3-Act Grease Structure

Professor Ramirez-Berg introduced a three-act structure that storywriters love to use to develop and end their stories. The three-act structure is a handy structure that has a beginning, middle, and end, also known as an introduction, complications, and resolution to the story. The structure for the first act can be defined as the introduction said Professor Ramirez- Berg. The introduction is used to introduce the characters and their surroundings, taking up about thirty percent of the entire movie, so the viewer can be get a better understanding of the storyline. As the storywriter finishes the introduction of characters he/she will propel action to the next act to imply complications to transition to develop the next act. In doing so, the storywriter spends about sixty-five percent of the movie developing complications and plot points leading up to the climax. According to this three-act structure, the climax is most likely the last five minutes of the film, so about five percent of the rest of the movie. A great example of this three-act structure would be the classic musical Grease.

Introduction (Beginning)- Danny actually tells the guys that he really likes this young lady named Sandy, which is not like him since he suppose to be a guy that sleeps with chicks and not fall in "love". 

Complications (Middle) - Many things happen during this time of the three-act structure, but this is one complications that I would just like to point for reference. Take for example, the young ladies in the film are having a sleep over and talking about the young men, and teases Sandy about her soft heart for Danny. Clearly, give Sandy no choice but to play with his heart or let him play with hers.

Resolution (Ending)- So, Sandy decides to change her look to let Danny realize what he could have had. Sandy sings to Danny to push his interest in her by telling him "he better shape up cause she needs a man," not a man who plays childish games.

Sit calm to see a Sitcom

Colin Tain discussed several sitcom characteristics on Wednesday that I wanted to develop a better understanding for in the near future. The first characteristic I would like to discuss is the predictable and familiar plot development of any sitcom. If you have noticed, when watching a sitcom, they start off slow and progress after fifteen minutes. Also, this type of sitcom focuses on a central question with simple plot progression and concludes with no loose end, which is called an episodic sitcom. This sitcom tends to have characters that tend to not transfer their learning from the last episode to the next and who will maintain their ideologies at the beginning of each episode. This characteristic displays and prolongs a sitcom of original characters with different perspectives to be put together for potential conflict for a concentrated audience.

Take for instance, Tyler Perry’s House of Payne perpetuates a great example of episodic sitcoms because if you watch the show several times you will be able to notice the characters from the first episode you watched and the last one you happen to tune into are the same. An episodic sitcom allows for cycles and repeated patterns to capture the maximum amount of audience attention. Yet, these patterns are then changed over time because a character gets older and more mature and pushes the audience away and a good example would be the sitcom Save By the Bell. This show capitalized on adolescent years for many teens in the 90s, but the characters got older and so did the audience, leaving the show to cancel. 

Grease: You're the Shot that I Want

Camera angles and shots are essential when producing a piece of film, and a great example to demonstrate the different shots, from long shot to medium shot to close up, would be the classic musical film Grease. Thousands upon thousands have loved Grease, and there has not been another musical film as big of hit as it, in my opinion. These shots have different meanings from denotative to connotative, as Dr. Ramirez discussed, and I will help you understand the shots and their meanings. 

In the first shot, called the long shot, we are getting a feel for the area defined as denotative meaning. Two figures are at the beach, at least that is what it looks like, and holding each other romantically while the sun is setting or rising. This scene goes immediately to a medium shot with much light.

Dr. Ramirez states that in a medium shot we are confirming what we saw from the long shot in a denotative meaning, yet on the connotative side this shot shows a relationship display. Danny is standing in the castle they have built together while Sandra Dee is taking a picture of Danny with the castle. Sounds like something a couple would do right? Exactly!

Moving to the last shot called the close up which pulls in specific information we should pay close attention to during this shot. Dr. Ramirez lectured on how during a close up shot the denotative meaning would be something we need to see and to watch for details and ask ourselves what do we need to notice here. Also, the connotative meaning underlies emotion and feelings, in this shot shows just that information. Sandra Dee looks like Danny has told her some news that she realizes is not good and her face shows her emotion.

Studio System

The Classical Hollywood Studio system was an overall interesting lecture process. The most influential and important aspect of how the studio system worked, in my opinion, was the progressive market control of the studios at that time in history.

The Studio system of market control was understood that the Big 8 producers/distributors owned most of the crucial ‘first-run’ theaters. This means that they are the gatekeepers that enables the theaters the power to control the flow of production through the rest of the nation’s theaters. The Studio system of market control gives way more importance and influence on their audiences then most consider because they control what their audiences see, constructing an ideology for the world outside the market.

Secondly, the importance of Studio system of market control affected the kinds of films the studio made because it locked out significant competition in both the distribution and exhibition sectors. In addition, the studio system of production helps push this mass-market control to the greatest extent such as star system.

The star system was another way stars were tangible products of immaterial products because they were the best representation of what studios did at this time. For instance, Judy Garland was used to promote other MGM stars

Connecting the Past and Present of Sitcoms

A contemporary family-based TV situation comedy that could be compared to “All in the Family” would be Tyler Perry’s “House of Payne”. After screening “All in the Family” last week I could easily compare it with “House of Payne”, but there were definitely some differences from the two sitcoms.

First and foremost, I must express the similarities these sitcoms have in common with one another. “House of Payne” just like “All in the Family” has an insulting male, who is considered to be the head of household. Much of their dialogue expressed are used to insult others bringing laughter to the studio. Also, “All in the Family” had a woman character, which did the duties a woman in our society is constructed to do, so to speak. Take for example, “House of Payne”, similar to “All in the Family”, had the wife of the main character cleaning the house, tending to laundry, unemployed, and having to depend on the husband for family income. In addition, both sitcoms showed sides of American families not expressed daily in the media of their time.

However, these two sitcoms brought to light some differences that are barely talked about in today’s media world. The issue of race displays a tremendous difference in the issues that occur in the sitcoms. For instance, “All in the Family” was a middle-class white family that never seemed to deal with the problems of drugs, alcohol, or disconnecting families. They focused more on issues of their time like gay rights. Yet, on the other hand, “House of Payne” was a middle-class black family living in Atlanta that continues to try and keep the meaning of family, with one family member strung out on drugs, children living in a single-parent home, and uncertain job security.

Thus, “All in the Family” and “House of Payne” were well-established sitcoms that were not ideal to what we see on everyday networks. Today networks, such as BET, try so hard to play out stereotypes that it becomes demeaning and misunderstood by many of its consumers, for example the show "The Game". "The Game" capture many stereotypes about athletes, women, and ethnic cultures. Moving forward, we will begin to see more stereotypes emerge and networks down playing important issues, like racism or heterosexism. Media will continue to make an impact on future generations and they will discover the differences and similarities of the people of today’s society and in the past.