Film Courage: We talked about text, subtext and context.
What does each item mean?
Adam Skelter, Story Artist and Writer: Well that's a big subject.
Text, subtext and context...so ultimately it is about a character wanting something,
right?
Every story is about a character wanting something and then facing a conflict to get it whether
they get it or not.
So when they want something they have a desire.
That desire is expressed through subtext.
If I want this glass of water I'm going to take the action right?
So the subtext is that you can infer I’m thirsty or I'm looking for some sort of like
physical distraction to keep my hands busy or something like that.
[Takes a drink of water and gulps].
Film Courage: And the gulping is part of that, too.
Adam: Sure.
Film Courage: Maybe I'm about to confront you on something or I'm your
boss or you know whatever, I'm an ex-girlfriend…there’s just so many
things and you’re like “Gulp…what’s she going to say to me?”
Adam: Exactly.
So a lot of that is about interpreting, we are guessing what a character wants from the
behaviors they are exhibiting right.
Now the context is simply the worldview, the situation they’re dealing with.
So we’re sitting in a room right now and we all have different objectives.
So the context is literally just like plate that you are serving everything on.
Like visually I came up with the metaphor of creme brulee.
I just used a visual where the plate is the context.
And then you have the creme as the subtext and the top layer that is burned and scorched
(bruleed) is the text.
So the idea is basically what we’re seeing is words right?
And those words are a complete contradiction of actual intention but somehow we are interpreting
those words as a kind of behavior.
So most of the time when I’m writing the last thing I do is write dialogue.
That was another thing I learned from Ron Mita.
You want to be able to…well…do it however you want.
But for me I like to have the characters intentions very clear and for the conflict that the are
going to be facing very clear.
And what we’re constantly trying to do…there is this one book called CHARACTER AND VIEWPOINT
where it talks about how essentially we are all like chimpanzees in the wild and when
they are in the jungle and they sense that there is a threat, they run away.
And the first thing they do (as soon as they feel like they’re safe) the very first thing
is they stop, they turn around to see where the source of danger is so that’s when they
are completely engaged.
The whole chimpanzee metaphor is basically that we are trying to interpret the things
that are around us.
We were are projecting what that person wants by the way it’s behaving.
So we are trying to determine whether it’s a threat or on our side or against us (that
kind of thing).
So ultimately with dialogue is we are trying to see if we can believe them.
And the most interesting characters are completely unaware of what is actually driving them.
Like the whole time Indiana Jones is going through these ridiculous hoops not really…the
whole time he’s doing this we’re like why is he taking on these, why is he being
dragged by a chair just so something can make it into a museum?
Ultimately he has this stuff…it depends on how far you want to go with Indiana Jones
but ultimately he has this drive that is genuinely emotionally upsetting to him that there would
be some betrayal, some misrepresentation of truth and that’s what’s interesting and
so the whole time he is making these really bold choices (I think he is sort of this glib,
sarcastic professor, but what he’s really doing is he’s trying to unearth the truth
and he’s literally putting his body through all this brutality because he wants the truth
to be revealed.
And you know that because every single choice (whether he admits it or not) has led to toward
exposing the truth for what it is.
Film Courage: So which is better subtext or context?
Because we know the less you tell…
Adam: That’s like saying which is better the trigger or the bullet?
Film Courage: Okay.
Which is better to focus on?
Because text I get.
Subtext, yes I get.
Because you said that when you went to take the drink you’re thirsty or maybe you’re
using it as a buffer…
Adam: Subtext is an expression of the desire.
And the text is…it’s only one means of expressing that desire.
Film Courage: Sure.
Instead saying “I’m thirsty!”
And then by doing it [picking up a glass to drink water] it’s much more believable or
I’m realizing that you’re needing that glass for something.
But then the context is where I’m just trying to figure that out a little bit more?
So the context would be…
Adam: Okay so for example we will take a simple line “Go ahead, drink it.”
Right?
So “Go ahead, drink it” is the text.
We can add some different subtext to it.
So if I say “Go ahead, drink it.”
[Says it in a sinister tone] There’s a different subtext maybe more threatening.
“Go ahead!
Drink it!”
I’m really saying “I don’t really care what you do.”
If I say “Go ahead…drink it!”
It just takes a little bit but the subtext is totally different.
Well I changed the text a little bit.
So that’s text and subtext.
The context is we are sitting in a bus and I’m holding a and you’re holding poison
and I’m holding your child.
So now the context is extremely loaded and the choice that you’re about to make is
implicit and I’m saying “If you don’t drink it, I’m going to your baby!”
So I say “Go ahead…drink it.”
So the context is the story.
The context is the situation we are dealing with.
You can come up with a much better scenario but that’s what comes off the top of my
head.
But the idea is the text is ironically because writers tend to overemphasize dialogue so
much the text tends to get too much importance.
The most important stuff is the context and the subtext.
Because the subtext is the intention.
The context is the conflict that you’re trying to deal with (the conflict that you’re
trying to deal with).
So if we’re in space and we’re flying toward the moon…
Film Courage: Is this GRAVITY by the way?
Adam: I don’t know?
I’m just making this up as we go.
If we’re flying toward the moon and we know that the only thing that is going to save
us is this little serum and it could either boil our blood or it could save our lives
and we’ve just given up and we’ve been through this whole journey and we’re about
to open the hatch and I say “Go ahead, drink it.”
Then we open the hatch, it totally changes the whole context.
So context is about the situation you’re dealing with.
The subtext is intentional.
The text is the art of facts, it’s just one intention of that desire.