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ELA 5: How a Film Can Establish Theme 49 Views
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Description:
Lighting, music, plot points, there are tons of ways that movies can establish a theme. Unfortunately, there are exactly zero ways that movies can establish theme parks. That's all up to studio bureaucracy.
Transcript
- 00:04
[Dino and Coop singing]
- 00:13
We want action and excitement in our movies… [A giant metal man storming through a city]
- 00:17
…but we don’t want just action and excitement.
- 00:21
We need characters to root for… characters to root against… [Batman punches the Joker]
- 00:24
…and hopefully some take-away message at the end. Even if it’s a cheesy one.
Full Transcript
- 00:29
Like…okay, great…that building just blew up. The fire looks pretty and all, but… [Man screaming as a building is on fire]
- 00:34
why should we care?
- 00:38
Well, fortunately, movies don't just reveal plot—they also, much like a book…
- 00:43
…provide characterization, themes, and enduring messages. [Spaceship flys through the air]
- 00:48
The good ones won’t come right out and tell us what those themes and messages are…
- 00:52
…we don’t want them to get all up in our faces about it… [A couple watching a movie together]
- 00:55
…but they will give us hints via the action, dialogue and character interaction.
- 01:00
When you’re watching a scene that seems to contain a lot of action…
- 01:03
…is especially funny or interesting… [Food flying around a couple and a tomato hits the woman in the face]
- 01:06
…or even features some… especially dramatic lighting…
- 01:09
…there’s probably a theme or two there that you might be able to put your finger on. [Hand puts a finger on a doctors face]
- 01:13
For example…let's say you’re watching a scene in a movie where someone’s drinking a Pepsi. [man takes a drink of a can of pepsi]
- 01:18
They’ve got Pepsi advertising posters pinned to their bedroom wall…
- 01:21
…their t-shirt features the logo…
- 01:23
…and they’re wearing a necklace made out of crushed Pepsi cans. [Man wearing crushed pepsi cans as a necklace]
- 01:27
As they sit watching a Pepsi commercial come on the television, they start weeping,
- 01:32
shouting through their tears…
- 01:35
“Pepsi…I wish I knew how to quit you!”
- 01:38
Uh, first of all, that scene would be weird. [Man crying to quit Pepsi and is stamped 'Weird']
- 01:41
This flick is probably not going to be up for any Oscars.
- 01:45
But we can also use what’s happening on screen—a guy basically professing his love
- 01:49
to a cola—to discuss the theme.
- 01:51
The theme here would probably be that, uh…there are some very crazy people in this world. [Dino discussing the films theme]
- 01:57
Or that caffeine can affect you in some unusual ways.
- 02:00
All right, let's try it again.
- 02:02
Let's say you saw a romantic comedy which ended in a splashy, fancy wedding…[A couple at the altar waiting to be married]
- 02:09
…and as the couple is about to tie the knot, the bride's childhood best friend rushed in
- 02:14
to interrupt and say he's loved her all along. [Best friend of the bride runs to the altar]
- 02:19
Suddenly, the bride changes her mind and says "I don't."
- 02:23
And best of all? The wedding guests totally started applauding.
- 02:26
Aw, it’s a happy ending for everyone. Except the poor groom, but… we’re sure somebody [Bride and best friend walk away and the groom looks angry]
- 02:31
will call him an Uber.
- 02:33
Anyway, we'd interpret that the plot focuses on the theme of true love…
- 02:37
…and that the dialogue, "I don't," touches on a theme of
- 02:40
rejecting normal or traditional wedding procedures.
- 02:44
Plot and characters' dialogue work together to reveal the theme. [Dino pointing to Plot + Dialogue on a chalkboard]
- 02:48
Hopefully they can also work together to do a rewrite of yet another bad Hollywood wedding movie… [Two people working on a hollywood movie]
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