week nine - the way hollywood tells it, 19-50

How do films with multiple protagonists work within the model?

films with multiple protagonists can work within the guidelines of thompson's four stage model, although typically, one or two protagonists end up being favored. the most simple method is to have all of the protagonists sharing the same goal. other times, their plot lines are similar, but less influenced by each other, as in the movie where the boys are, the example chosen by bordwell to explain. the four stages still existing: the setup, the complicating action, the development and the climax, it just tends to exist in four different realms and with four different feelings and/or morals.



List and briefly describe the narrational tactics discussed in the section “Tightening the Plot” (starting on p. 43).

-two plot lines, one almost always being the development of a heterosexual romance: more than classic, almost all movies center around a hero, facing some personal crisis, and falling in love at the same, and in many cases, the two stories are highly intertwined.
-the "ticking clock" time deadlines: a time crunch leads to a more desperate need for the conflict to be solved, as well as heightening suspense to keep the audience involved. (why care if they have forever?)
-foreshadowing and clue planting: again, necessary to add suspense, and keep the audience guessing whats next and clued into whats going on, if not subtlely.
-repetition of dialogue and motifs: to reiterate important points, keep a feeling of comfortable familiarity, and to make "the point" well known.
-touchstones and twitches: "recurring objects that remind us of the story world before it was plunged into disorder... and objects that symbolize the character's internal conflict," respectively.
-crosscutting and parallel action: multiple plot lines, keep the audience on their toes, add suspense to any story. can limit or increase the knowledge of the audience.
-written titles and credits: can be used to set the stage, start it off with the intended feeling, and create and set the tone of the film.
-montage sequences: use to span large amounts of time and portray long periods, including lots of character expose.

"appointments, deadlines, causally dense scene construction, a balance of narrow and wider ranges of knowledge, passages of overtness balanced with less self-conscious ones - these narrational techniques work together to create the distinctive texture of the Hollywood film."



What does Bordwell mean by his claim that Hollywood narratives have “passages of overtness balanced with less self-conscious ones” (p. 50)?

by this, bordwell means that in many cases, filmmakers follow a more or less strict set of guidelines that creates the bankable and solid "classical hollywood film," but in many cases, alot of underlying and unconscious techniques and decisions come into play, that add the flare and uniqueness that make a movie really, truly good.