Film Adaptation – Screenwriting Workshop with Caio
Film AdaptationAesthetic Emotion
Emotion and meaning are separate components in life. Both of these together create a moment of catharsis that establishes aesthetic emotion. An idea which connects to an emotional change brings out the strongest elements of the human experience.
In real life, we need a sense of distance to understand the meaning of facts, yet in art we gain instantaneous understanding of the nature of reality.
Actionable: Consider the broader meaning in each action. What is gained or lost? Is there any deeper meanings in symbols?
Premise
The basic idea that inspired the writer to start the story. The premise can come from any place and be based in any experience or idea. You can abandon the premise, but you need a good reason to do so.
Actionable: Ask yourself the magical ‘what if?’
Governing Idea
The governing idea is also known as the ‘controlling idea’, bedeutung-fazit (meaning-conclusion), or theme. It is the meaning behind the story and has a value and a cause, dictating what changes and how it changes.
Actionable: what changes and how?
Structure and Rhetoric
Storytelling is the creative conversion of an idea into action. People don’t like being told what to feel or think – don’t attempt to spoon-feed the audience. Story is expressed through an ‘event chain’, which communicates and proves your idea without expositional reinforcement.
Actionable: Am I telling the audience what to feel and think, or providing them the information to decide for themselves?
Point and Counterpoint
Meaning progressions will intertwine as the narrative develops from divergent values. That is to say that as meaning progresses from different (divergent) values, they will intertwine as a result of the development of the narrative. No meaning exists in isolation, no matter how contradictory or oppositional.
Actionable: Create meaning from a place of authenticity, even if they don’t align at first.
Didacticism
It is important within didacticism to show both arguments – that of the protagonist(s) and antagonist(s). Don’t give the audience just a one-sided story. If your story is unilateral (affecting only one character/group/etc), it has become didactic in the worst way.
Actionable: Make your ‘loser’ as strong as possible.
Didacticism: a philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is an emerging conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to explain.
Types of Governing Ideas
Positive – the happy ending. A way out for the viewer to make the work a better place.
Negative – the sad ending. A warning for the viewer.
Ironic – a loss and a gain in the ending. “At what cost?” Gives it depth. One of the values will be stronger, making it either ‘ironic-positive’ or ‘ironic-negative’.
Actionable: What do you want to give your audience? How do you want them to feel in the ending? What do you want them to think about afterwards?
Meaning and Society
Art is a powerful tool for societal change. You only need to look to the history of film as a visual arts medium to see this – it began as an educational and propagandistic medium. As filmmakers, you have the responsibility of producing conscious, thoughtful art for yourself and for others. Art can change lives and this is the burden of the responsibility borne by artists.
Top tip: If you have an objective – a reason why – you can circumvent writer’s block.