Concepts
Thematic axes
Thematic axes are the three key events that open, sustain and close the story’s crises: the chain of cause and effect without which the narrative would not advance.
Every film rests on a few indispensable events. Thematic axes identify those moments: the one that triggers the conflict, the one that keeps it tense, and the one that drives it to its greatest crisis.
Isolating these three moments reveals the causal skeleton of the work and separates the essential from the incidental.
Example
Titanic: they meet and fall in love (opens), a forbidden romance across classes (sustains), the ship hits the iceberg (great crisis).
How to spot it
List the 3 events without which the story simply would not exist.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between thematic and motivational axes?
Thematic axes are the events that move the plot; motivational ones are the audiovisual elements that build the atmosphere.
How many thematic axes does a film have?
Classically three: the one that opens the crisis, the one that sustains it, and the one that brings it to its peak.