Interconnectedness of Story World

A movie is first and foremost a story. While real life is not known for always making sense, it's different for movies. The viewer expects a movie to make sense... For everything in the story to make sense within the framework of the story.

So, good movies try to keep this in mind... There is an interconnectedness of the story world.

Everything from props to setting to costume to plot. They all there to augment story. Let's take for our example the movie Strangers on a Train (1951).

The movie revolves around a murder plot. When you first meet the murder victim, we see her wearing glasses. Now, she's not your stereotypical bookish librarian by any stretch of the imagination. Actually, she's portrayed as just the opposite. Which makes the choice of having her wear thick glasses seem odd.

But it's no mistake. Those glasses play their own part in the story. First as a tool of the filmmaker in showing the murder (see photo); but later also -- and more importantly -- in the party scene (won't give the story away here; watch the movie).

So, when a script is still in the writing stage, the screenwriter must keep all these details in mind. One change can very well affect the rest of the movie. Change a plot point on page 10 and you may have a problem on page 79. (Get rid of those glasses, and you have to fix the later scenes.)

The fictional world of the story must be internally consistent. A plot hole could very well break the spell of the story.

Film Course Coming to Niagara Falls

Some Quick Facts at a Glance:
-- a 7-week seminar -- February 6 to March 19, 2012
-- Monday evenings, beginning at 6 pm (3 hour class)
-- Will present a comprehensive theoretical overview of the filmmaking process
-- Course Objective: to provide a foundational sense of how filmmaking positions function and interact with each other
-- Topics include: The History of Film, Production, Pre-Production, the Creative Process, the Visual Cinematographic and the Audio sound-scape component of filmmaking, finally Post-Production the art of editing, distribution, etc.
-- at Transitions College in Niagara Falls, Ontario

To register, call Transitions College

905-358-7760

TRANSITIONS COLLEGE
of Business & Career Studies -- Niagara Falls Campus
4635 Queen Street, Niagara Falls, Ontario
http://www.transitionscollege.ca

Can't view the video above? Go to our youtube channel: http://youtu.be/c8yU4D75eYI

Top Blog Posts of 2011

Our final blog post of the year... Here's a look back at the top ten most popular blog posts of 2011...

#1 -- Sunday Screening
Some snapshots from last week's screening of Under Jakob's Ladder at the Manhattan Film Festival on Sunday, July 24th... Read more

#2 -- Monday Screening
Another round of snapshots from last week's screening of Under Jakob's Ladder at the Manhattan Film Festival on Monday, July 25th... Read more

#3 -- Porky Pig was a Method Actor
There are all sorts of actors out there. One type is the method actor. That's the actor who becomes the character they are playing... Read more

#4 -- What's the Buzz, Jeff?
Jeff Stewart's been getting a lot of press recently for his award win at the Manhattan Film Festival for the role of Jakob in Under Jakob's Ladder... Read more

#5 -- The Backstory of Star Wars
If you think about it, the Star Wars prequels are basically just backstory... Read more

#6 -- Drama and the Third Show
Yes, we've always known that Under Jakob's Ladder is a drama. But we never planned to have all this drama surrounding the third screening... Read more

#7 -- When Surprise becomes Dramatic Irony
In an earlier blog post, we talked about the use of surprise in filmmaking. We mentioned that maybe surprise isn't all it's cracked up to be. Surprise is related to mystery. Think about a birthday package... Read more

#8 -- The Camera Lies, You Know
When it came to understanding the camera, Hitchcock was a master. He had all sorts of tricks up his sleeve. But sometimes the people working with him didn't understand his "sleight of hand"... Read more

#9 -- Chaplin's World of Sound
Charlie Chaplin became world famous in the era of pantomime. When movies were silent. (Even now, most people would probably be able to recognize his "Little Tramp".) But, Chaplin had trouble when the reality of sound came to the movies... Read more

#10 -- Marta
Jakob's granddaughter was present the night Jakob was taken in 1938. She never saw him again. One of her greatest wishes was to be reunited with her grandfather. At the age of 84, she has finally made that journey... Read more

Here's to the coming new year...

[Photo by M.V. Jantzen]

From Flop to Christmas Classic

You'll be hard-pressed to find a Christmas Top Ten movie list without It's a Wonderful Life on it.

However, when It's a Wonderful Life first came out in the theatres in 1946, it didn't do very well at the box office. (Okay, it wasn't really what you'd call a flop. It did make over $3 million, but that was not enough to recoup what it cost to make the movie.)

Blame it on the Christmas weather (it was released on Dec 20th). Blame on the people who thought it was "too dark" for a Christmas movie (the movie does open with an attempted suicide).

It's one of those films that would have been lost in some film vault.

Except for one thing.

The film fell into the public domain. Television picked it up and played it every Christmas season in the 1970s and 80s...

Making the movie a Christmas classic.

Ray Bradbury's Interpretation

When it comes to storytelling, everybody's an expert.

That's what author Ray Bradbury found out. And he didn't particularly like it when others began telling him what his stories meant. Or what they should mean...

The occasion was an assembly at UCLA where Bradbury was asked to speak. When the students began to insist that his book, the famed Fahrenheit 451, is about government censorship, Bradbury just got up and walked out.

Anyone in creative work deals with interpretation. What does the shark represent in Jaws? What about the feather in Forrest Gump? Or the fact that To Kill a Mockingbird was filmed in black and white?

Bradbury's reaction to those students was basically to dismiss the reader's interpretation. (Or at least dismiss such interpretations when the readers are so egotistical to insist to the author's face what the author meant, when said author denies trying to convey that message.)

The question is, can someone get something out of a movie that the filmmaker didn't intend? Well, it's done all the time. Probably because different things don't always mean the same to everybody. Director Spike Lee is often quoted as saying: "A lot of times you get credit for stuff in your movies you didn't intend to be there."

That just the way things are.

[Photo by pcorreia]

Plot Holes and the Icebox Syndrome

Ever heard of the Icebox Syndrome?

Alfred Hitchcock talked about it in this way: It has to do when a movie has a plot hole. In other words, something in the plot doesn't really make sense.

Here's how Hitchcock explained it all:

"I leave [plot] holes in my films deliberately, so that the following scenario can take place in countless homes. The man of the house gets out of bed in the middle of the night, and goes down stairs and takes a chicken leg out of the icebox. His wife follows him down and asks what he's doing. 'You know,' he says, 'there's a hole in that film we saw tonight.' 'No there isn't' she says, and they fall to arguing. As a result of which they go to see it again."

This explanation is the filmmaker's dream, right? (That way, there's no need to worry about plot holes ever again!)

Of course, this tongue-in-cheek "Icebox Syndrome" was really just classic Hitchcock deflection of criticism toward his movies. But, if you think about it, every film has some sort of plot hole... Even if it's just part of the back story behind the movie being watched. These are information "holes" the audience has to fill in themselves. It's not necessarily a bad thing.

It's just that some holes are just bigger than others. The key is to make sure the plot holes that do exist don't detract too much from the movie. What Hitchcock had going for him is that, even with plot holes, people still enjoyed his movies.

Cartoons and Moviemaking

Animated movies can be a great tool for filmmakers...

Here's what writer/director David Mamet says about it:

"Cartoons are very good to watch--are much better to watch, for people who want to direct, than movies... It wasn't any more expensive to draw it from a high angle or from a long angle. They didn't have to keep actors late to draw a hundred people rather than one person... Everything was based on imagination."

No, we aren't animators (at least we haven't tried tackling that yet.) But we'll agree that cartoons, animated movies, and graphic novels all prove to be great inspiration when it comes down to moviemaking.

[Photo by docpop]

No "Think" Gags

Mack Sennett was the name behind those famous Keystone Cops. And in the early days of silent film, he was the undisputed king of comedy.

And Mack Sennett had one rule for his gag writers: No "think" gags allowed.

The explanation went something like this: When the audience is thinking, they can't be laughing. (Mack Sennett obviously did not believe in multitasking.)

The punchline of the joke has to be a gut reaction. And if you're being forced to think about it... you'll probably miss the joke. Which is the whole idea behind slapstick comedy. When you see that cream pie, you know that it's gonna end up in someone's face. And usually the face of someone serious, like the President of the United States, or the old lady librarian. 

A young Frank Capra spent some of his early filmmaking days working for Sennett. In his autobiography, when he discussed this phase of his career, he pointed out a flip side that is also true: "When the audience is laughing, they can't be thinking."

A Funny Way to be Serious

Film mogul, Sam Goldwyn, is often quoted as saying: "If you want to send a message, use Western Union."

Which basically is saying that movies have no other point than to entertain. And when most people think of a movie that is made for pure entertainment, they probably think of comedy, right?

Well, there does seem to be a plethora of comedies that would certainly fit nicely into this category.

However, for every proverb there is an anti-proverb; and every quote has an "anti-quote"... Actor Peter Ustinov is quoted as saying: "Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious."

Ustinov has a point. You can deal with a serious or solemn topic in a comedy. (Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove comes to mind.)

But Goldwyn's point is that most people don't want to equate movies with sitting in a classroom. If there's an obvious "lesson to be learned", than they'd rather be somewhere else. On the other hand, there are people who want movies to be more than just plain fluff.

A good movie will work on various levels... Like the aforementioned Dr. Strangelove (1964). As a political satire, it's trying to make a point about the very serious topic of nuclear warfare. On the other hand, you can enjoy the movie for its pure entertainment.

The best of both worlds.

[Photo by Peter Lee]

Location Scouting

Just a few photos from our location scouting last week... (We're currently in pre-production for a new feature film.)