Three Act Structure

In Hollywood the 3 act structure is pretty prevalent amongst films in the drama genre, as it was derived from the classical dramatic (tragic) structure. The drama I chose was the movie Varsity Blues. The reason I chose Varsity blues is because the 3 act structure is great for quest stories, triumph stories, and happy ending stories as well. Varsity Blues contains all three of these elements, making it pretty easy to lay out the components of the film in the 3 act structure. The 3 act structure is as follows: there is plot point number one, plot point number two, and the climax. Varsity Blues begins in a small west Texas town based around a high school football team with high expectations for the upcoming season. The star quarterback, Lance has a state championship to win and a full-ride scholarship to college football powerhouse Florida State in his sights. In the beginning of the movie everything is going as planned for the West Canaan Coyotes, until Lance gets hurt in the beginning of the season  it ends the first act. It escalates the stakes, because now the team is going to still have to produce with much less talent then before. It adds complication as well because no one knows how the team is going to fair for the season, or if they are going to live up to expectations. The second plot point is when back up quarterback and best friend of starting quarterback, Johnny Moxon takes the field. Moxon is a studious high schooler waiting to hear back from his college of choice, Brown University. As Moxon goes through the season he does well winning all but one game putting them in contention of their preseason goals. Everything seems to be going well and on track at the point in the movie. The second plot point ends with Moxon receiving his letter of acceptance from Brown University and a full academic scholarship to go along with his acceptance. This plot point ends with audience wondering whether Moxon is going play his best, as he already received what he wanted, a one way ticket out of his small hometown. Leaving complication lingering of whether the protagonist will be a true sports hero, or a quitter.

The last plot point and the climax of the movie is when, Coach Bud Kilmer threatens Moxon by saying that he will mess up his college transcripts and get his scholarship revoked if he doesn't play the last game of the season with absolute intensity. He also threatens him, by saying if he changes the plays called by the coach he will mess up his shot at the educational experience he has wanted for so long. Moxon has a big dilemma as he hates the coach and doesn't want to play for him, but would do anything to keep his scholarship. This is where the protagonist has to chose the outcome of his situation and the ending of the story as well. The Climax point ends with kinda of a shocker, The coach ends up quitting before the quarterback. Moxon chooses to play his best and the Coyotes win the game and he keeps his scholarship, displaying the happy ending kind of movie Varsity Blues was. The movie fit the needs of the protagonist, the team, the fans, and most importantly the audience. Varsity Blues also has many standard hollywood narratives attatched to it.  It has a single protagonist, Johnny Moxon. It is goal oriented as the goal is to win the championship, which they succeed in. Follows the 3 act structure very well. Has a clear chronological order, but most importantly a clear resolution and a happy ending.

Here is a video showing all the action this dramatic sports thriller contains:

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

Aspects of a Sitcom

The aspects I choose from the sitcom were character growth and cycles and repeated patterns because even though they are meant to be different they tend to intertwine on many occasions in sitcoms. Character growth is the overview from where the person in the sitcom starts to the person they become through their situations. Thus defining the word sitcom (situational comedy).  It's ups and downs, the optimal situations, the worst situations, the awkward situations, and everything in between that help show how the character grows through the story line. The reason I believe that cycle and repeated patterns play in with character growth are because people tend to repeat actions. For example if a character is always starting trouble he is repeating his actions and patterns. If a character gets in trouble and then realizes that what they did was wrong, they are showing growth by trying to change their normal tendencies. Many sitcoms use characters repeated actions to show how hard it is to drop bad habits, but when they show the character is working to make the situation better growth is easily visible in that same person.

The sitcom I choose to use was "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" because I can easily relate to it. As a child growing up in the 90's the fresh prince of Bel-Air was one of my favorite T.V. shows. The character who shows the most growth I think is Will. Will taken from his real life name Will Smith, is the protagonist. The story-line begins as Will is a troubled but street smart teen from Philadelphia who moves to Bel-Air because he got in a fight and his mother was scared for his future. When he gets to Bel-Air he moves in with his extremely affluent aunt and uncle who have hopes of making Will a model citizen. Through out the T.V. series Will goes through many situations where he tries to pull a fast one, or gets caught in the act of doing something wrong. Comedic relief surely helps the audience love Will. He repeats his actions and patterns over and over as a youth. His mentor and uncle is usually the one catching will in his shenanigans. His uncle is the character who helps Will grow the most, as he helps Will get the most out of the mistakes he has made and by teaching him life lessons. The Family gets as much out of Will and he gets out of them. Will becomes a beaming ray of sunlight as he keeps the mood around the house fun and festive. He has something that few people do and that is a positive outlook on the situations he is put in. Throughout the series you see little by little Will tries to do the right thing, as he has learned from his past. His growth is almost heroic, as he becomes a true gentlemen late in the series. It seems the people who used to say "you should be like this..." want to be more like him. Will's story-line is fun to follow, because it is like a plant. With the proper watering and sunlight it will grow into something prosperous.

This is video of Carlton another character from the T.V. show, and more reasons why people love this show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a02B204OrLU

Ryan Campbell Anderson

Movie Scenes

The scenes and images of films can have a place in someone's heart long after the movie reel stops. If a scene is correctly portrayed it can be very powerful and meaningful in the eye's of the audience. I catch myself all the time when talking to friends about real life situations saying things like "yea it's like that scene from the such and such movie". I do this because I feel it is this closet way for me to inform people correctly of how the situation should be viewed. I chose the movie Friday Night Lights  because I have an attachment to it growing up in west Texas and loving the sport of football. The scene I chose was the half time speech Billy Bob Thorton gives to his players to lift there spirits and inspire them to win the biggest game of their football careers. Ex. 1: The scene begins with a  long shot focused on the coach as he walks into the locker room full of players grieving over the reality of potentially losing this football game. There is a panoramic view of the players and coaches waiting for the words of wisdom about to spoken by their leader. There's an obvious sense of sadness looming over the players, but the viewer can almost foreshadow redemption coming soon. Ex. 2: As the scene progresses there are some medium shots of the team looking at their teammates who they each rely on to do their part so the team as a whole can win. It is confirming the players of the Odessa Permian team and how each one of them mean more to each other then just teammates. Their bond has become so strong through this time of trials and tribulations. The low angle shot in this part of the scene shows the players vulnerability it seems to be that even though they put in the man hours they are having trouble controlling their destinies. Ex. 3: The last parts of the scene do a close up on the star wide receiver Boobie Miles who is injured and unable to play this meaningful game. The close up easily has the most emotion of all the shots, in this particular close up it "isolates" away from the rest of the active players. It shows his feeling of incompletion. The camera angle is eye level and I almost feel like it was metaphorically correct because it shows the Boobie's is only has powerful as the player standing next to him, he's not the high flying celebrity he used to think he was prior to his injury.  This scene follows the shot projection order from general to specific.

Here is the scene in Friday Night Lights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYN4jnA8fKs&feature=related

The Studio

The studio system had many aspects that made it a very unique industry. It was the key to Hollywoods success in the earlier years and still is the most prevelent force in the industry today. The specific aspect I want to to focus on is the star system, I feel that star system gave hollywood a face. The stars in studios were tangible products. They best represented what studios did and what messages they were trying to display to their audiences. The studio would discover stars then contract them and pay them to sell their goods and services.

Many stars were associated with specific genres of acting. For example MGM would produce musical dramas for a star named Judy Garland, such as the Wizard of Oz to best suit the actors talents. Different studios would hire actors such as Judy Garland and have them promote other stars from MGM the same studio she worked for. MGM was one of the major five studios. MGM and other studios would discover actors like Judy Garland (found as a child on Andy Hardy series) and develop them into household names for their company. Judy Garland had consistent set of character traits that helped her associate herself with specific genres. The star system would fall under the category of production in the studio system.

Here is one of Judy Garland's earlier films "A Star is Born" by watching the trailer you can see the aspects the star system in work. It is a musical drama that really shows the career work of Judy Garland.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbHKjk1XJK8

All in the family vs. It's always sunny in Philadelphia

It's always sunny in Philadelphia and All In the Family are surprisingly similar even with a huge gap between the shows airing as a series on T.V. All in the Family and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia  cover the same aspects of what it's like to be in a family: the struggles, frustrations, and tension but most importantly the love that not only fuels families but helps them overcome triumphs and tribulations along the way. All in the family is a more family based show with focus on family members being apart of a family. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is a more contemporary show with family ties but mainly focused on comedic relief. "It's Always" has humor that "All in the family" would be to innocent for, the humor in  the 2000's is much often out of line and much too different for earlier humor. All in the family is at a much slower pace...which most would call a true family sitcom but for someone of my humor, the sarcastic relief "It's Always Sunny" brings is a tad bit funnier then a family sitcom. All in the family would be a great show for someone's kids to watch because it brings on a sense of family as opposed to a sense of entitlement which most kids have and act today.