3 ms·
There must be 50 books out there about screenwriting that talk in similar terms about the pattern -- the 3 act structure with character development tent poles a
by comrade_ogilvy 13y ago
There must be 50 books out there about screenwriting that talk in similar terms about the pattern -- the 3 act structure with character development tent poles and rising stakes. Their weakness is that there is no admired movie that fits any proposed pattern very closely, although many excellent follow the pattern loosely.
Perhaps the genius of this book is it has achieved the correct enough formula for comfortable mediocrity? Dunno. Do not care.
- triplesec 13y agoThis makes no predictions, but there is a more general creative principle to be had, and in other creative spaces too, music ensembles such as choirs and orchestras being one example of another arena. Actors don't get to give great performances if the words and myths in their stories are not supple enough for them to play with. Writers who are tied to one structure and following simple rules are never going to get as much out of actors as would someone like Ken Loach or Robert Altman, famous for improvisation and throwing away script. incidentally, I think there's even an analogy to sports management in this, too. Although many here don't like sports, if you look at the most successful football (soccer to you lot) managers you see how a looser structure but more tailored to the context (cf story setting, themes) can help with results. Manager as script. They have a set of principles and strategies, but they work to the strengths of the individual players (characters) to allow them to play the best game they can. A mediocre manager, OTOH, will prescribe and overorganise the players in rigid rule which leads to more consistent, but less creative and watchable play.