sign in sign up
<<
Home , Plot twist

Elements of Film:

"Storyline" versus “” or (events versus causation):

The story is no more than the unfolding of events. A chronology (sometimes linear—sometimes non-linear) of occurrences—think “what” happens in the movie. In truth, there exists but a few storylines—think: “The rogue cop”, “the killer alien”, “the boy who looses the girl that he must get back”, -- each is a retelling of the same storyline--the modern ”…The concept of plot is much more complicated and necessitates much more thought. The plot usually necessitates some form of a pattern, unintended or intentional, that threads the story together. If the storyline equals “what” occurred, the plot is the “how”. The plot allows the faced by the to end in some sort of resolution. It’s also the causation that allows the to fall. Well conceived plots usually consider: a) how characters come in conflict with one another b) how characters come in conflict with their surroundings and c) how characters come in conflict with themselves. W/o a realistic plot, your story will seem overly contrived and quite predictable. When I think of twisted plots, I always go back to “The Matrix”---( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8e-FF8MsqU) -- remember the first in the series—nothing was real—who saw that plot twist coming—not me….

Examples: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rl1TJG17Wk – Project X Storyline: A group of high school outcasts throw a house party in attempt to become popular Plot: parents leave for the night, friend convinces protagonist to throw a party, word spreads quick and party escalates, neighborhood burns down, punishments ensue http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL-SxArNcGk – Rocky Storyline: Underdog overcomes great odds to go the distance with the world champion Apollo Creed Plot: begins fighting under poor conditions and barely wins against a nobody, starts training hard, odds are against him, movie glamorizes Appolo as protagonist, fight begins, getting beat bad looks like he will get knocked out quick, rocky the underdog disproves everyone by going the distance, becomes hero as plot twists antagonist into protagonist. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyVEHIO6jZ0 – Forgetting Sarah Marshall Storyline: Boy gets heart broken by girl, finds new, better girl in the end Plot: girl breaks up with boy, boy morns and tries to win her back, boy finds new girl, old girl then wants him back, new girl gets mad at him looks like he might end up alone, boy wins new girl back. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cnoM8EiGGU – Brave heart Storyline: Man defies a tyrannous king and battles for his countries freedom Plot: unfair treatment by king, Scottish poor living conditions and minimal training, leader rises and takes control of army, leads army into battle for freedom, outnumbered and looks like they will lose, hero dies for country’s freedom. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5kzcwcQA1Q Warrior The story of two brothers who were separated and both started MMA fighting again. The major turn in the plot was when these brothers met and fight in the championship. Raises complex questions about WHO is the protagonist. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VnyXEWrSD4 Wedding Crashers Wedding Crashers is the simple story of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, and boy does everything to get girl back. The event that was important to twisting the plot was when John and Jeremy are caught for crashing weddings. Now John has to do everything he can to get the girl of his dreams back. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GokKUqLcvD8 Batman the Dark Night Rises This is the story of good vs evil. The plot twists when Batman is exiled to jail and has to train and regain his strength to escape and save Gotham. I.e. turns into and then turns back into a protagonist (emblematic of the tale). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zl7S1LaPMU Lawless This is another story of good vs evil. Good being a group of illegal moonshiners in Virginia and evil being the police. The twist in plot would be when the Bondurants' best friend Cricket gets killed by the police and sets Jack on a rampage and the other brothers have to join in—bringing their characters’ “” into question.