General Story Analysis
(c) Peter D. Marshall
(A) Your First Impressions of the Story
When you first get your script, read it through once so you can quickly discover what the story is about, where it takes place, who the characters are and what happens to them. This quick reading is very important because it’s when you form your first impressions of the story.
As you read the script, make note of your emotional reaction to the story and what images the story stimulates in you because your initial reactions represent what an audience could feel when they see the movie for the first time.
What is your emotional reaction to the story?
(What attracted you to the story when you first read it?)
What initial images and sounds does the story stimulate in you?
(Visuals, colors, designs, locations, costumes, sounds, music, shots)
What is the story genre?
(Comedy, drama, horror, mystery, fantasy etc)
Where are the locations of the story?
(What country, city, language?)
What time period does the story take place?
(Does the action, dialogue, rhythm and color of this period feel true?)
Then read the script again. This second reading begins the long process of understanding the events and characters of the story and you accomplish this by asking a lot of questions which is the most important part of your script analysis – because questions lead to research, which lead to answers.
When you ask questions, you begin to get a better understanding of the story situation, problem or challenge and your approach to solving these questions will become progressively clearer after each reading of the script.
(B) Story Themes
A Theme is the central idea, message or lesson within a story the author wants to convey to the viewer. A Universal Theme allows people from different cultures to emotionally connect to the story because it has common (universal) life experiences that apply to their own lives.
What do you feel is the main theme or message of the story?
(What is the writer trying to say about the human condition?)
Does this story (plot and theme) effect you personally?
(What do you want to say? What are your personal points-of-view?)
What are the different ways (dramatic metaphors) the theme is being expressed in the story? (What specific lines of dialogue, characters, plot situations, visuals, symbols, colors, sounds or music express the main theme?)
What does the story title mean to you?
(Does the title “appear” somewhere in the story? Is the title part of the theme? Will a potential viewer go to this movie because of the title?)
(C) Story Logic
Story logic questions help you find the overall strengths, weaknesses and potential problems of the story. Remember, if something doesn’t make sense in the script, it won’t make sense when you shoot it and it won’t make sense to the audience when they see the movie.
Do the events (plot) in the story logically add up?
(Does the story structure make sense? Do the scene transitions flow smoothly together?)
What happens next in every scene?
(Did you anticipate the result or was it a surprise?)
What scenes don’t make sense and why?
(Are you confused about a character, line of dialogue, plot point or action?)
(D) Story Events
Story events are actions or dialogue that happen in the scene and once they take place they become fact. (Example 1: The main story event in Pearl Harbor was the Japanese surprise attack. Example 2: The main story event in Titanic is the sinking of the ship after it hits an iceberg.)
(E) Story Facts
Story facts are situations, actions or events that actually happen in the story and they are not subject to interpretation because they are in fact, FACT! Anytime there is more than one possible explanation for something in the script, it is not a fact.
Copyright (c) 2018 Peter D. Marshall / All Rights Reserved
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