Toy Story and the three-act structure

Hollywood’s three-act film structure was designed as a modified version of the five-act tragic structure used in Shakespeare’s time. It shifts the climax from the midway into the film to its end and organizes the movie into acts based on a beginning, containing an introduction, middle, comprised of a complication, and an end, resolving the events of the beginning and the middle. This structure situates two plot points to close out the first two acts and the climax at the conclusion of the third act, with minimal falling action. The organization of this structure works with best with goal-oriented stories containing a single protagonist and told in chronological order so as to leave little to no ambiguity.           

            A prime example of the three-act structure is the film Toy Story. The first act introduces a group of toys owned by a boy named Andy who come alive when he is not around and eagerly await the arrival of new toys given to Andy as presents for his birthday. The exposition establishes Woody, a cowboy toy, as the leader of the toys and the favorite of Andy. It also explains that Andy’s family is moving soon and presents that as a future complication. The act closes with the first plot point, the arrival of a new, awesome toy in the form of a Buzz Lightyear action figure, setting up the conflict between him and Woody for the favorite toy of Andy. This is the shortest act of the film.

            The second act further develops the complication of the film, as Buzz garners more and more attention from Andy and Woody’s jealousy festers. It is also revealed that Buzz does not realize he is an action figure and believes himself to truly be a space ranger. The act peaks when Woody accidentally knocks Buzz out Andy’s bedroom window and the other toys accuse him of intentionally doing so, seeking to brutally punish Woody for his crime. By a stroke of luck, Woody and Buzz both end up in the car with Andy as he is taken out for dinner to a restaurant called Pizza Planet. Act two is slightly longer than act one, though it requires little time to present its message.

            Act three opens with Buzz confronting Woody when the car stops at a gas station. The two engage in a brawl and eventually get separated from the car, effectively becoming “lost toys”. Buzz, however, still does not understand that he is a toy. After hitching a ride with a Pizza Planet delivery truck, Woody and Buzz arrive at the restaurant but are taken by Andy’s sadistic neighbor, Sid. As the two toys seek to escape the confines of Sid’s house, Buzz realizes that he is but a toy and slumps into a depression. Woody is able to convince Buzz of his rightful place in the world, but before they can escape to Andy’s moving van, Buzz is taken by Sid and strapped to a rocket set to explode. The climax of Toy Story is a lengthy series of scenes in which Woody enlists the help of Sid’s other tortured toys and together they scare Sid by revealing themselves to be alive. Woody and Buzz then finally catch the moving van by using the rocket on Buzz’s back to propel them, landing safely in Andy’s car. The movie then closes with the whole gang of toys preparing for the arrival of toys at Christmas, all issues resolved. This film is a perfect example of the three-act structure’s potential for portraying quest stories with triumphant endings, presented in chronological order with a clear resolution.

Everybody Loves Raymond: An Episodic Sitcom

TV programs are normally grouped into two categories: episodic and serial. In serial programs, the plot continues from one episode to the next with more complex characters and a more intricate storyline. Sitcoms, which are usually episodic, are less intricate, with problems and resolutions within each episode but little transferred from one episode to the next. Because of this, sitcoms are written with short story arcs and a viewer can watch any single episode without requiring much if any background from previous episodes.

The episodic nature of sitcoms functions within the genre by influencing the structure and the nature of each program’s episodes. Because people are believed to have a limited attention span for comedy, TV producers make sitcoms a half hour long instead of a full hour as dramas are. In addition, as sitcoms contain a complete story in each program, every episode is organized into a modified three-act structure. These qualities and structures limit the possibility for character development and growth within the program since all must be explained within the half-hour episode.

A prime example of the effects of the episodic structure on sitcoms is the show “Everybody Loves Raymond”. This program includes a host of caricatured characters common in middle class America, such as the intrusive mother, nagging wife, lazy husband, and jealous brother. These characters are immediately evident even to someone new to the program based solely on the context in which they are placed. Most of the humor in the show is easily understood and built upon simple situations requiring little explanation. While the characters may change in small ways over long periods of time, for the most part they do not grow and tend to fulfill the same roles in every episode.  As a result, “Everybody Loves Raymond” is a perfect example of the episodic sitcom structure, providing simple, light humor in a complete story within a half hour. 

Shots in The Matrix

For this week’s blog discussing types of shots and shot progression in film, my movie of choice is one of my absolute favorites, The Matrix. The film has a complex plot in which the human population has been enslaved by machines capable of intelligent thought, and the mind of every person has been connected to a computer generated simulator called the matrix in which everyone lives out their lives while the machines use their bodies as energy sources. In the reality outside of the simulated world, a small resistance fights to free the rest of mankind from the machines and searches for “The One”, a prophesized man with the ability to change the matrix itself and break its rules.

A very iconic scene takes place when the protagonist, named Neo and played by Keanu Reeves, awakens from the matrix for the first time and finds himself within a fluid filled pod. He pulls a lengthy tube out of his throat and discovers tubes connected to every limb of his body. This scene is both essential to the film’s narrative and makes use of three types of shot, giving it a foreboding emotional aura.

As he first awakens, breaks through the outer covering of the pod, and notices the plugs attached to him, the director uses a close up shot and focuses directly on him, at just about eye level. This gives the viewer a keen perspective of his emotions of confusion and fear upon reaching consciousness in such a frightening environment. It is imperative that this shot comes first so that Neo’s initial feelings can be most accurately conveyed before the scene can continue, and only a close up will allow such focus.

Neo next turns to his left and a medium shot is used. The camera is positioned behind his head at eye level so the viewer is given the perspective of seeing what he sees. Peering to the left, there are several other pods identical to his in a row, each containing a person unconscious and encased in an organic fluid just as he was moments earlier. This shot is important not only to give the viewer greater information about the situation in which the protagonist finds himself but also amplifies his emotions and confusion. Up until the point Neo is in a strange situation but it is not known whether he is alone or not. The medium shot answers this question.

The last and most important shot used in the scene is the long shot. After looking over to his left, Neo looks down over the front end of his pod. The director positions this shot far above Neo’s head, making him appear smaller in relation to his surrounding environment. As he sees what is over the edge, the viewer too is alerted to the fact that his pod is in a tower of thousands upon thousands of other pods, and the ground is so far away it cannot be seen. All within view are his and other towers composed of pods like his. It is the ultimate shot in terms of loneliness for in this moment Neo realizes that he is completely alone and isolated from all he knows, the only awakened person in a sea of comatose individuals.

Studios and the Star System

The studio system of movie production in the Classical Hollywood era was a method of producing films in a factory-based, assembly line method creating hundreds of films a year in predictable formulas. One particular aspect of this method utilized by the few most powerful studios of the time was called the star system. With this approach, popular actors deemed “stars” were contracted by the studios and used in many of their films, often becoming associated with a certain genre and role which the star often if not always played.

Because the studios knew people would not flock to see a movie simply because it was a crime or romance film, they were forced to come up with some other method to attract their audience to the theater. Their solution came in the form of the star system. Instead of simply marketing a film based on its content, the studios found that it was much more profitable to base their promotions around the stars themselves because the people were not drawn to the movies necessarily because of the subject matter but because of the stars. Because of this, many stars became associated with certain types of roles, such as Judy Garland as a lovable girl who sang to musical numbers, and these stars were the faces of the studios that contracted them. Since this system brought in huge profits for the major studios, they continued to recycle the same ideas and storylines as their movies grew repetitive, establishing genres such as western, horror, musical, and crime.

A good example of the effects of the star system in action is the career of Humphrey Bogart. After starring in the film “The Maltese Falcon”, Bogart became the symbol of a hardboiled and cynical character, someone courageous, sly, and possessing his own ideas on morality. In such later films as “Casablanca”, “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre”, and “The Big Sleep”, Bogart reprised the same sort of role, donning the fedora and clever demeanor. Bogart was the face of Warner Bros. and specifically the detective/crime genre, himself the main attraction for many films in the classical era of Hollywood. 

The Big Sleep Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGp26VI2270&feature=channel

All in the Family vs. Everybody Loves Raymond

“All in the Family” was a television sitcom that aired from 1971 to 1979 and was unique in its depiction of issues such as racism and homosexuality, which had previously been viewed as unsuitable for television comedies. Comparing “All in the Family” to a contemporary sitcom such as “Everybody Loves Raymond”, similarities and differences can be found in both the themes and structure of the two programs.

            One of the major differences between the two shows is that “All in the Family” dealt with very controversial issues of the time period and satirizing the protagonist, father and obvious bigot Archie Bunker, and his views on the issues. Beginning in the early 1970s, the change and social movements of the 1960s were fresh on the minds of many citizens, so the show sought to capitalize on the sentiments of the period. In the episode we watched in the screening, Archie was portrayed as a staunch homophobe and the presence of homosexuals around him was troublesome to his beliefs. In “Everybody Loves Raymond”, in contrast, did not deal with much in the way of controversial social issues, possibly because many such issues had already been dealt with in earlier comedies such as “All in the Family”.

            Similarities can be found between the two sitcoms in their basic family structure and certain elements of the comedic timing such as “one-liners”. “All in the Family” centered on Archie, his wife, daughter, and son-in law with whom Archie had many differing beliefs leading to constant argument. “Everybody Loves Raymond” focused on Raymond Barone, a successful, lazy sports writer, his wife, mother, and father. Raymond’s wife Debra constantly butts heads with Raymond’s intrusive and insulting if caring mother Marie. The conflict between parent and son or daughter-in law is very similar in both programs. Another commonality is the indifferent and sometimes oblivious parent spouting hilarious “one-liners” at awkward moments. Wife and mother Edith Bunker fulfills this role for “All in the Family”, as does husband and father Frank Barone for “Everybody Loves Raymond”.

            For the most part, “All in the Family” dealt with far more controversial issues ranging from rape and menopause to racism, and in our particular episode, homophobic views and willingness to identify against. The time period for the show was very fitting as a parody of the social struggles and issues not long ago overcome at that point. “Everybody Loves Raymond”, on the other hand, dealt with less controversial issues associated with the common family such as the nagging wife, overprotective mother, competition between brothers, and the lazy husband.

Everybody Loves Raymond, season 3 intro:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kNOyHm5gsY&feature=related