The art of scope

Definition  Large scale  Sweeping scope  Spectacle  Ability to transport viewer to other settings  Viewed as a genre or as just big budget film-making

Ancient Genre  Vast setting  Supernatural involved  Serious tone  Central heroic figure  Epic hero: 1. Well-known 2. Actions impact others 3. Strong mind and body 4. Weakness

Shared commonalities  Well-known central historic or mythic heroic figure  Actions of heroic figure central to resolution of central conflict  Vast setting  Serious tone  Central conflict far-reaching effects

Common subjects and content  Royalty  Gladiators  Great military leaders  Leading personalities from world history  Time of war  Societal conflict  Long span of time - events depicted - running time

Genre  One of oldest - Pastrone’s Cabiria - D. W. Griffith  Peak of popularity in early 60’s - Cleopatra, The Fall of the Roman Empire, Dr. Zhivago - War & Peace, Russian film…potentially most expensive ever made

Style isn’t cheap…  Spectacular settings  Specially designed costuming  Sweeping musical score  Ensemble cast of bankable stars  On-location shooting  Massive scale action sequences  All this makes them VERY expensive to produce

The expense pays off…  Many of highest grossing films are epic in nature: 1. Titanic 2. Avatar 3. Gone With the Wind 4. Star Wars

Sub-genres  Historical 1. Kingdom of Heaven 2. Braveheart 3. Dances With Wolves 4. Seven Samurai  Religious or Biblical 1. The Ten Commandments 2. The Passion of the Christ 3. The Mahabharata 4. The Message

Sub-genres  Romantic epic 1. Gone With the Wind 2. Pearl Harbor  Science Fiction : A Space Odyssey 2. Planet of the Apes 3. Star Wars  Fantasy 1. Lord of the Rings 2. Harry Potter