Oh boy. Guess what's coming up for a re-watching. I don't know if I ever listened to the commentary for that. I will now. =)
Terminator will be baaaccckkk.
- Thread starter Aspiring Mogul
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Oh boy. Guess what's coming up for a re-watching. I don't know if I ever listened to the commentary for that. I will now. =)
Thanks, everyone.
Scoopicman, you discussed quite a bit about character development, but I've done quite a bit of research into that. I'm now looking at plot development, to see what I need - do you have anything else to tell me?
I recommend the 2nd book of the series - Save The Cat! Goes To The Movies. In it, 50 movies are placed into one of 10 categories:
Monster in the house
The Golden Fleece
Out of the bottle
Dude with a problem
Rites of passage
Buddy love
Whydunit
Fool triumphant
Institutionalized
Superhero
One of the movies in Superhero, is THE MATRIX. Blake goes into some nice detail about it's structure and he uses this outline (the beat sheet) for the movies covered.
1) Opening Image - Neo's computer screen.
2) Theme Stated - "Do you ever have the feeling that you're not sure if you are awake or dreaming?"
3) Set-Up - "You are my savior, man, my own personal Jesus Christ."
4) Catalyst - Keanu's workplace. Phone package arrives with Morpheus on the line.
5) Debate - "They're coming for you, Neo." In a series of refusals to believe, Neo drags his feet.
6) Break into Two (act 2) - Red pill, Blue pill. Neo makes his choice to go further.
7) B Story - The love story between Keanu and Carrie Anne Moss' characters.
8) Fun and Games - Keanu and Morpheus fight, explore rules of the Matrix.
9) Midpoint - Keanu's training ends. The Oracle tells Neo that he is not "the one."
10) Bad Guys Close In- Shoot out with the agents. Joe betrays the others and begins unplugging them.
11) All is Lost - Joe kills several crewmembers, Morpheus is captured.
12) Dark Night of the Soul - Crew must decide whether Morpheus should die.
13) Break into Three - A and B stories cross and Neo and Trinity decide to team up and save Morpheus.
14) Finale - Neo is chased and sees vision of the Matrix. He defeats the agents.
15) Final Image - Computer screen and warning phone call from Neo, who flies through the Matrix.
The book goes into more depth, but I'm listing the basic beats of what you would call the story structure. Robert McKee talks about "turns" in the story and where each scene should contribute to the plot or story, otherwise, it shouldn't be there.
I'm actually quite big into plot, in that I like to come up with the "high concept" idea, where the setting and conflict can be expressed on a box cover or poster. If you don't mind me writing very generally - I like something to happen, every 5 - 7 minutes. It could be scare, a chase, a fight, a death, etc. I like a mid-point twist and usually an end twist. I know these things, before writing my screenplay. Ideally, I like to start with something happening. JAWS does this with the night swim and attack. It's the scene (or inciting incident) that sets everything in motion. Even though the next incident doesn't happen for a little while, it holds your interest until then.
Obviously plot works better with character development. A lot of movies, where teenagers are being killed off by a madman, lack the development that makes you care about what happens to a character. Of course, Save The Cat refers to an action of the main character, doing something to convince you they are worth rooting for. Story and Plot can be a powerful thing when going hand in hand, as story defines the character who you care for in a fight.
Let's face it, I like Clint Eastwood movies where he plays Dirty Harry or a no name cowboy. His character isn't necessarily arcing, because he's already a bad-ass and we know he's going to defeat the bad guys. We still love these movies, though. Suspense happens when the bad guys beat him up and get the upper hand. We get caught up in the conflict and events (plot). He might meet a child or a love interest, or maybe he's just mad that men are laughing at his mule. The plot keeps our interest.
There are so many devices in filmmaking that can draw a viewer in. I always liked hearing Hitchcock talk about suspense. The audience sees a man place a bag under a table. The camera does an X-ray vision effect, where we can see that there is a bomb in the bag! A young guy and his girlfriend sit at the same table. They start to argue over their relationship. The girl wants to leave (the audience is saying "Good, just leave!"), but the guy calls her back to her chair. We don't necessarily need to know much about these characters for the scene to be interesting.
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^I think you need to start your own film analysis website. There's one I know already by a guy named Rob Ager but I've wanted to find someone else who does film analysis in an in depth way like he does.
I'll get the book, Scoopicman.
I may just do that - I'm forever overanalyzing everything.
I may just do that - I'm forever overanalyzing everything.
‘Game Of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke Set For ‘Terminator’ In Sarah Connor Role
http://www.deadline.com/2013/12/emilia-clarke-terminator-sarah-connor-role/
http://www.deadline.com/2013/12/emilia-clarke-terminator-sarah-connor-role/
"EXCLUSIVE: It’s official. Emilia Clarke will play Sarah Connor in the Terminator reboot, re-teaming with director Alan Taylor, who has worked with Clarke in the HBO series Game Of Thrones. Clarke joins Jason Clarke, who is in negotiations to play her son John Connor in a storyline I’ve heard involved a trip into the future. Deadline revealed that he was in talks earlier this week. Arnold Schwarzenegger is also back in his signature cyborg role."
I just borrowed the book - thanks, Scoopicman.
Great! I hope it helps you. What I like about it is that it uses so many (real movie) examples to illustrate the common structure beats. If you find it confusing, you may want to read the first Save The Cat, which introduces you to structure concepts.
I know of the idea that there are no new stories - Professor Joseph Campbell, who wrote, "Hero of a Thousand Faces", said that a long time ago. But I'm a little skeptical of that, because it cannot be disproven, and, if an idea cannot be disproven, it's a statement of faith.
That said, not everything can be know or proven, for reasons beyond the scope of this thread, so there is some truth to that idea.
I've begun reading it, and I'm thinking of starting a thread to review the book, so we can discuss it.
That said, not everything can be know or proven, for reasons beyond the scope of this thread, so there is some truth to that idea.
I've begun reading it, and I'm thinking of starting a thread to review the book, so we can discuss it.
Of course, I think there can be new stories. I'm in total agreement. Part of the reason to study established structure, is to learn how to make it different.