Film class

Principles of Film and Drama Analysis

  • Definition of Drama: As stated by director Alfred Hitchcock, drama can be succinctly defined as "life with the dull bits cut out."
  • The Portraiture Movement: In theater and film, the "portraiture" or "slice-of-life" movement focuses on realistic, everyday human interactions where little to no formal plot progression occurs. A common criticism of portraiture plays is that they often devolve into characters simply sitting around talking without narrative momentum or dramatic action.
  • Film vs. Prose and Theater:
    • Film shares structural traits with short stories, prose, and plays.
    • Unlike written prose, film cannot be frozen on a printed page; it relies fundamentally on nonverbal visual elements, temporal movement, and auditory cues.

Narrative Credibility and Aristotle's Three Truths

  • Unified Plot: A strong narrative requires a unified plot, defined as a single thread of continuous action that maintains storyline credibility.
  • Aristotle's Poetics: Written and delivered as lectures a couple hundred years prior to the incarnation of Christ, Aristotle's Poetics analyzed existing Greek dramatic works (such as Sophocles' Oedipus Rex) to formalize the foundational principles of dramatic structure. Aristotle outlined three distinct levels of narrative truth:

Aristotelian Dramatic Truths={External Observable Truths(The way things really are)Internal Truths of Human Nature(The way things are supposed to be)Artistic Semblance of Truth(The way things never were and never will be)\text{Aristotelian Dramatic Truths} = \begin{cases} \text{External Observable Truths} & \text{(The way things really are)} \\ \text{Internal Truths of Human Nature} & \text{(The way things are supposed to be)} \\ \text{Artistic Semblance of Truth} & \text{(The way things never were and never will be)} \end{cases}

1. External Observable Truths
  • Represents the objective, un-prettied reality of human behavior and real-world facts.
  • Example (Biopics & Real-Life Figures): Anthony Bourdain ("Tony") lived a youth marked by lying, stealing, and terrible behavior before reforming later in life. Similarly, the film Marty Supreme (starring Timothée Chalamet) presents an uncompromising, unlikable depiction of a real-world figure. Biopics maintain external observable truth when they refuse to sanitize the negative traits of historical figures.
2. Internal Truths of Human Nature
  • Represents psychological authenticity and moral/emotional expectations of human behavior.
  • Explores how individuals operate internally and how societal or ethical standards dictate conduct.
3. Artistic Semblance of Truth
  • Represents fantastical or fictional premises that remain truthful to human emotion despite being factually impossible.
  • Universal Emotional Truths in Fantasy:
    • In Spider-Man: No Way Home / Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Doctor Strange casts a spell erasing all global memories of Peter Parker. When Peter encounters Yelena Belova (Black Widow) wearing his mask, she calls him "sad man." Although MJ (played by Zendaya) has zero memory of Peter, his realization that love cannot be forced highlights a universal internal truth: true affection cannot be coerced or manufactured.
    • In all adaptations of Aladdin, the Genie explicitly states a fundamental rule: he cannot force anyone to fall in love. Fictional plots that violate this principle (e.g., Obsession, where magical tools are used to compel affection) inevitably end in disaster.

Screenplay Analysis and Case Studies

Case Study 1: The Descendants
  • Accolades: Won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
  • Screenwriters: Co-written by Jim Rash (who played Dean Pelton on the NBC sitcom Community) and Nat Faxon (known for his acting role on the Friends spin-off Joey).
  • Plot & Conflict: George Clooney plays a man whose wife is in an irreversible coma following an accident. He subsequently discovers she was having an extramarital affair with a man named Brian Speer (played by Matthew Lillard).
  • Key Scene Breakdown (Confrontation Scene):
    • Setting: Clooney confronts Lillard regarding the affair.
    • Dialogue Highlights:
    • Clooney inquires where they met: A Super Bowl party at the Mitchells'.
    • Lillard attempts to defend himself: "Nothing just happens. Everything just happens."
    • Clooney exposes Lillard's true motivation: "Did she say that she loved you? Do you love her? You don't love her… You were just using her to get to me."
    • Lillard admits to the superficiality of the affair: "It was an affair. And it tracked with sex… At least I didn't say no to things that I should have. I love my family."
    • Subtextual Nuance: Clooney asks, "Have you ever been inside my bedroom?" The underlying subtext of the question is: Have you had sex with my wife in my home, in my bed? Lillard initially responds "Once." Clooney remarks, "You could have had the decency to lie," prompting Lillard to admit, "Twice."
Case Study 2: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
  • Director & Context: Directed by Frank Capra, a devout Christian who embedded the Golden Rule ("Love thy neighbor") into the moral framework of the film. Included on the American Film Institute (AFI) 100 list.
  • Lead Performance: Features Jimmy Stewart playing an idealized, salt-of-the-earth everyman (a precursor to actors like Tom Hanks). A modern biopic about Stewart stars KJ Apa.
  • Thematic Resonance: Illustrates internal truths regarding civic duty and human integrity amidst institutional decay. Stewart's character, Jefferson Smith, executes a real talking filibuster on the Senate floor to combat political corruption:
    • "I guess this is just another lost cause, Mr. Payne… Because of just one plain simple rule: love thy neighbor… You fight for the lost causes harder than for any others. Yes, you even die for them."
Case Study 3: Doctor Strange
  • Director: Co-written and directed by Scott Derrickson (a Christian alumnus of Biola University who also directed The Black Phone).
  • Thematic Resonance: Highlights the artistic semblance of truth by contrasting materialist skepticism with metaphysical reality.
  • Key Scene Breakdown:
    • Dr. Stephen Strange dismisses mystical healing: "I reject it because I do not believe in fairy tales about chakras or energy or the power of belief. There is no such thing as spirit. We are made of matter and nothing more than just another tiny momentary speck within an indifferent universe."
    • The Ancient One responds by physically pushing Strange's astral form out of his physical body. When Strange frantically asks if his tea was laced with psilocybin or LSD, the Ancient One reveals: "It's just tea. A little honey."

Principles of Narrative Engagement and Titling

Dual Drivers of Audience Interest

Audience engagement is governed by two primary factors:

  1. Curiosity: The intellectual desire to know what happens next.
  2. Concern: Emotional investment in the safety and well-being of the characters.
  • Mindless Action: High-budget blockbusters often fail when special effects and explosions replace genuine curiosity and concern. Repeated visual spectacle without emotional stakes results in audience boredom.
  • Clarity vs. Confusion: Confusion is the enemy of clarity. Simple yet complex narratives work best; if an audience becomes fundamentally confused, they check out intellectually or turn off the film.
  • Emotional Restraint: Actors and screenplays must handle high emotional stakes with restraint. Over-emoting signals artificiality (parodied in Wayne's World with superimposed "Oscar Clip" graphics). For instance, in Magnolia, Tom Cruise's character over-emotes at the deathbed of his estranged father; visible acting detracts from overall narrative immersion.
Significance of Movie Titles

Titles serve as the primary narrative framing device for an audience:

  • Saving Private Ryan: Expresses the core plot objective directly (three brothers killed in action; military unit dispatched to rescue the fourth).
  • Unbreakable: Directly defines the main character's core superpower (invulnerability).
  • The Matrix: Defines the underlying central conceit (a simulated reality created by machines to harvest human energy).
  • Grand Canyon: Acts as a central metaphor for the vast social divide between contemporary individuals, emphasizing the search for transcendence and spiritual connection in a fallen world.
  • About Schmidt: Explicitly centers the narrative on the internal crisis of a newly retired widower.
  • Speed: High-concept title matching a high-concept plot.
    • Sequel Failure: Speed 2: Cruise Control failed narrative and commercial expectations because setting the film on a cruise ship eliminated tension. Hydrodynamically, the speed of a vessel is directly proportional to its length (Velocity∝Length\text{Velocity} \propto \text{Length}), yet a cruise ship inherently lacks the immediate visual urgency of a city bus.
    • Cast Trajectory: Stars Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock (who received third billing). Bullock later won an Oscar and headlined blockbusters like The Proposal (with Ryan Reynolds) and The Blind Side (with Tim McGraw).
  • Cop Gives Waitress $2,000,000 Tip* vs. *It Could Happen to You:
    • Based on the true story of a New York transit officer who split a winning lottery ticket with a restaurant server.
    • The original real-life headline title (Cop Gives Waitress $2,000,000 Tip) was descriptive and engaging, whereas the studio-assigned title (It Could Happen to You) rendered it generic. Starred Nicolas Cage (born Nicolas Coppola) and Bridget Fonda (third-generation acting dynasty following Henry, Jane, and Peter Fonda).
  • Family Moon* vs. *Blended:
    • Originally written and pitched under the title Family Moon, describing a blended family joining parents on a post-wedding vacation.
    • Warner Bros. changed the title to Blended (the third pairing of Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore), which neutered the core premise into a generic term.

Dramatic Structures, Conflicts, and Characterization

Narrative Structures
  • Linear Chronological: Events are presented in sequential order (Beginning →\rightarrow Middle →\rightarrow End). Characteristic of traditional fairy tales ("Once upon a time" to "Happily ever after") and Classical Hollywood Cinema.
  • Nonlinear Structure: Events are presented out of temporal sequence. Straying from linear structures generally increases narrative complexity and can lower traditional box office potential.
    • Nonlinear Epics: Christopher Nolan's adaptation of Homer's The Odyssey utilizes a nonlinear structure because the foundational epic poem alternates between Telemachus and Penelope in Ithaca and Odysseus's encounters with the Cyclops, Poseidon, and Circe.
Taxonomy of Dramatic Conflicts

Dramatic narratives rely on six core conflict classifications:

Dramatic Conflict Types={Internal ConflictMan vs. HimselfExternal Conflicts{Man vs. ManMan vs. SocietyMan vs. NatureMan vs. the Unknown (Horror genre standard)Man vs. God\text{Dramatic Conflict Types} = \begin{cases} \text{Internal Conflict} & \text{Man vs. Himself} \\ \text{External Conflicts} & \begin{cases} \text{Man vs. Man} \\ \text{Man vs. Society} \\ \text{Man vs. Nature} \\ \text{Man vs. the Unknown (Horror genre standard)} \\ \text{Man vs. God} \end{cases} \end{cases}

  • Man vs. Nature Case Study: The Impossible (starring a 14-year-old Tom Holland alongside Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor) depicts the true story of a family separated during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Thailand.
Techniques of Characterization

Characters are developed through five key visual and narrative mechanisms:

  1. External Appearance.
  2. Dialogue.
  3. External and Internal Action.
  4. Reactions of Surrounding Characters.
  5. Dramatic Foils: A dramatic foil is a secondary character whose traits directly contrast with those of the protagonist to highlight specific character flaws.
    • Shakespeare's Hamlet: Hamlet's tragic flaw is his internal paralysis and inability to take decisive action. When he finally acts impulsively, he accidentally murders Polonius through a curtain, driving Ophelia insane. Laertes serves as Hamlet's dramatic foil; upon learning of Polonius's murder, Laertes immediately organizes a counter-conspiracy without hesitation.
Visual Caricature, Leitmotifs, and Naming Conventions
  • Visual Contrast: In Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, character