This week a film opened about the dynamics of a hispanic family living in Los Angeles. There s no room for selfishness in screenwriting. We have to remember those 20 million people are in the room with us. Once we've isolated the theme, it's easy to find a more commercial venue to explore that theme. In fact, the larger canvas and raised stakes of the latter generate more freedom to explore the issue.
Characters can be MORE passionate about their feelings.
Taking the basic story and raising the stakes. Magnification takes an emotion or problem that we've all experienced, and exaggerates it all out of proportion. Let's say your original idea is to explore how family dynamics change when the teenaged son is arrested for shoplifting. They may start out believing him innocent, but as evidence mounts, come to realize this probably isn't the first time he's stolen things. In the end, the family must come together, and accept each other's faults.