THURSDAY'S SCRIPT TIP:
SYMBOLISM VS. USING SYMBOLS
Or Cymbals, for that matter.
Any sort of symbolism in a movie needs to be subtle or else it
comes off as pretentious... But here's the problem: you have
Walker in POINT BLANK, he's been shot dead by his wife and his
best friend on Alcatraz... but a little thing like death isn't
stopping him. He climbs the cyclone fence around the prison,
hanging there, arms extended like Christ on the cross...
Oops! No subtlety there! In order to describe it we
practically have to sledgehammer it home. We have to make the
symbolism obvious.
I have a revenge script where I tried to use symbolism to show
the character getting over her hatred - her clothes went from
black to gray to colors in the script. But it just seemed like I
was describing clothes... not really part of my job.
So I'm not sure we can do much symbolism as screenwriters (I'd
be happy to hear from anyone with a different opinion, I could
learn something). But we CAN use symbols. I use symbols all of
the time.
EXAMPLE:
Guy and Girl are deeply in love. They decide to move in
together - a cool two story condo. He buys her a helium balloon
shaped like a heart with "Love Always" printed on it. She lets go
of the balloon and it gets stuck on the ceiling twenty feet up.
After a couple of weeks of living together, the thrill is gone...
and the helium has started peter out -- that balloon is sinking
down the wall. After a month they've had a big argument -- and
the balloon is deflated on the floor. Girl kicks it out of the
way as she storms out of the condo.
In HARD EVIDENCE I had the husband take off his wedding band
for jewelry repairs... and fall into an affair. As long as that wedding
band was off his finger he was a cheater.
In NIGHT HUNTER I had the vampire hunter hero carry a vial of
vampire plasma -- it regenerates tissue! He has very little left,
and he needs all of it if he gets injured. When the leading lady
gets hurt, he uses the entire vial on her. This SHOWS us how he
feels towards her PLUS shows us that his back against the wall -
it's a life or death fight, now.
In William Goldman's MARATHON MAN Dustin Hoffman has had a really
bad experience with a dentist and his drill, and uses a bottle of
oil of clove for pain relief. When he throws the bottle to the ground
and it shatters, we know he's got more on his mind tham a toothache - he's
going to go kick some Nazi War Criminal butt!
PLACES can be symbols. I have a script where a couple goes to
the same restaurant three times in the script, and each time
their relationship is different. The restaurant is kind of a
symbolic backdrop that focuses us (I hope) on what they are
feeling towards each other. (Hey! That's the restaurant they met
at!) A friend of mine outlines with 3x5 cards and uses different
colors for different story elements - so imagine the restaurant
as the color of the card for romance. The audience sees the
location and knows it's their romantic spot... it's a symbol of
their relationship!
There's nothing better than having Mad Max find that little
music box in the dead guy's hand then give it to the Feral Kid
later in ROAD WARRIOR. Lots of information in those scenes. That little music box is the
kind of symbol I call a "twitch" in my Secrets Of Action book - it's a
physical object that represents (symbolizes) the protagonist's emotional
issues. Every time he pulls it out and looks at it, we know what he's
thinking, know what he's feeling.
I don't think we can
describe James Dean holding that rifle over his shoulders and
looking like Christ on the cross without looking goofy... so I
just don't do it. I leave the deep symbolism to the director, but
I often use symbols to tell my story.
MY BLOG!
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