Your Screenplay's Theme: Screenwriter Gerald DiPego
This is a page from the Screenwriting Chapter in Cyber Film School's Multitouch Filmmaking Textbook.
As you lean into your story, what arises from the creative process is a complex weaving of Premise and Theme, two aspects of a story you become aware of as you create your story.
The film industry has more than a few definitions of premise and theme. In this book, we put it quite simply. Let’s look at the Premise and Theme of The Godfather (1972).
PREMISE: The idealistic son of a powerful Mafia crime boss returns a war hero with no interest in the family business, but tragic circumstances pull him into a mob war that could tear his family apart.
THEME: “You cannot avoid your destiny” or, “Family comes first “sharing its success and its downfall”
The PREMISE is the "What If?"
It sets up the main characters' characters, circumstances and challenges. It’s often presented as a ‘what if...?” proposition.
The premise becomes evident early in the process as you flesh out the characters, their circumstances and conflicts – the ‘what if...but’? For example, "Jaws" (1975):
"What if a beach-town cop wants to stop a killer shark at the height of tourist season, but as deaths pile up, the greedy mayor blocks him for the sake of tourist dollars?"
The THEME is the "What's It About?"
It speaks to the film’s overall moral or lesson it teaches – the overall message. Jaws (1975):
"Public good vs. criminal greed"
Where the premise of your story likely comes early as you plan and execute, your story's theme may reveal itself at any time in the process. You may know the theme upfront, or it speaks to you later as you "dream your movie".