Applying Symbolism to Your Script

Kevin Nelson discusses how to apply your knowledge of symbols to your screenplay:

1) Genre

Genres rely on conventional narrative elements that invite certain story expectations and garner specific emotional responses.

There are four major genres of the dramatic arts that play on the four major emotions. The symbols and details you use in your action lines should tap into or provoke joy, sadness, fear, or anger through the lens of a major mode of drama — romance, tragedy, comedy, or satire.

Of course, there are more than just four film genres. Still, genres usually stay within the confines of their respected conventions. Don’t let industry standards keep you from freestyling though.

No matter what, it’s still the same instrument and musical scale — only a different arrangement. Even the most unconventional films are aware of the conventions they are breaking.

2) Title

Your title is the first impression your screenplay makes on anyone. Some of the best titles are double entendres that strike figuratively and literally. They find meaning through the use of both their content and subtext.

For example, Garden State is a title that reflects the literal setting of the film and is also the protagonist’s state of being. Cast Away is about a castaway or a man lost at sea, who is also cast away (abandoned) by his loved ones because they thought he was dead.

Take time to craft the title of your screenplay to demonstrate both the content and subtext of your story.

3) Character

Carl Jung mapped out twelve personality archetypes that all characters conform to. Each of these archetypes comes with their own attributes, traits, strengths, and weaknesses.

Carl Jung’s Personality Archetypes

4) Action

Infusing your action with symbolism helps solidify a character’s inner motivations. The Law of Duality can be found along the hero’s journey. When a protagonist is facing obstacles in the second act they have to confront their flaws. This action is symbolic of their transformation.

During The Battle of The Bastards in Game Of Thrones, Jon Snow is smothered by the dead bodies of his own soldiers as enemy troops descend on them. A sense of claustrophobia overtakes the audience before he emerges and pulls himself from the dead and into the light. This action is symbolic of (spoiler) his prior resurrection and his ability to overcome all odds and survive victorious.

When Malcolm Crowe first approaches Cole in The Sixth Sense, the boy reacts as if he’s seen a ghost. The description and action are symbolic of the later reveal. The two characters also speak in a yes and no exchange, evoking the action of a spirit speaking through a medium such as an Ouija board.

5) Dialogue

Using dialogue to foreshadow critical events helps add depth to your script. There are several instances when Cole alludes to Malcolm’s true state of existence in The Sixth Sense.

Memorable lines like, “I’m going to see you again, right? Next time I won’t be scared of you. I see dead people…some of them don’t know they’re dead,” illustrate the point.

Foreshadowing helps to subtly build toward that classic climactic reveal and encourages a second viewing.

6) Setting

The fictional country of Wakanda shows the potential, promise, and richness of an Africa never afflicted by colonization.

Afrofuturism is an aesthetic and philosophy that reexamines black identity through art, culture, and political action through the lens of potential futures and alternate realities.

Joshua Felder explains that, “The paradoxical nature of Afrofuturism is that it is indicative of a stolen past and present just as much as it is a vision of an alternate future.”

 
The rule and future of the African kingdom of Wakanda are at the heart of the conflict between T’Challa and Killmonger in Black Panther. The stakes couldn’t be higher.

7) Objects

One of the most recognized uses of a symbolic object in film history is the sled Rosebud in Citizen Kane. On the television show Reign, Queen Mary wears choker necklaces to symbolize her fate.

And in Black Panther, Felder notes that the precious metal Vibranium can be seen as, “An acknowledgment of the art, math, engineering, and overall potential that was mined on the western African coast.”

These objects carry much more than their material weight. Chekhov’s Gun asserts that an object needs to be significant to the narrative or it shouldn’t be included. Make it count.

8) Motifs

Motifs are recurring thematic elements found in an object, line of dialogue, sound, wardrobe design, and/or stylistic pattern. They support the theme through symbolic repetition.

In Lola Rennt, a recurring motif is time counting down. In Vertigo, it’s the downward spiral. Motifs are symbolic in that they’re reflective of the theme.

9) Combining the Elements

The crowning achievement of bringing every thematic element together in such a symbolic and meaningful manner is Black Panther. Every detail from every department, from wardrobe to cinematography, embodied the epitome of black excellence and royalty while confronting difficult conversations about identity and inclusion.

As Joshua Felder points out, “The success of Black Panther as a movie is minuscule in comparison to its success as a symbol.”

With the outpouring of sadness following Chadwick Boseman’s tragic death, the symbolic significance of a royal black superhero has been made clear by black children coming of age all across America.

Now when they flex in the mirror, they too see a superhero fit to be king or queen.