Tag: Story premise

Premise vs. Theme: Know the Difference–Your Screenplay Depends On It

Fight all you want about the meaning of Premise vs. Theme, and why not? It seems every smart-aleck picks a fight over what these words mean. Truth is, it’s not that complicated. Welcome to the smart money.

Stavros C. Stavrides

Premise & Theme Defined

Let us show you how effective screenwriters use Premise and Theme when writing their screenplay. We did not invent the definitions of Premise and Theme as described here –many great film schools teach it this way. But we think that it sure simplifies things. So let’s get started.

Screenwriters approach the task of writing in several ways. Some are inspired by a sudden idea driven by a central character and situation. Others want to work in a genre they love, like science fiction, action-adventure, or horror. Yet others are preoccupied with a strong concept or wish to illustrate a point about society by sending a strong message.

Whatever gets you started on your screenplay, such a motivation can be the foundation of your work.

Premise and Theme Arise From the Creative Process

As you lean into your story, what arises from the creative process is a complex weaving of Premise and Theme, two aspects of a story you become aware of as you create your story.

The film industry has more than a few definitions of premise and theme within the film industry. In this book, we put it quite simply. Let’s look at the Premise and Theme of The Godfather (1972). 

PREMISE: The idealistic son of a powerful Mafia crime boss returns a war hero with no interest in the family business, but tragic circumstances pull him into a mob war that could tear his family apart. 

THEME: “You cannot avoid your destiny” or, “Family comes first “sharing its success and its downfall”

Premise: the “What If?”

The premise sets up the main characters’ characters, circumstances and challenges. It’s often presented as a ‘what if…?” proposition.

The premise becomes evident early in the process as you flesh out the characters, their circumstances and conflicts – the ‘what if…but’? For example, “Jaws” (1975): 

What if a beach-town cop wants to stop a killer shark at the height of tourist season, but as deaths pile up, the greedy mayor blocks him for the sake of tourist dollars?

Theme: “What’s It About?”

The theme speaks to the film’s overall moral or lesson it teaches – the overall message. Jaws (1975):

Public good vs. criminal greed

Where the premise of your story likely comes early as you plan and execute, your story’s theme may reveal itself at any time in the process. You may know the theme upfront, or it speaks to you later as you “dream your movie”.

In the following clip from Cyber Film School’s Filmmaking Textbook Screenwriting Chapter: Gerald DiPego talks about a story’s Theme:

YouTube player
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Don’t rush the theme – t will emerge. Themes can change as you go. More than one can appear, but once the main theme is clear, it should reverberate in every page and every scene of the script as you polish and rewrite it.”

More Screenwriting Articles

2. Story Structure Clarifies The Concept

Films that suffer from a lack of clarity and confuse an audience can usually trace their problem to poor story structure.

If you have trouble shaping your film’s concept into a narrative, think of how your screenplay should be structured and what you’re trying to say.  If we still can’t get to the end of the story – that’s likely a structural problem.

Contributed By Glen Berry, Edited by Stavros C. Stavrides

Important Concepts

  • Start with a premise
  • Do your Research
  • Structure Clarifies the Concept

Although there are different schools of thought on the sections in a story, we will be discussing Aristotle’s Three Act Structure. This structure dictates that every story has three acts: a beginning, middle and end. I know this sounds elementary but each act has particular properties.

This structure can be described with a diagram called The Dramatic Curve.

Dramatic Curve in Three Acts

The Three Acts

In the First Act, the main character, or protagonist, is introduced and the location is set. This description of the character and the setting is called Exposition. 

Bridging the First and Second Act, the protagonist is confronted with some kind of obstacle. The presentation of this obstacle, or conflict, is the inciting moment or incident. 

This second act is mainly comprised of the protagonist’s attempts to overcome this obstacle. The protagonist cannot accomplish their objective easily, for if they did, there would be no story. Complications arise, and tension increases as the protagonist attempts to overcome this obstacle. This rising action is what drives our story forward.

The Third Act contains the climax of the story, where this conflict is resolved and final obstacles overcome. If the story works out in favor of the protagonist, it is comedy. If it works out against the protagonist, it is a tragedy. Denouement is a French term that literally translates to the unravelling of a knot. In the denouement, we see the aftermath of the resolution and how it affects the characters in the story.

It is in the resolution of this conflict that we find whatever it is that we are trying to say. Most times, writers have difficulty with how their story ends. They may have an interesting setting or conflict but it is in the resolution that we find the content of the story. If you do not know how the story ends, you do not know your story.

This post is a support article from Cyber Film School’s
Multi-Touch Learning System, 2022 Edition

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Contract With Your Audience

What do we want the audience to leave the theater with?

We do not have to create works that will change the world but we should know what idea we want to put forward. It doesn’t really matter what the content is of the story you decide to make but you do have an obligation to tell a story.

You cannot ask the audience to sit and spend time with you if you do not deliver something that will engage them. You have a contract with the audience. They spend time with you, you will entertain them. The subject matter can be serious, it can be odd, it can be comic, or it can be sad. It doesn’t matter what it is but you must deliver.

You must say something or you are wasting your time and energy.

Find an idea that intrigues you and then find what about it is important to you. Then you can build a story around communicating that idea to others.

Summary

• The concept of your screenplay should be reducible to a few sentences. Without this clarity, you cannot build a story.

• Invest time in determining how your concept is different from others and how it might be the same. This will save you from unwittingly remaking another film.

• Many independent films suffer from a lack of clarity, which can almost always be traced to poor structure. Breaking from the convention is encouraged but if the result is confusion, look at your story structure.

NEXT>>>
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
Protagonists, antagonists, anti-heroes and their relationship to the story

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