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Theme & Scene:

The Magic of Nuts & Bolts

Week Nine

“The nervous system of any age or nation is its creative workers, its artists. And if that nervous

system is profoundly disturbed by its environment, the work it produces will inescapably

reflect the disturbances, sometimes obliquely and sometimes with violent directness.”

-- Tennessee Williams

Lecture Nine:

Tone, Irony, Comedy

This lecture will present a brief overview of:

I. Tone

II. Irony

a. Definition

b. Ironic Narrative

c. Ironic Progression

d. Ironic Characters

e. Ironic Dialogue

f. Satire

I. Tone

The tone of a film, play or television script can be described as the author’s attitude and assumptions toward

the subject of the material as well as the audience. It implies directionality and is a critical factor in rooting

the story. The tone can be comic (comedy), downbeat (film noir), realistic (thriller), and so forth, thus

reflecting a particular quality, style or manner that holds constant throughout the story.

STORY

CREDIBILITY

Believability

INVOLVEMENT

Concern / Empathy

STIMULATION

Interest / Excitement

ORIGINALITY

Insight / Style

TONE

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Every good script engenders four main considerations for the audience: credibility, involvement,

stimulation, and originality.

The audience must first believe that the story is plausible. When they stop believing that an element in the

story isn’t credible, they disengage. Next, the audience must care about the Protagonist; they must have

someone to root for. The Protagonist’s journey must be exciting and suspenseful. If the character is colorful

but the journey is flat or dull, the audience will step out. Finally, the story must have some stroke of

originality or the reaction is: I’ve seen this before! Given that distribution devices for media have exploded,

the need for original material has grown more pressing than ever.

Tone establishes the direction of the components of story (e.g., character, dialogue, visuals, and narrative

structure) and sets the stage for the audience when the curtain opens and until the curtain comes down.

II. Dramatic Irony

II. a. Definition of Irony

According to Northrup Frye , “Irony never says precisely what it means.” A Wiki-quick lookup:

“Irony, from the Greek εἴρων (eiron), is a literary or

rhetorical device, in which there is a gap or

incongruity between what a speaker or a writer says,

and what is generally understood (either at the time,

or in the later context of history). Irony may also

arise from a discordance between acts and results,

especially if it is striking, and known to a later

audience. A certain kind of irony may result from

the act of pursuing a desired outcome, resulting in

the opposite effect, but again, only if this is known

to a third party. In this case the aesthetic arises from

the realization that an effort is sharply at odds with

an outcome, and that in fact the very effort has been

its own undoing.

More generally, irony is understood as an aesthetic

valuation by an audience, which relies on a sharp

discordance between the real and the ideal, and

which is variously applied to texts, speech, events,

acts, and even fashion. All the different senses of

irony revolve around the perceived notion of an

incongruity, or a gap, between an understanding of

reality, or expectation of a reality, and what

actually happens.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony

“…example of situational irony — the unintended

aptness of the sign and its surroundings is ironic.”

In dramatic narrative, the perception of irony in a situation, language, visuals or structure results from a

discordance between what is expected and what is. Because of this incongruence, the audience steps back

from the situation in order to comprehend it. Irony causes a distancing effect between content and meaning.

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The benefit of using irony for the storyteller: the ability to comment on the situation or character from a

broader viewpoint.

In ironic situations, the audience therefore probes more deeply into characters’ motivations and the forces

that impact the characters’ lives in the story. Inner lives become more meaningful. The often subtle, if not

paradoxical, machinations of society move to the forefront.

II. b. Ironic Narrative

Regardless of genre, there are many ways to employ irony in dramatic narrative. Ironic characters,

dialogue, visuals and situations can run throughout a conventional film and add complexity and meaning.

Hence, the use of irony can be heavy-handed or lightly peppered throughout the material.

Dramatic irony is achieved in narrative when the audience knows more than the characters re

circumstances and outcome. Often narrative (films/plays) starts with glimpse of the Protagonist’s fate at the

beginning, so that the question is no longer “what will happen?” but “why did this happen?” As well,

content is either undermined or directly contradicted by style. This leads the audience to try and figure out

what lies beneath the realistic veneer—i.e., what’s really going on here?

Mystery Suspense Dramatic Irony

Audience knows less than

characters

Audience and characters know

the same information

Audience knows more than

characters

Interest – Curiosity only Curiosity and concern Concern only

Exposition concealed – curiosity

about circumstances/facts

Circumstances/facts known --

Outcome unknown

Circumstances/facts known --

Outcome known

Mislead audience with red

herrings and false information

Suspense:

Outcome up or down or ironic

up-down

Audience experiences dread

when Protagonist discovers what

they already know

How did this happen? How will this turn out? Why it happened?

Murder mystery genre /

Protagonist – ace detective

(Think CSI.)

90% of all films fall into suspense

mode

Compassion/empathy for the

Protagonist heading towards

disaster

Examples of film openings that employ dramatic irony:

� SUNSET BOULEVARD

Opening: The corpse of screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden) floats in the pool of Norma

Desmond (Gloria Swanson). The entire film is a flashback of Gillis’ struggle to rise in Hollywood

while entangled with the aging screen star Desmond.

� AMERICAN BEAUTY*

Opening: Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) tells us that in a year he’ll be dead. Meanwhile, the

audience is treated to a sweeping view of pristine American suburbia. This film is a mix of irony

and suspense because we know that Lester will die, but we still don’t know exactly how or by whom.

* Please see handouts of the original versus the revised openings of AMERICAN BEAUTY. Ball sharpens

the irony and adds the suspense factor by making a massive cut from the get-go.

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II. c. Ironic Progression

Often the dramatic narrative starts out with a realistic and conventional tone, but ends with an ironic upbeat

or downbeat. This results in the audience combing backward through the entire film and digesting the

progression of events on another level. Classic ironic endings that fly in the face of the narrative:

� CHINATOWN

Gittes (Nicholson) loses the case and the woman. The ghost repeats itself. Evil wins out.

� THE GRADUATE

Dustin Hoffman wins the girl. However, the fugitive couple stares out of the back of the bus on the

parting shot, bewildered and incommunicative. A future Mr. and Mrs. Robinson in the making?

� THE CRYING GAME

Fergus ends up in jail, but still has Dil (symbol of love/redemption) visiting him.

The power of ironic endings and ironic progressions stems from the fact that these routes of dramatizing

material capture the paradoxes in life. In contrast to the three-act Hero structure, ironic strokes defy the

redemption-win equation and allow for a win-but-lose or lose-but-win interpretation of the story.

Situation Example

Gets at last what the

Protagonist’s always wanted,

but too late to really have it.

LEAVING LAS VEGAS – Alcoholic screenwriter and prostitute find love

and connection on the screenwriter’s deathbed.

Throws away what is later

indispensable to happiness.

FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL – Boy meets Girl; Boy decides he

doesn’t want girl; Boy realizes he wants girl but she’s now married.

Actions taken to reach a goal

become the steps that, in turn,

lead Protagonist away from it.

TOOTSIE – Michael (Dustin) disguises himself as a woman and becomes a

successful soap star, only to fall in love with an actress who thinks he’s a

lesbian.

Actions taken to reach a goal

become the steps that, in turn,

destroy the Protagonist.

CAPOTE – Writer pens an innovative tome that impacts literature, only to

be destroyed by the subject matter of which he writes.

Action taken to destroy

something becomes what is

needed to be destroyed by it.

MACBETH – In killing the King, MacBeth’s guilt does him in.

Note: Stories where a ruthless course of action leads to self destruction

implies an ironic ending.

Takes possession of

something that will cause

misery/trouble, does

everything possible to get rid

of it or deal with it… only to

discover the gift of happiness.

RAIN MAN -- Charley is a con. His father has left him a convertible, but

given the family fortune to an autistic brother, Raymond. Furious, Charley

kidnaps the troublesome Raymond and the brothers begin a road trip that

ultimately bonds them.

Please note: This is by no means a complete list of ironic situations or endings. As you progress further

in your careers as writers, you will develop your own list of ironic examples in dramatic narrative.

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II. d. Ironic Characters

Early in film, common ironic characters were sidekicks—e.g., Stan Laurel, Donald O’Connor, Jerry Lewis.

Sidekicks

Stan Laurel

Donald O’Connor

Jerry Lewis

These idiot savants provided a running commentary on the serious initiatives of his/her partner. Audiences

were entertained by an immediate and alternate viewpoint of the dramatic situation.

In contrast, ironic protagonists or main characters are flawed innocents who unleash a course of events

that “punish them” beyond what can be expected given their actions/intentions.

� Seem too naïve and honest so that the first impression is that they must be deceptive/manipulative

� Ingenuous characters “are” what they represent

� Often misguided actions opposite of the traditional heroic action

� Course of events undermine protagonist’s intentions with often tragic results

Ironic Main Characters

John Turturro as BARTON

FINK

(Joel and Ethan Coen)

Tom Hanks as FORREST GUMP

(Dir. Zemeckis)

Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunne) in

AFTER HOURS

(Dir. Scorsese)

Writer, Fink, of social realist

plays in the early 1940s-- whose

raison d'être is to “create a

theatre of the common man”--

suffers from writer's block.

“The film's enigmatic story has

been interpreted as an

examination of the creative act,

a satire on Hollywood, a Joseph

Campbell-like heroic quest, or

“The film tells the story of a

simple man (or gump) and his

epic journey through life,

meeting historical figures,

influencing popular culture and

experiencing first-hand historic

events while largely unaware of

their significance, due to his low

IQ of 75.”

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Forrest_Gump)

Comedy thriller that depicts a word

processor, Hackett, who experiences

a series of bizarre adventures while

trying to return home from SoHo.

Tagline:

When it's after midnight in New

York City, you don't have to look for

love, laughter and trouble. They'll

all find you!

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even an allegory for the rise of

Nazism.”

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Barton_Fink)

Result: Gump seems

disconnected from the events

and people that he affects.

Detachment juxtaposed to

tremendous impact screams

irony.

Max (Foxx), running from

Vincent (Cruise)

(Dir. Mann)

Fergus (Stephen Rea) in

THE CRYING GAME

(Dir. Jordan)

Sellers as Chance, the gardener.

BEING THERE

(Dir. Ashby)

Crime thriller. A nihilistic,

erudite hitman uses a taxicab to

carry out a series of contract hits

in a single night in L.A. The taxi

driver, Max, learns what his

passenger is up to when

Vincent's first hit lands on the

roof of the taxi. Max's situation

then turns into a series of escape

attempts and exchanges

between the two.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Collateral_%28film%29)

Ironic situation: Max’s life

opens up due to a one-night cab

ride with a psychotic hit-man.

Romantic thriller. About Fergus'

experiences as a member of the

IRA which often employs deadly

methods to achieve its missions,

his brief but meaningful

encounter with Jody, held as

prisoner by the group, and his

romantic relationship with Jody's

girlfriend, Dil, who Fergus

promised Jody he would protect.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

The_Crying_Game)

Ironic situation: An IRA hitman

finds redemption in protecting

the transexual girlfriend of a

British soldier.

Black comedy. “A simple-minded

gardener named Chance has spent

all his life in the Washington D.C.

house of an old man. When the man

dies, Chance is put out on the street

with no knowledge of the world

except what he has learned from

television. After a run in with a

limousine, he ends up a guest of a

woman (Eve) and her husband Ben,

an influential but sickly

businessman. Now called Chauncey

Gardner, Chance becomes friend

and confidante to Ben, and an

unlikely political insider.” (IMDB)

Ironic situation: A gardener

becomes an influential political

advisor in Washington.

Because the ironic main character isn’t in control of the course of events, the audience experiences a sense of

doubt and unease. Is this real? Is this person insane? Is this person an idiot? Can this be happening?

In turn, the distancing—the discordance between overt content and subterranean meaning--allows the

audience to take a more reflective stance to the story-telling. See Ebert’s review of BEING THERE:

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19970525/REVIEWS08/401010303/1023

Excerpt: “When I taught the film, I had endless discussions with my students over this scene. Many insisted

on explaining it: He is walking on a hidden sandbar, the water is only half an inch deep, there is a

submerged pier, etc. ``Not valid!'' I thundered. ``The movie presents us with an image, and while you may

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discuss the meaning of the image it is not permitted to devise explanations for it. Since Ashby does not show

a pier, there is no pier--a movie is exactly what it shows us, and nothing more,'' etc.

So what does it show us? It shows us Chance doing something that is primarily associated with only one

other figure in human history. What are we to assume? That Chance is a Christ figure? That the wisdom of

great leaders only has the appearance of meaning? That we find in politics and religion whatever we seek?

That like the Road Runner (who also defies gravity) he will not sink until he understands his dilemma?

The movie's implications are alarming. Is it possible that we are all just clever versions of Chance the

gardener? That we are trained from an early age to respond automatically to given words and concepts?

That we never really think out much of anything for ourselves, but are content to repeat what works for

others in the same situation?

The last words in the movie are, "Life is a state of mind." So no computer will ever be alive. But to the degree

that we are limited by our programming, neither will we. The question is not whether a computer will ever

think like a human, but whether we choose to free ourselves from thinking like computers.”

II. e. Ironic Dialogue

Ironic dialogue can whip off the page and snap, sparking interest and delight. As in all samples of irony, it

distances the audience from the narrative as we race to bridge the dissonance between content and meaning.

Ironic dialogue can widen the gap between:

� Character and language

� Characters within a scene

� Information the characters know relative to what the audience knows

Example of an ironic exchange from SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS (Preston Sturges).*

Scene background: A struggling actress buys breakfast for a bum in Hollywood. She doesn’t realize that

the bum is the Hollywood director, John L. Sullivan, in disguise. (Note: not in screenplay format.)

GIRL: Say, who’s being sorry for who? Are you buying me the eggs or am I buying them for you?

SULLIVAN (AS BUM): I’d like to repay you for them.

GIRL: All right, give me a letter introducing me to Lubitsch.

SULLIVAN: I might be able to do that too… Who is Lubitsch?

GIRL: Eat your eggs.

SULLIVAN: (with mouth full) Can you act?

GIRL: What did you say?

SULLIVAN: I said, can you act?

GIRL: Sure I can. Would you like me to give you a recitation?

SULLIVAN: Go ahead.

GIRL: Skip it. My next act will be an impersonation of a young lady going home… on the thumb.

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SULLIVAN: In that outfit?

GIRL: How about your own outfit?

SULLIVAN: Haven’t you got a car?

GIRL: No. Have you?

SULLIVAN: Well… no… but…

GIRL: Then don’t get ritzie. And I’ll tell you some other things I haven’t got. I haven’t got a yacht, or a

pearl necklace, or a fur coat, or a country seat or even a winter seat. And I could use a girdle too.

SULLIVAN: I wish I could give you a few of the things you need.

GIRL: You’re not trying to lead me astray, are you? You big, bad wolf!

(Sullivan laughs sheepishly.)

GIRL: You know, the nice thing about buying food for a man is you don’t have to laugh at his jokes. Just

think, if you were some big shot like a casting director or something, I’d be staring into your bridgework…

* From Alternative Scriptwriting by Ken Dancyger and Jeff Rush, pp. 269-270.

II. f. Satire

In terms of style, the most extreme use of irony is satire or farce. Writers are free to take wild leaps from

reality, violate tone, and make savage, humorous indictments on society.

� Vehicle used to indict human or societal foibles

� Targets—e.g., person, group or class of people, idea/attitude, institution,

tradition/custom/practice—ridiculed mercilessly with a subterranean prod to reform

� Extreme case of tonal violation

� Qualities: irony, sarcasm, irreverence, ferocious humour

� Devices: parody, exaggeration, double entrendre

Peter Sellers: Dr. Strangelove, President Merkin Muffley, Captain Lionel Mandrake.

“Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (commonly shortened to Dr.

Strangelove) is a 1964 film directed by Stanley Kubrick. Loosely based upon the Cold War thriller novel Red

Alert (also known as Two Hours to Doom) by Peter George, the source material was refashioned as a black

comedy by screenwriter Terry Southern. Dr. Strangelove satirizes the fragile nature of the Cold War conflict

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and the doctrine of mutual assured destruction.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr_Strangelove

“Brazil is a dystopic black comedy feature film directed by Monty Python

member Terry Gilliam. It seems to be totally unrelated to the actual country of

Brazil. Instead it evokes the melancholy, dreamlike quality of its theme song, an

old English translation of 1939 Brazilian song, Aquarela do Brasil. Jack Mathews,

movie critic and author of The Battle of Brazil (1987), characterized the film as

‘satirizing the bureaucratic, largely dysfunctional industrial world that had been

driving [Gilliam] crazy all his life.’”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_%28film%29

The Point: Using Irony to

Challenge Genre Expectation

Tone is that beam of light that guides your choices re character, dialogue, and structure for your story. It

reflects your attitude towards the subject matter and establishes the relationship between the story and the

audience. Conventional tone—i.e., the classic Hero, three-act structure (film only), functional dialogue, and

relevant genre—may not serve every story that you want to tell. Using irony to upset genre expectation and

thereby craft more complex stories that reflect life’s realities may be a better route.

Points to remember:

� Use of an ironic narrative often distorts or even inverts the cause and effect relationship between

character actions and events

� Distanced relationship between the viewer and the character is achieved

� Audience is forced to reflect upon the actions of the character

� Audience seeks out alternate meanings for the character’s role/purpose in the narrative

� Use of an ironic character can yield different, more complex results than the traditional Hero

� Ironic dialogue can yield additional meaning

� Ironic dialogue often results from genre violations and mixed genres

� Tonal shifts alter meaning as well as the audience’s interpretation of the story

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Week Nine Assignments

ASSIGNMENT A:

The “Ironic” Scene

Write a scene that employs either an ironic character or an ironic situation.

� 5-7 page – DS, PQ, need

� 2-3 characters

� Stage or screen format

ASSIGNMENT B:

Continue progress on longer work: rough draft or outline.

Try and nail the key plot points.

NOTE: Since we are not all using the same hardware or software, please make sure to post your

submissions in Rich Text File or PDF.

Good luck!

Dakota