What makes a movie interesting Dramatics What makes a movie interesting Copyright © 2009-2017 Curt Hill

Approaches Three approaches to making a story interesting Robert Cohen’s GOTE Aristotle’s six requirements of a tragic drama Gustav Freytag’s pyramid Copyright © 2009-2017 Curt Hill

Robert Cohen’s GOTE Renowned playwright and critic Professor at University of California at Irvine Goal – what do the characters desire? Obstacle – what prevents the goal? Tactics – how do they accomplish this? Expectation – what is the likelihood of success? Copyright © 2009-2017 Curt Hill

Aristotle Describes in his work Poetics what characteristics should be found in a quality tragedy Plot Character Message Language Rhythm Spectacle Copyright © 2009-2017 Curt Hill

Plot Self contained series of incidents The situation prior to the action should be believable Those things that happen should be a consequence of the character and decisions of the actors What not to do: Deus ex machina Copyright © 2009-2017 Curt Hill

Character The audience should be able to see the virtue and vice of the main characters What is in their heart? What motivates them? Their character determines how the audience relates to that character Copyright © 2009-2017 Curt Hill

Message The moral of the story The audience should learn that certain types of action leads to certain types of results Arrogance leads to problems Kindness has its rewards Today’s entertainment often, but not always, lacks this Copyright © 2009-2017 Curt Hill

Language The vocabulary and sentence structure should be appropriate for the character and situation The doctor should speak differently than the truck driver The pace should also reflect the mood of the scene Copyright © 2009-2017 Curt Hill

Rhythm The dialog has a rhythm less precise than music, but still essential The meter of the poetry may be warped to heighten effect Copyright © 2009-2017 Curt Hill

Spectacle The effect of set, lighting, props and other effects A circus is all spectacle As are many “action” movies In an Alice program this is proper background for the actors To the students being able to make anything like this is spectacle enough Copyright © 2009-2017 Curt Hill

Freytag’s Pyramid climax rising action falling action ending exposition Copyright © 2009-2017 Curt Hill

Disclaimer Not all of these are needed for Alice movies You are working hard enough without juggling all these aspects There is no expectation that any Alice movie will demonstrate all these characteristics Paying attention to some of these will increase the interest level of the audience Copyright © 2009-2017 Curt Hill