1
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
Many of the scenes written for the weekly exercises have exhibited strokes of irony. Examples: Scott’s Iraq
scene where a boy stomps on a mouse whilst dodging tanks; Judith’s suave CEO who murders a colleague
with a lead pipe; Dmirty’s scene where tribal clanheads, Russian and British officers argue violently only to
band together to fight an invader; Z’s scene where a judge sits naked beneath his revered robes, and so on.
Ironic characters and ironic situations abound in real life. The ability to capture life’s irony in material can
add complexity, insight and humor to story-telling.
Lecture Nine:
Tone, Irony, Comedy
This lecture will present a brief overview of:
I. Tone
II. Irony
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Definition
Ironic Narrative
Ironic Progression
Ironic Characters
Ironic Dialogue
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.
2
TONE
CREDIBILITY
Believability
ORIGINALITY
Insight / Style
STORY
INVOLVEMENT
Concern / Empathy
STIMULATION
Interest / Excitement
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
What is irony? It’s a subject that’s been posed on the BBS in this class:
From Scott:
dramatic irony - the character is ignorant
eg. "Why are all those police cars behind me?"
socratic irony - the character pretends to be stupid
eg. "You say this game is called poker?"
roman irony - words have opposite intention
eg. "Go ahead. Shoot me."
verbal irony - words have opposite meaning
eg. "Nice hat!"
situational irony - surprising revelation
eg. an umbrella indoors because of a hole in the roof
tragic irony - surprising result
eg. Romeo and Juliet
From Sheila: one time i was in vegas and i saw an old woman in a wheelchair hooked up to an oxygen
tank. she was chainsmoking and playing slots. unfortunately the real story ends there- at least for me it is.
but the image itself is an example of irony, no?
3
From Zoanne: Here's some irony taken straight from "The Office" which I'm watching now: Says Steve
Carrell's character to a group of business students: "We can't overestimate the value of computers... but real
business is done on paper, okay? Write that down." All the students type that piece of wisdom into their
laptops.
From my previous world: A bunch of doctors and nurses outside of the ER smoking as an intubated patient
is unloaded out of the ambulance.
People don't want to feel pain, but feeling pain stops us from being hurt. Those who have a condition where
they can't feel pain can die from something as simple as appendicitis.
From Paula: How about winning the lottery the same day you find you've got an incurable disease?
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.”
“…example of situational irony — the unintended
aptness of the sign and its surroundings is ironic.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony
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.
The benefit of using irony for the storyteller: the ability to comment on the situation or character from a
broader viewpoint.
4
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
Audience knows less than
characters
Interest – Curiosity only
Exposition concealed – curiosity
about circumstances/facts
Mislead audience with red
herrings and false information
How did this happen?
Murder mystery genre /
Protagonist – ace detective
(Think CSI.)
Suspense
Audience and characters know
the same information
Curiosity and concern
Circumstances/facts known -Outcome unknown
Suspense:
Outcome up or down or ironic
up-down
How will this turn out?
90% of all films fall into suspense
mode
Dramatic Irony
Audience knows more than
characters
Concern only
Circumstances/facts known -Outcome known
Audience experiences dread
when Protagonist discovers what
they already know
Why it happened?
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.
5
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
Gets at last what the
Protagonist’s always wanted,
but too late to really have it.
Throws away what is later
indispensable to happiness.
Actions taken to reach a goal
become the steps that, in turn,
lead Protagonist away from it.
Actions taken to reach a goal
become the steps that, in turn,
destroy the Protagonist.
Action taken to destroy
something becomes what is
needed to be destroyed by it.
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.
Example
LEAVING LAS VEGAS – Alcoholic screenwriter and prostitute find love
and connection on the screenwriter’s deathbed.
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.
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.
CAPOTE – Writer pens an innovative tome that impacts literature, only to
be destroyed by the subject matter of which he writes.
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.
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.
6
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
Tom Hanks as FORREST GUMP
(Dir. Zemeckis)
John Turturro as BARTON
FINK
(Joel and Ethan Coen)
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
even an allegory for the rise of
Nazism.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
“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)
Result: Gump seems
disconnected from the events
Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunne) in
AFTER HOURS
(Dir. Scorsese)
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!
7
Barton_Fink)
and people that he affects.
Detachment juxtaposed to
tremendous impact screams
irony.
Fergus (Stephen Rea) in
THE CRYING GAME
(Dir. Jordan)
Max (Foxx), running from
Vincent (Cruise)
(Dir. Mann)
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.
Sellers as Chance, the gardener.
BEING THERE
(Dir. Ashby)
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
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.
8
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.
SULLIVAN: In that outfit?
9
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
and the doctrine of mutual assured destruction.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr_Strangelove
10
“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
11
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:
Rough draft of a step outline of the longer work.
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