Screenwriting

How To Give A Story Meaning – Naomi Beaty

Filmcourage

Published

October 17, 2022

Film Courage: Why is transformation of the main character important?

Naomi Beaty, Writer, Screenwriting Teacher and Consultant: I think we go to movies to see transformation. Transformation means that the story had an effect, the series of events that you’ve watched, it had some consequence, it had an effect on the character that went through them, that’s one reason. I think also even if nobody talks about it this way, we look for that transformation as inspiration or you could call it a guide for living a good life. It’s this person went through this experience and came out the other side can give you hope, it can give you a little bit of a guide on how to live and be a better person but that’s what gives the story meaning in the end.

Film Courage: How does transformation relate to theme?

Naomi: I think that most often we see the theme of the movie through the character’s transformation, so whatever that lesson is that they learn from going through this whole experience that’s basically the theme of your movie. The theme is like the organizing principle of your story and everything connects to the theme and everything falls under the umbrella of the theme and the way your movie plays out proves the theme to the audience. A big part of that is the way the protagonist goes through the story and what happens to them, how they transform because of what they’ve gone through. We see the theme, the meaning or that takeaway message of the story, we see that through the way the character transforms most often.

Film Courage: For some reason I’m thinking of Good Will Hunting, it just popped into my mind. It’s been many years since I’ve seen it. The transformation of that character and the theme, I know you said hope earlier?

Naomi: I think that themes tend to fall into a couple of categories or patterns. One of them can…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).

BIO:

Naomi Beaty is a writer, screenwriting teacher, consultant and owner of WRITE+CO., along with the author of LOGLINE SHORTCUTS: Unlock Your Story And Pitch Your Screenplay In One Simple Sentence and THE SCREENPLAY OUTLINE WORKBOOK: A step-by-step guide to brainstorm ideas, structure your story, and prepare to write your best screenplay.