3 Act Structure

        According to Prof. Ramirez-Berg’s lecture, the three types of movie narratives used in films are “Classical Tragedy”, “Three Act Structure”, and “Alternative”.  However, the most commonly used movie narrative structure in Hollywood is the “Three Act Structure”.  This structure is mainly broken down into three acts.  In Act I, the film sets up the storyline by introducing the main characters and displaying any dramatic situations in the first 30 minutes. Afterwards, Act II, which is 30-60 minutes long, introduces the complications that the characters are facing in the film as they try to meet their goals. And finally, in Act III, the characters reach the resolution stage in which the conflicts they faced are finally resolved in the last 30 minutes of the film. A great example of a film that follows this “Three Act Structure” is the movie Armageddon.

         For example, in Armageddon, the first act of the film introduces the audience to the destruction of the space shuttle Atlantis after a meteor shower hits the ship while trying to repair a satellite in space. As the scene continues, it shows more meteor showers bombarding the city of New York along with other parts of the world. In the mist of these incidents NASA realizes that an asteroid the size of Texas will hit earth in 18 days, potentially causing the destruction of the planet. In order to destroy this asteroid, NASA contracts the help of Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis) and his crew of oil drillers (AJ, Bear, Oscar, etc) to drill 800ft below the surface of the asteroid and place a nuclear bomb to blow it up. At this point in the film, the mini-climax arrives when the two space shuttles Freedom and Independence depart and are in the middle of landing in the asteroid.

  

In the second act, we witness the complication part of the film when the space shuttle Independence was struck by the flying debris that caused it to crash land on the asteroid killing Oscar, Freddie, and the astronaut pilots and leaving only AJ, Bear, and Lev alive.  Assuming that everybody in the Independence crew is dead, the Freedom crew is left alone to drill 800ft. In the mist of this situation, the president of the United States fears that the job will not be done well and gives direct order to detonate the bomb to destroy asteroid.  However, with the help of Colonel Sharp, Harry Stamper is able to deactivate the bomb and continues drilling.  On the other hand, after only 250ft left to drill, the drilling machine was blown away, killing Max in the process.  At this point, the Freedom crew along with NASA, felt that this mission was a failure and that earth was doomed for destruction.

However, in Act III, Freedom notices that the surviving members of the Independence crew (AJ, Bear, and Lav) are alive as they drive the second drilling machine to the site.  They are then able to drill the hole to 800ft and place the bomb.  But due to a rock storm, the bomb remote is damage forcing one of the crewmembers to stay behind to detonate the bomb.  This is the point in the film that the climax arises. For instance, after drawing straws, AJ is chosen to stay behind to detonate the bomb. But as Harry takes AJ down the shuttles elevator, he disables AJ’s air supply. Harry then takes his place, and tells AJ to marry and take care of his daughter. As the shuttle Freedom leaves with everyone, Harry communicates with his daughter for the last time, before he pushes the bomb detonator that destroys the asteroid. After the asteroid is destroyed, the Freedom crew along with the Independence surviving crew returns to Earth. AJ reunites with Harry’s daughter Grace and get married.

Episodic Sitcoms: "The Big Bang Theory"

           Television sitcoms are characterized as either episodic or serial.  According to Colin Tain’s lecture, today there are more episodic sitcoms that consist of only half an hour episodes.   These episodes are usually framed to end where they first began, allowing the characters to learn important lessons as they resolve specific situations. For example, every episode in the show focuses on bringing about or touching upon certain issues that typically affect our society.  Thus, these episodic sitcoms allow the audiences to pick up these lessons as the plot becomes more predictable.  In other words, the audiences are able to familiarize and connect with the characters as their traits become more distinguishable.  However, at many times sitcoms are simply made to poke fun of certain parts of society or at person’s unusual personality to allow the audience to forget about society’s everyday problems.

One great example of an episodic sitcom that is comical due to its characters unusual personality is “The Big Bang Theory.” This show is one of my favorite sitcoms because of its comedic characters and setting.  For instance, this sitcom’s storyline revolves around the lives of two physicists named Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper who happen to be roommates and best friends.  Most of the times Leonard and Sheldon are faced with situations that test their friendship due to Sheldon’s crazy, naïve, and unconventional personality. Usually, it is Sheldon who brings humor to this show with the manner in which he carries conversations with his friends.  For example, he always brutally honest about things and speaks his mind unaware if he is hurting his friends feelings, due to how disconnected he is from the world.  However, by the end of each episode, their friendship survives Sheldon’s outrages ideas and actions.

Overall, “The Big Bang Theory” show allows their audience to enjoy a fun sitcom that allows them to have forget about society’s problems and just focus on the character’s outrages personality.

The Blind Side: Basic Shot Progression

         The Blind Side, directed and written by John Lee Hancock is one of my all time favorite films.  This film is based upon the life of Baltimore Raven’s offensive lineman Michael Oher.  This film captures the struggles and hardships that Michael faced growing up as he dealt with poverty and abandonment in a crime driven environment. Additionally, it shows the dramatic changes that his life underwent when he met the Touhy family.  In the film, the use of Long Shots, Medium Shots, and Close-Up Shots were important because they help present the storyline for this film.

         In the first scene of the film, Michael Oher is introduced to the audience using a Long Shot.   The connotative meaning of the LS/Orientation Shot in this scene show us the type of neighborhood Michael lived in.  For instance, it shows us that Michael lived in the projects in the poor side of town of Memphis, Tennessee.  At the same time, this LS scene establishes the sadness, isolation, and loneliness that Michael feels within him.  This scene is then followed by a Medium Shot, in which the audience is now able to see the pain inflicted on Michael face. Like, Professor Ramirez-Berg mention, the MS is important because it gives us the visual information of Michael’s character as it narrows the center of interest on him.

         

Another great example of shot progressing within the film, is the scene in which Sean and Leigh Anne Touhy see Michael walking in the rain on the side of the road.  In this scene the Long Shot of Michael walking all alone in the freezing rain, show the audience once more the pain, sadness, and isolation that Michael is feeling as he has no place to go or no one to turn to for help.  In this same scene, we also have several close up shots of Leigh Anne.  For example, we have a close up of Leigh Anne as she notices Michael walking alone in the freezing rain and she gets off the car to help him out.  These close up shots are important because it sets up the emotions and feelings of the character.  In Leigh Anne’s case, it show her concerned for Michael and her willingness to lend him a hand.

Star System in Classical Hollywood

During the Classical Hollywood era, studio systems controlled all aspects of American film production.  Studios where known to be vertically integrated, allowing them to own all stages of production, distribution, and exhibition.  I think that one significant aspect of the studio system was the star system, in which production studios contracted and used their stars to promote and sell their films.  Studios discovered this was an affective technique because they realized that people went to see their films because of the stars that were featured in it.

As studios discovered and contracted their stars, they also associated them with a specific genre.  From this point forward, studios would have their stars interpret the same type of character in different films at a time.  This in many ways affected the kinds of films studios made because the stars success in a specific film would then decide the type of genre that production studios would focus on.

One great example of the star system would be the character of Charlie Chaplin.  During his acting career, Charlie Chaplin always acted in movies by only using gestures and action.  He was well known for his visual comedy during the silent film era, in films such as, “Modern Times”, “The Great Dictator”, and “Gold Rush".  He basically demonstrated how studios used stars to represent a specific genre in their films.

“All in the Family” VS “That ‘70s Show”

Throughout the years, television comedy sitcoms have been a very popular form of entertainment for many people.  Since it first began in the 1950s, sitcoms have focused on tackling down important societal issues as well as conflicts that typical American families go through.  Although much has changed since sitcoms first started, today many still continue to follow the same basic concepts.  “All in the Family” which aired in CBS in 1971, is one of many family sitcoms of its time that illustrated the concerns that many people in society at that time had with the issues regarding race, gender, and sexuality.  Much of the shows humor comes from the way in which the characters, in especially Archie Bunker, embrace society’s stereotypes.   In the episode screen last Thursday, the character of Archie Bunker showed a bigot World War II veteran whose tolerance for homosexuals was completely unacceptable.

In great part, “All in the Family” reminded me much of the sitcom “That ‘70s Show.”  Like Archie, Red Forman is also a World War II veteran who in many ways takes the idea of manhood very seriously.  For instance, he does not tolerate men who demonstrate sensitivity and do not follow the ideal “macho” stereotype.  In the episode “We will Rock you,” Red Forman demonstrates his discomfort for homosexuals as he sees his new neighbors kissing in his living room.  In addition, while Red and Archie share the same ideas regarding sexuality, their personalities are very much similar to one another.  Red and Archie illustrate the hardworking and hardcore discipline dad figures that are the structure of the family.  Most of the times they are very opinionated and grumpy individuals who always think they are right about everything.  What is most surprising is how both of their appearances are almost similar to one another. Overall, “That ‘70s show” is similar to “All in the Family” in that it demonstrates the everyday conflicts that a typical American family goes through and how they deal with stereotypes in society.  

However, while the sitcom “That ‘70s Show” is somewhat similar to “All in the Family”, it is also very different.  “That ‘70s Show” which aired in FOX in 1998 portrayed life in the 1970s, while the sitcom “All in the Family” was actually produced in the 1970s.  In addition, “That ‘70s Show” deals much more with the life experiences of the teenagers, Eric, Donna, Hyde, Kelso, Jackie, and Fez.  Much different than the sitcom “All in the Family”, this show incorporated all different types racial background characters like Fez, who is a foreign exchange student.  In addition, I think that the character of Red Forman a little bit different than Archie in that he at times is a little soft when it comes to his daughter Laurie, while Archie isn’t.

         While both sitcoms are portraying life in the 70s, I think that the main difference these two sitcom shows have is the issues they represent. In “That ‘70s Show”, there are more issues regarding drug use, feminism, economic recession, and family unity.  On the contrary, “All in the Family” focuses more on issues of race and homosexuality.