Lesson 4

[Lenore]

WIM Module 8: Lesson 4

Lenore Bechtel loves Covering Subtext

My vision: I want to create enough salable screenplays that an agent will want to market my work and recommend me for writing assignments.

What I learned from doing this assignment is that Berlin Rendezvous has no scenes in which the audience knows more than the characters. The entire plot revolves around the three strangers in the dramatic triangle discovering their unknown relationship to each other as Libby tries to keep her promise to meet her Russian lover the day the Wall comes down.

What is the deeper meaning the audience already knows? Nothing! My job has been to drop enough clues that the audience might figure out the relationships, and if not, at least look back and recognize that the clues were there.

[Margaret]

Margaret loves Covering Subtext!

Vision: To be the best faith-based screenwriter.

What I learned: Many scenes had straightforward dialogue and were in need of subtext dialogue.

I went through the script, and at least half of the scenes needed subtext. This was a breakthrough for me. I realized how much better the dialogue sounded, how richer it made it, when subtext was put into the dialogue. I am not listing all the changes I made – it took me 4 days and would take several pages! 🙂

[Lloyd Shellenberger]

Working hard every day to become the best writer I can and as a result I do become the best writer in Hollywood.

Lloyd loves covering subtext.

What I learned from this exercise is how to move farther away from writing on the nose which tens to be one of my irritating habits.

There were several instances and a new scene at the beginning that helped create subtext. I went through the entire script. I found that I wasn’t really wring on the head or being overly vague to avoid that. I did add the elements listed and improved several scenes.

[Brian Bull]

BRIAN BULL loves Covering Subtext!

VISION!!!
My ultimate goal is to get my scripts from my hands to the SILVER SCREEN!!

“What I learned from doing this assignment is…
There are many ways of saying things – finding the right meaning is so important.

The ONE THAT GOT AWAY – A Fisherman’s Tale
A fisherman is determined to catch the fish he blames for his younger brother’s death, however, in the end, it turns out the fisherman is the one who had gotten away.

ASSIGNMENT

I added as much to much script as I could but I will continue to look and think about it.