Green Chess Productions Blog

"It's Just a Movie"

2011-08-11T10:40:00.000-07:00

The Archetype of the Movie-Aware Character

Unless you're one of those people who only watches academy award-winning movies and shows, you've likely seen and are a fan of the fun adventure movies that traditionally dominate the box office and DVD/Blu-Ray sales. These are made popular due to movies like Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Indiana Jones. They are generally not strict dramas and incorporate a healthy level of comedy to help keep the audience in a good, fun mood. Therefore, strict dramas and horrors tend to avoid having an interesting character that has become more scarce over the years. This is the "character who knows he/she is in a movie." So, what is this character?

I realized that some of my favorite characters of all time were the ones who looked like they just arrived on the set, read the script to make sure they didn't die, and casually "acted" out their role. A lot of times, this character is the "comic relief," but not all comical characters fit the archetype. It has to be a character who seems like he/she walked on screen from the audience's area, constantly communicating the idea of, "Oh, what are you so worried about? It's just a movie."

Not any character can fit this role. It has to be a side character and has to serve the purpose of encouraging relaxed emotions from the audience. So, the main character, a.k.a. the protagonist, nor the villain, a.k.a. the antagonist, can generally fit this role. The audience will love this character and they will surely miss them if they die or disappear, but the character is an affiliate to the primary focus of the story. Their primary role: remind the audience that it is just a movie. By not taking things seriously that normal people should, these characters cause us to edge toward that fine line of disbelief that we crossed when the titles flashed on screen. We become just ever so slightly aware of the special effects or the fact that the character should die from some immense event, and only just enough that we scoot back from the edges of our seats just a little bit.

R2D2: Unarmed Galactic Badass
A perfect example of this is R2-D2 from the Star Wars franchise. Think about it. Why is R2-D2 constantly making you feel better throughout the series? He doesn't take control of anything, and he's the most vulnerable character in the movies. I mean, he's a little trash can with wheels! His primary form of defense is conveniently zapping wombats or human hands. But, never-the-less, he's hilarious. He's constantly getting himself into trouble despite the fact that he is severely under-equipped, and he always makes it out alive after saving everyone's butts, usually without a scratch. I don't know about you, but I am not nearly that bad-ass.

This is probably what he was actually saying.

So, if R2D2 is such a badass, why does he lose his flavor when C3PO isn't around? For those unaware, C3PO is the annoying robot-humanoid that follows R2D2 around after peeing his circuits from cowardice, also known as R2D2's babysitter. This cowardly robot is constantly contrasting R2D2's rebellious character, emphasizing R2D2's sheer unconcern for relative danger. C3PO responds as any person would to the event: with emotion. When C3PO is afraid, we know that things are supposed to be dangerous, but R2D2 reminds us that it's just a movie. He rolls through a field of stormtrooper gunfire, as the rebels sit back, terrified, yelling "R2D2! You're going to die!" and he promptly responds (with beeps and boops), "Oh, it's just a movie! I read the script, I don't die this scene!" He then unlocks the door and saves everyone's ass; something that wouldn't have happened in real life. It's a movie, and everything is scripted, but R2D2 feels like he read the script and knows he can't die. He's too big to fail, and he knows it, so he relaxes and enjoys the adventure just like everyone else.

Other Examples:
MOVIES
Henry Jones (Sean Connery) in Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade
Ian Malcolm (John Goldblum) in Jurassic Park, but not in The Lost World (as he is the main character)
Jonathon Carnahan, a.k.a. the brother, in The Mummy series
Bill, a.k.a. the dad, in Edward Scissorhands
Eames (Tom Hardy) in Inception
Hamm in Toy Story
Glinda in The Wizard of Oz
Chip in Beauty and the Beast
TELEVISION
Badger in Firefly
Creed Bratton in The Office
Vince Masuka in Dexter
Barry Zuckerborn (Henry Winkler) in Arrested Development

The Funny Guy Who Makes Things Worse
So, you want to add this character to a story, right? Sounds easy enough, but a lot of people screw it up. Did you notice that Hollywood rarely makes movies with the same charms as Jurassic Park or Star Wars, these days? Movies that have no need to lighten the mood will probably not include a character of this type. However, we're increasingly seeing big blockbuster movies, like Transformers and Harry Potter, that try and have a light-hearted comedy aspect but don't incorporate the movie-aware character. Therefore, we find ourselves watching movies with intense circumstances but no reprieve other than quirky, awkward comedic lines by stereotypical characters, leaving us feeling a little cheated.

Avatarded
Here's an example. In Avatar, we see an intense conflict between strange alien creatures in a bizarre world fighting off the oppressive humans. The creators probably wanted us to feel some kind of emotion about what was happening, but we couldn't truly get into the story because it was too silly, and the movie never admitted that. It just took itself seriously from beginning to end, and it came across a little bit silly. I mean, big blue aliens that have sex with hair tentacles? Seriously? And they're digging for "Unobtainium"? How is this supposed to be serious?

How the hell do I take this seriously? How???

I, like anyone else, watched Avatar hoping for moments that would make me feel like the filmmakers understood me - but I never got those. They thought I was having a good time, but I was just watching a series of bizarre events take place with a lot of dorky characters who were taking it way too seriously. Where was my movie-aware character? You know what I mean; the character who goes, "Really, that's what they called it? 'Unobtainium'??? Why not just call it, 'Expensivium' or 'Hard-to-getium'?" before the main character tells him to shut up and stop being immature. That character would have reminded the audience that it's just a movie, and we're supposed to have fun, and we would have.

Poor Attempts
Imagine someone is telling you a story about something strange that happened to them, but they tell it so seriously, never laughing or joking about it. I don't know about you, but I would feel absolutely detached. I'd feel awkward about my natural feelings to laugh or smile, and the end result would be a strange interaction between my storyteller and myself. That's what is happening with big movies about weird events. And, let's face it, most movies about weird events don't incorporate the movie-aware character.

Now, some characters come close, but blow it by getting too involved, both in the story and emotionally. Remember, movie-aware characters are constantly embodying the phrase, "It's just a movie." Any significant involvement trumps their status as this character type. It's easy to get confused because this archetype is usually the comical character, but here are a few characters that seem like the movie-aware character, but are actually just regular characters trying their hand at stand-up comedy:
Close Examples:
The Joker (Heath Ledger) in The Dark Knight
Gimli in Lord of the Rings
Han Solo (Harrison Ford) in Star Wars
Dr. "Doc" Emmett Brown in Back to the Future
Wash in Firefly
Boo in Monsters, Inc.
Donkey in Shrek
Jim in The Office
Gob in Arrested Development

Now, that is not to say these characters aren't funny. They are! But they are both important characters and they are too involved in the story to be aware of the movie. You can't care about something and not take it seriously at the same time. That's why this comedy feels strange a lot of times, but it is still frequently funny. We all love Heath Ledger's, "Ta'Da! It's magic!!!" trick. He's not taking things seriously, but he is emotionally involved in the story, and therefore he doesn't believe he is in a movie.

I do say, 'Commisioner,' BRA-VO!

Remember, not every story has this character. The movie-aware character needs to serve the purpose of lightening the mood, and reminding the audience that it is, after all, just a movie. Sometimes, other characters seem to do this, but they are actually not aware of the movie. When the important characters seem to know they are in a movie, they are often just acting like it as an emotional response. People do this in real life all the time, which is why it feels scary real in movies when a character does this. The TV show Firefly is a perfect example of this, because it has a ton of characters who try and use comedy to make strange events feel normal, but they are always pulled back into reality, and we go alongside them.

It's the sign of a great actor if they can pull this off, but it's not the sign of the movie-aware character. The cold truth is they deep down believe what is happening is real, and this kicks them out of the category.

Movies that Don't Want You To Remember It's a Movie
This is the general goal of most filmmakers and television producers. They want to suck you in and keep you there, but, let's face it, we're on Earth and we have people who don't take things seriously. Remember high school? There were plenty of kids there who were just too immature to see life itself as a real concern. They had the attitude, "It's just a movie" but in real life, which is dangerous, I suppose, but at the time it was fun. That's why being an adult seems to be less fun than being a kid. So, adding the movie-aware character will take away from the seriousness of a story, but it will make it immensely more fun. Human beings are forced to take things seriously all the time, so it's fun to see what would happen if we didn't have to and everything still turned out okay.

Probably the most dramatic line in cinema, "Rosebud." In other words, be sad.

So, what happens when we don't have the movie-aware character? A few key genres that rely on locking you in their universe are drama, horror, and documentary. How can you worry about the character's life if you're frequently reminded it's just a movie? How can you be afraid for the victim if it's just a television show? Why would you care if the documentary about animal abuse is just propaganda? Movies and shows like this are usually very serious and don't want you to have any fun; they want you to change your way of thinking or embrace a new concept. They deal with serious matter and making it fun detracts from their message.

Here are a few examples of these movies/shows:
MOVIES
Citizen Kane
Brokeback Mountain
True Grit
The Dark Knight
Inception
The Shining
Space Odyssey 2001
TELEVISION
Law & Order
Battlestar Galactica
LOST
Planet Earth

Take note that these are usually the most critically-acclaimed stories out there. It's true. A great story will suck you in and influence the very core of your belief system. These movies are amazing, and they can be fun, but for different reasons, and they are usually mentally-draining. If you want people to just have fun and laugh and feel like they were on a wild adventure, you need to have comedy inserted somewhere. I personally love the characters who know they are in a movie because they remind me that life can just be straight fun sometimes.

Life is a Story
Remembering that your life has a story of its own is important. We tell stories less than we share stories. We want to give others a portion of ourselves to allow them to experience what we have experienced. Sometimes it is good to remind yourself that it's just a story, and have a little fun!

Otherwise, your life becomes the dramatic, terrifying experience that most movies try and impose on you. So, do yourself a favor, and remember you're in a movie every once in a while.

So, what do you think? Can you think of any stories, whether they be movies, television shows, video games, or novels that incorporate this archetype? Also, feel free to share your opinion of my theory of the "Movie-Aware Character" as a whole - do you agree? Is it just a spin-off of the comedy relief character? Discuss below!!!

Plans for Tutorial Videos

2011-05-04T16:45:00.000-07:00

I was bored one night so I downloaded a copy of Camtasia, which is a piece of software that allows you to do screen-recordings. If you've seen tutorials for software or video game reviews, it's likely screen-recording software, maybe even Camtasia, that's behind it. So, having Camtasia, I began to ask myself why I got it in the first place. Seriously, I knew that maybe I could use it to make some machinima or tutorials - and as my mind said the inner voice "tutorials" I widened my eyes.

I find that I know a lot about programs, such as Final Cut Pro, After Effects, Autodesk Maya, Illustrator, as well as a bunch of little free programs, like MPEG Streamclip, Audacity, and Notepad++. I'm also frequently the person people come to for questions in these programs. I don't think I'm a "know-it-all" by ANY means. I consistently look at other people's work or online tutorials and my mind is blown. I'm still learning every single day. But I got to thinking about what sort of tutorials I could make.

I'm not heavily nested in the industry, nor do I have a decade's experience in any of these programs. Hell, I don't even have the money to buy a lot of them. What sort of tutorials could I possibly make that would help people? Well, here's what I've noticed, and what I've gathered in talking to people about this topic. Most tutorials are either A. poorly created, with a crappy voice over and a 20-minute long screen capture of them creating something, or B. far too advanced for the average viewer. Most tutorials assume their audience is fairly savvy with the software. Maybe that's a problem in itself, with people wanting to know how to make a grand piece of 3D rendering without first trudging through the basic training. However, that means there's a gap there.

If you're a fan of After Effects, you've no doubt stumbled onto VideoCoPilot.net, hosted by Andrew Kramer, for his plethora of incredible After Effects tutorials. He does some amazing things, and usually it goes way over the average user's head. But there's a part of his site that is absolutely life-saving. It's called Basic Training and it goes over the extreme basics of After Effects. If you have never used it, you can dedicate a couple hours to these tutorials and you'll understand the framework. From there, you can move forward and attempt the insane-crazy effects.

I want to incorporate this concept into my tutorials. After thinking about it and discussing it with colleagues, I've determined that the proper direction I should take for the tutorials is to focus on creating basic, short tutorials that focus on simple subjects. For example, one tutorial will focus on Layers and run around 3 minutes. It will simply introduce the viewer to what the layers feature does in Maya, such as explaining the difference between the Visibility, Rendering, and Animation layers, as well as running over how to create, edit, delete, and move layers around, as well as the importance of using them. While this sort of tutorial will introduce a strong element of the UI (the same will be done for Graph Editor, Hypershade, etc), the other tutorials will focus on specific tools and techniques, such as the Extrude tool or "How to create objects from an illustrator file". I want to make a tutorial that simply goes through important hotkeys that can make working in Maya extremely easy. A final type of tutorial will be the "Repair" tutorial, where I'll introduce a common mistake or error and talk about how to fix it - such as accidentally deleting a face on an object, or Why doesn't the Boolean effect work?

I plan to incorporate four flavors of tutorials:
1. Basic (simple explanations, tours, techniques, and concepts)
2. Advanced (focus on specific tools and processes, building off Basic lessons)
3. Expert (focus on automation, complicated procedures, building off Advanced lessons)
4. Repair/Fix (introduce a specific problem and how to fix it)

So, sure, my tutorials will cover simple, easy topics. I can handle that. However, it's hard to be entertaining in this world, so I want to use music, SFX, graphics, animations, and editing to incorporate the use of metaphors and examples. This should add a strong "fun" aspect to the videos. I hate slow and boring tutorials. I want to make it fun for my viewer, and myself - it's fun editing fun stuff.

Why do I want to do this? Well, it's a victory on all sides. I share my current knowledge with people who are interested in learning the software, which will invite criticism and requests - driving me to improve my skills. Also, if I want to do a tutorial on something I know in a basic level, I will drive myself to learn it inside and out before I make a tutorial - teaching is a great way to learn. If these videos catch on, I can upload them on greenchessproductions.com and maybe attract some traffic. With traffic, I can implement the forums I was promising to hopefully create a social circle where media producers can discuss ideas and techniques. I have a lot of friends who have skills in various areas and it'd be a great way to get us all together and talking while introducing ourselves to new people in the industry. With increased traffic, I might even be able to start posting ads on the site and collecting some income - which can allow me to buy new software, equipment, etc. That's the perk, though.

In the end, I just like making videos - I think it will be fun and mutually beneficial for everyone involved. Feel free to comment below or on Facebook about what you think of this idea. I don't intend to make any tutorials until my capstone school project is complete, so please look for tutorials come June 2011.

Blog Active!

2011-02-20T20:46:00.000-08:00

I finally set up a blog for updates through Blog Spot. This should be a great tool for writing short articles about my techniques and methods for production work. Stay tuned!