Hey, wanna read my screenplay?

I went to Barnes and Noble yesterday to buy Jenga (because I’m such a huge fan of games marketed to six year old children), and in a classic case of getting distracted I bought a book. That book was Syd Field’s Screenplay: The Foundation of Screenwriting, and in a beautiful display of not studying for my history test I immediately began to read it. Field is considered an authority on screenwriting, and his students include Anna Hamilton Phelan (Mask), Randi Mayem Singer (Mrs. Doubtfire), and Kevin Williamson (Scream, Scream 2, and Scream 3).

In his book, Field makes it shockingly easy to understand how screenplays work. It isn’t cluttered with jargon or vague notions. Instead, it breaks screenwriting into its time-proven form: Beginning, Middle, and End (not necessarily in that order) with the addition of two plot points that work as transitions.

[SPOILER ALERT] The next portion of this blog discusses the movie Chaos Theory. It’s not exactly well-known, but it is streaming on Netflix and I encourage everyone to watch it. I would recommend against watching the trailer because I feel the trailer gives too much of the story away, and it is much more enjoyable to go into the film blind. I will however give you the description that Netflix offers:

Thanks to a strict regimen of timetables, to-do lists and index cards, efficiency expert Frank Allen (Ryan Reynolds) lives his life exactly how he wants it. That is, until his well-meaning wife (Emily Mortimer) decides to set the clock back a mere 10 minutes.

Act I functions as the introduction to the main characters and the initial problem. In Chaos Theory, the first twelve minutes is spent introducing you to Frank, his charming wife and seven year old daughter, and Frank’s obsessive behavior. He must write everything down on index cards, and his day must be planned from literally the minute he wakes up to the minute he falls asleep. When he gets up one morning to prepare for a speech on time efficiency, his wife tries to give her husband extra time by setting the clock back ten minutes. This sets in motion a series of bizzarre incidents that ultimately lead Frank’s wife to believe that he has had a baby with another woman. In her fury, she kicks Frank out of their house and refuses to hear his side of the story. In order to prove himself innocent, Frank gets a paternity test. When the results come back, Frank not only confirms that the child is not his, but he also discovers that he is infertile.

This is plot point number 1. Learning that he is not the biological father to his daughter, Frank is left to ponder why the system he based his life around failed him, and how to deal with it. The first plot point is to pull the character into the “real” conflict which is explored in Act II the main portion of the film. Frank feels that he has no choice but to disregard his old system and live the rest of his life based on chance. Frank now writes three things he wants to do, and then randomly chooses one. It’s similar to Harvey Dent’s revelation in The Dark Knight albeit not nearly as cryptic. Frank’s love for his wife overcomes his feeling of betrayal and, he eventually finds his way back to his home only to discover that his daughter’s real father is his best friend and lawyer, Buddy. Frank almost immediately reverts back to his old index card system. He now has a simple to do list:
1) Buy gun
2) Kill Buddy
3) Return gun

This revelation is our 2nd plot point and leads us into Act III and the eventual ending. For those of you unwilling to watch the movie I will let you know that Frank forgives Buddy and everyone leaves happily ever after.

Field’s break down of a “good” screenplay is evident in nearly every movie worth remembering, and is illustrated in several movies below.

The Matrix
Act I: Introduction to Neo and the Matrix
PP1: Neo chooses the red pill and leaves the Matrix
Act II: Neo trains and learns of his supposed “purpose”
PP2: Neo accepts that he is The One
Act III: Neo defeats Agent Smith

Children of Men
Act I: Introduction to Theo and the dystopian Britian
PP1: Theo discovers that Kee is pregnant
Act II: Theo and Kee fight their way towards the Human Project
PP2: The baby is born
Act III: Theo successfully gets Kee and her baby to the Human Project

Titanic
Act I: Introduction to Jack’s and Rose’s character
PP1: Jack and Rose meet
Act II:  Jack and Rose pursue their relationship
PP2: The ship is hit by an iceberg
Act III: Jack sacrifices himself to save Rose

The Hangover
Act I: Introduction to the main characters
PP1: The group cannot find Doug
Act II: The group retraces their steps to find Doug
PP2: They discover Doug has not been kidnapped
Act III: Doug gets married

Twilight
Act I: boring
PP1: That incredibly awkward first encounter with Edward
Act 2: Does Edward think I’m pretty?
PP2: who cares?
Act III: I don’t know, I fell asleep

Many important things happen in between these plot points. Neo and Trinity’s relationship, Stu confronting his abusive girlfriend, Jack’s and Rose’s success at breaking class barriers, but the story revolves around these plot points. The plot points are responsible for the story’s progression.

It is easy to mistake screenplay form for formula, but there is a crucial distinction. You can think of the form as a structure that holds the story together, and a formula as a process that produces the same output every time. Yes, all good screenplays follow this form but there is huge variation between movies, but some movies do play off a formula. Take horror movies for example, Scream follows the same form as A Nightmare on Elm Street, but they are completely different. However, after watching three Final Destinations you can pretty easily figure out what is going to happen and when.

So next time you watch a movie look out for the crucial plot points. Once you start noticing them it is much easier to analyze the plot, character motivations, and a whole host of other things. So, my last recommendation is if you ever been interested in screenplays (or even writing one yourself) check on Field’s book. Oh, and make sure you watch Chaos Theory. And buy Jenga. It’s a fun game.

Special Effects: Cheating or Genius?

I was sitting in the middle of an intense argument in another class on Monday about the use of the music program Auto-Tune. Every single person in my class was against it, except me (talk about awkward). They called it cheating and said it is a stain on the music industry. I then posed a question to my fellow arguers, “isn’t using Auto-Tune in music the EXACT same thing as using stunt people and special effects in movies?” As the room fell silent I started to ponder my question a little deeper. Think about all of the movies you love, particularly action ones. There are explosions and fast-paced car chases and gun shots and jumps from buildings…all of which could never be achieved (at least safely) in real life. So why, then, are special effects in movies doted upon and millions put into their development, when an audio technology gets shunned? I am a big believer in both special effects and Auto-Tune and I feel as though they both enhance the entertainment experience. For instance, think about the original Spider-Man movie with Tobey Maguire. How realistic did the computers make him look flying through the air and climbing buildings? These effects took HOURS to achieve and millions of dollars to produce. Is it right that special effects can make or break a movie in the box office these days? What about movies that utilize very few special effects, like my favorite romance The Notebook? I can’t recall any effects other than the rain scene (water does not show up on camera so glycerin is generally used) yet the movie made more than 81 million dollars in the box office. This is nowhere near the 401 million Spider-Man pulled in, but it definitely could not be considered as a flop! I wonder what it would mean to the film industry if special effects were barred from movies completely. No fake blood, no fake rain, no bombs and explosions, no gunfire….the movie industry would completely collapse until it figured out another way to use real props in their films, which I would imagine to be an extremely difficult feat. What does this say about our society, then? Are we THAT superficial that we will rely so much on computer-generated entertainment? Harry Potter 2 premieres tonight at midnight and almost the ENTIRE movie is made with special effects, particularly makeup and location! Is a movie made without effects any more or less significant than those who have it oozing at the seams? Are special effects cheating, an alternative form of entertainment themselves??

 

Stephanie Morris

Spike Lee as an Auteur

Spike Lees exceptional filmmaking skills rose to the public eye with his breakthrough film, Do the Right Thing. From them on he has been the voice of African American Filmmakers. He continues to tackle difficult subject matter with excellent communication skills and style. His vision shows no favoritism and spares no races. His use of interviews and social commentary gives different cultures an opportunity to look honestly into the hearts, minds, and conscience of their people. He also exposes hypocrisy and lies when he demonstrates the different stereotypes that remain in today’s society. He often dives into racial tensions and exposes the day-to-day realities of different cultures, showing the raw violence and hatred that many people are too isolated to see. His films depict reality laced with slang, cultural nuance, love, sex, drugs, and violence.

Spike lee was born in Atlanta Georgia where he attended Morehouse, and then he went on to attend film school at NYU. A lot of his movies are NY based in Brooklyn. His autisitic style is shown in many ways, which I will outline, but he has a knack for giving black actors their first shot at film. Actors such as Marin Lawrence, Laurence Fishburne, Wesley Snipes, and Halle Berry all got their acting debuts in spike lee films.

One of his distinctive characteristics lies in the style of his opening credits. They are always innovative and original. For example “Do the Right Thing” were Rosie Perez is dancing to Hip-hop music Fight the power. Other stylistic credits were in his movie “Malcolm X” and “Get on the Bus.”

The second Unique thing spike does is appearing in his own films. This is not very popular among directors and mikes spike very different. He plays a leading role in most of his early films. He appeared in His classic “Do the Right Thing” “Malcolm X” and Jungle “Fever”, amongst others. Similarly he has a lot of reoccurring actors in his movies.  Ossie Davis appeared in 6 of his films and John Turturro was in 9 of them. He always is promoting African American actors.

Spike also tends to have an all African American cast. Movies were he did this include, School Daze, Mo Better Blues, Malcolm X, Crookly, Get on the Bus, and He Got Game.

One crucial reoccurring theme in Lee’s movies is racism. He focused on racial issues so heavily in his early films people still see him as a racist for the heavy racial subject of his films. The racial films include, Do the Right thing, School Daze, and 25^th Hour.

As you can see spike lee has many reoccurring themes in his films, and they have helped to solidify him as one of the most powerful African American movie directors of all time. As the slogan goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”

 

Michael Moore the Documentary “KING”

In my eyes Michael Moore is the documentary king. He tackles some of the most controversial American issues and uses his expertise in filmmaking to persuasively state his case and sway the viewpoint his audience. He uses Syllogisms supported by facts to state his case. I’m not just calling him the king of documentaries for no reason, Moore is a master of the Three C’s of rhetoric (1) establish the credibility of the filmmaker (2) provide a convincing set of arguments, and (3) achieve a compelling form of presentation.  He has established his credibility by making 8 very successful and eye opening documentaries. I will focus in on one of his more recent documentaries, “Capitalism Love story.” I will get into how he covers 2^nd and 3^rd C’s of rhetoric with examples.  I was no more interested in Capitalism or government policies than an Australian Kangaroo before I saw this movie. But after seeing it I have a completely different view of how our banking system is operating and it has encouraged me to become more educated on the subject. I feel that is the measure of the effectiveness of a documentary. Does it spur the viewer to change their opinion on certain things, or even take action to change the current social state?

From my point of view capitalism love is a mixture of 3 different types of documentaries. The first and most prominent form is Participatory. This mode relies of recording synchronous sound and heavy interviews. This is Michael Moore’s forte. He thrives of shooting controversial interviews by ambushing important people and asking the questions they don’t want to answer! This is great for documentaries you get to see a live reaction from them, their true colors tend to come out when put into tight situations. His interview style also shows his sense of humor through out the film. For example he pulls up to the headquarters of Goldman Sachs in an armored truck and tells the guard “We are here to get the money back for the American People,” do you see the irony there?

One could also say that this is an expository or performative documentary. The first because he uses voice overs and narration, the latter because it invokes the reader to think intellectually about the problems facing our government. Moore uses old footage of presidential inaugurations along with images of wide spread foreclosure to display the performative aspects of this documentary. Family stories of hardships and struggle followed by greedy apartment sharks waiting to buy cheap foreclosed home’s shows Moore’s documentary expertise in arousing emotion in the viewer. If that doesn’t get to you I don’t know what will.

Using comedy, mixed with cold hard facts, this documentary combines what we know, what we think we know and what we fear about regulatory failures, along with the excess of the financial sector and the consequences of a distressed economy. These are all very critical social issues to modern day society, the economy fluctuates so frequently that people are sensitive to the idea of another depression, and to expose preventable issues fueled by greed, is a perfect way to get an emotional response from your audience.

I am a huge fan of Michael Moore and his documentaries, I would recommend any of them to a potential moviegoer. Take some time out to watch capitalism love story and see the documentary king at work!

Racial Tension in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing

Do the right thing is a very ambitious, funny, and racially motivated film. It documents life during a hot summer in Bedford-Stuyvesant New York. This neighbor hood is notorious in the African American community, for being the birthplace of some of hip hops most notorious figures such as Notorious B.I.G. and Jay-Z. The hip-hop theme can be seen throughout the film and it is exemplified in some of the main characters such as Radio Raheem.  The movie with a female character rocking out to Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power”, which sets the mood for the entire film of Black pride and black revolts towards the “powers that be.”

In the Film Lee explores the extreme polarities of the inner cities. He does this by setting up a system of opposites, for example: black vs. white, and love vs. hate. Black vs. white is the most obvious comparison in the movie. Racial tensions don’t stop there; they extend to the Asian and Italian communities as well. These racial divides turn to physical divides in a small confined neighborhood. They have a lot of different cultures mixed within a small neighborhood, but the most prevalent and powerful force is the force of the African America community.  The racial/physical barriers are crossed numerous times in the movie causing conflict. A good example is when a white guy runs over Buggin Outs shoes. There are a lot of symbols used in this scene as well. Fist the most obvious is white man surrounded by a group of black men, making him seem out of place. Also the white man has on a Larry bird Jersey, which symbolizes an out of town influence, not to mention he was one of few white basketball players that were actually good. The shoes that were run over were Jordan’s, made by Michael Jordan the best black basketball play of all time.

Spike Lee uses a lot of the social norms of the time to make an argument in this film. HE draws from American history of black revolutionary movements numerous times using music, and by directly referencing people like Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X, along with the black panthers. Ironically these people exemplified peaceful change, and non-violent protests, and the conclusion of this movie displays the exact opposite.  Again I feel this draws upon the social realization that people during those times were not as “perfect” or non-violent as their distinguished idols. They were more confined by financial and racial pressures, which led them to violent and irrational conclusions. This film also displays how all you need is one catalyst to trigger a large uprising in a high-tension community. In this movie the catalyst was the character Buggin Out. Spike Lee is a good filmmaker and he pushes the boundaries by presenting very controversial films such as “Do the Right Thing”.

Do the Right Thing and Today’s Society

Do the Right Thing is a film made in the year 1989 that follows a group of characters living in Brooklyn develop as bigotry and violence rapidly being to increase. Even films that were made over twenty years ago have remarkable similarities and lessons to be learned about the current year we are in. There are many examples of this.

One of the major conflicts in the film deals with racial issues and whether or not ‘love’ or ‘hate’ will prevail. Even nowadays, racism is still in existence. Although we have successfully even elected an African American president, there is still significant evidence that bigotry is present whether is be in films such as Transformers 2, song lyrics, or a difference in the pay grade of a white or black male holding the same position. In the film, there are many instances of this ongoing struggle. Two brothers, Pino and Vito, argue in Sal’s pizza shop over whether or not African Americans can be trusted. Pino wears white and argues that they can not be, while Vito wears black and is trusting. Pino attempts to sway his brother’s beliefs and the argument ultimately ends when Mookie throws a trashcan through the window and yells “Hate!”. Radio Raheem also explains the significance of his Love/Hate rings which deal with a similar issue. Racism in the twenty first century is only different nowadays in the fact that people tend to brush off their racist comments as simply being stereotypical and trying to conceal their comments and racial slurs behind seemingly harmless lyrics and on screen characters.

Another significant aspect of Do the Right Thing is how the characters deal with money. Sal is a character who views money as a way to get rid of all of his problems. He hands a few bucks to Da Mayor and Smiley whenever he want them to leave him alone. This is similar to how the government sometimes chooses to deal with their problems. No Child Left Behind is an example of how we throw money at the public school system in the hopes that it will strengthen America. Mookie on the other hand ignores his problems and uses money as an excuse. He frequently ignores his girlfriend and child because he is ‘makin money’. The happiest times the audience sees Mookie is when he is counting his money. The world is driven by the power of the almighty dollar, and for good cause. Money is necessary to maintain ones life and in the current economy, the value of the dollar is beginning to decrease. While money may not be able to buy you love or endless happiness, it can certainly put you in a spot of power or at the very least give you a significant advantage in life.

So what do y’all think? Are there any other examples y’all can think of of how this film relates to modern society or do you agree or disagree with the points that i’ve made?

Observations from The Gleaners and I

The most obvious “mode” of documentary film in The Gleaners and I is the Participatory mode.  The director, Agnés Varda, is constantly participating in the scenes, through interviews or even direct filming of herself.  She uses synchronous sound and shows continuous scenes that build up and tell the full story at once.  I liked how Varda participated in the gleaning process with the other gleaners.  It showed that she really cared about learning about these people, and wasn’t just some snobby filmmaker making a spectacle out of them.  It also probably allowed her to gain more trust from the gleaners, leading to opportunities such as going to their homes for further interviews.

Another mode apparent in the film is the Reflexive mode.  Varda often comments about specific details involved with making the film, such as describing her travel plans and showing the drive to her next stop in the story.  In one scene, a gleaner is looking through potatoes when he finds one that is heart-shaped.  Varda immediately exclaims that she wants it, and then the scene cuts to a picture of her picking up potatoes in one hand, with the handheld camera in the other.  Her commentary describes how she is “perilously” picking up the potatoes while filming.  In the next cut, she is again describing how she wanted to film the potatoes.  The effect of all this is that it draws serious attention to the process of making the film, which seems somewhat abnormal compared to mainstream films.  It allows the viewers to reflect on the process and think of the world from Varda’s perspective.  In this way the film seems more personal, as if you have a filmmaker friend that is showing off what she enjoys doing.

The title of this film can also be seen as reflexive.  Although some meaning has been lost in translation, a better translation would be perhaps “the gleaners and the gleaneress”.  It seems that Varda is trying to draw parallels between what the gleaners are doing with crops and what Varda is doing with film.  Just as the gleaners dig around and gather various foods, Varda is “digging around” and finding people, emotions, and ideas.  She then takes these found items and combines them to make a story.

This film surprised me in how informal it felt throughout.  While Varda does have skill in creating documentaries, the film nonetheless seemed sort of “amateurish”.  By this I don’t mean that it was poorly created, rather that it really felt like I was just watching some lady walking around with a video camera.  Of course, that is exactly what she was doing.  I think this proves that true skill and art comes from the person, not the technology involved.  While major productions in Hollywood use all the fancy, expensive equipment to produce their movies, Varda was able to create an entertaining and highly regarded film with little more than a handheld camera and a tripod.  This thought is refreshing and is empowering to any individual interested in filmmaking or any kind of creative process.

The HBO series “Entourage” is a show that many people like.  It provides a topic for people to really become familiar with, if you will “showbiz”.  The show is about four guys who came from nothing in Queens, New York to living like kings in Los Angeles, California.  The main characters are Vincent Chase the actor, Jonny “Drama” Chase the washed up actor, Eric Murphy best friend and manager to Vince, Turtle friend and driver, and of course Ari Gold Vince’s agent.

In the beginning of the show Vince is an up and coming actor who landed one of the best agents in Hollywood.  He, his brother, and two friends walk right into stardom landing their first big movie.  They go from living in one room houses to a mansion in LA.  There life turned upside down with just a little hard work and friendship along the way.  The reason I chose to write about this show is because I did some research and it turns out that the producer of the show, Mark Wahlberg is the one behind the whole story of Entourage.  The show is mainly based on his up and coming period of stardom.  He is even in an episode with his entourage, and if you blink you would miss it.  So what I am trying to say is that this show has a little more meaning and is more realistic that everyone thinks.

In my opinion, this is one of the greatest shows on television because it really has something to offer.  People are always wanting to know what these stars are doing when they are not making movies.  Well Entourage has the answer for anyone who watches it.  After frequently watching this show I feel like I have a better understanding on the lives of these celebrities, and its amazing.  These people have all the money in the world and they get to do whatever they want, whenever they want.  A bunch of my friends and I watch this show and all of us are wanting to live the lives of these people.  Now, we dont have any thesbians in our group of friends, but we do have athletes so we are banking on them becoming a professional to start our own Entourage.

The new season of Entourage comes out this month, and I would recommend it to all of you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFNze0ogkyI&feature=related

A Social Network from an Engineering Perspective

We all know what Facebook is.  We all know what the Social Network is.  We are all beginning to understand what Google Plus is.

In the film “A Social Network” a rather descriptive insight on the creation of Facebook is given.  Mark Zuckerberg, brilliance of creating a network of friends exclusively for Harvard student sparked a unique realm in where friends could communicate amongst each other.  This lead to a jump in social networking and the creation of Facebook as depicted in the movie.

Recently, Google has came up with their own social networking on par with Facebook, as critics say called Google+.  Google+ stems from the same background seen from the Social Network (Facebook) stemming from social interactions.  Interestingly enough, Google+ is based on engineering principles rather then social interactions, as “Engineering is Everything,” which leads to google fundamental success in the past, and most likely the future.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/13/idUS88655906920110713

The Social Network does an excellent job in describing …. Social Networks in a cinematic way.  By driving this entire film on the audiences past experiences, the film was a success.  This documentary, provided a semi-fictional viewpoint describing all which took place in the creation of the worlds most foremost social network at the present.

The viewers are emotionally invested amongst the quirky Harvard dropout, Mark Zuckerberg fights a lawsuit against his roommate/best friend.  The intense relationship between a typical Nerd and the rest of society is examined causing humorous scenes and tones captivating the audience. Sean Parkers character is also described in an unique fashion through the lighting.  The party scene in which Parker tries to tempt Zuckerberg with the fast life of Drugs, Alcohol and Women; is portrayed in a dark manner.

Mark Zuckerberg’s unique character is also portrayed through the clothing which he wears throughout the movie  In the winter, we see him running around in a pair of shorts.  We also see him wearing a pair of shorts and t-shirt during his trial with the prosecutors.  His personality also gives the vibe of a cocky individual whom no one can order, causing the audience to immediately fall in love with his humor, sarcastic comments and non-chalant attitude.  The director of the movie plays just enough mise-en-scene within the film just enough emphasis to deepen the character development.

There is an obviously relationship and symbolism between the modern and past, symbolizing the past technologies with modern technologies, along with previous generations with new generations.  We see this through the scene in which the former U.S Treasurer; The Dean of Harvard scoffs at the idea that a simple website like Facebook which allow’s teenagers to chat could scoff millions.  We also see this how, when Facebook start’s to become a hit, the investors want to primarily focus on advertising agencies to generate revenue while Mark disagree’s, promoting a new way of generating revenue.

One unique image that i wanted to point out was the image of the Old North Church, repeatedly brought up within the movie.  This church symbolizes the American revolution (it was where Paul Revere rode through to warn that the British were coming).  This iconic figure symbolizes the social network revolution which this generation is all apart off.

By studying the intricate detail and the mise-en-scene in the Social Network, one can easily see how this movie became a hit.

As implied and mentioned before, Social Networking in general provides the new manner of communication.  Now it is left to see who will lead this era of communication and in what manner they will lead; Google+’s emphasis on Engineering being key, or Facebook’s emphasis on Social Networking.

 

Do the Right thing scene analysis

As we all know that Do the right thing was a great movie directed by spike lee.  The meaning of the movie is to do what is socially and morally right.  Spike lee did a great job with the camera to get the point out to the viewers that he was trying to send.   I did a little research on some of spike lee’s movies and notice that each of his movies has a message that is socially and morally oriented.  Do you think the meaning of this movie was socially and morally oriented?

Cinematography can make or destroy a movie.  Spike lee uses the scene setup focus, and angle of the camera shot with partnership with the actor with their dialogue. In Sal’s pizzeria, Bugging’ Out asks him why he didn’t “put some pictures of brothers” on the walls. The shot was of Buggin’ Out, eating his slice and staring up at a wall filled with white actors.  To emphasize, the shot drew in tight, filling the screen with close shots of Stallone, Sinatra, and Di Nero-each in his own black-and-white close up.   Though the question had been directed to Sal, before he could respond, the camera pans to a startled-faced Mookie and the stunned expression frozen on the face of one of Sal’s sons.    We know what Sal thinks of the question and expect the response delivered in a voice and demeanor that leaves no doubt of how he feels about the opinions of his customers.

When Mookie tries to convince the mother of his child that she should trust him, her response is reinforced more by her gestures and how she says it than by what she says We understand her skepticism through the total picture of dialogue and body language caught by the camera. To get the point across to his viewers just how hot it is the heat becomes a character. Shot after shot, Lee shows us just how hot it is. Summer in Brooklyn, residents sitting where they can best catch any stray breeze that just happens to bluster their direction. Three old guys sit on the sidewalk in, what we just somehow know is, their favorite spots.  We feel the heat rising off the pavement even where we sit in the audience. The Mayor sits on the stoop Mother Sister, in a window and Mookie’s sister, Jade sits glued before an area fan. Out in the street, kids from age seven to twenty three jump and play, clothed in a pilfered stream from a fire hydrant.