WIM+AI – Module 2 -Lesson 4: What’s Beneath the Surface?

[Frank Gaide]

FRANKS SUBTEXT PLOT

I can see myself writing two great, marketable screenplays every year going forward and teaming up with a manager/friend. Short term, I imagine a very difficult but valuable and rewarding six months going balls to the wall in this class.

Completing this assignment, I discovered a solid foundation for creating subtext plots to support the central storyline. The lesson forced me to really dig deep, searching for and understanding how the hero connects with other characters who become integral in her progression while exploring multiple themes. AI element supported my original ideas and offered more creative decisions to consider.

My Subtext Plots:

1. Superior Position: Heavy on dramatic irony, the audience (is privy to) follows the Hero, Lucy’s, step by step plan to have her unsuspecting parents’ use their mutual hatred to kill each other.

2. Scheme and Investigation: The story of the murder at the wedding ceremony is told to a detective on the scene by the groom, Gerald. As the storyline drifts between the past and the present, Gerald jockeys with the detective over conjecture and unproven allegations to protect his new wife, Lucy.

3. Competitive Agendas: The main storyline involves the bride, Lucy, struggling to keep control of her green wedding against her domineering parents who are slowly hijacking her plans. The warring parents compete on a purely basic level of hatred with simple jabs; but the feud eventually gets out of hand when the innocent jabs turn into out-of-mind, dangerous pranks to outdo each other. Lucy is unable to compete with the attention her parents are drawing and decides to help them kill each other.

[Brian Bull]

BRIAN BULL – Subtext Plot

My Vision: I’m a writer that producers want to work with and can’t wait for my next script!!!

“What I learned from doing this assignment is…?” Working with these 7 categories of SUBTEXT PLOTS has opened my eyes to many much deeper subplots than my original concept.

ASSIGNMENT

2. Tell us your concept and your choice of one or two of these Subtext Plots.
Concept = A couple on a Caribbean cruise witnesses a Mexican cartel's illegal activities on a remote island, triggering a deadly pursuit.

SUBTEXT PLOTS

Scheme and Investigation
Superior Position
Competitive Agendas

3. Give us a few sentences on how your Subtext Plot will play out inside this story.
Scheme and Investigation

Tom and Sarah Walker discover a Mexican Cartel operation during an excursion frotheirir cruise ship. Feeling obliged to help their fellow passengers escape from being hostages, they scheme and investigate a rescue mission.

Superior Position

Tom and Sarah are able to stay “one step ahead” of the Cartel as they plot their strategies, and the Cartel falls into their traps

Competitive Agendas

The Walkers vs. the Cartel in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse. The Cartel wants to eliminate the witnesses, while the Walkers are trying to save the hostages.

4. To generate more ideas for Subtext Plots, use this prompt:

CHAT GPT
Here are seven possible subtext plots for your thriller screenplay, focusing on the transformational journey of Tom Walker and his encounters with El Jefe, structured around the concept of a couple witnessing a cartel's illegal activities:

Scheme and Investigation: Tom, originally just a tourist, inadvertently witnesses a cartel operation. His prop mastery skills allow him to interpret the significance of seemingly innocuous items and scenes, leading him to collect evidence. Meanwhile, El Jefe, sensing the threat, uses his resources to trace and eliminate Tom. The subtext revolves around Tom’s growing understanding of his own capabilities, paralleled by El Jefe’s increasingly desperate measures to maintain secrecy.

Layering: As Tom and Sarah delve deeper into their Caribbean adventure, they begin to see signs of the Cartel 's influence over the island, not just in the drug trade but in the local economy and governance. The deeper meaning reveals itself as Tom, using his prop skills creatively, uncovers layers of corruption tied directly to the Cartel, forcing him to reassess his understanding of morality and justice.

Someone Hides Who They Are: Sarah uses her acting skills to infiltrate the Cartel under a false identity, gathering information to help Tom. The subtext here is Sarah's internal conflict between her role as a teacher and the deceptive persona she adopts. This mirrors Tom’s transformation as he supports her covertly, struggling with his own identity as a prop master turned real-world action hero.

The Fish Out of Water: Tom is thrust into a situation where he must use his prop skills for real-world survival against the Cartel. He fabricates devices and creates diversions, mimicking scenes from the movies he's worked on. This subplot would highlight his adaptation from a meticulous prop master to a quick-thinking survivor, with the subtext being his realization of his potential beyond the film set.

Superior Position: The audience is aware of a traitor within the Cartel who subtly aids Tom and Sarah, although the couple remains unaware. This dual perspective adds tension as viewers anticipate the couple discovering their unknown ally. The subtext explores themes of trust and betrayal, paralleling Tom’s journey from skepticism to trusting his own decisions.

A Major Cover Up: El Jefe orchestrates a complex cover-up of the Cartel’s activities, implicating innocent locals and using the island's tourism as a façade. Tom’s attempts to expose the Cartel put him at odds with both the criminals and manipulated locals. This subplot showcases his evolution from an observer to an active participant in dismantling the Cartel’s influence.

Competitive Agendas: Tom and El Jefe engage in a strategic battle of wits. El Jefe aims to preserve his empire, while Tom employs every skill he's learned from movies to disrupt the cartel operations. This plot emphasizes their competitive nature and Tom’s personal growth from passive to proactive, reshaping his own narrative from scripted scenes to real-life heroics.

Each subtext plot integrates Tom's and Sarah’s personal growth and skills in a narrative that deepens the storyline, making their transformations and the film's tension more compelling.

• This reply was modified 6 months, 4 weeks ago by  Brian Bull.
• This reply was modified 6 months, 4 weeks ago by  Brian Bull.

[Demethress Davis]

Deme’s Subtext Plot
(I'm using my nickname from now on…)

MY VISION: I am a EGOT writer who is very successful and revered by the industry for writing amazing stories that will live on in history.

What I learned from doing this assignment is this was challenging but also fun. AI came up with some good suggestions and I will certainly revisit the ones I highlighted in my notes when we really start getting into the writing of the script. I am happy that this is still giving me joy and not feeling like OMG this is overwhelming. It is not.

My Subtext Plots:
1. Scheme and Investigation
2. Layering
3. Superior Position

Using #1 Subtext Plot: The Protagonist is hiding his true Black identity from a White Supremacists who plays a cat and mouse game with every question or action she poses to him and he must constantly evade giving any answer or reaction that will lead her to suspect he is not who he purports to be.
However, once the Protagonist discovers that the White Supremacist is also hiding her Black heritage he turns the table and she now becomes the mouse and he the cat who threatens to reveal her to the others and crush her authority in the group.

Combining #2 Subtext Plot: The Protagonist works hard to hide his Blackness while unbeknownst to him, the “Good Samaritan” White Supremacist is also Black. Once this layer is uncovered; it is a surprise to the White Supremacist who now must fight to keep it a secret from the Klan she is Chief of.

AND/OR
Cobining #3 Subtext Plot: The Antagonist knows from the start that the Protagonist is a Black man passing as White but she keeps his secret in order to use it against him later. She wants him under her thumb doing whatever bidding she asks of him, knowing he will not expose himself. However, once the Protagonist discovers that the Antagonist is Black, he sets traps for her that will expose her true identity but also risks exposing his, the struggle they both try to maintain keeping their true identities secret will eventually be one of their downfalls.

• This reply was modified 6 months, 4 weeks ago by  Demethress Davis.

[Matthew Frendo]

Matt's Subtext Plot

I want to be a fantastic writer who creates highly successful movies that are seen as thought-provoking, original and entertaining.

What I learned doing this assignment is how to create a deeper meaning to a story. I had to think long and hard (and even ask for help) figuring out the best one for this concept and realized how much more impactful a subtext is in the process.

Concept: An aspiring social media enthusiast joins a prestigious influencer academy only to discover it’s a twisted cult, draining followers’ personalities.

I am choosing layering. I will layer different mysterious elements throughout the script, revealing more and more of the cult's true agenda as I do.

I will also use someone hides who they are with the triangle character, as she's acting like she's perfect while slowly going insane in private.

• This reply was modified 5 months, 3 weeks ago by  Matthew Frendo.

[David Mailman]

MAILMAN’S SUBTEXT PLOT
GENRE: Feature – Dramatic Triangle.

TITLE: Greenvale Plantation.

LOGLINE: Two children, one a Black slave and the other the White plantation owner’s son, are raised together until the Civil War separates them. Decades later, the now successful Black businessman reunites with the White son, but their past rekindles a deadly rivalry.

HOOK: History isn’t dead, it’s waiting for revenge.

PROTAGONIST: Plato, a slave bought as a child to be the companion and protector of the Greenvale Plantation owners’ young son, Leon, is freed after the Civil War. He returns to Greenvale decades later to resolve secret issues between them.

ANTAGONIST: Leon, now owner of the failing Greenvale plantation, resents Plato’s success but needs him to save the plantation. That resentment of Plato drives Leon insane.

TRIANGLE CHARACTER: Sybelle , a voodoo priestess, is raped by Leon and Plato as teenagers. to reaffirm their feelings of manhood after they became lovers.

Give us a few sentences on how your Subtext Plot will play out inside this story.

Scheme and Investigation
Plato is recruited by the Freedman’s Bureau to investigate his one-time master who might be the new head of the KKK. The situation is made more complex by sexual and power issues between them and others on the plantation.

Layering
Plato returns to the plantation where he was a slave to help his one-time master save it. Secretly he wants to get revenge on him and his sister who were responsible for his castration.

A Major Cover Up
Leon invites Plato back to the plantation to heal the wounds between them. Plato learns that John Wilkes Booth took refuge at the plantation and is still there.

Competitive Agendas
Plato rejoins Leon at the plantation to reconcile but Sybelle uses her knowledge of drugs to drive Leon insane and threaten Plato and his pregnant wife.