Film Reviews: Three-Act Structure - Geostorm (2017)

Geostorm (2017) is a disaster film where a global satellite system controls the worlds weather, it is the job of main character Jake to fix the array before it creates a Geostorm causing the deaths of millions of people. It follows a Three-Act structure which has been broken down over time into various formulas. The most popular is as follows:

Figure 1: Three-Act Structure Diagram

This diagram is a visual representation of a typical three-act structure in film, it can be applied to Geostorm as a way of representing its construction.    

Ordinary World: The ordinary world is literally the calm before the storm, it is set on earth before the Weather Array satellites begin to malfunction, the world consists of a legal battle between the main character Jake (Gerard Butler) and the U.S. Government, when he is fired, his world becomes the trailer which he resides in with his daughter.

Inciting Incident: The inciting incident occurs when the first satellite creates a geostorm over Afghanistan snap-freezing an entire village in the desert including its occupants leaving eery human ice statues in its streets; Jake is called to fix the problem his construction is creating. 

 Figure 2: Geostorm (2017) - Afghanistan Village

End of Act 1#: The threshold Jake must cross as the end of Act 1 is the literal barrier of space travel, he needs to board a rocket bound for the second environment of the Space Station, it is the beginning of his journey to confront the problem. 

Mid Point: A dawning of realisation as Jake figures out that the malfunction isn't actually that, but instead a U.S. Government sabotage plot to bring about the end of the United States political rivals on earth, Jake gets an encrypted message to his brother on earth which brings about the beginning of trying to fix the problem.   

Start of Act 3# (Race to the climax): The race to the climax begins when the virus is discovered in the space station and a realisation that they need to reboot the space station, this is when they hatch a plan to confront the president for the codes as only he can shut it down. The satellites then begin to charge for the Geostorm climax.   

Figure 3: Geostorm (2017) - Beginning of Geostorm

The Climax: The climax is the moment the kill codes are transferred to the space station and Jake must navigate an exploding space station in order to get to the shut down terminal, the kill codes however do not stop the station from self-destructing, the climax ends with the main characters dramatic space flight to the final space pod to escape the ensuing explosion. 

Figure 4: Geostorm (2017) - Space Station self-destruction

The Denouement: The end occurs when the dust and excitement settles, the characters involved have metamorphosed into better, more family centred and wholesomely pleasing people, this is shown by a scene of the three characters fishing on a jetty and additional conversation.   

Illustrations: 

Figure 1: Three-Act Structure diagram

Figure 2: Geostorm (2017) [Film Still] - Dean Devlin: Warner Bros, Electric Entertainment 

Figure 3: Geostorm (2017) [Film Still] - Dean Devlin: Warner Bros, Electric Entertainment

Figure 4: Geostorm (2017) [Film Still] - Dean Devlin: Warner Bros, Electric Entertainment

Perspectives - Post-Modernism in Inception (2010)

Figure 1: Inception - Film Poster  

Inception is the idea that you can plant an idea in an individuals mind to manipulate them into subconsciously doing something. When looking deeper into the narrative going on in the background you realise the techniques which Nolan uses to post-modernise the film. Post-modernism is about reflection, striving to find new ways to perceive the world. One of the ways Nolan does this throughout the film is through the narration of story telling, he weaves a story about plotting a story, his narrative explains the journey of a group who come up with a story which is then implanted in the mind of the character Robert Fischer, the narrative is already multi-layered in that regard, it then again layers itself with the concept of multi-layering of dreamscapes in a way to physically represent and reinforce this conscious creation of depth; the technique constantly forces the audience to assess their perception of depth, and if they can take the story at face value because the narrator is unreliable.

    

Figure 2: Inception - Limbo Structuralist Destruction 

The Scene in which the character of Cobb travels to the dreamscape of Limbo is significant because of what it represents. In Figure 2 you can see in the background replicated buildings, their design derives from structuralist architecture, which is built specifically to be functional, every aspect has been made irreducible to its purest form. The choice Nolan makes of creating a dreamscape where these structures are collapsing is arguably metaphoric because he is comparing this to the death of the theories of structuralism, the ideas which structuralism dictates as universal truths, for examples set by the unreliable narrator: that the idea Cobb will never leave Limbo, and that inception isn't possible, are being eroded with time, post-structuralism and modernism.  

Nolan uses sound to give another sensory feeling to the film too, using modern technology to manipulate the song "je ne regrette rien" by Edith  Piaf-Non so that it is slowed down to give the audience a perception of time manipulation and being overlaid over the original to make them sound like the same track, this technique is only possible with modern technology, and rethinks how we interpret the 4th dimension through sound.    

Finally the final scene is controversial in film because of the way it ends, linear story telling dictates a story/film to go start > middle > end, this is a traditional way of telling a story, Nolan creates the final scene where the spinning top is left spinning in order to create a cliff-hanger, in other words he completely removes an 'end', and suggests Cobb is still in a dream world, this finally also adds to the notion of the unreliable narrator because you are led to believe one thing, then are forced one last time to reevaluate your perception of the events you've just watched.  

Figure 3: Inception - Cliff-Hanger Final Scene

Illustrations:

Figure 1: Inception [Film Poster] - Christopher Nolan: Warner Bros, Legendary Entertainment
Figure 2: Inception [Film] - Christopher Nolan: Warner Bros, Legendary Entertainment
Figure 3: Inception [Film] - Christopher Nolan: Warner Bros, Legendary Entertainment

Perspectives: Terminology

When studying postmodernism in film it is important to understand common terminology used in the area in order to have a better understanding of the subject. below are a list with relative definitions to the theories of modernity, post modernity, structuralism and post structuralism.

Eclectic Nostalgia: the term eclectic means to range widely, to have a large base from which to draw knowledge, nostalgia is the wistfulness to return to a previous state of being, a homesickness. Eclectic nostalgia in postmodernism is the conscious desire to draw from things of the past to rethink how we read a subject of our time 

Aleatory: refers to the denotation of randomness.

Bricolage: seems to to a similar concept to something eclectic, a bricolage construction is made of many different things.

Pastiche: the imitation of another artists work.

Flippant: to not be serious or respectful.

Fabulation: term coined by Robert Scholes referring to the large amount of magical realism novels in the 20th century.

Simulacra: to represent something or something unsatisfactorily.

Fragmentary: shattered, broken, not as one whole but of different segments.

Superabundance: referring to something which is everywhere is great amounts.

High modernism: popular in 1950-1960 it dictates a striving for confidence in science and technology to reorder society and the natural world.

Capitalist: society which believes in private property and driving profit of money.

The enlightenment project: a period of time which humans began to story holding so much faith in religion and myth and began to question the natural order and reason of everything around them, it was a time of great categorisation of flora, fauna and everything outside these.

Modernity: the conscious effort to find new ways in which to perceive and view the way the world is.

Irreducible: something that cannot be broken down any further, the smallest value of something.

Structuralism: a term used to name theories and philosophies associated with finding universal,  fundamental and completely irreducible truths about how the world works. 

Ahistorical: a term used to describe something that sits outside of history, something that has always been and always will be.

Objective: a judgement which is uninfluenced by personal feeling or opinion.

Universal: something that is true across all things or over an entire subject.

Definitive: the final version of something.

Post-Structuralism: a term given to name theories and philosophies relating to confronting the authority of structuralist theories.

Reflexivity: a state of creation and destruction, when something has an impact on a subject but the subject also continually influences its creator in cycles. 

'The Unreliable Narrator': the term was coined in 1961 by Wayne C. Booth, it refers to a characters story which is untrustworthy, a tale which cannot be taken at face value. It is used to create plot twists, emphasis character alignment in a higher plot. It is used in a way as to not tell as story objectively, in order to make the audience perceive the story in a specific tone. 

Character Design - Character Art Style

Today we picked apart the essence of what makes an art style look as it does. I used the example of Tim Burtons' 'The Nightmare before Christmas' as a subject, below I began by trying to imitate the style of German Expressionism on the left. Then I was tasked with inventing a character to fit into the world space in the same style, on the right is the character designed for the role of accountant of Jack Skellington, his only purpose is to sit and account, his physique allows for no travel.    

My character appeared generic however so I began work on designing a character which embodied the essence of an accountant, this equated to boring faced, slave basically, which needed an element of sinisterness to relate to the horror archetypes, I began by designing expressionless faces until I came up with the idea of a tentacle faced, elongated body monster.   

Below are my final three designs for the accounting monster.  

Film Review: Venom (2018) - The Heroes Journey - Archetypes

Figure 1- Venom (2018) - film poster

Venom (2018), directed by Ruben Fleischer is an example of a Heroes Journey film where the hero Eddie Brock goes on a quest to stop the 'symbiote' alien character of Riot from escaping to outer space to herald an alien invasion of earth. During the film various character archetypes are used to convey different personalities, intentions, characteristics and messages to the main character and by extension the audiences perception of the current occurrence.  Below is a break down of the Heroes Journey Archetypes as portrayed in Venom

Figure 2 - Venom (2018) - Eddie Brock - Film Still 

Hero: Eddie Brock is the protagonist of the film, the entire journey centers around his experiences and what is meaningful to his success. 

Figure 3 - Venom (2018) - Carlton Drake - Film Still

Shadow: Carlton Drake plays the Multi-millionaire business tycoon, made rich off the back of exploiting vulnerable people in pharmaceutical testing for money. The character soon became obsessed with space travel and colonizing other planets in an attempt to save our doomed species. The character has a good intention of saving humanity however due to his methods and his callus disregard for others and his staff he is seen as the enemy of Brock.

Mentor: The symbiote character of Venom plays the mentor, he guides Brock, conditioning him to be able to cross the threshold guardian and leads him down the path to success. Venom latches on to Brock and gives him powers which Brock originally rejects when Venom displays characteristics which can be associated with the shadow archetype, however in a true symbiote manner, part of Brock is absorbed by Venom and his attitude changes turning him into an Anti-Hero (Vigilante).

Maiden: Anne Weying is the recently ex fiance of Brock, she is innocent in contrast to the stark violence of the exterior world, she is important to Brock and her preservation of innocence is portrayed throughout and becomes meaningful to the audience. 

Threshold Guardian: It is arguable that the guardian is the character Roland Treece, who plays the gritty head-henchman of Drake, he is tasked with bringing back Venom who is at that moment latched to Brock. Treece is the character Brock and Venom must pass through to get to Drake. 

Allies: Dr. Dan Lewis is the new boyfriend of Anne Weying, he is benevolent towards Brock, whom he respects as a reported and wants to help due to his selfless appearance. He goes out of his way to help Brock with his 'parasite' problem and inadvertently discovers the one weakness to all symbiotes, which is ultra high sound frequency.  

Herald: The herald is played by the homeless character of Maria, she literally holds all the newspapers which is knowledge giving her the ability to announce her importance to the main character, she is an omen of events to come. 

Trickster: It is arguable that the character of Ziggy who lives across the hall from Brock once he gets his own apartment has the only role of antagonizing Brock by playing loud heavy metal music through the night. 

Figure 4 - Venom (2018) - Mrs. Chen in convenience store - Film Still 

Mother: The character of Mrs. Chen who runs the conveniences store is in the mother archetype because she is constantly in all scenes which she occupies trying to 'mother' Brock, she asks about his eating habits, about his state of mind and his appearance; all common tropes which mothers in film are portrayed. She is also vulnerable which is depicted with the 'protection extortion' scenes, she is important to Brock because of her innocence. 

Father: The father figure of Brock could arguably be his Employer. He tries to give advice and guide Brock down the path of good rather than that of the vigilante. When the 'fathers' abandonment comes in the scene of Brocks dismissal of work, Brocks life begins to spiral downwards. 

Child: The symbiote character of Riot uses multiple hosts to get to Carlton Drake during this time he used the vessel of a little girl who appears innocent to Drake right up until the moment Riot exchanges hosts. The child appears innocent to all characters in the film but the audience is privileged with extra knowledge of the child giving her sinister qualities. 

Illustrations

Figure 1: Venom (2018) [film poster] - Ruben Fleischer: Sony - Columbia Pictures

Figure 2: Venom (2018) [film] - Ruben Fleischer: Sony - Columbia Pictures

Figure 3: Venom (2018) [film] - Ruben Fleischer: Sony - Columbia Pictures

Figure 4: Venom (2018) [film] - Ruben Fleischer: Sony - Columbia Pictures

              

  

Perspectives - Post-modernism in Kill Bill (2003)

Quentin Tarantino is considered a post-modern auteur in film, he uses many techniques to convey this during his work. Kill Bill is iconic across the world, critically acclaimed and massively popular. To understand how Tarantino is post-modern it is important to first know how post-modernism portrays itself in society and in the art of what we create. Modernism was the idea of consciously trying to discover new varieties of viewing the world. For Example, questioning why things are done a certain way and trying to improve them as in architecture, during the modern period, it was considered modern to build a house which didn't look like a house. Modern art strives to question and criticise what art really is resulting in  unique and interesting variations of what their creators call art. 

Figure 1 - Traditional house design

Figure 2 - modern house design

Tarantino used Non-Linear Narrative in a way to challenge traditional story telling where it starts at the beginning, goes to the middle and then ends with the end. instead he constantly jumps back and forth to make sure the audience remains guessing throughout, the benefit of a non-linear narrative is that he can tell the story in a way which gives the audience knowledge exactly when they need it from any period of time in the chronology of the story.        

Tarantino pays homage to various other film legends and techniques as mentioned by Groth on Tarantino as an Auteur "Tarantino regurgitates his favourite clichés and formulas, sometimes with a wink, sometimes with a straight face, sometimes with wit, but always with an unconditional love for the clichés" (Groth, 1995) originally influenced by Grindhouse Cinema, jumping from Japanese anime, to samurai to mariachi bands, references to Jet Li, and capitalism and various metaphors surrounding that, Howard remarks "consider it from a postmodernist perspective, you have to consider the anxieties that come with globalisation" (Howard, 2017) for example in the scene Lucy Liu decapitates the mob bosses head at her function for remarking on a change in tradition, a symbol of silencing opposition from those who disapprove.

Figure 3 - Kill Bill [film] - Lucy Lui 

The use of violence as an art form or as a celebration breaks tradition in the sense it is very graphic and is arguably avant garde practice because it pushes the boundaries of what the audience is expecting and used to, Tarantino is consciously trying to shock the audience which would be considered post-modern, resulting in something unpleasant for the audience, this is no more prominent than in the Japanese restaurant fight scene where people have blood spraying from their limbs like jet streams, blood covering every surface and blade penetrations clearly visible for the audience to observe.    

Figure 4 - Kill Bill [film] - Fight Scene

Tarantino uses an entirely new mode of media included in the film too in the form of Japanese anime cartoons to inspire a kinship to graphic novels pushing the boundaries of film to post-modernism by suggesting film doesn't necessarily have to contain only one form of media. This technique also helps because it allows for an extremely graphic scene which couldn't be shot in live action because of its extreme violence and subject of paedophilia. An audience will find the experience of the drawn cartoon duller and less discomforting in this form instead of live action because it is harder to associate with.    

Figure 5 - Kill Bill [film] - Anime Sequence

Considering the director had complete control over every aspect of the film down to a say in costume and choreography, it becomes extremely apparent as why Tarantino chose to make miniatures and film live action over a better looking animated scene during the fly over in the aircraft over Japan. It is arguable this choice was made because animation would have been the more traditional option in the current technological climate, so by breaking this tradition Tarantino gives the audience something unexpected by confronting a version of how the world is viewed.    

Figure 5 - Kill Bill [film] - live action fly over

Bibliography:

Howard, A. (2017). Tarantino as A Post Modern Auteur (Pulp Fiction, 1994, Kill Bill Vol.1 2003). [online] Alexandra Furssedonn Howard. Available at: https://alexandrafurssedonn.com/2017/04/20/tarantino-as-a-post-modern-auteur-pulp-fiction-1994-kill-bill-vol-1-2003/ [Accessed 5 Oct. 2018].

Groth, G. (1995). A Dream of Perfect Reception. [online] The Baffler. Available at: https://thebaffler.com/salvos/a-dream-of-perfect-reception [Accessed 5 Oct. 2018].

Illustration:

Figure 2: Foulkes, J. (2018). Stock photo BP2252. [online] Bananapancake.com. Available at: https://www.bananapancake.com/-/galleries/personal-favourites/-/medias/28eebd52-5410-4b57-9ce2-7eceae12aa4e-bp2252 [Accessed 5 Oct. 2018].

Figure 1: Khederian, R. (2018). Restoring a historic house: 8 tips and tricks before getting started. [online] Curbed. Available at: https://www.curbed.com/2017/6/8/15762608/old-house-renovate-restore-tips [Accessed 5 Oct. 2018].

Figure 3, 4 and 5: Kill Bill. (2003). [film] Directed by Q. Tarantino. A Band Apart: Miramax.

Toolkit 2: Weight lifting poses

Five poses in stepped frames depicting extreme poses and in-betweens for weight lifting animation.