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Does your Story have a Theme?

Filed under: Dan Bronzite's Script Tips by Dan @ 1:48 pm on August 28, 2011

Theme is something writers frequently forget about during the script writing process simply because they are often focused on the other important and often daunting tasks of character development, plot design, act structure and dialogue, but theme is the glue that binds your entire screenplay and must always be well considered.

Many writers like to shoot from the hip and don’t even outline their story before jumping into a full script, and that’s cool, whatever works for you – BUT, that’s no excuse for not sitting down with your completed first draft or even revised second draft and taking the time to analyze it on various storytelling levels with theme being right at the top of the list.

Ideally you would think about it right from the get-go since the theme of a story should permeate through your entire screenplay and influence the shaping of characters, your plot and definitely dialogue.  The truth is, however, that sometimes we, as writers, dot not really know the true theme of our story until the end.  And other times we still do not recognize it and it is up to someone else to point it out to us.  However you discover the theme, make sure you at least try to find it because a story without a theme is like a pastry without egg – you’ll have all the other ingredients which taste great by themselves but you’ll have nothing to bind them together.

Theme can be many things.. Love vs. duty.  The consequences of pride.  Deep-rooted regret from never telling someone how you truly feel.  The atrocities of war and its many forgotten, unsung heroes.  Whatever it is, it is crucial to have a central theme and your story and characters around it.  It is the spine of your script and without it readers and an audience will notice that something is missing or that the characters do not ring true.  Especially important is the dialogue your central characters speak since this should also reflect the theme – through what is said and sometimes more importantly through what is left unspoken.

The great thing about ulteimately pin-pointing your story’s theme, especially if you only stumble upon it late in the day during the first draft, is that sometimes it turns out to be that final element that suddenly puts everything else into place, like the missing piece of a puzzle.  It may be that when you realize your theme, nothing changes.  But more often than not, understanding your theme instantly throws a whole new light on everything you have written and normally leads to some frantic yet exciting rewrites of scenes and dialogue to cement the expression of that theme throughout your screenplay.

New Screenplay Development Services for Screenwriters from Hollywood Script Express

Filed under: Press Releases by admin @ 11:16 am on March 4, 2011

4 March, 2011 (London, UK) — UK technology company Nuvotech, publisher of popular screenwriting software Movie Outline 3 and Script It!, today launched its new range of screenplay development services for screenwriters from its screenwriter resource and cloud service  site HollywoodScriptExpress.com operated from Los Angeles, California.

“By offering studio style coverage reports, in-depth story notes and proofreading to our clients we can help them get their script into the best shape it can be before they use our printing and shipping service to send it to agents, managers, producers and contests” states Dan Bronzite, Nuvotech CEO.  “We’ve also updated our site to include a new ‘Quick Quote’ button at the top of each page so you can check the pricing of a script shipment without having to create an order.”

Script Coverage

A professional industry style report that includes a logline and synopsis, typically created for studio and production company execs and producers.

Story Notes

An in-depth analysis of your screen story and its viability as a motion picture project that includes 2-4 pages of page specific notes.

Proofreading

We’ll edit your original document and return it free of typos, grammatical errors & formatting mistakes so you can make the best first impression.

Delivery Time:

The usual turnaround time is 2-3 weeks but you can choose to have your report delivered within one week or within 3 days for an extra fee.

Our Analysts Have Worked For:

  • ITC Entertainment
  • I. R. S. Media
  • DIC Entertainment
  • Showscan Films
  • Gordon/Rosson Agency
  • Jack Scagnetti Agency
  • Lynch/Frost Productions
  • Ralph Edwards/Stu Billett Productions
  • Film/Publishing Group
  • Writer’s Society of America

Learn more about Hollywood Script Express’ full range of screenwriter tools.

Sign up for a free acoount.

About Hollywood Script Express

Hollywood Script Express allows you to print, bind and ship your script to agents, producers and contests, and also provides industry standard screenplay coverage, in-depth story notes, proofreading and a suite of powerful submission tracking tools which include contact management, follow-up reminders, feedback compilation, response stats and copyright protection.

About Nuvotech

Nuvotech is a software and Web 2.0 services company based in London, England. It was founded in 1999 by produced screenwriter Dan Bronzite to publish innovative software and services for the creative industry. Its most recognized brands are Movie Outline a cross-platform screenplay development application and Hollywood Script Express a script copying and delivery service in Los Angeles.

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