4 ms·

The question today is not whether 3D movies are viable, the question is whether the feature-film format is viable (90 minute three-act structure). Honestly I en

The question today is not whether 3D movies are viable, the question is whether the feature-film format is viable (90 minute three-act structure). Honestly I enjoy very few movies recently. We know exactly what's coming next, and when. Usually a big fistfight where good triumphs over evil. Media is evolving (look at games, TV, youtube, and instagram). 3D will find it's place within the evolution of media.

Spivak 9y ago
Being predictable isn't necessarily a bad thing in storytelling. Being completely predictable is boring, so is being completely random and good stories have to find a balance. At a high level you probably know how every movie is going to end from the onset but that doesn't make them boring. There are a lot of uninteresting tales of heroism but it's not because you know that the hero is going to ultimately prevail.
- emodendroket 9y ago
  I mean, look at Greco-Roman myth, right? You didn't really wonder how the story ended, yet the masters managed to say something distinct in each take on the same characters doing the same things.
  - dagw 9y ago
    Look at theater. Most people going to the theater know the story they're about see very well. They may very well have seen it several times before and perhaps even read the script. And yet they still go.
b1daly 9y ago
Good point here. There have been several episodic television series I've watched that I've experienced as unusually gripping (the usual suspects, Breaking Bad, Orange is the New Black, Man in the High castle). One area where the long form exceeds the 90 min format is the depth of characterization it allows, and accompanying narrative attachment. Soap operas have relied on this effect for years, allowing them to succeed despite low production values. Coupled with the superior craftsmanship of modern episodic TV, is a pretty "gripping" experience. The extended narrative structure also allows more justification for the characters actions to emerge naturally. In a shorter film, a lot of the characters' dialog has to serve as exposition, resulting in dialogue that sounds contrived. I've also noticed shorter movies reliance on tropes to condense the timeframe of the narrative action so extremely. Things like voice-overs, montages, heavy make up to show aging, conventional narrative structures, the aforementioned expositionary dialog, (sub) titles. The fact a narrative that spans years can be communicated effectively, in a 90 min film, is powerful evidence that the art of filmmaking does not use a visual medium to simply create an experience that relies on the verisimilitude to lived reality. This highlights what I see as a...quirk of human inclination to try and recreate, or rather present as alternative perspectives, imagined realities. Personally, probably related to my middle age, the prospect of technology to create virtual reality has minimal appeal. In the other hand, technology that allows enhanced perceptions into actual reality is highly enticing, and seems to be an underserved area of human experience. I'm thinking of things, for example, like cognitive enhancing drugs. Or tools that can help control out of balance behavior.
norlys 9y ago
Well... Maybe overthink WHICH movies you are watching? There is a huge culture around movies that doesn't only consist of hollywood. Try going to a indie film festival, for example.

Spivak 9y ago

Being predictable isn't necessarily a bad thing in storytelling. Being completely predictable is boring, so is being completely random and good stories have to find a balance. At a high level you probably know how every movie is going to end from the onset but that doesn't make them boring. There are a lot of uninteresting tales of heroism but it's not because you know that the hero is going to ultimately prevail.

emodendroket 9y ago
I mean, look at Greco-Roman myth, right? You didn't really wonder how the story ended, yet the masters managed to say something distinct in each take on the same characters doing the same things.
- dagw 9y ago
  Look at theater. Most people going to the theater know the story they're about see very well. They may very well have seen it several times before and perhaps even read the script. And yet they still go.

b1daly 9y ago

Good point here. There have been several episodic television series I've watched that I've experienced as unusually gripping (the usual suspects, Breaking Bad, Orange is the New Black, Man in the High castle). One area where the long form exceeds the 90 min format is the depth of characterization it allows, and accompanying narrative attachment. Soap operas have relied on this effect for years, allowing them to succeed despite low production values. Coupled with the superior craftsmanship of modern episodic TV, is a pretty "gripping" experience. The extended narrative structure also allows more justification for the characters actions to emerge naturally. In a shorter film, a lot of the characters' dialog has to serve as exposition, resulting in dialogue that sounds contrived. I've also noticed shorter movies reliance on tropes to condense the timeframe of the narrative action so extremely. Things like voice-overs, montages, heavy make up to show aging, conventional narrative structures, the aforementioned expositionary dialog, (sub) titles. The fact a narrative that spans years can be communicated effectively, in a 90 min film, is powerful evidence that the art of filmmaking does not use a visual medium to simply create an experience that relies on the verisimilitude to lived reality. This highlights what I see as a...quirk of human inclination to try and recreate, or rather present as alternative perspectives, imagined realities. Personally, probably related to my middle age, the prospect of technology to create virtual reality has minimal appeal. In the other hand, technology that allows enhanced perceptions into actual reality is highly enticing, and seems to be an underserved area of human experience. I'm thinking of things, for example, like cognitive enhancing drugs. Or tools that can help control out of balance behavior.

norlys 9y ago

Well... Maybe overthink WHICH movies you are watching? There is a huge culture around movies that doesn't only consist of hollywood. Try going to a indie film festival, for example.