Creating the Director’s Subworld
(c) Peter D. Marshall
The “subworld” of a film are the feelings and sensations a
director creates to arouse certain emotions from the audience.
To do this, the director directs the STORY BENEATH THE MAIN
STORY by developing ACTIONS, EVENTS and INCIDENTS that portray
the deeper meaning of the story and the subtext of characters.
A film director can use the following steps to help create the
Subworld of the script:
1. Research any source that will help you immerse yourself in
the world of the story. (Movies, books, TV, internet)
2. Find out what you want the audience to know (to experience,
to understand)
3. Research and understand the story so the audience learns
something they didn’t know before. (About the characters,
about the place, the time period)
4. Never take the subject for granted – always challenge it.
(Keep finding out more)
5. Deal with the unique characteristics of the story to create
a film that is believable. (Even fantasy and science fiction
have to be “believable” within the realm of the that
particular “unreal” world)
6. Create a world in which the characters are in conflict.
(Drama is conflict)
7. Find out what is the story beneath the story. (What is
really going on in the story?)
8. What generates the action for a character? (What event
motivates the character take action?)
9. What would it take to motivate this character? (An event, a
line of dialogue or a certain look from another character?)
10. Everyone has secret lives and fantasies. (What are they
for your characters?)
11. What are the central MOTIFS; IMAGES; SYMBOLS? (These help
create an image pattern that is repeated throughout the film
and they become your visual concept or style.)
12. Find the quality sensation the audience can feel. (What
emotion do you want the audience to feel in a scene, then find
ways in that scene to achieve it)
13. Know the story on the surface and know how to bring the
story to life. (The director as a story teller.)
14. Develop the subtext to make it believable. (What do your
characters really want? This can be done through dialogue and
certain mannerisms and looks.)
15. Find out what generates the action before it happens.
(What event in the scene begins the action?)
16. Build an entire past life for your characters. (Actors do
this and so should you.)
17. Understand your characters’ behavior. (Know what their
motives are for every scene – this will effect their actions
and what they do as a result.)
18. Use counterpoint to create multi-dimensional characters.
(Unless a person is certifiably insane, every one of us has
the capacity to love one person deeply, and at the same time,
hate another person or group just as passionately.)
19. Know all the Story Points, Events, Beats and Moments in
your script.
20. Interpret the dialogue to find out what the character is
really trying to say. (What is the subtext?)
Copyright (c) 2012 Peter D. Marshall / All Rights Reserved
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