Blog Post #8- Looking at the 3 Act Structure Through a Secret Window

   In film making, the most common plot structure is the Three Act Structure. Good for telling quest stories, it is characterized by a series of plot points leading up to a major climax at the end of the film. It is broken up into three acts, each escalating the stakes and asking a question that the next act answers. In the spirit of Halloween, I decided to apply this structure to one of my favorite thrillers, David Koepp's Secret Window.

   The first act is the introductory act. It presents the protagonist's current situation, introducing the plot of the film. In Secret Window, Mort Rainey is struggling from writer's block during a rocky divorce with a cheating wife when he is accused of plagiarism by a man he's never met, John Shooter. The first question is how Mort is going to prove to this crazed accuser that his story was published before Shooter wrote his. Shooter gives Mort three days to get the magazine his story was published in from his ex-wife, and he'll be back. (21:11)

Shooter Threatens Mort

   As soon as this three day warning is given, Shooter begins to make sure Mort realizes how serious he is about his threat. He kills his dog, threatens to kill his ex-wife, burns down her house, and continues to raise the stakes by framing Mort in the murder of his bodyguard and the only witness to him being there. All Shooter wants is for Mort to fix the ending of the story, and he issues another warning. If Mort talks to the police or doesn't show up with the magazine that he has sworn he has, Shooter will kill him. When Mort discovers that the story is missing from the magazine (74:29), the next question is presented: how will he avoid Shooters promised assassination?
   The resolution act is what makes this film brilliant. Mort begins to talk to himself. He realizes that the only way to please Shooter is to fix the ending of the story in which the character kills his wife and buries her in the garden. Then out of nowhere, the climax is presented. Mort is Shooter. He invented him in his mind. His wife shows up at the house to finalize the divorce papers, and Mort makes the major decision of the entire plot. He's going to fix the ending (80:00). He's going to kill her and bury her in the garden she once kept.
   The film ends with the sheriff talking to Mort about staying out of town, since, though no proof can be found, the townspeople know he killed his ex-wife and her new lover.
   "You know, the only thing that matters is the ending. It's the most important part of the story, the ending. And this one... is very good. This one's perfect."

Blog Post #7- The Episodic Psych-ology

   When it comes to entertainment television, sitcoms are king. Usually shown in the prime TV watching hours of the day, they draw in some of the largest audiences the networks see. What is so enticing about these crowd pleasing programs? Well primarily, each episode is like a miniature movie. Americans love their films, but why pay money and waste two hours when you can watch a half hour movie on you television? This episodic nature is essential to the sitcom world. Each week presents a new plot, in which there is a opening action, build, climax, and resolution. The beauty of this is that most episodes end where they began, so even people who aren't familiar with a program and enjoy a well thought out story. By being episodic, sitcoms become universal mediums for entertainment that anyone can enjoy, and therefore networks make more profit.
   One of my favorite sitcoms is USA network's Psych. In this program, a hyper-observant smart alec pretends to be a psychic and begins doing work as a detective for the Santa Barbara Police Force with his lifelong best friend. Whether they are investigating a missing mummy from the local museum or a mysterious death during the civil war reenactment, each episode is unique and could stand alone as its own story. These short, one hour segments of the characters' lives contain suspense, action, comedy, and sometimes even romance. It incorporates recent episodes for longtime watchers, but not to an extent where first timers would be confused. It pulls first time viewers in, but what makes this series so fantastic is that though it is episodic, and each episode is enjoyable on its own, it develops in a way that keeps long time admirers interested. It is truly one of the best shows in modern television.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOOZ1CGE5XU&NR=1

Credits: USA Network; www.youtube.com

Blog Post #6- The Garden State Of Frame

   In film and cinematography, editing is used to portray a theme. A long shot generally signifies sadness, loneliness, or isolation. A medium shot is a relationship shot in which a relationship between two or more people is portrayed. A close up shows a specific character's emotions, thoughts, or feelings.
   In Zach Braff's Garden State, a particular scene comes to mind that does a terrific job of using the long, medium, and close up shots. Sam and Large are burying Sam's pet hamster, and Large is telling her of his mother's recent death.

   The use of a medium shot shows how they bond over a mutual loss, each coping in their own way to the death of a loved one. This shot puts them at the same level, showing how they are in the same state of mind and establishing a relationship of trust between them.
   Then a close up is done on Sam as she begins to cry about the harshness of life and what she refers to as "real life tragedy." This demonstrates the emotional impact Large's story and the loss of her pet have on her.
   As they cover the hamster with dirt, the camera zooms out to show Sam and Large alone in the pet cemetery. This presents the idea that they both are hurt from their personal losses which isolates them from the rest of the world. The shot makes it seem like, at this moment, the only people that understand their pain is themselves. The only other people they have is each other.

Blog Post #5 - The Studio System and Roaming Actors

   Since the early days of film, studios have been used for shooting because it was convenient for production companies and, of course, less costly. These studios eliminated the need for location scouting and transportation for actors and crew. It also set up a central location for all production, which made monitoring multiple "in-production" films much simpler.
   Most importantly, however, was the centralization of actors. Since multiple films could be shot in a studio, the big stars could, in a sense, roam. A name like John Wayne or Humphrey Bogart could be in multiple films per year since each set was in the same studio as that of another film. Because of this, many studios became genre based. Instead of a studio making westerns and gangster films, they would choose one, find a big star, and practically build the studio around them. For example, because each was shot in the same general area, John Wayne was able to be in eleven films in 1933, a feat nearly insurmountable by modern actors and actresses. Wayne had to do very little traveling, and could just step in, play the part, and move on to the next picture. This allowed a production company to make more films per year and thus increase their overall profits.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000078/

Blog Post #4 - The Oxymoron that is Desensatization and Political Correctness

    "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..."

                                                                                     -Thomas Jefferson

    As America has moved forward as a culture, we have become increasingly adjusted to the idea presented in the Declaration of Independence that all of mankind is on equal ground. Through media studies, we observe the progression of the desensitization and normalization of our differences, and how things once controversial are now seen as being another facet of everyday life.
    In the screened episode of "All In The Family", the key issue presented is homosexuality. At the time, this subject was avoided and even considered to be somewhat racey. Through the use of  discriminatory terms and prejudice, homosexuality is made out to be a negative and even criticisable practice. Though the overall message of the program was to show that homosexuals are regular people that can't be stereotyped, the process in forming the message was something modern day tv shows would get sued for.
   As we move forward as a culture, discrimination is becoming increasingly less common. Now we have shows like "Modern Family" in which the loving couple that serves as the protagonists are both males. Today's television shows still look for subjects that interest people in their controversy, like homosexuality in "All In The Family", but they are also much more delicate as to not offend anyone. With the normalization of our differences came the beginning of using politically correct terminology (P.C.) in refering to specific groups. Where Archie refers to homosexuals as "fags" or "fairies," modern shows would get in deep trouble for promoting prejudice over the airwaves by using derrogatory language.
    Television shows search for issues that are cultually relevant at that time. At the time of All in the Family, it was homosexuality. Today, you could say that the shows with the highest ratings are losely based arond sex. In the older shows, they were mostly self censored, but in today's society, censorship is a force to be reconed with.
    Every year we move closer to the society Jefferson imagined, and this progression can almost always be detected when studying  popular media of that time. Whether it be the homophobic nature of the 1970's to the sexual obsession of modern day, by evaluating media, we can create an accurate sketch of American culture at that time.