Lost in Translation - Breakdown

Hmm.
This was an interesting challenge put forth, that just highlighted what I've been starting to understand even more clearly. I've been looking at lots of movies and stories that were close to the type of story I had in my head - strong actions, hint of horror and fear, dramatic speeches and so on. But does this structure I've been talking about apply to other type of stories.

I really didn't know. My initial guess was yes, because the "3/4 act structure" is all about putting forward a story in a way that reinforces the main points its trying to tell. So, it theoretically should apply equally to romance or comedy or whatever.

So, here was the challenge. Lost in Translation. Not intimidating at all, no. <sigh>. This is a real favorite of mine, and I've watched it dozens of times. I love the feelings it evokes, especially as a person who has lived in a number of different countries where I didn't speak the native language, and have traveled to places where I couldn't even read street signs! So yes, trying to peek under the hood and tear this apart was a slightly frightening proposition.

Before we sat down to watch this film, I looked up a number of reviews, and my heart skipped another beat. They were full of terms like 'fragile', 'anti-hollywood' 'goes out of its way to avoid clichés'. I really thought that this would be very hard to analyse.

The first question is, of course, what the heck is this movie about? What is the core conflict that drives this movie. D and I sat and watched this movie all the way through, each of us trying to read the meaning behind the actions of the characters and cinematography. It was a weird feeling doing free-association while watching a movie, especially when we were both mentioning people and places that were very personal to both of us.

Then it hit us, pretty much at the end of the film, this is a film about a very specific emotion - the longing to be understood. - I'm sure there is a lovely word in gaelic or german or some foreign language that sums this up nicely, but it is a real emotion that I know a lot of people feel. The feeling that you cant communicate because no one understands the meaning behind your words, the search for someone, anyone, who can really understand who you are. Its not the same as being loved, but there is that same feeling of connection. So the internal conflict is this search for being understood, and the external conflict is, to me, the transience of the meeting, the ticking clock which tears them apart.

Knowing the core theme of the story, the theory dictates that there should be 3 major points at 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 of the way through. For a movie of 100 minutes, I straight away clicked on some different points on the playback bad :)

1st Plot point - end of act 1 at about 25 minutes.

Here we expected something related to connection. Our two main characters should somehow make a connection that will drive the rest of the film, we should get a feeling for what is really at stake in the whole film. So, what do we see at the 25 minute mark? We are in the last moments of that cheesy lounge singer scene!
Voila - This is the scene where Bob and Charlotte first really meet. The make a connection over the shared feeling of "how cheesy is this singer" by just looking at each other through a crowded bar, when everyone else around them seems so disconnected and they feel lonely. Charlotte chooses to send over the drink, and we see the touching scene of Bob in the elevator, checking out his own smile.
This obviously sets up the question: will they be able to find happiness together? Unlike a romance or a comedy, coppola didn't try to make this scene cute, or special. It was just a momentary glimpse of having someone else understand, and then the pair go their separate ways, still not having shared a single word. But this changed the movie, from showing two lonely people in a foreign country, into one where these two people are trying to see how can they connect with each other.

Midpoint - middle of act two at about 50 minutes.

OK, so the first plot point was pretty much spot on, how does the midpoint go? I am expecting something game-changing - Its the karaoke scene with the songs by Bob and Charlotte full of very strong subtext!
Bingo - real game changer here. Here our two characters move away from talking and sharing anecdotes to actually talking about their relationship - through the lyrics of songs and lots of meaningful looks. Go back about 30 seconds to see Charlotte singing "I'm gonna make you see" by the Pretenders. Now if this isn't full of meaning, I don't know what is :) "I'm going to make you notice me,.. no one here like me... I'm special, I gotta have some of your attention". Then the response of Bob: "More than this, there is nothing" (More than this by Roxy Music) but sung with great regret. All ending with the iconic scene of Charlott and Bob in the corridor outside, tired, with Charlotte's head on his shoulder.
Here is question really changes, from "can anyone understand me?" to "Can something come from this?" Neither of the characters is directly confronting the question, but its clear that both of them, despite marriages and other commitments, are flirting with the fantasy of "can something happen here? Could this be the start of something?" Again, not necessarily romance, but now the cards are on the table, and some hard decisions need to be made soon.

2nd Plot point - end of act 2 at about 75 minutes.

So we've got our story setup. Two people, looking for a connection, someone to understand them. They have found each other, and now the question they are asking is "Can we somehow keep this situation going? Can this moment last? So I would expect something at this point that addresses this question in a big way. Well, the exact moment of 1:15:00 is Charlotte wondering through some old Japanese places, but the very next scene a minute later is the one I was hoping for. So still, pretty spot on!
Bob makes a decision! He purposely skips out on his work (the 2 million dollar spot he's being paid for) and runs away, calling the japanese show saying "I would love to change my plans and stay." All the while looking at a note he received from Charlotte. He decided he wants to stay and try to make something more of this nebulous relationship with Charlotte!


This was a great little exercise. It has convinced me, more than anything else so far, that a good story, a well told and moving story, will actually make use of this structure in a reasonably clear and straightforward manner. AS long as the story is crystal clear on the theme and conflict it is trying to portray, then this very old structure will really help.

NaNo prep part2

Well, this is a first!
It is starting to feel that all this time investigating stories, breaking them down, and trying to work out what makes them tick may be starting to bear some fruit!

Thanks to a bit of prodding by my mate Svavar, I broke down Aliens, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Terminator and Die Hard and started to get some insight into what sort of information if being presented in each of those parts I talked about earlier. Which let me start to think about what I want to put in my own little NaNo story :)

Lets try a little comparison.

Sequence 1

• Samurai: Meet drunk Algren, See how he's useless. Ask if he wants to kill some Japs.
• Aliens: Meet nightmare riddled Riply, see how she fired. Ask if she wants to kill some Aliens. 
• Raiders: Meet teacher/adventurer Indiana. Cant keep the Artifact. Ask if he wants to beat some Nazis.

We already have some basics - What is life like? What is kicking them into action?

Sequence 2 / End Act 1

• Samurai: Get a look at the modern army and the problem of Samurai rebels, Do stupid things and get caught.
• Aliens: Some high-tech equipment porn, talk about the Aliens a bit. Ignore the warnings are march into "secured" abandoned colony.
• Raiders: Travelling the world and exotic places. Bit of backstory, Bar destroyed by Nazi's and pair go on the hunt with a Medallion.

Again, lots of similarities. What is the predicament we're headed for? Lock our hero into a bad place.

Sequence 3

This starts to rely on "what is the problem our hero is facing". So there are differences based on what makes the problem worse, but still, see for yourself.

• Samurai: Algren suffering and lost. Learn more about the Samurai. "You're doing it wrong".
• Aliens: Ripley locked away. Learning about aliens, acid, last stand and multiple facehuggers!, Oh, colonists are all over there!
• Raiders: Following the clues and getting help (Salah). Run from Arabs and Marion gets captured.

Again, similarities. The hero is pretty passive at this time, mainly going along with the flow. But they learn more about the situation until coming up against a obstacle which raises the stakes of the story.

Sequence 4 / Midpoint

Now we're really headed into the guts of the story!

• Samurai: Algren falls in love with the Samurai culture. Suddenly Ninja! Algren fights and saves the Samurai leader! (no more kill samuraim but save them)
• Aliens: We finally get to see the alien hive and implanted colonists. Fight goes fubar. Ripley gets fedup and literally takes control, saves the last of the marines! (no more save colonists, but get the hell away!)
• Raiders: Nazi's have a medallion too! Racing to catch up as they have started digging. Sneak into Well of Souls and find the real location of the Ark!

We get some rising excitement and a more directly facing the problem. The Hero stops being a wuss and really gets into the actions. Also, the story takes a serious right hand turn and the problem is not quite what we though at the end of sequence two.

Sequence 5

This is a bit slower and on a tangent.

• Samurai: Back to city life. Some politics between the Japanese which puts a new spin on the problem faced by Algren, and now the Army is big and dangerous!
• Aliens: Mainly cooped up in the Colony. Get some interpersonal stuff with Newt (mommy issues) and Burke (money issues). All complicated by the realisation - where are all these eggs coming from.
• Raiders: Find Marion, but leave her tied up! Lot of time with Belloq and Marion, and the Gestapo guy. Ends with Indy's impatience getting the worst of him as they lead the Nazi's to the Ark, and he's trapped.

Again some similarities. We spend some time on the other characters than the main hero and see their issues. We also get some inclination that new plans may be necessary because of some new dangers on the horizon.

Sequence 6 / End act 2

This is, I think, the most fun section. 

• Samurai: The Samurai are loosing. Laws against them, captured etc. Algren comes and saves the say and escapes with the Samurai leader, but he looses his son in the fight.
• Aliens: Pure Action. Aliens attck, Bishop goes for the new 2nd dropship. Ripley nearly implanted, then the big runaway which ends with Newt getting captured!
• Raiders: Escape, Fight at the Airplane! Steal the truck, escape the baddies, GET THE ARK!

Yeah, this section is the fun one. Lots of action, lots of conflict, and it almost seems that our heros succeed. But there is one final problem to overcome - the big one!

Sequence 7

This and the following one are in a way hard to divide, because there is so much going on!

• Samurai: Algren and the Samurai return and prepare. The final fight is for the hearts and minds, so they are making a stand! Gearing up time. Algren finally "becomes one with the samurai".
• Aliens: Ripley refuses to leave. She is going to face the Aliens head on to save Newt. Heart pumping music as she gears up and enters the Hive. She's become warrior-woman incarnate!
• Raiders: Relaxing on the boat. Submarine attack, Indy alone goes to the rescue. 

Both are fairly short, but they point out in no uncertain terms what the final confrontation is all about. Our hero takes their final form! Really sets up the final as a simple choice - WIN or DIE!

Sequence 8

• Samurai: Awesome battle. Has a fake-out where you think the Samurai might actually win! But no, they (nearly) all die. Emperor has his little speech at the end saying the Samurai were right.
• Aliens: Well, The escape and face off against the Queen. Fake-out that no, you didn't escape completely, the Queen is up here with you! AT the end you get them all cleaned up and going to sleep, they can now dream as the Nightmare is dead!
• Raiders: Chases after Belloq, fake-out capture! Indy knows how to survive and the Nazi's die to the Ark. Marion and Indy happy at the end with the Ark "safely" out of reach of the Nazi's.

Yep, the big boss fight with a fake out in the middle where they try to trick you!. With a nice wrap up at the end.

So, After all this pulling stuff apart, I finally proved to myself that this structure actually holds, and set about putting my own story layered over this framework. Today I finally got something that resembles an interesting story! Now I have the rest of the week to fiddle with my scenes before I have to start putting pen to paper! (Or fingers to keyboard).

Samurai Breakdown

So, Alexandra put up some more challenges to look at the movies we listed and break them down. She talks about the "3 act" and "8 sequences" that are most movies are made up of. So I spent a quite enjoyable (but tiring) few days watching lots of movies. North by Northwest, Aliens, Centurion, The Last Samurai, Wreck it Ralph, and you know what - she's right.

I spent a lot of time going through these movies, working out what the theme, plot, characters were. Watching for the sequence and act breaks, and the big setpieces. My wife even got to the point where she told me "If I wanted the director's commentary, I'd watch the special features...". I got a little obsessive I think :/

So which movies do I think are most similar to my story?
What's my story? Good question. But lets start with the one story that sings to me the most: The Last Samurai

The tagline I wrote for it was: "A veteran of the US civil war is hired to destroy the last samurai, but after he comes to embrace their culture he still needs to stop the modernized army that now seeks his death as well". But now I think that might be a little off.

Anyway Lets look at the "8 sequences" that so many people talk about…

Sequence 1: 

Status Quo and Kickoff Setpiece.

Here we see meet Captain Algren - the "All American Hero", who is drunk, depressed, and deeply cynical. 

The first setpiece is easy to spot - the Dinner/Job Offer. Algren is playing the rude, money-grubbing lout, and the Japanese are disgusted by it, but we learn what the movie is thematically about: The Emperor wants to modernize Japan, but is having trouble with rebels. "Civilization vs Savages".

Sequence 2/Act 1: 

No going back.

Algren in Japan, learning about the Samurai and Katsumoto, and training the Imperial Army to use guns. The clarifies the core theme - it’s the Modern Capitalists (civilization) vs the Honorable Traditionalists (savages)

This setpiece is pretty great. Terrifying war cries and horns echoing through the misty forest, the unready Imperial army breaking apart. Algren going hand to hand with the Samurai, and getting captured by Katsumoto. The kicker is the beheading/suicide of the Imperial General who refused to fight against Katsumoto as it was "dishonorable".

Sequence 3: 

Get over it.

Algren is a "civilized" man, and he needs to lose his habits before he can come to appreciate the Japanese ways. Alcohol withdrawal, rudeness, stubborn attitude.

The setpiece here is great, where he literally has to have the stubbornness beaten out of him by Ujio, a samurai who is offended at the outsider holding even a practice sword. We have the townsfolk, children and the "love interest" all watching on. He's left beaten senseless, lying in the mud, being rained on, and everyone turns away.

Sequence 4/Midpoint: 

Becoming one of them.

From his all time low, the only way is up, and now Algren is open to learn, and learn he does. We are given a couple of montages, and some great scenes of Algren learning to be Japanese, but they are unsure of him and treat him "like a stray dog".

But this is another obvious setpiece, when Katsumoto is attacked by ninja. Algren finally starts to show his true colors, and leaps to the defense of his caretakers, and even risks his life to save Katsumoto. The expressions are priceless as everyone involved realizes, Algren has changed sides.

Sequence 5: 

Up the stakes!

Katsumoto heads to Tokyo to meet with the Emperor, and Algren is brought along and released. But we see how much he really has changed - and how dangerous the Imperial army has become.

The setpiece is a lovely meeting with Omura (the Capitalist Bad Guy) who has a lovely meeting with Algren, offering to take him back on as the new military general of the Imperial Army. There is a second conversation going on, implied by their choice of words - Is Algren still one of them, or has he been seduced by Katsumoto? The final line of Omura to his sidekick clinches it "If he goes near Katsumoto, kill him!"

Sequence 6/Act 2: 

Commit.

There is lots of very obvious losses for the Samurai here. Laws passed against them, harassment, and Katsumot imprisoned. The Capitalists have won, and they just need to round up and kill the stragglers.

The setpiece is spectacular here, 3 scenes which build up the tension where Algren goes to rescue Katsumoto. The climax is 4 minutes of Samurai vs Soldiers where Algren leads the escape out of Tokyo, but Katsumoto's son needs to sacrifice himself to give time for the others to escape.

Sequence 7: 

More Tension!!

Here the Samurai retreat back to the town, and make preparations for battle. "Gotta have a montage", smiths making swords, soldiers arming up, etc. There is an undertone of sadness though with lots of "final farewell" images thrown in.

The setpiece here was a bit of a hard one to pick, as there are two really moving scenes one after another, but it’s the first one that really strikes me. We get to see a very symbolic act - the wife of the man he killed all the way back when he was captured, the woman who has cared for him and seen him change from the disgusting foreigner into a person worthy of respect - she brings Algren into the room where the red armor is standing - and tells him "If you wear it, you will honor us". This is shot in a very intimate way where the woman dresses Algren in layers of protection - almost composed like a sex scene.

Sequence 8/Act 3: 

Resolution.

Heck, this whole part is just one long battle scene (with a coda with the Emperor at the end). The battle is great, with a too and fro, and rising tension which seems to climax in the Samurai driving back the regiments and being left, victorious, over a field of dead bodies, but Algren points out - they will just bring up two more regiments. We can't win again."

Which leads to the quite moving setpiece. Katsumoto leads the surviving samurai in a suicidal charge against the Imperial Army and their howitzers and machine guns. Of course, the Samurai are cut down, but even though Katsumoto "looses" and commits seppuku on the field amidst his dead companions, he "wins" the battle for the soul of Japan, as the Imperial soldiers stop firing and everyone (except Omura) kneels down before Katsumoto.