Week 9 blogs on Bordwell

After reading Bordwell’s explanation of Thompson’s model of classical story structure (35-42), ask any remaining questions you may have about the model.

 

Is implying that not all Hollywood films fit the structure but the ones with sufficient detail do?  He explains how Big Trouble is short and therefore lacking enough detail to make it a quality film.  Bordwell writes, “Big Trouble just lacks plot material in the middle and final stretches.”

 

How do films with multiple protagonists work within the model?

 

Typically, the film will focus on one protagonist to bring the film’s focus back to a central theme, fitting back into the model developed by Bordwell.

“Multiple-protagonist plots may bend their storylines to fit the four-part structure, but the fate of one of two characters is likely to dominate.”

An example of this is the movie Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), where four men are shown barely holding on to their jobs but two men become central to the structure.  Bordwell writes, “When one or two protagonists are highlighted out of several, the four-part structure tends to be calibrated around their goals.”

 

List and briefly describe the narrational tactics discussed in the section “Tightening the Plot” (starting on p. 43).

-Appointments as a form of foreshadowing.

When objects that appear random in the beginning need to come back into play at a certain place in the screenplay.  George Cukor was very successful with this craft of foreshadowing.  If this is used here then we need to plant it here.

-Repeated Object or line of dialogue

When something is used once and then repeated or done again to invoke a certain feeling in the audience.  Something that is typically funny or warm that will allow the audience a sense of familiarity. e.g. When Rick says “Here’s looking at you” in Casablance, he says it once when Bergman is crying and they make up.  He uses it to comfort her in her time of need.  At the end when she is getting on the plane but does not want to leave Bogart behind, he says it once more to show that things will work out for her.

Motifs

-Little things that remind the audience and the characters of something important when they are not expecting it.  Touchstones are recurring objects that remind us of the story world before it was plunged into disorder.  Twitches are objects that symbolize the character’s internal conflict.  For example, the angel-wing fabric in Cast Away serves Chuck Nolan as a Touchstone, while the Wilson soccer ball is more of a Twitch.

 

-Deadlines

Strengthens the suspense and purpose of the protagonist.

What does Bordwell mean by his claim that Hollywood narratives have “passages of overtness balanced with less self-conscious ones” (p. 50)?

 

I think it means that the tactics directors use to tighten the plots are surround by less oblivious tactics in scenes to strengthen the plot.  Bordwell writes, “Given the sturdy framework of character aims and psychological change (often no more than learning to be a nicer person), the classical film seeks to give each scene a propulsive interest.  The result is a stable, powerful body of conventions shaping virtually every film.  My favorite quote Bordwell uses in this article comes from Nicholas Kazan, “you want every character to learn something…Hollywood is sustained on the illusion that human beings are capable of change.”