Since someone asked the difference between tone and theme in the forum, I thought my answer would make a good thread. Uncle Phil has recently addressed both of these topics in the forum. Theme and tone are both key components to writing an engaging script.
Allow me to use the film Taxi Driver as an example. The theme of the film addresses main character Travis Bickle battling his loneliness and as one critic put it, predetermined fate versus self-directed fate. And there are other lesser themes including including sexual repression, violence and social interaction. Taxi Driver has a very definite dark, violent tone that nearly oozes out onto the pages of the screenplay: Take this excerpt.
CAMERA continues to PAN, examining TRAVIS' apartment. It is unusual, to say the least:
A ratty old mattress is thrown against one wall. The floor is littered with old newspapers, worn and unfolded streets maps and pornography. The pornography is of the sort that looks cheap but costs $10 a threw - black and white photos of naked women tied and gagged with black leather straps and clothesline. There is no furniture other than the rickety chair and table. A beat-up portable TV rests on an upright melon crate. The red silk mass in another corner looks like a Vietnamese flag. Indecipherable words, figures, numbers are scribbled on the plain plaster walls. Ragged black wires dangle from the wall where the telephone once hung.
TRAVIS (V.O.)
They're all animals anyway. All the
animals come out at night: Whores,
skunk pussies, buggers, queens,
fairies, dopers, junkies, sick,
venal.
(a beat)
Someday a real rain will come and
wash all this scum off the streets.
Hopefully these examples from Taxi Driver paint a clear picture that theme is the message of your story and tone is the atmosphere you set when telling it.
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In the context of a screenplay or film, tone can be a little tricky simply because it is often considered in tandem with mood, style, and approach—all a part of and affecting each other, they have rather a symbiotic relationship. But, a good way to examine tone is to compare films that have the same or similar subject matter, or story, say like... Mirror Mirror versus Snow White and the Huntsman. Both films are about the same classic story but with very different tones and approaches. Mirror Mirror is light, cheerful, funny, and playful. And Snow White and the Huntsman is serious, dark, brooding, and violent. :)
Yeah Uncle Phil; theme is woven through the script/story thru line and the tone is projected onto the screen. I see theme as the screenwriter's domain and the tone falling into the Director's. (Of coarse there is cross-talk & cooperation.)
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Couldn't disagree with you more, Doug. LOLl! Tone is atmospheric and present and created and shaped in word choice, dialogue, action description, genre choice, characters, a writer's personal style of writing, etc, etc, etc... Theme is the underlining central idea or message. ;) Of course, all this stuff is intertwined and works together. Plus there's that wonderful, intangible quality—we just know it when we see it and feel it, even though we may not be able to put a finger on what it is or why. But, no doubt, it certainly works beautifully when made visual, tone is very effective on screen. ;)
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I prefer to blend theme and tone together - I call it thone.
I agree with Beth on this one. Tone is what grabs me. It changes my mood. The goal is to swing the mood of the would-be Producer, Director, what have you, reading your piece? Right?
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Beth, as the Director I'm fairly sure I could turn Mirror Mirror into a brooding psychological drama and Snow White and the Huntsman into a rollicking slap-stick comedy. That's the Director's prerogative and you need not change the script to do it.
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Oh, Doug... Well, again, I'll just say I disagree and leave it at that. Lol! ;)
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A script is a blueprint for a movie. Though a director can facilitate mood, a well-crafted screenplay should reflect the tone of the story. The Taxi Driver script offers so many examples of how a good screenwriter contributes to tone. Here's another brief one:
It is 3:30 IN THE MORNING in a bacon-shaped all night WEST
SIDE REATAURANT. The thick smell hangs in the air - fried
grease, smoke, sweat, regurgitated wine.
Whatever doesn't flush away in New York at night turns up in
places like this. A burly grease-stained COOK stands over
the grill. A JUNKIE shuffles from one side of the door to
another. Slouched over the small four-person formica tables
are several WELL-DRESSED BLACKS (too well-dressed for this
time and place), a cluster of STREET PEOPLE and a lost OLD
COOT who hangs onto his cup of coffee as if it were his last
possession.
The restaurant, brightly lit, perfectly conveys the image
urban plasticity - without the slightest hint of an
accompanying cleanliness.
Toward the rear of the restaurant sit three cabbies: WIZARD,
a worn man about fifty, DOUGH-BOY, younger family man,
CHARLIE T., fourtyish Black.
Wizard is telling Dough-Boy a story. Charlie T., his elbows
popped against table top, is not listening. He stares
silently down at a plate of cold scrambled eggs and a Racing
Forum. His eyes may not be open.
WIZARD
First she did her make-up. You
know, I hate it when they do that.
I mean she does the whole works,
the mascara, the eye-shadow, the
lipstick, the rouge...
DOUGH BOY
Not rouge. Blush-On, they call it.
WIZARD
The kind with a brush.
Travis appears at the door. He has to push aside the JUNKIES
to enter without making physical contact - something Travis
would not relish. He may be repulsed with these people and
this place, but he is too much a part of this to let his
feelings rise to the surface.
Wizard gives Travis a perfunctory wave.
WIZARD
Travis.
TRAVIS
Hey Wizard.
Note: Writer Paul Schrader cleverly weaves in some exposition that really provides the reader the mood of this all night diner in a seedy part of town.
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My 2cents, a Reader should be able to know the tone of the script within 1 or 2 pages. Great writers do it by the opening sentence or paragraph.
Agree with both CJ and Dan M. :) Tone has a wonderful intangible quality and those who can wield it are true masters. Lol! It absolutely can be conveyed and/or known immediately, within the first few pages. I've read some scripts that I would call "tone deaf."
Richard Buzzell Interesting...so Screenwriting is the real "Game of Thones".
Don't you all dare roll your eyes at me!
Yeah...bad Dad joke, I know.
Beth: Wait a minute. Do you disagree with me?
Haha, Phillip! :) Ummmmm, well.... I dunno... perhaps it's just my natural aversion to words like "blueprint" and "should." I view tone as a subjective, creative, moldable, shapeable element. Not something to put in a box.
Beth: Yeah, yeah. God forbid you give me credit for a good post. And, with all your adjectives, a script is still a blueprint for a film. Otherwise, why bother writing a script? And, I'm not putting tone in a box, I'm merely providing illustrations to stimulate this discussion. How tone is achieved is entirely up to the talents of the writer.
I can see a relatable thread or in other words a sense of connection in theme and tone. Can theme and tone co-exist in total contrast ? I am not being able to find/remember any example of both as of total contrast with each other. Has anyone can give example of any good movie like this scenario , it must be interesting i think.
Or do they both , theme and tone mostly or always exist having solid connection , commonness between them , because they build each other in general.
But still any experiment and example of both as opposite and being totally unrelatable can be really interesting to watch and build both.
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Pranjal:
If your theme is "A young man learns the painful lesson that crime is not a smart shortcut to success" or "A young man loses everything when he chooses his addictions over his family and friends" you probably wouldn't want an overall comedic tone. But there are no absolutes and you can have funny moments delivering either one of these themes. A few years back, I saw a dark, indie movie that examined the underbelly of drug addiction and there was a hilarious scene where druggies helped one of their own pull a tooth using twine and a doorknob.
Great writing trumps everything else.
Phillip: Huh? I am honestly confused here? Not trying to upset anyone... I was talking about a word and my aversion to it, not you, not this post. Sorry to have used agree/disagree in this discussion—I didn't mean it nor intend it to be some sort of stamp of approval. Not at all. Many members share opinions in that manner. Just commenting as a member, sharing my thoughts/opinions. I will refrain from using agree/disagree in the future, and my opinions. Sorry to have answered your question, perhaps I shouldn't have. I thought it was made in jest, my misunderstanding. Sure, screenplays are often called "blueprints," often referred to as "blueprints." But that term is rather restrictive and reductive, is it not? There's far more to writing than that, yes? Craft, yes? Story, yes? Plus the term "blueprint" is often used in a derogatory manner and tone, and dismisses what writers do—hence my aversion to it. My comment about "a box" was about the concept of tone, trying to explain, tersely, my view of tone—which actually implies the same thing you do... that it's this wonderful, shapeable, intangible, subjective "thing" that cannot be confined—thus it is up to the writer, the artist, the director, etc, etc, etc, to use their talents. Anyway, sorry for any misunderstanding.
Uncle Phil; Putting a compelling story up on the screen for an audience to gawk at is a very complex process that involves a number of folk with various talents and expertise. The writer is not the end-all, be-all; the writer is only a cog in the wheel, albeit a significant cog. A script/story without a Director, Actors, DP and numerous others will not find its way to the screen. The Writer may suggest a tone but it's the Director who selects the score; it's the Actors who breath life into the characters - It's a whole crew of folks that develop tone.
Talking about a script as a blueprint works to some degree but it's not a tight fit. When I think of blueprints, I tend to think of building construction (not exclusively). A building is designed by an Architect, the Engineer does the math to assure it'll stand, Draftsmen draw the blueprints... Contractors, Subs... Before the opening, Interior Designers add their ideas. Just as in a film every building has an ambiance about it - it's tone, if you will; and that tone is the result of many creative talents and crafts acting in unison.
Some Writers are cooperative to the whole, some are not. If the Writer is a PITA, the Director may close the set (exclude the Writer) - I've seen both. 'Nuf said.
Beth:
You did not upset me. I thought i was arguing for the sake of argument. And, I was kinda picking on you. I'd ask for your forgiveness... but bah humbug!
Theme should be heart of every story, internal logic expressed throughout film as character/s actions/behavior.
Tone is more a genre thing, how you present/describe actions and create atmosphere, mood etc.
Kill is a kill, an action of character. Will it be funny, frightening or tragic is a tone.
Phil wrote "a script is still a blueprint for a film. Otherwise, why bother writing a script?a script is still a blueprint for a film. Otherwise, why bother writing a script?".
Well, why there is so many people in every sport club? One guy is very good runner, the other guy is really good thrower, third is great defender... but that one dressed differently, standing always inch from a field is a great tactician, and those guys strong on a field are not. Not everyone can be a good coach and/or a player. Not everyone can be a good storyteller and/or director. Film making is a team work.
Screenplay can be considered as a blueprint only because it's a first step in a process of film making but it is a whole story same as a book. Written with limitations because it's allowed to write only what's filmable.
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Darjan:
Thanks for your thoughts and your sports analogy. Whether or not a writer is good, is a team player or can tell a story has little to do whether or not a screenplay is a blueprint for a film. Again, kind of difficult to make a film without a screenplay. And, those that do generally have less than stellar results. So whether or not a script is the first step or not, it's essential to making a movie. Take a look at the Lawrence of Arabia shooting screenplay for how detailed the blueprint is for the film. And, these days, many writers, including very successful ones, worry little about what's filmable. Make sure the writing is compelling and let the director worry about what's filmable. And that doesn't mean go crazy with exposition. But don't be afraid to be creative.
Is there a few persons under Uncle Phil's account or I get you wrong first time? I agree with that completely. Huh, Johnnie boy do wonders. Cheers
Darjan: Only one me but I have multiple personality disorder.
We all have, showing them to the world in stories.
FYI, Phil, the disorder has a new name. It's now called Dissociative Identity Disorder. Doesn't have quite the same ring to it though.
Eric: I got to keep up with these things.
@Chad Stroman - Game of Thones is no joke, good or bad. Conniving, Treachery and Betrayal in the world of Hollywood screenwriting. It's a brilliant idea. Care to collaborate on it?
Richard Buzzell I wish I had the time!