In class we watched the opening of Back to the Future (1985) to practice our analytical skills. There are three main areas in which I feel this scene excels:
1. Plot Progression
I am surprised by how effective this scene is at starting the plot. A scene is interesting when the plot is moving forward, so it was surprising to me at first that the prime example we're looking at starts off so slow. We start with a long tracking shot of a lot of clocks, which is a very nice way to thematically introduce the film. But there is much more to this opening shot(s) than just the clocks, the plot is already moving with the plutonium being introduced and the newspaper clippings of a burned down mansion. These elements create a sense of mystery and keeps the audience engaged.
Overall the scene is extremely efficient, every element has it's place, and if something is set up it also has a pay off. The clocks play a major part towards the end of the first scene, where they are the thing that warns the main character that he's late for school and which kicks us right into the rest of the film.
Even the transition where the main character goes to school is always introducing new things and establishing not only the time period but also the town's layout.
How the scene kept me engaged by always moving the plot forward:
Thematically appropriate clocks > Burned down mansion > Missing Plutonium > Contraptions and abandoned lab > Marty's entrance > Plutonium reveal > Guitar scene and character reveal > Doc calls and sets up a time and place for character to be > Late for school > Into pop song and establishment of setting
2. Character Setup
The second thing that this scene does very well is create a sense of who the characters are. By the end of the scene we already feel familiar with them and even though we don't see Doc we already know what he's like. Marty is a 1985 teenager, introduced with his recklessness, sense of sarcasm and interest in rock 'n roll. Doc is shown to be an unorganized mad scientist.
I also like that Marty, the movie's time traveler, is someone who can't stay on time (Matthew pointed out to me that he has a wrist watch and is still late).
The time period is also very well established, as it is something that is very important to the plot. We move into the 80's proper when Marty goes to school, where we are accompanied with a (then) contemporary pop song as we take a journey through essential period specific iconography.
3. Technical Elements
The shots specifically are wonderful at communicating the story. They are made up of long tracking shots that slowly reveal more information to the audience. The camera floats through the scene, taking an omniscient viewpoint. I like how smoothly it transitions from different kind of shots, like a mid shot to a close up or a long shot to a wide, all without cutting. You don't notice the camera and don't even consider what the set-up must have been like - effortlessly immersive. I like the shots where Marty enters and where he kicks the skateboard. They feel like finished shots and then introduce something new while moving with an object or person in the scene.
Films I want to give a similar analysis treatment:
- TRAINSPOTTING
I want to do a breakdown of the opening scene from Trainspotting (the Iggy Pop bit) because I've watched that scene a lot of times since first seeing it last year without even watching the whole film. I keep finding myself wanting to watch something on Netflix and then just quickly watching the Trainspotting opening scene again.
It's not a long scene but a lot happens. It has such a unique aesthetic and the editing is pitch perfect. Danny Boyle is one of the directors I consider using as a model for my film later in the year, so it would help to start breaking down what he does well.
- JAWS
This is very similar to the Back to the Future example in terms of the technical elements. The generation following the Hollywood New Wave (people like Spielberg, Lucas and Zemeckis) perfected the art of visual storytelling in film, their movies are extremely immersive with their smooth cameras and expertise at the cinematic craft.
I watched a scene from Jaws the other day just for fun and I think it'll be a good one to break down. It's the scene on the raft where the mayor convinces Brody not to cause a panic and the beach where the shark attacks for the first time during the day.
Taking inspiration from these guys for my short film would be great, because I'd be learning how to make the most of the basics of film-making. What inspires me about them is that they didn't need a flashy style or techniques, they used the foundation of the cinematic language to it's fullest potential. It's something I should probably learn how to do before trying to emulate someone like Boyle or Gilliam.
- TERRY GILLIAM FILM
I want to do a Gilliam style film because of how unique his style is and because of how ambitious yet low budget his films usually are. Even if it's just an everyday drama, his signature dutch angles and odd framing will give the film something special.
I recently started watching all of his films, although I haven't finished yet, I think he'd be a cool model. I don't know where I would begin for choosing a scene though.
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We were given a similar task to last year's "Describe a scene or film that scared you as a kid, and one that did so more recently", this time the task was to talk about films that made us sad:
"Two Examples from early memory. Describe and compare your response to them then and now":
I am Legend (2008)
When the dog is killed by the main character. It's a really sad scene when a dog dies, and I remember being especially teary when the dog had to be pity killed by Will Smith in I am Legend. The reason this scene worked so well was partly because of it's content, but also because of what came before. We spend a lot of time with the character and his canine companion before this scene, and get to see their bond. More importantly we get to see how much he means to the main character - who is alone in the world with only this one dog to keep him company. The fact that animals don't usually understand why things are happening or what they did wrong also helps make it even sadder because we feel sorry for them.
Looking back this scene has a lot of layers and I remember actually thinking about it after the movie ended as a kid. The dog turning into a zombie and it trying to kill Will Smith as i's last action is also quite effective.
I haven't seen the movie since I was young, so I don't know how I would react today, but it has stayed with me all these years and I remember the scene vividly. I can't help but think I would feel the same today, probably just a bit more numb.
Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
Another sad Will Smith movie, at least I remember it being sad. The part I remember from childhood is him sleeping in a bathroom with his son and playing a game with him to distract him from the reality of their predicament. Someone tries to get into the bathroom while his son lies asleep and he has to cover the boy's ears.
These types of scenes were always effective because as a kid I was always concerned with my parents and how they were doing. This film is told from that point of view and I remember feeling much more empathy for Will Smith's character than his son's. Parents suffering, especially to give their kids a good life, was always very sad to me.
I watched the film again recently and it didn't have any effect on me. Maybe I've become desensitized. I think the saddest part is when they play the game to try and escape their reality. I've come to realize that I find myself feeling sadder when a movie has a facade of something happy with a true sadness lying underneath.
In general I think happy moments in movies are more effective in making me sad than blatantly sad or depressing ones.
AI (2001)
This is a good example of the happy-sad scene being more sad than a straight sad one. There are two sad scenes in AI and when someone else in class mentioned the movie my mind immediately jumped to one. The first is when the main character is abandoned, the one most people probably think of (and it makes sense, as a kid that would be a very affecting scene), but the one that stuck with me all these years is the end scene where David spends one last day with his mother. This scene is so prominent in my memory that I almost forgot about the abandonment scene.
Again it's the happy-sad combination that makes it work so well.
I haven't scene AI since I was a kid, although I watched it enough to remember it pretty well (we had it on VHS), don't know how I'd react today, but I can imagine that the ending scene would still seem sad to me.
Lilo & Stitch (2002)
Here we are again with a scene that seems happy but has a sad center. The scene I am talking about it the Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride scene (where Stitch goes surfing with Lilo and her older sister). The scene sees Stitch learn not to be afraid of the water, but it's sad because he comes to realize what he really wants. It's sad because he's an outcast and the scene is about him coming so close to something that he truly wants, but that because of his circumstance and genetic predisposition is seemingly incapable of ever acquiring.
I thought about genetics a lot as a kid, how some people are naturally better than others at certain things, and how there are extremes on both sides of what you get given (good at everything and serious mental or physical disabilities). I always felt I was on the lower side of the gene pool and this scene really resonated with me because of the fact that it isn't Stitch's choice how he started or what is built into his DNA.
Another sad scene from this movie has a very similar theme, it's where Stitch overhears the conversation Lilo has with her big sister and he desires to have a family. This type of thing is always sad because everyone sympathizes with an orphan.
Looking back the reason these two scenes work, I think is because they show a character wanting or needing something and coming extremely close to getting it or getting extremely close to someone who has it.
The song adds a lot too, as music often does.
"Also provide two examples from recent memory":
The Wind Rises (2013)
This is a pretty sad movie, a lot of it is spent focusing on a love story that ends in death. We see a lot of the main character's wife and her worsening condition, the saddest scene to me is at the end when he is in his fantasy land.
We see the main character walk over a grass hill, surrounded by broken warplanes - the thing he spent his life creating - atop the hill is his childhood hero. They talk briefly of his life's achievement and the planes he spent his whole life working towards fly past silently, the pilots saluting. They join million others in the sky, his hero says planes are beautiful but cursed dreams. The main characters dead wife tells him he must live, she disappears into the clouds, his hero tells him she is gone now.
The scene is sad because it is such an understated conclusion. Some plot lines feel unresolved, being only mentioned here in passing. It is a beautiful final reflection on the main character's life.
La La Land (2016)
The scene from La La Land is kind of a combination of many of the elements I've talked about.
Firstly it's happy/sad and focuses on what could have been. I find these types of what if scenarios and scenes very intriguing. It's someone looking at what could have been, which is a happy thought, but the reality of the situation is that it isn't real. It's a fantasy that as a viewer we enjoy seeing and which the character enjoys inhabiting, but ultimately it's nothing more. This is probably what I find most sad about this scene, it's about regret.
Regret is probably my greatest fear and I constantly wonder what would have happened if I approached a situation differently or if I lived my life differently, now I find myself incapable of not seeing the future consequences of every single one of my actions. So this scene really resonated with me on that level.
The other thing it does well is the same thing that Lilo and Stitch did, the character comes extremely close to what they want, and in this case almost had, but which they are unable to get.
The smile Ryan Gosling's character gives at the end is bittersweet and the entire scene ends the movie on a high, happy note, but there is the undeniable undercurrent of tragedy.
Inside Out (2015)
This is an interesting example because it tackles the exact thing I've been talking about this entire blog - the relationship between happiness and sadness, and how they need to co-exist.
It's a very smart film that also manages to be very emotionally resonant.
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