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:
