialogue written by billy wilder that's constantly navigating between the sub texture on the textual level or bringing the sub the the seduction to the text and pushing it back in the subtext as they navigate what is acceptable in terms of the norms now the the subtext here is not just in the dialogue obviously that's one element but you could also see from their looks that there was non-verbal behavior that supported that subtext the way they were walking very close to one another actually touched each other as they were walking to the door when you write a scene like that it is it's really important to be aware of what is on the surface and what is not it's that interplay that is really sophisticated and gives the viewers incredible pleasure and you know when when she was talking about when he comes home and he pretends he doesn't know who she's talking about that is a subtextual um signal say that he doesn't want her to talk about her husband because in his mind the two of them are already together so that is subtext and then she responds to that by bringing the subtext to the to the surface because when she starts talking about the speed limit the speed limit has absolutely nothing to do with the talk about insurance or the the talk about the text it has only to do with the way he's coming onto her and the whole seduction process so that becomes now the the topic of the conversation and she just addresses it indirectly which makes it more interesting she could have addressed that directly it would still only be a single layer it would just be about the seduction but wilder decides to use the metaphor of the speed limit so when you write dialogue keep all those tools in mind that that enlivens the dialogue and makes it fun for the viewers to place themselves in the minds and in the shoes of the the characters so what we saw here was a type of subtext that's called innuendo it is a verbal type of subtext it often reinforces what is going on in the scene it is conscious because the characters here they know full well what they're talking about although they pretend they don't and it comes from the character so it's driven by the character the next example of subtext is probably less conscious it's not innuendo but it is still verbal subtext this is the opening dialogue from midnight in paris by woody allen i mean this is unbelievable look at this there's no city like this in the world there never was you act like you've never been here before i don't get here often enough that's the problem can you picture how drop dead gorgeous this city is in the rain imagine this town in the 20s paris in the 20s in the rain the artists and writers why does every city have to be in the rain what's wonderful about getting wet i mean could you ever picture us maybe moving here after we're married oh god no i could never live out of the united states you know if i'd stayed here and written novels and not gotten you know caught up in that just grinding out movie scripts i'll tell you something i would drop the house in beverly hills the pool everything in a second so he's a dreamer and she shuts him down and guess what they're going to get married the subtext here is that there may be problems on the horizon for these two because clearly they're not on the same wavelength and the film will confirm that sorry to spoil it for you so this subtext is verbal subtext it is in a way foreshadowing it comes from the character and at the same time it's also relating to the theme now a great example that many of you will know from television of thematic subtext sits in the pilot episode of breaking bad chemistry is the study of matter but i prefer to see it as the study of change now just just think about this electrons they change their energy levels molecules molecules change their bonds elements they combine and change into compounds well that's that's all of life right it's just it's the constant it's the cycle it's solution this solution just over and over and over it is growth then decay then transformation it is fascinating really if the scene is about what the scene is about robert mckee said on the surface this scene is about walter white we're being introduced into his everyday life he's a chemistry teacher he's passionate about what he does but that is not reflected back by the students so he's not getting that enjoyment from the job that he deserves and that's important for what's to follow the subtext here is in his description of what chemistry really is in the screenplay it looks like this so when the student says chemicals walt immediately responds chemicals no change instead of saying it's a study of matter he immediately goes into change because that is the core of the subtext here subtext is again foreshadowing he's talking about himself although he may not well he he does not realize at this point we the viewers will realize at by the end of this episode when we see the first change in this character but at this point it is thematic subtext that indicates what's going to happen with the character so it's verbal subtext comes from the character it is unconscious in the show walter white changes from what the creator calls mr chips to a scarface so massive massive transformation and the word transformation is used here growth decay we know how those of you watch the show know how he ends and that is the core of this scene that is what this scene is really about and it is it is foreshadowing the essence of the show now interestingly right after this scene there was a scene in the screenplay where walt is sitting in the faculty work room and he's marking and a colleague walks in and there seems to be some chemistry going on in the other sense of the word as it is described here she's 30s redhead attractive without being pretty sexy more like and then the next description while stares at her back a little too long we feel his interest that scene was not shot because that would have carried subtext that would run ahead to his change that's not the character that he is at the beginning so that would have been non-verbal subtext but it would have contradicted what we need for this part of the story what is left in the show is this scene which is much shorter and and it feels a little bit lost there's not much going on and you wonder why didn't they cut it out altogether so not only is the thematic subtext unconscious to the character in this case sometimes it's unconscious to the writer and then later when reviewing the story you may realize that what the viewer may understand from the scene is actually not what you want to achieve so it is not always unconscious just to the character but even to the writer thematic subtext is usually a comment on the full story not just the scene it is often related to the character arc and it is definitely not what the scene is about so in the case of thematic subtext the scene is about something else and the subtext then relates to the broader story the clip that was suggested by a student yesterday that you're going to watch right now is from the film sideways interesting here i don't think the character is aware of the subtext i think he's genuinely answering the question but you can indeed also assume that what he says about wine again can be said about himself can i ask you a personal question miles sure why are you so into pino i mean it's like a thing with you uh i don't know i don't know um it's a hard grape to grow as you know right it's thin skin temper metal ripens early it's you know it's not a survivor like cabernet which can just grow anywhere and uh thrive even when it's neglected no pinot needs constant care and attention if you were to look at the scene in isolation from the whole film then you could say well he's just talking about wine is not immediately obviously clear that this could be about him there is one hint though when she asks the question and she says can i ask you a personal question the personal is again a subliminal or subtextual hint that it is about him it's about the person it's not about the topic often in the course of a story subtext later becomes the text we just saw the clip from the first episode the pilot episode of breaking bad the next scene comes from season three where we are well advanced and now the subtext has become part of the actual dialogue anyway so so for me that's been the biggest wake-up call letting go giving up control it's like they say you know man plans and god laughs that is such [ __ ] excuse me never give up control live life on your own terms yeah no i get what you're saying but uh cancer's cancer so what the hell with your cancer i've been living with cancer for the better part of a year right from the start it's a death sentence that's what they keep telling me well guess what every life comes with a death sentence so there you go that's the walter white after a few episodes a few seasons and he's now changed he has transformed not just by character and behavior but also visually the way he looks we're going to a great film called phone booth contained thriller and here's a clear example of thematic subtext that is not part of the character it is what i would call complex subtext it is and could be one of many many elements that are outside of the character themselves where are you there are hundreds of windows out there why don't you check them out so what am i doing now you're scratching your head now you're brushing your hair back so the signs in the window he didn't put them up he's got nothing to do with that shop they just happen to be there and they just happen to make a comment on the theme of the film what is the theme the theme is the character journey universalized so if you were to make a statement about the theme of the film it would be about how this character transforms but then in a broader perspective he is arrogant he's self-centered he's selfish he's rude and this is something you say to such a character who do you think you are and he will have to redeem himself and that's that comes into the dialogue um on the surface with this character that calls him in this phone booth to go back to thematic subtext what are the traits or the characteristics often it is unconscious it's not always scripted it's often complex which means it's outside the character and can be a whole range of elements in addition to just verbal or non-verbal antimatic subtext is optional what it means is that if you were to remove it from the scene the scene would still work so if there would be something else in that window nobody would have a problem with that a few minutes later in the same film we have a good example of dramatic subtext and you'll see that is very different uh although it is still subtext because in this in this in the in the text of the film at this point our main character is trying to figure out what's going on with him and who this character is on the other side of the phone so what we're going to see a subtext is not directly part of that but it is making a comment that has an impact on how the film uh progresses let's have a look who's two i don't know anything why do you prefer stuart look a lot of people in this neighborhood know who i am stuart shepard 1326 west 51st street third floor front go mind [ __ ] some other guy pal i know pamela mcfadden too it's not in your best interest to disconnect me someone could get hurt oh what's the matter stu the reason why this is important it is a structural element in the story this closing of the door signals that he is now taking the situation seriously it signals the end of sequence a it is the call to adventure it is subtext because if i were to ask you what happened in the scene you might have leave that out you may not mention that it's a closing of the door but if you look at the bigger picture of this film that moment is still relevant at the same time he is focused on the character on the other side of the line so he may not be consciously aware that he is closing the door so it is it's a dramatic subtextual element back to thematic subtext this is jaws and i'm going to show you how thematic subtext is often hidden and people are not aware of it often not even after watching the film they may not even be aware what the theme of the film is because they didn't pick up consciously on these hints here's the first hint in jaws about what the team may be hit by a vampire you guys were playing on those swings those swings are dangerous stay off there i haven't fixed them yet i think you're gonna live the swings are dangerous i haven't fixed them yet so dad has not taken his israel's responsibility i've got difficulty with that word that has not taken his responsibility and as a result sun has a bleeding hand that has nothing to do seemingly with the shark that's swimming around although miraculously the phone call here is going to be just about that what we have here is thematic foreshadowing this is the behavior of this character and it shows us what the outcome of that behavior is if you don't deal with the the root of the problem the problem will persist he has not dealt with the root of the problem with the swings some has bleeding hands he's not going to deal with the root of the problem in terms of the shock until the midpoint reversal in the meantime people will die very very few people will have picked up on that and indeed very few people see that that is the theme of the film many people say it's about someone who's afraid of the water and overcomes that fear it's part of it but it's not the core theme we have another scene in the show that confirms what the real theme is it is again an example of thematic subtext and if you were to open the the screenplay the script that's available the draft is available online which is not a shooting draft you'll find even more examples of scenes that support that idea that we have a character here who's not taking his responsibility so let's jump all the way to the midpoint reversal of jaws where if you listen carefully he is essentially again saying that he has not taken responsibility with the fireplace in the den it's dangerous don't use it don't use the fireplace tell them i'm going fishing so it's thrown in there very subtly doesn't take a lot of screen time but it plants itself in our minds and all these little bits ultimately picture the painting of a character who is lacking responsibility and that's what this film is about this page this is the opening of little miss sunshine and it describes the opening scene with richard in a classroom having a lecture about his nine-step program and in his dialogue he says one thing you take away from the nine weeks we've spent it should be this winners and losers what's the difference and i'm going to skip all the way to the bottom of his um dialogue where he says i want you to go out into the world and be winners so that's the opening of little miss sunshine now let's see if you can detect some subtext in there inside each and every one of you at the very core of your being is a winner waiting to be awakened and unleashed upon the world with my nine step refuse to lose program you now have the necessary tools and the insights and the know-how to put your losing habits behind you and to go out and make your dreams come true hesitating no complaining no excuses i want you to go out in the world and i want you to be winners thank you [Music] [Applause] this is richard at this stage in his life it's the opening snapshot of who his character is and it gives us his belief system and we see that his belief system is not working very well for him because by his own definition he's a loser he's not where he wants to be and he's not happy about that so he needs to change therefore all these elements together picture where he is now and where he needs to go in the future this is partially verbal subtext it's about what he says in contrast to what we see around him but there's also non-verbal there's also complex subtext such as the music the music underscores that this is not a happy rah-rah moment for anyone nor the character nor the viewer so little sunshine i want to quickly go back to what dramatic subtext um mean so what if we look at the traits the characteristics of dramatic subtext that is mostly conscious it's often scripted and it's essential because it's part of the progression the dramatic progression of the film i'll give you an example that is kind of on the cusp between thematic and dramatic it carries a bit of both and this is from gravity it is the end of act 2 where ryan realizes that she has very very minimal chances of surviving she's actually getting ready to die that's nice i think i'm keep singing just like that [Music] send you to sleep and i'll sleep keep singing and sing and sing [Music] in the screenplay it looks like this so charlene's over presses a button on the control panel camera pans with her as she reaches up and switches off the lights she turns some dials decreasing the oxygen the cabin's atmosphere preparing to kill herself now that may not be clear to the viewer and to make it clear that she's prepared to die she goes into the corpse pose she crosses her forearms um that is an example of non-verbal subtext it is thematic because because it has to do with her journey on the way to letting go of the loss of her daughter and learning to live again this is the the end of act who is the the lowest point but it's also dramatic because in this moment we're wondering is she going to survive or not that's the dramatic question so it kind of crosses over and that makes that moment very powerful so it isn't it is a visual cue that plays on more than just one level the next example is foreshadowing foreshadowing as in as an example of external or complex subtext [Music] very small element lunch but we get it he's getting ready for lunch that's what the scene is about we think but then the subtext introduces what's really going to be he's going to have he's going to lose his best friend an example of more complex subtext we see in citizen kane and this is the montage we saw in our master class about montages the breakfast montage i'm going to show you the first clip and then we'll have a chat about it i absolutely adore you oh charles even newspapermen have to sleep i'll call mr bernstein haven't put up my appointments until noon most of the subtext here is character subtext it is verbal and non-verbal is in what they say it's how they behave they lean in close to one another they're sitting close to one another it's the clothes that she's wearing and the look on their face the second clip do you know things have changed kept me waiting last night well you went to the newspaper for 10 minutes what do you do in a newspaper in the middle of the night emily my dear your only correspondent is the inquirer sometimes i think i'd prefer a rival of flesh and blood oh emily i don't spend that much time on the newspaper it isn't just the time it's what you print attacking the president you mean uncle john i mean the president of the united states he's still uncle john yesterday's student argued that this may not be an example of subtext because it all pushes the same id the fact that these two are growing apart if you look at it from that perspective and that's indeed the case but you could look at the scene in terms of what it is about it is about what she's reading and what he's doing and it is only when we see the complete picture of the montage that we realized that there was a lot more information going on in picturing a much broader picture there are non-personal elements there there are complex subtextual elements that are external to what the characters have contributed and that is for instance the obstacle on the table you know that obstructs our view that's a clear deliberate directorial decision this is not the character deciding i'm gonna i don't feel close to my husband so i'm gonna put these flowers in between us this is really an external complex subtextual element the music is another example [Music] complex subtext outside the character often harder to write often less effective in the first watching of the film but it's the type of material that you will discover when you re-watch the film when you analyze it when when the film starts to resonate many years after it was made one of my favorite examples of very subtle complex subtext is this moment at the end of act 1 in toy story 3. so what you need to know is woody is leaving his friends he feels that he needs to be with his master andy because he needs to be there for him when he wants to play with him and therefore he sacrifices his friendship with the other toys that's his world view he thinks that's the right thing to do and then look what happens bull's-eye look i don't want you left alone in the attic okay now stay [Music] so what is happening here is that indirectly in a subtextual way woody is communicating that it is not the right thing to do to follow your master in this way blindly and leaving your friends behind so bullseye in the same way as woody is led by his own codependency he's clinging on to woody and woody knows deep inside that that's not the right thing to do yet that's exactly what he is doing right now in the story so what it signals to us is that on a deeper level he is aware that this is not the right behavior so he needs to overcome that sort of behavior very subtle subtext but it works beautifully when we see those two characters but you only realize what's going on if you ask the question what is he really doing here what is bullseye really wanting it's the same thing so he's criticizing bullseye for doing what exactly he himself is doing at this moment in the story beautiful so complex subtext is often multi-layered can be character can be external can be dramatic can be thematic great example from hidden figures you have identification on yes yes sir we're just on our way to work at langley nasa sir we do a great deal of the calculating getting our rockets into space all three of you yes yes officer nasa i asked some i had no idea they hired the quite a few women working in the space program damn russians are watching this right now sputniks it's only subtext if there is a text what's the text dramatically speaking this scene is about these three women having broken down alongside the road and they need to get to work that's what the scene is about the cop arrives and the cops not of any help he makes things worse and then the subtext creeps in which becomes the theme of the film which is systemic racism in the 1960s in the u.s in the screenplay it looks like this so this asks for identification and then it feels like the subtext kicks in when he's about to say i had no idea they hired he stops himself from saying coloreds or worse at this point you could argue that the scene is no longer about breaking down along the road alongside the road this is about racism and the relationship of this cop to the women and the the subtext goes deeper it goes further because when she saves him from embarrassment by jumping in and making it look like he's talking about women then he's kind of grateful because he didn't want to go there and he's still embarrassed and he wants to change the subject and i think that's why he looks up i don't think he is paranoid not in this situation he's embarrassed certainly and by looking up he's kind of diverting and diluting and defusing the tension that occurred in this scene and then yeah the scene ends wonderfully as he offers an escort to them to drive to nasa once the car is fixed so it's a great scene that foreshadows the trajectory of these women in the whole film so it is thematic subtext on more than just one level i highly recommend you check out that film i want to give you an overview so we're almost about to wrap up of the types of subjects we've looked at today the most important distinction we've looked at is dramatic versus thematic we've looked at character versus complex or external verbal versus non-verbal one type of subtext is innuendo another one is foreshadowing there are many many other types and i invite you to watch films and try and detect often re recurring types of subtext and then we ended with complex subtext could there be um grounds insane that as the journey through transformation for the character there's a generalization from being inauthentic and subtextual to an unconscious to becoming conscious of fatal flaw and being more conscious and less subtextual at the end of the journey using something like um bill murray and groundhog day there's so many clips i had that i haven't used katie knows because she's looked up some of them some of them were a bit long there was a great scene from no country for old man but one that i would have loved to include was from groundhog day when there's the dialogue between the dudes in the in the bar when um um bill murray is basically summing up his life as he says you know what what would you do when every day you wake up and the same thing happens and you can't do anything about it and then the other dude says well that kind of sums up my life and it's a funny it's a funny line but it is the theme of the film because it's all it's our lives what do we do with our lives you know we wake up and it feels like we're in the in that treadmill so it is a very powerful verbal uh subtextual statement but you are absolutely right in saying that there is this trend where the the subtext becomes conscious and very often in the same way we saw in breaking bad in later season walter white is explicitly talking about his own journey so that now that the topic the issue is on the surface in many feature films you will find that the theme is subtextual until around the midpoint reversal and you'll have a conversation that addresses it i may have played the clip from la confidential a few months ago where russell crowe's character has a conversation about his journey and and his wound um previously all that was in his behavior was purely in subtext but around the midpoint reversal he speaks it out you know in the same in die hard it's only until the it's not until the end of act two that the character speaks out usually it's the end of act two where that happens in phone booth the character of stu realizes what his behavior has been all along that it was wrong and he publicly expunges his sins um in the speech you know so that what was subtextual for most of the film comes to the surface around either the midpoint reversal or the end of act two so yeah that's that's definitely a good observation to speak to that potentially the mentor is more or less subtextual through the journey of the film as a more conscious figure and obi-wan kind of springs to mind there i can't remember too much subtext from him you can look at it like this so initially it's dramatic and it becomes thematic obi-wan in the beginning gives luke the sword that's that is a visible dramatic element but later he says to use the force and there's talk about the force early on but we don't connect it to luke in the same way we don't understand that that's what he that's the process he needs to he needs to go through because ultimately he needs to let go as well so initially it's subtextual for him he needs to learn the force not just by using the sword but by letting go and it is in that final uh moment that obi-wan reminds him that it is actually about letting go and he needs to learn to to fly blindly in the untouchables with sean connery and kevin costner the same thing initially um sean connery opens the doors for eliot ness or malone for eliot ness but in his dying moments he reminds his pupil of the principle so what has been subtextual which is all about letting go of the rules and the books and the bureaucracy now you need to do it the chicago way you need to go and change your behavior and do the chicago way so it's become text in that moment does that mean that subtext which usually appears would usually appear at the beginning of the film you know it's a good point i haven't looked into that i think subtext is probably there all along but probably more in the beginning because there's more exposition to get across and it may be that some of that exposition is placed more subtly so we we take it on board subliminally and then as we progress it becomes more it comes more to the surface that's certainly possible but i would i would i would expect that you'll have some sort of subtext throughout the film all through to the very end two things um as you know i'm trained actor under hayes gordon so we're taught that you only play you're only ever playing the subtext so the first thing you do is you take the script and then you look at the subtext of the script and then you play the subtext through the script so that was the first thing that i wanted to comment i wanted to make and the other question i wanted to ask which just occurred to me is the subtext always about matters that society may not want you to address directly yeah i said i've seen nandi shake and i think you're you're insane is right i think subjects can be broader than that i think it often is because you know in our in our everyday communication we suppress what we feel is not politically correct and it'll come out in different ways it'll come out you know in in body language because people it's hard to completely hide your world views you know you can say something but people can tell the lie so you're absolutely right that very often it is a matter of suppressing the real worldview and then it comes out in in in subtext but i think that there are examples of subtext that that are somewhat broader i'm thinking about something my best friend in belgium who's he has always been my mentor when it comes to screenwriting he's an incredibly smart dude and you should check out he's got a website now where someone um reads his own text his text i think is his son it's called the film dissect um but you first you need to subscribe to my channel of course and then you go to his um he says in chinatown there is subtext about the dryness of the the climate but also the story in in chinatown characters go uphill characters smoke characters sweat but they're not allowed to hydrate so it's you you are being fed the subliminal message that um you know it's it's high it's it's hot it's and it's dry and you you subliminally feel with the characters how that climate affects them so that's that's not a psychological it's not a moral thing because sometimes i think it's psychological but not moral and i think if you were to look at jaws there may be subtext about um brody's fear of water as well which you know fear of water is not moral it's just purely psychological so i think subjects can be a little bit broader than just moral issues [Music] next week we're going to talk about tone that is also going to be a relatively new master class i have addressed it previously for the accelerator pod in canberra but i'll rework that and bring you new examples and hopefully update it a bit i hope to see you then in the meantime keep it cool this weekend and yeah have a great week and see you next time bye

Channel: The Story Department

Views: 982

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: movie scripts, screenwriter, character, subtext, theme

Id: IBQDh3j-x5A

Length: 52min 40sec (3160 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 15 2021