2. Notes on how to embed subtext in screenplays:
Text, Subtext and Context:
- Dialogue is a conversation confronting conflict
- Exposition is explain something with the purpose of informing the audience
- Text- words that are written on the page for the actor to speak
- Subtext- emotional charge of an idea and the intentions of the characters.
- Subtext is generated through the characters emotional state, desires, objectives and metaphors
- Context is the setting and world view
- The more coded the text, the more loaded the subtext and specific context, the more the audience will make their own connections
- Subtext is the hidden context within the meaning of a word, image, symbol or action
Two Ways A Screenwriter Can Create Subtext In A Screenplay by Phyllis Nagy of CAROL:
- Have the characters talk about anything but the subject matter in order to make the point very clear and context
- Describe behaviour in a certain context- what’s happening?
- How people inhabit a space at a certain time
Emma Coe Film Studies 