I've just been listening to some Studio 360 podcasts (highly recommended). The October 1st issue has an interview with Neil Gaiman, which I really enjoyed. I've tended to avoid his stuff in the past, looks a bit too goth for me, but I think I'll have to yield. He talked really interestingly about a bunch of stuff.
One of the things he discussed was the dreadful predicatibilty of many Hollywood movies - you know exactly what's going to happen from minute to minute with a lot of them. Partly because you know how long the average movie lasts, and you know that they've still got X amount of time to fill.
Anne and I once discussed a solution to this which, if I was Global President, I'd immediately impose.
You know how a lot of movies like to open with a bit of suspense? There's a chase scene about 10 minutes in, the heroes in peril, or something. But you know he's going to be OK becuase he's the big name movie star and they're not going to kill him so soon. Or at all, probably.
Well, they should have a quota system that means that some movies do end about 10 minutes in. So the car is teetering on the edge of the cliff, the hero has to grab his girlfriend's hand to escape, he stretches to reach her, their fingers touch, he grasps her fingers, he falls, pulling her down on top of him, they both die, movie ends. If, say, 1 in 10 movie ended 15 minutes in, like that, wouldn't that make all the others that much more suspenseful?
I think you'd have to do it so each movie was available in two cuts, one of 15 minutes (or whatever), one the full 90, and they'd be served up randomly by the projectionist.
That'd add interest at the multiplex.
Silly thought: some sort of "jazz" movies. You'd never know when to expect the "theme" to come up!!! That's great!
(A bit more) serious thought: isn't exactly this predictability the reason why lots of people still watch movies? Like lots of people listen to predictable pop tunes with short bridges just before the chorus. It's reasuring, and probably most of the people just needs to be entertained (at least that's what I perceive here in Italy) and not challenged...
Posted by: Luca Vergano | October 06, 2005 at 08:47 AM
Well, it seems that we're thinking along similar lines. I was having this discussion with my girlfriend about the (US Fox TV show) Prison Break. I was telling her that it would be great if the main character got shanked and died 5 episodes into the season, ending it before the normal 22/24 show run.
Most would be upset. I however, would relish in the pure inventiveness of such a move.
BTW, highly recommend Gaiman and all his works. His Sandman graphic novels (comics, to most) are among the most literate and interesting that I've read, in or out of the genre. They draw on mythology and storytelling in a way that few writers bother with.
Only Alan Moore is a better writer. (Though Chris Ware and Daniel Clowes come mighty close)
Incidentally, Gaiman has a great blog.
Posted by: Alex | October 07, 2005 at 01:01 AM
Spooks (on the BBC) did a similar thing once. A major character was being threatened by baddies. The hero was poised to rescue her. And then, couldn't. She got shot and killed. It was very effective because your assumption was she'd rescued because that's what always happens.
I'll try some Gaiman.
Posted by: russell | October 07, 2005 at 09:19 AM
This element of unpredictability is why short stories are great. they can start in the middle, end suddenly, and kill off central charcters without warning. and, nulike a whole book, you don't have that thing of knowing how many pages are left to go. Unless you look ahead.
Sometimes hollywood tricks you by knowingly subverting the predictability. Like the great scene where Indiana Jones is confronted by an expert swordsman and doesn't bother with his whip - he just pulls out a gun and shoots him. Everyone laughs beacuse they know that's not what the hero is supposed to do.
Posted by: neil | October 10, 2005 at 01:57 PM
That's what happens in videogames.
Posted by: Taurus | October 14, 2005 at 02:16 PM
Excellent point Taurus. That's very true.
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Posted by: Tedd | October 28, 2006 at 02:46 PM