Film and television drama writing literary writing of film and television drama themes

Like other literary and artistic works, any film and television work has a certain theme. The theme is the first question to consider when creating a film and television work: Why do you want to create this work? What do you want to express when you create this work? Only when the theme is clear, the choice of life materials in the creation of film and television works will be directional and the promotion of the story will be logical. Imagine that if a work has no theme and the creator himself doesn't know what to express, then the actions and plot development of the characters in the film and television drama will become very chaotic, and it is difficult for such a work to achieve artistic success.

First, the concept of the theme

Theme is not an abstract point of view, but a basic idea that can play a leading role in specific works and is an important basis for guiding script creation. The actions and characters in the script serve the theme, and the theme can only be realized through actions and characters. It specifically guides the development direction of the story of film and television works and is reflected in the specific actions and characters, and we can also know the theme of the works from the specific actions and characters. Rene claire called it "visual theme" in his film Capriccio.

All kinds of film and television works have distinct and direct themes or are relatively obscure. Dramatic film and television works pay more attention to the plot, and the contradictions and conflicts are more obvious and intense, so the theme is more prominent. In particular, TV plays attach great importance to the twists and turns of plots, and often adopt this structure, which can lead to multiple plot clues in parallel and produce multiple sub-themes. But generally speaking, a work often has only one general plot line, forming a general theme. The sub-themes formed by other sub-plot lines are often inextricably linked with the overall theme. For non-drama film and television works, there are no strong drama conflicts and plot clues, and the theme seems to be less obvious, which easily gives people the illusion that such works do not need a theme. In fact, such works still have distinct themes in thought or philosophy. Bob Booker, an American film and television theorist, wrote in his film Elements:

"Although in the past twenty years, great changes have taken place in the style of films and various movements have appeared, during this period, films with artistic achievements have a common feature, that is, they have a distinctive theme that attracts people's attention ideologically and philosophically. Bergman's discussion on the relationship between man and God (The Seventh Seal and Winter Light), antonioni's investigation on alienation and implication (Adventure and Enlargement) and Ferini's research on social system (Sweet Life and Eight and a Half) are all themes, which are clearly expressed in the original script.

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The theme of the work is not necessarily a kind of "ism", or even a certain point of view. For a script, it is probably just a hint of some emotion; Later, this emotion became the theme. Claude lelouch's "A Man and a Woman" and Bo Weidberg's "elvira madigan" do not describe philosophical themes or rational concepts, but both works contain rich emotional content to create a love story, which suggests ways to deal with all elements, including photography style, performance, editing and music. Therefore, the theme may be many things; But whether it is a philosophical concept or just an emotional appeal, it must be clearly expressed in the script, so that the theme can become the guiding force of film shooting. "

This passage holds that any film should have an eye-catching and distinctive theme, but there are many forms of expression of the theme, which can be a specific point of view or something abstract, such as a philosophical concept or an emotional appeal.

Some playwrights are opposed to creating with a pre-purpose, finding materials according to the theme, paying attention to the natural divergence of the story, and opposing the practice of theme first. If the theme is regarded as a kind of "dogma" or "doctrine", it is easy to make the work simple and faceless. In fact, the theme is sometimes a reflection of life experiences and thoughts projected on images. Many creators started writing just because they were inspired by something, and then in the process of writing, the direction became clearer and clearer, and finally the theme of their works was established. In fact, from the moment the playwright established the plot, the theme has penetrated into the plot, and the creator's ideas and thoughts have been integrated into the specific creation. When there are many possible options for plot development, the creator's positioning just reflects the theme of the work. Therefore, the theme can have many forms of expression, and it can also be a "creative tendency."

Second, the role of the theme

After watching a film and television work, we often think about what this work is telling us, in fact, what the theme of this work expresses. Of course, the theme is not only an important indicator for people to summarize and evaluate the value of the work after the script is completed, but its greater value lies in guiding the creation of the whole play, and it is the most critical factor to decide what kind of material to choose, what kind of character relationship to form and what kind of structure to adopt.

(A) the theme dominates the whole drama creation

Theme is the first consideration in any film and television script creation, and it is the orientation and goal of script creation. Bob Booker of the United States described the important role of film theme in film elements: "The first thing to consider in any film is the theme. If the audience can't grasp the content of the film, it's hard to expect them to comment, analyze and study it. If the filmmaker doesn't know what he is going to say, he can't make a work of art that can be communicated. " The same is true of TV series. For an excellent film and television script, the screenwriter must first make clear his own creative goals.

When talking about the theme to be expressed in Red Sorghum, Zhang Yimou elaborated this way:

The ancients said: eat drink man woman is the great wish of mankind. It can be seen that the audience still loves to watch the joys and sorrows of men and women. In the sorghum field of Qingshakou, "my grandfather" and "my grandmother" love each other and kill each other, destroying everything and living in full swing, so the main purpose of this film is to show this friendship and enthusiasm.

I bullied China people decades ago. Today, everyone is talking about a strip of water. It's not the first time that China has been bullied by others, but he is still somewhat disabled. So the country should be strong. There is a parallel background of "fighting Japan" in this film, which shows that this cultivator is used to it. I don't want to be bullied, because I can't swallow this tone, so I work hard.

Zhang Yimou's film Red Sorghum revolves around "Friendship and Enthusiasm" and farmers' resistance to Japan, and all characters and plots revolve around this theme. It can be seen that the playwright must take the theme as the guide of the whole play in the creative process. Huo Yuanjia, the 2006 TV series, revolves around the themes of China's chivalry, righteousness and soul, and through a series of storylines, creates a patriotic image of chivalry and loyalty, arousing people's patriotic feelings in the new era. In the movie Titanic, the crew, the captain and the ship all survived, leaving their lives to women and children. Musicians play music for passengers until the last moment of their lives; Jack left the chance of life to Ross, and all of them were full of love themes. All these show that the theme is the soul and core of the whole drama, which dominates the creative process of the whole drama.

(B) The theme is the premise of the harmony and unity of film and television dramas.

An excellent film and television work often has a vivid character image, its own value pursuit and code of conduct, and its actions and language are consistent in the whole play. The consistency of character movements and language is actually the consistency of theme. A consistent theme is an indispensable condition for the integrity, harmony and unity of film and television dramas.

American film theorist Lee R. Bobuk said this:

"A theme can be a comment on society (people who drift with the flow), a discussion of their philosophical thoughts (Mrs. mccabe and Mrs. Miller), a narrative of a special reality (clockwork oranges), an exploration of mysterious things (the seventh seal and stillness in the mirror), and a view on the relationship between people (call). There is no limit to the choice of themes, but the script must express a theme and the theme must be consistent."

In any case, the script must have a consistent theme, which is an important factor in the success of film and television works. A contradictory theme or a difference of 108 thousand miles will lead to the failure of the script. Inconsistent themes will cause confusion in selecting materials, bring inexplicable feelings to the audience and affect its artistic effect. Inconsistent themes can also lead to the failure of characterization. We are often moved by the ordinary characters in the play. Each character has its own unique personality. As the saying goes, "character determines fate", and a person's character will determine what obstacles he will encounter in the future and what choices he will make. However, the inconsistency of themes in the play easily leads to contradictions in the choice of characters, which requires the characters to make actions that deviate from their personalities, thus damaging the authenticity of the works.

Generally speaking, a consistent theme is an indispensable condition for the integrity, harmony and unity of film and television scripts.

Third, the basic principles of theme establishment

The theme is of great significance to the whole film and television work, and how to establish an attractive theme is a problem that writers should seriously consider.

First of all, we must ensure that the theme conforms to human life experience and social laws, and can arouse universal human knowledge. For example, the theme of love is described by countless playwrights, and some works are old-fashioned, but this topic can attract people's attention most and win the audience's enthusiasm in constant interpretation. Film and television works such as Ghost, Jane Eyre, Titanic and You from the Stars constantly tell love stories, which constantly attract the attention of the audience. Some works can reflect people's confusion and thinking in the present life, such as life-themed TV series Dwelling House, Struggle, Beijing Love Story, Family Situation, Beautiful Contract, etc., which reflect various problems encountered by ordinary people in the new era and are very close to real life, so they are welcomed by the audience. If the theme is anti-human, anti-moral and far away from human life experience, such a script can only end in failure.

Secondly, the theme should have certain ideological value and social value. The theme of some works is very thin, such as "bad guys will come to no good end" and other didactic themes, which can not reflect more complicated phenomena in social life. The movie Rashomon tells us that human nature is multifaceted and can arouse people's deeper thinking.

How did a good theme come into being? Art always comes from life and is higher than life. Gorky said in summing up his own creative experience:

"The theme is an idea, which comes from the author's experience and is hinted by life, but it has not yet formed in his impression. When it needs to be embodied by images, it will arouse a desire in the author's heart-give it a form. "

The theme always comes from the creator's experience, shaping the creator's character in the dribs and drabs of life, accumulating his own world outlook, outlook on life and values, and forming his own philosophy, morality and aesthetics. These intangible things are reflected in the works, which is the theme. Creators are often handy when creating their familiar fields and feelings, and it is easy to produce excellent works. On the contrary, it is difficult for creators to succeed if they set foot in unfamiliar fields. Sometimes, inspiration can also come from some materials accumulated in life, personal experiences of others from the Internet, television and other media, various stories of friends and relatives around us, and wonderful themes with ideological and social values, all of which are refined by the creators through careful observation and personal life experiences.

Of course, it is not enough to have good ideas. Whether this idea is finally presented as a play is a good theme or not is another matter. As Gorky said, when the theme is to be presented by "image", it must be combined with specific structure and skills, which is reflected in the actions and language of specific characters, otherwise, no matter how good the theme is, it will not help. The themes of domestic blockbusters, such as "Golden Flower in the City" and "The Night Banquet", are ok, but they are not vividly expressed through art in the specific writing process, which attracts the audience's dissatisfaction. Therefore, for playwrights, the most important thing is to establish a good theme first, and then consider how to realize a good theme through specific structures and techniques.