Day 5 Assignments

[Amy Falkofske]

Amy’s Symbol

What I learned doing this assignment is that the use of a symbol is a good way to show the character arc of your protagonist through visuals instead of words. It also makes the moment the character changes more powerful.

INTRODUCE THE SYMBOL: While Andrea is traveling in the past and observing herself dote on a newborn Benjamin, Josh gives her a necklace that spells out the word “mom.” It has a little foot attached with Benjamin’s birthstone and his name. Later as she continues to travel through time and Chloe is born, Josh gives Andrea another foot to attach to her necklace with Chloe’s birthstone and name.

SET ITS MEANING POWERFULLY: As Andrea struggles with being torn between her family and her career, she one day goes rifling through her jewelry box and discovers the necklace. She had completely forgotten about it. Now it is causing her to feel sentimental. She almost puts it back in the box. Instead, she shoves it in her purse.

USE THE SYMBOL TO CAUSE OR SHOW CHANGE: When Andrea shows up at Chloe’s dance recital at the end of the story, she is wearing the necklace which shows that she has chosen her family over her career.

[John Budinscak]

Budinscak Symbol

Day 5

What I learned doing this assignment:

o Clever tool for subtext.

o Great way to show change in a character, and it can be very powerful.

o And just about anything can be used for a symbol.

Symbol:

1. INTRODUCE THE SYMBOL through its meaning early in the story.

From the first time we meet Puck, he wears a backpack and he rarely takes it off. He gets into a tug of war with a customer and his aunts have to intercede. They make snippy comments and roll their eyes when discussing Puck and his backpack.

2. SET ITS MEANING POWERFULLY enough so that just its presence will cause an audience response.

At the very beginning of Act 2 when Jack and the boys wake up at the Picnic Grounds in Terre Haute, LC questions Jack about Puck and his backpack. Jack weaves a horrible tale about why that backpack means so much to Puck. LC is taken aback by the circumstances – he never knew. The scene is below.

3. USE THE SYMBOL TO CAUSE OR SHOW CHANGE in the characters or their situation. This is where a symbol is powerful.

We are at the beginning of Act 3. If things weren’t bad enough losing everything in Vegas, the FBI leverages Jack to do their biding. Jack and his nephews sneak out of town in Jack’s Cadillac and are overcome with carbon monoxide poisoning when dry ice leaks in the trunk and fills the car. The Caddy goes off the road and Jack is saved by a Guardian Angel. The boys are still overcome by carbon monoxide poisoning when Jack goes through Puck’s backpack. He determines Puck’s a kleptomaniac and hides what he steals in his backpack. He finds a miniature tape recorder Puck lifted from LC and on it is a key confession that will help Jack in the climax.

Relative to “SET ITS MEANING POWERFULLY enough so that just its presence will cause an audience response”, I thought I’d approach it from a different angle for the audience. Here’s a partial scene.

EXT. PICNIC GROUNDS – DAY

Jack and LC lean on the fence surrounding the go cart track. They watch Puck struggle to get in his cart, his backpack is in the way.

LC

What’s with, uh …. Which one is that?

JACK

Puck.

LC

What’s with Puck and that backpack?

JACK

That’s the last thing his father gave him.

Jack doesn’t make eye contact with LC, no need to. Jack knows he’ll hook LC and reel him in.

LC

What do you mean ‘last thing’?

JACK

Six months ago, Puck’s dad was killed in an explosion at the leather mill. The top of a big drum blew off, flew across the room and cut his head completely off. They said his head rolled like an egg for about like ten feet while his body just quivered. Can you imagine that?

LC

Jesus.

JACK

Tragic. Yeah, poor Puck’s never been quite the same.

LC

My God, that poor kid.

Jack still won’t make eye contact, LC smells a rat.

LC

Did any of that really happen?

JACK

Nah, I’m fucking with you.

LC

You are such an asshole.

Jack’s giggle evolves into laughter and leads to snot flying out of his nose. LC shakes his head – I should have known better.

LC

So what’s the story with the backpack?

JACK

There’s no story, Puck’s got some issues.

Jack turns to LC with his best poker face. LC smirks and turns to watch the go-carts.

LC

You know I’m gonna get even with you, right?

They both laugh.

[Julia Keefer]

This symbol exercise was an opportunity to review my symbols in my outline. A previous exercise related to the main plot points. They were COVID sanitizers, lighter fluid, and matches for BB/Betty’s crimes, boxing gloves, weights, bands, and kettlebells for Jake, and ski poles, beds, chairs, gardens, rocks, boats, that are used purposefully to reveal plot and character. But this was a SUBTEXT symbol exercise, so I developed brass candlesticks, chandeliers, lamps, and the necklace that Ibrahim made from his prayer beads to give Litonya as a wedding present. It forced me to review every scene in my messy outline and imagine some visuals that relate to feelings like love that form the underbelly of the action plots. The brass shines and candlesticks are used to see without fossil fuels, relating to my Green activism theme. A necklace can be used to strangle, Leo/BB/Betty’s modus operandi as a serial killer. There are history lovers so these objects can be of value. They can be polished to hide feelings. They are good for close-ups and sequencing between scenes. Brass cooking pots are used in the kitchen when Nikos, Betty, and Jake compete for culinary dominance.

[Michelle Damis]

PS 80 Michelle Damis – Symbol

What I learned doing this assignment is how a symbol can be used, however I do not believe that it MUST be used. Yes it can certainly be powerful, but don’t bang your head against the wall making one fit in.

Off the top of my head the only Symbol that really makes sense for me is Blood, which is quite typical of a Vampire story of course, however I think I have a solid twist on this. I had already planned a mid-point use and an end point…not so much thinking of it as a symbol but it does work

1. INTRODUCE THE SYMBOL I will need to go back and see where I can make something organically fit that is interesting and not cliché.

2. SET ITS MEANING POWERFULLY enough so that just its presence will cause an audience response.

The twist here is that Osgood (or the other vampires) isn’t going to be able to smell Jim or Ninas blood…(this has never happened) They both have a very rare blood type…this will be odd and intriguing to Osgood.

3. USE THE SYMBOL TO CAUSE OR SHOW CHANGE in the characters or their situation. This is where a symbol is powerful. This rare blood type will have a life-changing effect on Osgood, it isn’t going to make him mortal, but it will give him reprieve and a chance at a relationship.

**In some ways the family is also a symbol… but I think that’s a bit of a reach.

[Rob Bertrand]

Rob Bertrand’s Symbol

What I learned: I learned the three-step method for using a symbol as subtext in my screenplay.

SYMBOL: Nora’s Wedding Dress

Introduce the Symbol: The dress is first introduced 7 months after the death of Nora Andrew’s. Jack has become overly attached to the dress, sleeping with it every night, to remind him of his late wife. Annie feels he’s using it as a coping mechanism.

Set its meaning powerfully: Jack explains that it was Nora’s favorite thing and that she hoped Annie would wear it at her own wedding someday. It’s Jack’s last connection with his wife.

Use the symbol to cause or show change: After being humiliated by Annie in front of her friends for sleeping with the dress, Jack throws it away in a fit of anger. Danny takes the dress and starts wearing it in the climax of the second act.

SCENE 1

INT. JACK’S BEDROOM – DAY

Rough snores in the darkness.

The bedroom door cracks. Light peeks in revealing Annie.

She enters the room, stepping over empty liquor bottles on the floor and throws open the drapes. Sun cuts through the bedroom like a knife to reveal Jack, sound asleep, clutching Nora’s wedding dress to his body.

ANNIE
Come on, pops. Time to get up.

Jack groans and pulls the covers over his face.

Annie surveys the scene. Jack and Nora’s wedding video plays on a loop on a TV on the dresser. The wedding dress triggers her. She pulls it from his grasp.

ANNIE
God dammit, dad. You’ve got to stop doing this to yourself.

Jack sits up. Shakes the cobwebs from his mind. Stretches.

JACK
I like the smell.

Annie wants to smell the dress, but can’t bring herself to do it.

JACK
She looked so beautiful that day. Fuck, we were just kids…

Annie looks at the wedding video on TV. Her mom, happier than we’ve ever seen.

JACK (CONTINUED)
You know…it was always her dream that you’d wear her dress one day…

Annie clicks off the TV. Wads the dress up in a ball and throws it on the ground.

ANNIE
Well, she’s dead now….so?

JACK
God damn it, Annie! That dress meant a lot to you your mother!

He scoops it up and shakes it out. With the care of a surgeon, Jack replaces the dress in a hanging plastic bag.

JACK
I just…feel her…when I touch it. Don’t you?

Annie watches him. Loves him for it.

JACK
Maybe you don’t wear it. Maybe you turn it into a table cloth…fuck, I don’t know. Just…Just treat it with respect, okay?

ANNIE
Okay, pops.

CUT TO:

SCENE 2

EXT. ANDREW’S HOUSE – SIDE YARD – NIGHT

A hand pulls the lid off a trash can.

Jack, in a fit of rage, dumps Nora’s wedding dress into the garbage.

JACK
I’m so fucking over this!

He takes one last look at the dress. Second guesses himself, but then holds firm. Jack slams the lid down on the can.

Tears in his eyes.

As Jack walks away, he doesn’t notice the shadow watching him from the window above.

JACK
Embarrass me in front of your god damn friends…

CUT TO:

[Armand Petrikowski]

Armand Symbol

What I learned…

SYMBOL: Something used for or regarded as representing something else.

Key Point: A symbol is separate from its meaning before that meaning is established. But once a meaning is firmly connected to the symbol, the symbol and the meaning are one.

USING SYMBOLS IN SCREENPLAYS

Let’s look at a three-step method for using symbols in your script, then we’ll see how it has been used in produced scripts.

1. INTRODUCE THE SYMBOL through its meaning early in the story.

2. SET ITS MEANING POWERFULLY enough so that its presence will cause an audience response.

3. USE THE SYMBOL TO CAUSE OR SHOW CHANGE in the characters or their situation. This is where a symbol can have an amazing impact. Since its meaning has been set powerfully before, it can easily be the catalyst for change.

ASSIGNMENT

Background: Tyler, the ghost, loves Maddie, the final girl who survived the massacre despite his cowardice. Tyler stole a test and got expelled from college, Maddie thinks Tyler has potential to start over but needs to tell his strict Father first. The test page is our symbol.

INT. MANOR – NIGHT

Tyler and Maddie sit alone, by the fire.

MADDIE

Why did you steal the test?

He shows her a piece of paper.

TYLER

I wanted the answers.

MADDIE

Did you tell your dad yet?

TYLER

I can’t—

MADDIE

You need to face the consequences.

She grabs the piece of paper and writes an F GRADE on it with her red lipstick.

TYLER

I guess it’s what I deserve.

MADDIE

I know you can get an A.

The lights go off.

MADDIE

What happened?

TYLER

I’ll go check the power.

Maddie folds the test page and puts it in her pocket, as Tyler exits.

INT. MANOR – NIGHT

Maddie lies on the floor, Tyler is next to her. She’s bleeding out.

Charles, the killer, is dead impaled.

TYLER

I’m sorry.

Maddie shows him a piece of paper. It’s the F test.

She touches her wound with her finger. With blood on her fingertip, she turns the F into an A. She faints slowly.

Tyler sobs.

Maddie dies.

[Elizabeth Koenig]

Elizabeth’s symbol: red panties (stand for Ed’s avoidance of sex/intimacy—and awakening)

What I learned: symbols are efficient!

Introduced:

INT. GARDENS BY THE WATER – DON’S ROOM – NIGHT

MEN, including Don, Ed and Wade at a table with Fantasy Football sheets. Eyes on a TV where the ball is fumbled.

GROANS. CHEERS. Armchair commentary as—

GAME ANNOUNCER

There’s Half-time!

A commercial starts. MAN 1 flips channels. Stops on “Love, Actually.” The end of the holiday party scene. (Note to self: re-watch and see what scene is just before Heike’s)

DON

Holiday season, I guess.

MAN 2

Actually It’s “Love, Actually.” A pretty good show—the ladies like.

Suddenly: Heike Makatsch’s apartment. Ed gets up. Almost literally covers his eyes as her striptease—

DON

I like!

Begins to reveal red undergarments—

MAN 1

Definitely a feel-good show!

Chairs scooch. Eyes un-cloud. Utterances of more activation and interest than there was for the game as—

Ed walks to the refrigerator. Opens it

ED

Got any milk, Don?

More skin on the screen.

WADE

Damn! Why haven’t I seen this?

Wade backs into the kitchen, eyes bungeed to the TV as he reaches by Ed. Pulls a beer to his chest like it’s a tit.

WADE

Long time since I saw red panties.

MAN 2

I still got some. From High School!

MEN

No!

MAN 2

My first love.

Ed turns redder than Heike’s panties. Pulls out a carton of buttermilk. That Wade frowns at.

WADE

(Re: the buttermilk)

That’s nasty!

Eyes dart to Ed who lifts the buttermilk in explanation. Jet back to Heike as something occurs to Don—

DON

Ed. We’ve never heard your wild oat stories. You got any souvenirs?

Ed opens a cupboard—no glasses. Another—same.

ED

Nope.

Ed drinks from the carton as Don looks at him—suspicious

DON

How about a story?

Ed chokes and everyone turns again—is he dying?

Besides, Heike’s scene’s done, so for the next juice—

ED

Uh. Nothing really to—

He coughs. More than necessary as Wade picks up the trail.

WADE

A rich, strapping physician. A psychiatrist nonetheless! Didn’t Freud’s say suppressed sex makes you paralyzed? Tell us something for the locker room, Ed!

The rest of the boys start cajoling as Ed reacts to loud pounding on the door (like we heard before)—not good.

As someone lets her in (a beer case on each hip)—

PAT

Sorry I’m late, boyz.

MAN 2

Perfect timing. Ed about to tell us his high school exploits.

Off Ed’s very sick face—

Further developed (also intro butterfly effect as a symbol for interconnectedness):

INT. GARDENS BY THE WATER – HALL – NIGHT

PAT

Come on, Ed. It’s a dance!

ED

I’m too tired to dance.

PAT

You can’t just go to bed! Someone in Brazil’ll get picked up by a tornado and dropped off a cliff!

ED

What?

PAT

The butterfly effect. If you don’t flap your arms, kick up your boots, some sucker’ll lose out on a lifetime of joy. It’s math, doc. Want that on your conscience?

ED

That’s not how it works.

PAT

Oh, how do you know? But here’s what I know—

(Sexy eyes)

There’s a little Mambo in your pants. I bet you wear red boxers!

ED

I’m going to bed.

Pinches his butt—

PAT

Oooh-la-la!

ED

You’re not attracted to me, Pat. I’m male.

PAT

Why’s everything that’s fun about sex with you shrinks? There’s more to joy than shafts and—

Ed cuts Pat off as a FAMILY rounds the corner.

ED

Time to stop for today!

A playful finger at Ed as Pat approaches/says to the KIDS—

PAT

Curmudgeon.

KIDS

(Race to jump around Ed)

Curmudgeon! Curmudgeon!

Then shows change:

EXT. CHURCH – CONTINUOUS

ED

I think I can find her.

EXT. PARK – CONTINUOUS

The church is on a hill. A path meanders down it to this park, occupied by: SCHOOL-AGE KIDS kicking a ball and—

A WOMAN IN HIJAB, with a BABY in front-carrier. Her SONS (4 and 7), play tag around a very tall dome climber as—

Grace, in gown, sits listless on a swing. Gusts of wind mess her updo as Ed descends the trail’s final feet and

Waves to the Kids as he crosses a lawn. Before he—

Stops near—but not too near—Grace.

ED

(Confessional tone)

It took me sixty-one years to figure out I was wrong. But at least you and I are now even.

(And)

If only you don’t blow it like me.

Grace stares at the ‘8’ she traces with a satin toe—

GRACE

You sound like Aunt Jewels.

ED

I took one of your dad’s hairs.

GRACE

(Looks up)

That’s just—weird.

But—the pain on Ed’s face. Grace backpedals—

GRACE

I’m sorry. If it makes you feel more connected to my grandma…

Grace watches the Woman’s OLDER SON climb the dome as—

Ed sits on a merry-go-ground, startled by how easy it moves. Plants his feet to stop it. Before–

He lifts them, again. Allows himself a tiny spin.

ED

You know they can leave you, even if you don’t..

(Voice catches)

…get married.

Grace looks at Ed.

GRACE

I know. Mike could fall off a cliff. Get hit by a drone. Believe me, I’ve thought of it all.

(Newly curious)

You think you and my grandma would have gotten married?

ED

We had the venue.

GRACE

NO! You hooked up three times!

ED

At my age you can’t dawdle.

GRACE

(Processes this)

What was the venue?

ED

The Chimacum Ferry.

GRACE

(Not what she expected)

Oh! Wow. Puget Sound is nice.

ED

Susan wanted an aircraft carrier but they don’t let you rent those.

Grace looks at Ed—are you serious?

ED

She loved planes. But to me it was metaphoric. She wanted to go places—and she kept others afloat.

Grace gets this. But…

ED

Even as a kid. She brought snacks to the poor kids. Clothes. Once she made me help this older boy with math. Johnny. Boy, was he slow.

…Grace frowns. Sparks in her brain—

GRACE

I thought you met Susan last year?

Finally, Ed’s opening. If only he’ll jump—

ED

Found her last year. She was my best friend growing up. My lifeline when my dad died. Then she moved—we were 15. She didn’t write or call. So, like an idiot, I wallowed in how everyone abandons me. And never considered what might be going on for her.

(Clears his throat)

Which—. Uh—

But the enormity of the commitment! Ed digs his toe into the sand. Spins the merry-go-round so that now he—

Sees the SMALLER SON, trying to climb after his brother.

Ed glances back at Grace. A nod to the boy.

ED

He’s scared. Is he old enough?

But Grace’s busy with mental math—not her gift—as suddenly her own child shrieks from behind her on the hill—

ADAM-EVE

Mom!

Grace leaps up—who died? As—

Ed toes the merry-go-round to better see: Adam-Eve and Kristian bounding down the path and…

ADAM-EVE

Everyone’s waiting! Come on!

…behind the kids: Jewels. Vestments fisted at her waist to reveal really lovely calves!

Ed spins back to the woman’s sons who are now very high! Can his heart take all this excitement? As, behind him—

Grace envelopes her kids. Mascara drizzling her face as…

GRACE

You are both so gorgeous!

…The Older Son drops upside down by his knees and—

The Mother hurries to her sons. Fully expects—

OLDER SON

(To his brother)

Come on! Like this!

Ed grabs a bar—concerned. Starts to stand, as behind him—

A school-age kid races. Lunges toward the merry-go-round.

SCHOOL AGE KID

(Already pushing)

Hey mister, can we ride too?

Ed’s tossed back onto his butt. Encompassed by JOYFUL SOUNDS, as the rest of the kids catch up. Push. Jump on the accelerating merry-go-round with BELL-LIKE CLANGS, as—

The Mother pleads with her Sons in another language and—

ADAM EVE

(Hollering)

Ed! Get my mom to her wedding!

And—A SHRIEK as the younger boy topples upside down, too, hung by his knees. Except—a twist and—

Just one knee holds! The Small Son’s WAILS as—

ANOTHER SCHOOL AGE KID

(Yells at Ed)

Isn’t this fun?

And the Mother’s CRIES. Arms flailing at her son as—

Jewels rushes in. Mounts the climber in dress shoes.

JEWELS

(To the Mother)

Don’t worry! I was a gymnast.

Jewels deftly climbs. Over her shoulder to a spinning Ed—

JEWELS

We’re twenty minutes late! Did you tell her?

Ed’s dizzy. Barely able to speak as Jewels moves toward the Small Son like it’s her life’s work—

ED

No. Not—

(To the kids)

Can you please let me off?

Jewels is nearly to the woman’s Small Son. Very high—

JEWELS

Oh for God’s sake!

Shocked, the Small Son stops wailing.

JEWELS

(To the Small Son)

Not you, honey. I’m talking to that man!

(Head-gestures)

Ed, would you please stop spinning?

Reassured, the Small Son screams again as Ed rolls, helpless, onto his back. With—

Jewels at the climber’s top. Legs spread, a gust of wind—

Ed’s rotating POV: hot, red panties and fabulous legs! Alternates with: a huge wedding crowd on the hilltop as—

Jewels (zero Marilyn Monroe coy) grabs the Son’s wrists and—

Ed, a teen under the bleachers gawks as he—

Makes eye contact with Jewels—a goofy, I-Totally-Surender Smile—as Jewels pulls the Son to safety on the bars. And—

Shakes her head at Ed—been offering all along but, if you want it—

JEWELS

Tell her. Now!

Jewels helps the Son down as Ed spins, transfixed—

Invigorated. Reborn. Emphatic, like the opening scene—

ED

Stop! I need to get off!

The kids leap off. Drag the ride to stop it. Ed sits.

Stands. Wobbles to Grace, who’s a puddle of stress.

ED

I need to walk you down the aisle.

GRACE

No, Ed. I get why you don’t want—

ED

(Interrupts)

Look, I have to explain something. I know it’s unusual, without—.

Everyone in the park watches—something big here.

ED

Actual—. I mean full—

(Looks at the kids. The woman in hijab)

But, medically, it can still—

Ed fumbles in his pocket. Pulls out the genetic results

ED

Look, I’m you’re grandfather.

Grace is stunned. But also not. Rivers of mascara, now as—

GRACE

(leaps to hug Ed)

I have a grandpa! I have a grandpa!

Except—

GRACE

Only now YOU’ll die!

ED

(Smiles)

I’m absolutely sure of it.

(And)

Do you somehow think your having me walk you down the aisle will facilitate my death

GRACE

Yes. Exactly.

ED

That’s nuts.

Ed watches Grace, the bubbles of laughter forming, billowing out of her joyfully, everywhere as she finally gets it.

GRACE

Nuts. That’s funny.

(Really laughing)

That’s hysterical. Nuts. It IS nuts!

Ed looks at Jewels, peacefully alive—thank you. Now up the hill to: Wade. Judy. Don. The Lindas. Pat as—

Grace, confused, follows Ed’s gaze to the hilltop where—

More people are waiting for her and Mike to get hitched than she ever could have invited! Suddenly she feels it—

GRACE

(Under her breath)

There’s always someone else waiting to be found—OhmyGod!

Grace squeezes her kids. Reaches, pulls in Ed. Jewels.

GRACE

You guys! My real live Grandpa is going to walk me down the aisle

[Robert Smith]

DAY 5 BOB SMITHS SYMBOL

What I learned doing this assignment is…?

I learned to look around for potential symbols and use them.

As my script is about the making of “The Blue Angel,” I looked at what seems to be symbolic in that motion picture: What stood out for me as symbols are the hats worn by Marlene Dictrich both personally and as the character of Lola Lola the cabaret showgirl she portrays.

INTRODUCE THE SYMBOL

In the early scene in which I have Dietrich take director Josef von Sternberg and fellow cast-members of “The Blue Angel” out on the town in Weimar Berlin, or, as she calls it, “The Berlin of Lola Lola,” she dresses in a tuxedo with tails and a high top hat (pretty much her show costume in “Morocco” which she filmed with Sternberg later that year at Paramount.

SET ITS MEANING POWERFULLY.

Commenting on her top hat, Sternberg remarks, “That top hat is very Lola Lola.” She says, “It’s very Marlene.” Sternberg replies, “That’s why it is very Lola Lola.”

When they shoot the “Falling in Love again” song, Sternberg gives her a silvery top hat saying, “It captures Marlene and Lola Lola.”

USE THE SYMBOL TO CAUSE OR SHOW CHANGE

When Sternberg meets with the feuding actors (Dietrich and Jannings), begging them to put aside any hostility and partner for the sake of the film, Marlene wears her silvery white top hat and says to Sternberg and Jannings, that both “Lola Lola and I are committed to be partners with you for the sake of the film.” Both she and Jannings reconcile and finish the film with stellar performances.

DAY 5 SCENE 2.

INT. MAJOR KERSHAW’S OFFICE – DAY

Major Kershaw has just told Emil Jannings that he must undergo denazification which means he must not make any public appearances. Effectively, he ends Jannings’ hope to renew his acting career.

On Kershaw’s desk is Jannings’ Best Actor Oscar statuette – the proud trophy or his life’s work – which Jannings used at the beginning of the story to get past the guards and into the US Army Headquarters to plead for asylum. Now this trophy of a life’s work as an actor is like a monument that stands for loss, as Jannings tells Kershaw, “I’ll never have a chance to win another or to just hear the applause.”

Kershaw tells Jannings, “You will always have what I believe is your best performance, as Professor Rath in ‘The Blue Angel.’ That was your role of a lifetime.” We have just seen a recreation of that last scene of “The Blue Angel” in which Prof. Rath dies, clinging to his classroom desk.

The film ends in the same way with Jannings clinging to his Oscar.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  Robert Smith.

[Janeen Johnson]

Janeen’s Symbol

What I learned doing this assignment is that once you dream up a symbol, it’s pretty easy to find ways to use it at important times. It’s particularly useful when an abstract empowerment technique is being used. 🙂 It was quick and easy to introduce this symbol in an early scene, a scene where it is first used and a critical scene in the climax.

!. Introduce the Symbol — In the second scene of the script, the Waterman Instructor uses finger cymbals to signal the end of a Waterman Technique session.

2. Set Its Meaning Powerfully — He says it is a sign to the universe that what has been programmed into the universe’s set of instructions is now to be executed. It means that what the practitioner has asked for will now manifest in reality. He taps his cymbals together and the students snicker a little, but play with their own set of cymbals in little velvet bags in front of them, pondering.

3. Use the Symbol to Cause or Show Change — Around 1/3 of the way through the screenplay, Morgan uses the Waterman Technique to “help” Amber — to strengthen her against her abusive husband. After doing the technique, Morgan rings the finger cymbals to signal the universe to “make it so”. Her husband hears it and chides her, saying it is childish — the way he always thinks of her. She hears it and feels she has really done something to help Amber. In the crisis scene where Amber kills her husband, she accidentally taps a glass when she drugs Daniel in preparation for killing him. We hear the same sound as that of the finger cymbals, signaling to the viewer that Amber has been empowered by Morgan’s use of the Waterman Technique.

[Emmanuel Sullivan]

Emmanuel’s Symbols

What I learned doing this assignment is symbols as subtext are great to catch when watching a movie. Oftentimes, the director will focus the camera on the object, which itself gives a clue that it means something.