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ACT 3 : EVERYTHING EXPLODES

So yeh in this like made up game--->film theory of mine Act 3 is the ending cinematics. So when Act 3 rolls around in a game, its already over. So what happens in these cinematics? All the loose ends are tied up, the opposition is dead, the protagonist is safe and the world is usually a better place. Most games, like mainstream films have closed endings. A closed ending is just that, it isn't open for interpretation. We know the protagonist succeeded at achieving his goals, and we have no doubt that the opposition is gone and won't come back. Just look back at my notes about archplot from Robert Mckee's book story as I summarized all this closed ending stuff.

So what should you do in Act 3 in your film? So your protagonist overcame all the obstacles your threw at him and now he/she should reap the rewards or die a horrible Death!!!?! It's up to you whether you want a "happy" or "sad" ending but it should be a definitive end unless your planning on making some sequels. Hey wait look at me talk?! The end of "We are the Strange" is kinda ambiguous. I have been studying all this story stuff in depth after I completed WATS, so many of the principles I'm discussing were not consciously used in WATS. I will be using these principles in my next film though so I want to help you along if I can with what I know now. According to my notes the purpose of Act 3 is:

-Resolution: the problem the protagonist risking his life over has been resolved. The major obstacle has been hurdled. The major confrontation has ended and the protagonist has won....or lost like horribly.

-Tie up loose ends: If there was anything in doubt during the course of the film it like...isn't in doubt anymore. So if one of the "bosses" escaped during of of the battles we now see that he has been captured and thrown in jail. When your watching a film and it comes to the end your always saying to yourself "what ever happened to that guy" or "did they just leave those nuclear missiles out in the desert?" All these loose ends should be tied up and addressed, they are not then you will have an open ending. According to fantasy Hollywood peoples that I've made up an open ending won't line your pockets with platinum so avoid them if you want to get hella paid in full DAMN!!!

-Give a feeling of resonance- It would be really awesome if the end of the film could seem like it was bigger than the screen. So what do I mean by bigger than the screen? If you can somehow tie in the viewer to the end of the film so that whatever happens on screen causes the viewer to think about they're life and how what happened on screen affects them. Give the viewer something mega powerful so when they walk out of the theater something from your film is still with them. It could be like a universal truth or a different outlook on the world, or aliens, or zombies... yeh give them a different outlook on zombies. Those poor zombies are starving and nobody will give them a job so that they can make money and like buy Chalupas, so please Mr. zombie go ahead and eat my brain. If thats not resonance I don't know what is. Actually I have no idea what resonance is and I just threw in the zombie brain eating reference as some type of sick cannibalistic misdirection tactic.

Comments

  1. Those poor zombies need their gouda chalupas...
    Excellent work on the article Mdot.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey M dot, I found this open source pre-production software. I haven't used it much, but it looks cool.


    http://www.celtx.com/

    (I'm not a robot.)

    ReplyDelete
  3. i think these are "laws" that are good to know only if u want to sell a product (a film that is(

    your film ending is ambiguous or ambiguous and thought provoking "after the end"?

    your next film could be more "clear cut" so that the averga viewers digests it easier (as i understand u were disapointed that "we are the monthers " wasnt understood by most ppl or producers)

    so, now ur doing a film for the avergae viewer, or even worse, for the average teenager, as all holywood producers do

    maybe, being an indie, it would be better to keep your freedom out of these commercial standards, and try to combine your personal view with a little touch of commerciality in the elements ,like the script "having a clear ending"

    there is no meaning in trying to resemble like hollywood, that kills your own personal voice as an artist, to have hollywood as a guide is wrong in my opinion, the ppl there are only lookin after commerciality

    ReplyDelete

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