Three Act Structure "The Descent"

When it comes to film narrative structures one of the if not the most common is the Three Act Structure. An example that follows this template faithfully is The Descent, a 2005 film by Neil Marshall. The basic premise of the story follows a group of girlfriends exploring a cave system. They get trapped and realizing that no one knows they are down there the mood turns to a race against time. They further face a problem when discovering a humanoid breed of creatures they realize that they have also become preys. The film is an intense ride of adrenaline and survival.

The story starts out by introducing us to a group of characters and establishing the main character, a young mother who recently lost both her husband and daughter to a car accident. They gather together and are about to embark on a journey through some caverns. About thirty minutes into the film shortly after they descend down the cave we are confronted by a conflict. The cave collapses and they become trapped. The plot point of that act is that they have been tricked by one of the members of the group into thinking that they were exploring certain caverns when in fact the cave system has never been explored before. That ends the first act and we transition into the second act.

The second act is mainly about the conflict of them venturing, and trying to find a way out before the batteries on their lights run out. Soon one of the group memebers falls and breaks her leg, and then trough rising suspense we also come to realize that they might not be alone. In an act of desperation and disorientation as they are trying to find a way out the stumble accross animal reamains. Soon a new problem arises when they are attacked by some creatures. That is the second plot point that transitions us into the third and final act. This second act covers a time of thirty to forty minutes in the film.

In the third act things have become far more complicated than expected which in turn limits their chances for survival. Not only are they trapped with no visible way out, but they are also being hunted by some fiendish creatures. The film has now become a race against time and a fight for survival. The third act reaches the climax when only two of the group members reamain and being close to the way out, they are greeted by numbers of the creatures waiting to stop their exit. Both characters brutally battle the creatures and remain victorious. Then in a twist of revenge one of the girls stabs the other in the leg and leaves her to be attacked by the creatures. This  is the final plot point as the characters become aware of their personal conflicts. One has betrayed the other by having her husband (who is now dead) cheat on the main character. So the movie ends in the succesful escape of our main character. This all happening in the last twenty to twenty five minutes.

Below I have posted the trailer for the film.

The Descent (2005)trailer HD

Sitcomes

One of the main aspects of a sitcom is the fact that they happen episodically. Every episde is in a way unlike the last. Each time the sitcome comes on in tv there is a new theme, it doesn't follow on a storyline split in parts, but rathers a new story every time. In this case then there is no development of characters throughout the episodes, and the subject matter is often times reinvented as the show goes on.

A sitcom that I rather enjoy is one that stays true to that episodic nature. Family Guy is always reinventing itself. Every eposidoe though it might have the same characters as the last episode, is quite different. Each new half-hour is completely related to a new subject. Even though the episodes are different, there are things that we constantly see over and over again. Through the progression of the show we constantly see a some character trying to do the same thing. For example Stewie who is the baby in the family is constantly trying to kill his mother in most of the episodes we see. Below is a clip from the show itself...

http://video.adultswim.com/family-guy/taking-stewie-out.html

Shots and Scenes

My favorite movie of all time is The Piano, which is a film by Jane Campion. Perhaps one of  the most important shots in the film is a close up on Ada (played by Holly Hunter) as she leaves the piano behind sitting on the beach. Actually the first shot is that of the piano sitting on the beach, this is a long shot that works together with the close up on Ada's face. The long shot gives us the sense that Ada is far from it, and establishes the piano as something of great importance not only to Ada, but the entire film. As the shot goes from long to a close up of Ada we then become intimate with the character and through that intimacy we feel and understand her pain of having to leave behind her precious piano. Below is a video that displays the two shots. The shots go from minute 2:05 to 2:43.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEf6CD7azCE

While the two shots I talked about in that particular scene from The Piano are long and close up shots, another movie like Revolutionary Road (another favorite of mine) uses middle shots to relate to the audience. Most of the film is shot in middle shots, which help us relate to the characters. These shots are used to show how simple the live of the characters are which in a way is what the entire film is about. Both Frank and April Wheeler are trying to live interesting lives which seems impossible in suburbia where every day is the same as yesterday. In a particular scene after Frank reveals to April that he had been having an affair, they are having dinner with visitors in which most of the scene is in middle shot. This show how common and simple having dinner can be, and even though there is some conflict we still relate to the characters and their frustration due to the fact that we are on the same level as them. Below is a clip of the scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I-56Xyr0Bw

While shots alone can convey several meaning in film, the angles can also make a difference. For example in horror films angles are probably of monumental importance on their effect. One perfect example is a shot in Halloween (1978 version) in which we see Michael Myers look down at his victim from the rail of the second story of the house. The angle of this shot is effective because it gives the monster in this film (Michael Myers) power and therefore makes him much more scary that it otherwise could be. Below is the shot.

 

Studio System

A particular aspect of the old Hollywood studio system that was fundamental to the movies made in that time was the vertical integration of the studios. Vertical integration is regarded as the control of the studios over all the aspects of making the film from begginning to end. This integration allowed the studios to make the films and be 100% involved in aspects such as distributions, advertising, and production.

I think that one of the effects of this so called "vertical integration" on films themselves was the adoption of a genre by a studio. What this means is that you could tell the studio behind a film by simply looking at what type of genre it fit under. This gave each studio its own style of making a film for in a way you could associate any singular genre to single studio.

A perfect example is the creation of popular cartoons by Warner Brothers studio. The Looney Tunes were throughout decades and even after to Golden Age of Hollywood been associated with the image of Warner Brothers. Warner Brothers as a studio adopted the genre of family entertainment as seen in some of their cartoons and their logo with Bugs Bunny at the opening of some of their films.

Here is a clip from one of their early cartoons and the Bugs Bunny opening logo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCjMEUBEFFI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkPrwZzI41k

All In The Family and Still Standing

Still Standing is a comtemporary family show that follows the lives of two parents and their teenage children,  but unlike All In The Family the show focuses more on the aspects of parenting in a family rather than social issues. All In The Family didn't seem to have any children or teenagers involved which is central to the humor in Still Standing. Also, All In The Family, specially the episode we watched, seemed aimed at an older audience than Still Standing which aims at high school students for the audience.

Though Still Standing is different in several ways than All In The Family, there are still similar aspects shared by both. As we observe on the episode of All In The Family, the show dealed with relevant issues of that time like discrimination and prejudices which are still relevant today but not as heavily. Still Standing as it may be targeted for a younger audience it still deals with issues relevant to that younger audience. Issues like the hardships of high school and what parents may go through with their teenagers.

On the other hand All In The Family touches on a subject that is hardly if not at all seen in Still Standing. Gender issues are clearly highlighted through Archie's macho attitude, like his definition of a man (all strenght). These issues of the assumed superiority of men over women are hardly relevant in Still Standing since the mother is depicted as more intelligent than the father.

Below is a clip of the show Still Standing...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba-UNX2gTt8