What
types of symbols or metaphors can you add to your story to show
plot, character and theme?
Metaphor
= Action/Sound.Visual or auditory
representation of a separate action, experience, or idea. A character
blows out (action) a candle in a bedroom to show death of a loved
one.
Symbol
= Object/Sound. Visual or auditory representation
of another object. The candle (object) is in the shape of a ballerina
to show grace and beauty.
Object
Symbolic
Meaning
axe
Authority,
sacrifice, punishment
bubble
Beautiful
but fragile object, non-permanence, childlike happiness
egg
Cosmic
totality, wholeness, seed, food
fig
Psychic
ability, fertility, seductive
flame
Danger,
anger, speed
honey
Pleasure,
sweetness, fertility
ice-cream
Pleasurable,
sensual tastes, kid treat
quartz
Becoming
more powerfully expressive, crystal clear
satellite
communication
shoes
Grounding,
in touch with life. Weird shoes mean new change
Chaos,
destruction, welled up emotions overflowing
List any Symbols and/or Metaphors
ideas for your story in the following areas:
Objects/props. Household
items, flags, T-shirts, games art in room, statues, furniture style,
shape of windows, magazines, pictures, weapons, wall hangings, books,
instruments, pets, cars, people, houses.
Music/sounds.
Background sounds, songs atmospheric music bed, music in scenes,
street noises, weather sounds, sirens, people crying/laughing/screaming
in the next room, weird unexplainable sounds, heaters, equipment,
natural sounds, animals, event sounds.
Color.
The color of everything in the frame may mean something.
Words. Heard in dialogue
or appearing on sets or otherwise onscreen.
Character types. People who
represent the theme or plot to the extreme (positive or negative,
even an extreme mix of the two).
Lighting. Colored
lights, light sources, brightness, lighting subjects specific to
metaphor. Good characters may be in bright light, whereas evil characters
may be darkly lit. Quality of light (time of day as a metaphor).
Glows around certain characters, face-lighting strategies to evoke
emotion, source of light (sun, spaceship, flaming building) as metaphor,
spinning ambulance lighting in room to represent emergency situation.
Staging. Placement
of characters and metaphoric objects inside the frame to represent
relationships. Where are your characters in relationship to each
other metaphorically? You could have three characters who form a
love triangle standing around a fire to represent a secret affair
about to be uncovered. What metaphoric items surround the characters?
Are they talking while walking through a field of sunflowers or
in between cactuses? What metaphoric objects could you place between
characters to show relationship or emotional state during a scene?
Two characters on opposite sides of the frame with knives hanging
on the wall between them may represent conflicting emotions.
Fables. How could
you interject little stories into scenes to show plot, theme or
character? You might want to have just pictures of parable characters
or allude to them visually through stuffed animals, statues, paintings,
cartoons, or drawings on the set. Try to think of new ways to incorporate
parables visually into your films. Perhaps you could make your own
little cartoon fable to play on a TV in the background during a
scene. You might make up your own original Aesop-type fable, which
the characters could discuss, see in a play or on TV, read in book,
hear about in dialogue, or be relayed by a magical object. Create
a fable or use an existing one.
Symbolic
Settings: Location as character
What
does the setting say about the mood of each scene? A conversation
in a junkyard has a different context than one at the top of the
Eiffel Tower.
Think
about how all of these places below feel different symbolically
when you think about them:
National
monuments, natural settings (swamps, waterfalls, caves, rivers,
ocean, desert), cities with different personalities, small-town
local flavor, visual themes, types of businesses, geographical themes,
amusements parks, clubs, bars, graveyards, temples, stores, abstract
interpretations of the Internet, art galleries, circus tents, fantasy
places.
Symbolic
Setting
Possible
Meaning/ Emotion/Mood
Arch
Gateway
to new beginning, entrance to heaven or hell (depending on the
design)
Attic
Past
experiences, hidden things, family patterns
Backyard
swimming pool
Suburban
life, comfort, similar to others (conformity)
Rich,
money, success, power, exclusiveness, above the law
Family
dinner table
Family
dynamics, seating shows relationships, atmosphere shows emotional
mood of family
Freeway
freedom,
labyrinth
Foggy
pier
Edge
of known world, mystery, unclear, things are not what they seem
Top
of mountain
Where
important things happen, realizations
Train
Wandering,
change, on a track returning again and again, always moving
Train
or train station
Restlessness,
inability to settle down, roaming, new beginnings, endings,
passing by
Pick one symbolic setting for each of your
9 basic plot points. Describe
the mood, visual style or color of each symbolic location:
1) Hook:
2)
Setup:
3)
Inciting incident:
4)
Journey Into Unknown:
5)
Investigation:
6)
Twist:
7)
Final Confrontation:
8)
Climax:
9)
Resolution:
(Optional) Pick one Main Story Symbol
that changes throughout your story like the purple star
thistle flower in Braveheart used to symbolize the theme of freedom:
List
Changing Symbol States and what they represent:
