Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Plot Structure


Subject: Movies
take your pick from one of the review questions below. make sure to answer clearly .
1. What is three-act structure—at least as defined by Syd Field—and how does Kristin Thompson’s conception of mainstream plot structure differ from Field’s “paradigm?”
2. At what point in history was the concept of three-act structure introduced into Hollywood
dramaturgy?
3. What is Kristin Thompson’s definition of a turning point?
4. According to Thompson, how often do turning points occur in the plots of most mainstream
movies?
5. Why do Hollywood characters tend to have consistent character traits?
6. The presence of a negative character trait usually implies what?
7. Why do Hollywood films usually attempt to garner audience sympathy for their protagonists?
8. Most Hollywood films tend to have two significant lines of action, each based on a particular
desire of the protagonist: what are those two lines of action?
9. What does the term normal world refer to?
10. What is a foil and can you think of which character acts as a foil to Chief Brody in Jaws (he’s
mostly only in the setup and early parts of the second act)?
11. What does it mean to say that a character is of two minds?
12. Can you identify Elliot’s false belief and negative behavior pattern in ET?
13. What is an inciting incident? (Try to define it as specifically as possible) What is the inciting incident in ET?
14. What happens at the end of the setup or first act in virtually all Hollywood movies?
15. Thinking back to ET, what is the new situation that arises at the end of the setup, and how is the action that follows it a counter setup? (Don’t forget that you can review assigned films from the class website.)
16. What is the midpoint in Jerry Maguire? What impactful obstacle does Jerry struggle with and then choose to move beyond?
17. What do screenwriters mean by the term darkest moment?
18. What is the darkest moment in ET?
19. How does ET whittle down its plotlines during the climax and achieve closure?
One book is required for this course — Film Art: An Introduction, by David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson (10th Edition). The page numbers in the course calendar match the 10th edition. Please do not purchase an older edition.

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