3 Act Structure in "The Village"

                                    

The movie The Village (2004), by M. Night Shyamalan, shows an example of the 3 Act structure of how films are narrated and produced. 

            In the first act, which runs about the first 30 minutes, introduces the characters and the situation.  The setting is in a small isolated village in Pennsylvania, where the people of the community all help out with everyday tasks to keep the village running.  Everything seems to be ordinary until the mentioning of “those we don’t speak of,” which are beasts that live in the outside surrounding woods of the village.  There is almost an eerie feeling to the village when one of the main characters, Lucius Hunt, breaks the boundary and travels into the forbidden woods.  The mini-climax occurs when “those we don’t speak of” come into the village and leave threatening marks on the doors and skin the livestock. 

            In the second act, which is about 60 minutes long, the viewer learns that “those we don’t speak of” are harmful and pose a threat.  Another threat that arises is when Lucius Hunt asks Ivy Walker, the main female character, to marry him.  This causes Noah Percy to become jealous, because he is also in love with Ivy.  Noah, however, suffers from a learning disability, and isn’t able to cope with this new idea.  The storyline gets even more complex when Noah stabs Lucius and almost kills him.  The mini-climax of act two happens when Ivy asks to go through the forbidden woods and travel to the nearest town to get medicine to help try and save Lucius.  During this part the viewer learns the secret of the village, that the elders have been trying to hide.  The elders are actually “those we don’t speak of” and dress up as beasts of the woods and scare the other villagers.  They do this in order to try and prevent everyone from going to the towns, because they considerer the modern world to be a dangerous place.  Since Ivy is blind they allow her to go through the woods since she will not be considered a threat to the beasts.  Her father tells Ivy about the beasts and how they are fake and give her directions on how to get to the nearest town.

             Act 3, which is also about 30 minutes long, starts off with Ivy traveling through the woods.  During this act is the main climax.  The viewer thinks that everything is fine until Ivy comes into contact with “those we don’t speak of.”  She is alarmed by this, since she was told they were not real.  Unknown to her, Noah stole on of the costumes and pretended to be one, but since Ivy is blind she couldn’t tell it was him.  At this point in the movie, one wonders if she will survive or not, because Noah is chasing her and trying to attack.  However, she ends up killing him and finally making it to the town, where she receives the medicine.  The movie ends with Ivy making it back to the village with the medicine, and Noah is saved. 

            So through the use of the 3 act structure the plot describes the introduction in the 1^st act, the complications in the 2^nd act, and then the climax and resolution in the 3^rd act.  This style allows for a well prepared and thought out story line, that effectively shows the viewer the intended plot.

Watch the trailer of The Village here!

Pictures found at:

http://www.reverseshot.com/files/images/pre-issue22/the_village_das_dorf_004.jpg

http://www.dvdjka.com/online-shopping/dvd-store/images/large/51DS3WMWZQL.jpg

http://www.sodahead.com/fun/cracked-6-movie-plots-that-could-have-been-solved-in-minutes/question-

Sitcoms!!!

Sitcoms, or Situational Comedies, are basically short television shows that last about 30 minutes.  They are usually about pretty relative everyday life situations, however they incorporate humor and comedy and have unusual circumstances to make it seem more out of the ordinary and absurd in some cases.  Some are also focused around more unrealistic family situations or changes happening in society.  Sitcoms are considered episodic because the storyline has a beginning and an ending that usually ends at the same place.   Because each episode only lasts about 30 minutes, a lesson or advice is a main theme in the plot.  So basically the stories or plots never carry over to the next episode and therefore character arcs aren’t complicated.

Two characteristics that are really important to have in sitcoms are humor and comedy.  Without this, the plot wouldn’t be as interesting or entertaining.  One of my favorite television sitcom shows is It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.  Every episode has a plot that is focused around the bar that the characters work/live in.  However, the storyline has a bit of a twist to it that involves some outrageous circumstance that the characters have to solve or work out.  Most of the humor and comedy is show by random or silly actions that the characters do.  Some of it you would never think of or imagine would ever happen in a regular day of life.  That is what makes the show so funny!  Sitcoms are very important to television production, because it allows the viewers to watch the show when they want or have time to, since the storyline isn’t consecutive to every episode.  Also, it gives a chance for the viewer to laugh, which is important for everyone!

Watch A Clip of 'It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia' here!

Picture found at:

http://www.entertainmentwallpaper.com/images/desktops/movie/tv_it_s_always_sunny_in_philadelphia13.jpg

Taken!

Taken is a movie about a teenage girl who goes to Paris with a friend and end up getting kidnapped and sold for prostitution.  Her father, Brian, played by Liam Neeson, goes after the slave traders to try and save his daughter.  Throughout the movie there are many different shots that are used to portray different meaning of certain scenes to the viewer








http://www.rlapl.org/adultservices/docs/taken.jpg

http://content.internetvideoarchive.com/content/photos/6106/190670_306.jpg

The first shot is the close up (CU).  The one that is the most significant in Taken is the scene where the father gets a phone call from his daughter while she is being abducted from the pent house she is staying at.  The significance of using a close up shot of Brian is so one can see his reaction and emotions up close, which is what a CU shot is usually used for.  One can see through his expressed emotions of fear and anger, as well as the feeling of alarm and helplessness since he can’t be there to protect his daughter.

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2008/08/08/300taken_080808014754098_wideweb__300x263.jpg

The next type of shot is the Medium Shot, which is used to show the relationship between characters and as visual information about the specific scene.  This clip from the movie is during a scene where Brian goes to meet with a former friend named Jean-Claude, who works for French Intelligence.  After finding out that Claude is not on his side and has information about the whereabouts of his daughter that he isn’t telling him, Brian decides to take matters in his own hands.  The Medium Shot shows Brian holding a gun up to Claude, showing that he has the power and is going to do whatever he has to do to save his daughter.  Here is where their relationship starts to change from friends to foes.  

http://www.allmoviephoto.com/photo/2009_taken_006.html

Then last shot is the Long Shot, the orientation shot, which usually shows loneliness, sadness, and/or isolation.  In this picture clip it shows Brian talking to a young girl, who has also been abducted and drugged and forced to sell herself on street corners.  Brian goes to her to try to get any information from her about who might have his daughter and where she may be.  The two of them standing alone, both in need of help, are seen as sad and isolated characters when taken as a Long Shot.  

The Studio System

The function and set up of the studio system can be considered an example of hegemony.  Basically the studio system focused on having a main group of stars and actors/actresses available for movie productions in Hollywood so that they could promote different studio films.  The five major studios (Paramount, MGM, Warner Brothers, Fox, and RKO) we the main companies in control of the film industry.  Upon being the ones in power they all focused on having team of directors produce movies for them, they owned their own line of movie theatres and other production operations, they made both A and B movies, and they operated using vertical integration.  In my opinion vertical integration play a major role in how the system worked and in what kinds of films they made. 

Vertical integration, where one company is in control over many different steps of production, distribution, and exhibition.  This not only allowed companies the ability to ensure that their movies were seen by a wide range of people, but also let them distribute their films how they wanted.  This type of power and control held by only a few companies made it possible for them to show footage of whatever they wanted, since it wasn’t regulated at a higher level.  An example of a controversial film was The Jazz Age, which had nudity and party scenes.  Because of vertical integration, movies like these were allowed to be made.  Also, because of the star system, many films came out that focused on the same main actor.  When popularity of certain stars were seen, producers would hire them to be cast in movies so that they could make more of a profit and help promote the films.  Because of these main 5 studio companies, it allowed for a wide range of movies, such as adventure, musicals, comedies, cartoons, and high quality films, which each company focusing on a particular genre. 

examples used from Media Now 6th ed. (p. 192-96) and picture found in google images at :http://img2.photographersdirect.com/img/16398/wm/pd717015.jpg

"All in the Family" vs "The Secret Life of the American Teenager"

Earlier family based TV shows; such as “All in the Family” have both similarities and differences when associated with modern television shows such as “ The Secret Life of an American Teenager.”

The two shows are similar in that they both follow a specific lifestyle in relation to the time period.  All of the characters act in accordance with the same way the average person would in society at that time.  In “All in the Family,” the characters are more concerned with personal image and how one represents themselves.  This was shown in the episode that dealt with the possibility of 2 of the characters being homosexual.  In the 1970’s and 1980’s, when the show aired, people were not as open to homosexuality as they are now.   In “The Secret Life of an American Teenager,” the main character, who is a young teenage female, becomes pregnant and has a baby.  This show represents the increase in unplanned teenage pregnancies in today’s society, and is viewed as common predicament that many teens today face.  Most people that watch this show do not consider the content and issues to be out of context. However, if this show was aired during the same time as “All in the Family,” it would probably be considered an outrage or scandal, because of the interpretation of pre-marital sex and other controversial issues. 

         The two shows are different in how they have and form their relationships.  In “All in the Family,” commitment and trust are very important.  Both of the couples are sincere and they have healthy relationships styles and are committed to each other.  “The Secret Life of an American Teenager” however, is based on unstable relationships and a lack of trust. Everyone is kind of going behind each other’s back and cheating on one another.  The father of the main character’s child isn’t even her boyfriend.  Also, the parents in the show are dealing with an affair and the possibility of divorce.  Earlier shows didn’t focus as much on representing unhealthy relationships because during that time period cheating and affairs were looked down upon and not as common as they are in today’s society.

Images found at google images: 

http://tvland.mtvnimages.com/images/shows/all_in_the_family/photos/1_allinthefamily_firstphoto.jpg?width=306&height=320

http://megashareslink.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/seclife.jpg