Mastering The Meaning: Adding Rocket Fuel To Theme and Subtext In Your Script
How your work can touch, move and inspire audiences so that they gain deeper understanding and your work has greater impact.
Here’s the thing… If your story has a message, it cannot be delivered as ‘here’s the message…’
It must be imparted subtly through theme and subtext, to create meaning in the mind of the reader or viewer.
That is both satisfying AND leaves the reader or audience pondering.
It’s why they will come back to your script, or share about it with others. It’s literally how we change the world with our stories.
The mechanics. So there’s ‘what happens’, and then there’s ‘what it’s really about’.
All great works of storytelling operate in both these domains.
While the ‘what happens’ bit is well understood in terms of screenwriting classes, the ‘what it’s about’ bit feels more nebulous and harder to define, especially when it comes to execution. How exactly do you write subtext and theme, ensuring that the meaning of your story actually hits home?
Join Bob Schultz as we spend a day shining light into the shadows of the subconscious of your story. You will find yourself excited and inspired by what you find there as you delve deeper than ever into your work…
What you will learn and be able to apply to your work
- Understand the eight ‘theme paradigms’ available to you, the DNA of the meaning inside your story.
- Craft subtext so that your story lingers in the mind of the reader and audiences, so that they will return to it.
- Identify the deeper meaning in the overall story, then lean into that without ever tipping into being too obvious.
- Augment and refocus scenes and characters so that they align subtly with the meaning in your story.
- Better understand your calling as a writer and align your work with the answer to that WHY question.
- Discover hidden depths in your story and characters that will ignite excitement in readers, producers and actors.
- Understand how your subplots can echo, mirror or amplify theme and subtext in your main plot.
Through examples, analysis, and exercises, this workshop will help you write with greater depth so that readers and audiences feel as if they have learned and grown from having experienced your work – even if they can’t quite put their finger on why.
Take your script deeper than ever before and unlock the most profound interpretation of your story.
Recent Feedback For This Course
‘Taking this course was like the feeling of finding an oasis after living in a desert for two years!! It did what it said and gave clear signposts to discovering meaning and depth to my writing. Couldn’t wait to get down to writing again.’
Mary Anstey, Writer
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‘I am constantly amazed by, not only the depth of understanding Bob brings, but also the shear breadth of knowledge he has of cinema and film and the time and energy he gives so generously in sharing it.’
Mary Anstey, Writer
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‘Everything Bob said made so much sense that I realized that I had no idea how important the theme really was.’
Antonia Balogh, Writer
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‘The workshop skilfully analysed a range of screenwriting theme types and demonstrated their emotional power using compelling film examples. Subtext was also reviewed in a similar manner. It was another excellent workshop from Bob Schultz; time passed particularly quickly in this one because I was so absorbed in his presentation on the subject of theme. It was a moving experience.’
Gordon Slack, Screenwriter
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Read all feedback HERE
More Feedback For This Course
‘I loved the thoughtfulness, insight and inspiration from the course. As an ethnic minority as well it made me realise why it is so important to have diversity in the people who create stories – so that it’s not just the stories that minority communities have but the personal values as well that can be transmitted. Just keep doing these wonderful courses. I read so much about writing and storytelling but these courses just offer something so valuable that I think I would spend a lifetime searching for otherwise.’
Varsha Shah, Screenwriter
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‘You know you’ve hit gold in a screenwriting class when the instructor – who’s watched so many films and so many times – can be so wildly and infectiously enthusiastic and emotional about every single clip, stretching across every conceivable genre. It was full of rich material of staggering depth, and a breadth of attractive slides, and motivational tips in heaps.’
Nicky Torode, Writer
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‘I found it incredibly helpful. I have two projects I’m working on currently, and knowing what the problems and questions are in my mind for those projects – the thorny issues – to think about theme in such depth was really useful.’
Lucy Campbell, Writer/Director
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This class is run by screenwriter Bob Schultz. For more than 20 years, Bob has been training screenwriters , helping thousands of writers clarify their stories, reorganise their ideas and build confidence to bring the very best version of any writer, to the opportunities they create.
