Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Emperor tells Shang (Mulan's commanding offi cer and love interest), “A fl ower that blooms
in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all.” This communicates the needs of accep-
tance, love, and order.
For other movies, it is not so obvious. You really have to think about what the movie is
saying. Sometimes, if you look at what the main character wants and what he or she needs
to learn, it often points you to the theme. It is not the objective of a movie to have the audi-
ence leave the theater spouting themes—“Wow! That
Shrek!
A person's worth is measured
by character! Remind me to realign my ethics!” It is the job of the fi lm to move them uncon-
sciously toward the theme through their emotions. “I love that story. I want to watch it over
and over again. If an ogre deserves love, maybe I do, too.” However, as a creator of fi lms,
it is really useful to know what you are trying to say in your fi lm.
Let's look at some other fi lms whose themes you need to think about:
The Triplets
of
Belleville:
On the surface, this almost seems cliché: Love will defeat all odds
(even the French mafi a). But this is actually too simplistic.
Triplets
is a complicated fi lm
that also comments on parenting, the world of sports, the world of arts and class systems,
and more.
Ice
Age:
A herd sticks together. Families are made up of all types of creatures, whose com-
bined strengths and weaknesses make us whole.
The
Incredibles:
A herd sticks together. No really . . . Mr. Incredible can't work alone . . .
strengths, weaknesses make us whole. Mr. Incredible must learn that he needs help to be
a successful superhero.
Howl's
Moving
Castle:
A herd sticks together . . . a person's worth lies in his or her charac-
ter . . . love will defeat all odds. Think about it.
Exercise:
Go to your local video store. Video stores usually have shelves that house the
employees' favorite movies. Or they will have a second shelf of older movies near a best-
seller. If the bestseller is sold out, but you wanted that movie, you will probably like this
other movie, too. See how many of them have similar main themes.
Originality in Story
If there are limited themes, confl icts, structures, and character types, what makes each story
unique?
Robert McKee states that story is about form, not formula. It is completely possible to have
good story structure and still not have a good story. While the themes, confl ict, structures,
and archetypes may be the same, what is unique is a compelling character and emotionally
driven sequence of events. Each character will react to events in a different way. Observing
how someone else reacts to problems, different from how we, as an audience member might,
is concurrently educational and compelling. It gives us a reason to watch.
