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Lecture 4:Lecture 4:Integrating the ElementsIntegrating the Elements

Professor Daniel Cutrara

American Beauty (1999)Alan Ball (screenplay)

Previous LessonPrevious Lesson

• Character

• Character in Joy Luck Club

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This LessonThis Lesson

• Supporting Elements

• American Beauty

• Assignments

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Supporting ElementsSupporting Elements

Lesson 4: Part I

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (2003)

Written by Mike Myers and Michael McCullers (screenplay)

Supporting Elements

• Pace • Dialogue• Believability• Predictability• Payoff• Tone• Point of View• Theme

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Supporting Elements (Cont’d)

• Concept• Marketability• Formatting

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PacePace

• Rhythm and Tempo– Too fast can lack emotional connection– Too slow loses audience interest

• Urgency– Does the story have a built in deadline? For

example- 3 days before the asteroid will hit the Earth. Or the soulmate is engaged to be married in a month.

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Dialogue

• Evaluation– Is it natural?– Differentiation between characters.– Is it necessary?

• Conflict• Subtext vs On the Nose• Expository• Humor

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BelievabilityBelievability

• Suspension of Disbelief– Rules of the world

• Character consistency– Contradiction yet logic

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Predictability

• The Predicable Outcome– Genre expectations demand this.– Unpredictable elements in journey.

• The Unpredictable Outcome– Still need sense of inevitability.

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PayoffPayoff

• The Plant– An object, dialogue, person

• The typical reveal of a gun

• The Payoff– Transformation of meaning

• “As You Wish”

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Tone

• The Feel of the Film– Story– Theme– Shifts

• Formal Elements– Visuals– Sound– Music

Seven (1995)

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Point of View

• Literary Equivalents• Experiments with First Person• Third Person

– Limited– Omniscient

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Theme

• The Meaning– What is the

message of the film?

American Beauty

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Concept and Marketability

• Universal Appeal• Niche Audiences

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Formatting

• Unprofessional• Professional

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American BeautyAmerican Beauty

Lesson 4: Part II

American Beauty

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The Backstory

• American Beauty (1999)– Directed by Sam

Mendes– Cinematographer

Conrad Hall– Screenplay by

Alan Ball– Five Oscars

including Picture and Screenplay 18

The Coverage

• American Beauty– Comments and Recommendation – Differences in development

• Changes to plot• Affect on the theme• Audience reaction

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Structure and Plot

• Whose story is it?– Lester’s Journey– Three Acts– Point of View

• The Triangles– The Burnham Family and Angela– Col. Fitts and Ricky– Buddy Kane

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Lester’s Journey

• The Beginning– The Hook– The Ordinary World– The Inciting Incident– Hero takes on problem– Pace– Predictability

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The Hook

• Predictability– Pause the lecture and watch the first clip

from American Beauty.• How does this beginning work against

predictability?

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Lester’s Journey 2

• The Middle– Pursuit of Angela– Standing up to Carolyn– Quitting the job– Return to adolescence– Befriending Ricky– Believability

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Planting and Payoff

• Pause the lecture and watch the second clip from American Beauty.– How does this action plant an important

element that pays off in the third act?

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Lester’s Journey 3

• The End– Winning Angela– Seeing the good in his life with family– Payoff of Col. Fitts– Carolyn’s love

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Development

• Pause the lecture and watch the third clip from American Beauty.– How would the meaning of the ending be

different if Lester had sex with Angela?

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The Triangles/Character Arc

• Lester, Carolyn, Jane– The dysfunctional family

• Lester, Jane, Angela– Lester pursues an adolescent dream

• Carolyn, Lester, Buddy– Carolyn’s infidelity

• Jane, Angela, Ricky– Jane stands up for herself

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Character ArcCharacter Arc

• Multiple Arcs – Lester

• Making peace with his life

– Carolyn• Rediscovering her love

– Jane and Ricky• Coming of age

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Theme

• Look Closer– Tone– Beauty– Rediscovering

what’s important

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The Wrap Up

• The Whole Picture– The construction of engaging narratives

utilizes many different strategies.– Knowing them, and how they may be

deployed is essential to story analysis.

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AssignmentsAssignments

Lesson 4: Part III

American Beauty

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E-Board Post #1E-Board Post #1• Approximately 200 words. Do a critique

of one of your favorite films. Evaluate for one of the following- pace, predictability, believability, tone, point of view, or theme.

• Comment on two of your peers.

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End of Lecture 4End of Lecture 4

Next Lecture:

Industry Tools 33