I really hate it when I walk into a movie theater and five minutes into the movie I can totally predict how it ends. I wonder, are movie writers actually writing a story or are they following a (or I should say, the?) Basic Movie Formula?
The Basic Movie Formula
- Introduce main character (s)
- The 'Mains' fall in love and\ or are impressed by (wo) man
- Everything is going okay-happy, happy, happy......
- Movie presents some problem
- 'Main' lies about something and\or makes a deal with villain
- The 'Main's lover figures out the lie
- Every ones glum (lover walks off) cue sad music (did you ever think about how much we are manipulated by music in movies?)
- Villain and 'Main' fight (what I like to call 'The Final Fight'), lover comes back
- Villain dies or becomes good, cue happy music
- The End.
Ugh! You see how you can apply this to films (mostly kids films)? Also, whats up with all these sequels for kids movies? For instance, 'Shrek'. I'm a big fan of the first movie. I would have been perfectly happy to remember Shrek and Donkey and Fiona the way the first movie left off. But then they had to go and install 'Shrek II' and 'Shrek The Third'. Another example, 'Ice Age'. It's my brother's favorite movie. And I'll admit I had some pretty good laughs when I watched the first one for the first time. But the second one? And the third (which I'm too scared to go and watch in the theater for fear of leaving my brain forever scarred)? The stories for both of these films weren't written half as well as the first ones.
Filmmakers seem to have it in their heads that a great way to save a movie that's going downhill is to make it 3D. Maybe they're hoping that animated figures jumping out at us from the screen will distract us from their lack of a good storyline.
Ugh. What's happened?
I hear you, Sam ... but as long as people keep falling for this storyline, Hollywood will keep producing it.
ReplyDeleteNever fear, though, because good writers will come along to change things ... like you!
I totally agree! Especially about the sequels. You should only make a sequel if you planned on making one all along, not because the first one made a lot of money. It's really dumb haw often movie makers do that.
ReplyDeleteremember what we talked about everytime theres a movie with a good lean to it it is usually pretty big ... i think formulaic hollywood movies arent necessarily what people want ... its just what theyre getting. mostly. thats where writers/thinkers like u come in baby!
ReplyDeletei totally agree sam! I have this same pet peeve...its so hard to find a good storyline these days that is not ppredictable..i like to be surprised. Why cant movies have a unhappy realistic ending? And yes Shrek and Ice Age were awesome but their following films should be thrown off the surface of the earth! haha
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