Three Act Structure : Wayne's World

One of my all time favorite movies is Wayne's World, which is a movie based off of an SNL skit. In the movie, Wayne and his friend Garth are hosts on a public access show which gets picked up by some corporate men. Wayne and Garth think they are going to be rich, but the company is really just exploiting them. Along with this, Wayne must battle the corporate head, Benjamin, for the love of his life, Cassandra. In the end, Wayne gets the girl and all live happily ever after.

In the First Act, we meet Wayne and his best friend Garth on the set of their TV show "Wayne's World". During the course of the first act, we are introduced to all of the characters and what their roles are. Also, Benjamin is in a meeting with an arcade owner, Noah Vanderhoff, and sells the idea of buying Wayne's World and sponsoring it with the arcade. Benjamin then meets with Wayne and Garth and has them sign a contract and then gives Wayne and Garth two cashiers checks. Wayne and Garth are overly joyed and we then see this as a mini climax and we proceed on to act two.

Through the course of act two, Wayne and Garth began to grow suspicious of Benjamin, but are too interested in other things to care. Wayne furthers his relationship with Cassandra and enjoys all the money he is getting from the show now. This is really all part of Benjamin's plot to take over Wayne's World. He even sends Wayne and Garth to Alice Cooper's concert with backstage passes to even further butter up Wayne and Garth. However, come time for the show to be recorded, Wayne and Garth realize what has happened and Wayne flips out and publicly humiliates the sponsor and is fired from the show. After this, Wayne suspects Cassandra of sleeping with Benjamin to get her music career going and she is so angry that she dumps him. Also, Wayne and Garth get into a fight and are no longer on speaking terms. This is a rather large mini climax since so much has happened in the last fifteen minutes of act two. This does however set up a great third act of the movie.

(Here is the clip of Wayne and Garth splitting up from each other after a fight)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-hc79-tAiU


In act three, the resolution takes place, where Wayne and Garth make up with each other and plot how to win Cassandra back, get Benjamin out of the picture, and get Cassandra a music record deal. The plot they come up with is nearly impossible, but that's the humor of it. Basically, Wayne and his gang break into a TV station and steal all of the equipment they need to broadcast Cassandra doing a live performance for a record producer. Wayne goes to Cassandra and steals her from Benjamin and brings her to the set to play a song.

And in the end, the record producer goes to the set where Cassandra is playing and gives her a record deal. Benjamin also loses everything and everyone lives happily ever after.

Characteristics of Sitcoms - That 70s Show

Most TV sitcoms are shot in front of a live audience on a set. The set has three walls and a fourth wall that is non existent where the cameras are set up and the live studio audience watches the show get made. In the studio, the show usually takes place in someones home or apartment. The shows usually take place in the living room where everyone gathers around the TV (which is sometimes not shown and is merely implied that it is there)  and discusses their lives and problems.

The setting is also where the characters interact with each other. Such as in the show 'That 70s Show', the basement is where the teenagers will either watch TV or sit in a circle and smoke marijuana and discuss their problems with each other. The teenagers also go to a local burger joint called The Hub where they usually sit at the same table and discuss how to solve an issue.









Sitcoms also have a three part structure to them in which a problem occurs in the beginning and during the second part, it is being thought out on how to solve the problem, and finally in the third part the problem is resolved and everyone feels better and learns a lesson. This structure is usually set up in order to make room for commercials. Most sitcoms have an episodic structure in which the problem and solution occur in the same place and everything is back to normal in the next episode.
This is the case in That 70s Show, where the problem usually occurs in the basement and is solved in the basement.
As seen in the episode 'The First Date' from season one, Hyde tries to steal Donna from Eric and they get into an argument, but in the end, Eric and Hyde resolve their issue in the basement smoking, eating, and talking about life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSZTBHr0OU4

Reservoir Dogs scene

In the movie Reservoir Dogs, there is a very famous torture scene in which Mr. Blonde tortures a tied up cop. In the scene, the camera angles are used to portray the power stance of both characters and what their emotions are.
The camera angle on Mr. Blonde is a low angle shot indicating that he holds the power in the room, since he is the one torturing the helpless cop. However, this power is taken away from Mr. Blonde when he is shot by Mr. Orange who is thought to be dead at the time. When Mr. Blonde is shown about to die, the camera angle is a long shot indicating that he is alone and isolated from everyone else when he loses his power stance and dies.

The camera angle on the cop during the torture scene is a high angle shot showing how he is inferior to Mr. Blonde and is helpless. The camera angle also has close ups of the cop showing that he is frightened and disoriented and is also in pain (since his ear was cut off and he has been beaten). The close ups of Mr. Blonde show that he is enjoying himself watching the cop be in pain showing that Mr. Blonde is not entirely sane. Tarantino chose these camera angles to portray how each character is feeling and what is going through their minds. This allowed the audience to react more to the scene than if the camera angles were just omitted and shot with ony one camera angle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADI5EpIqZSc

Studio System - Star System

In the studio system, I find the star system to be one of the most important aspects. Studios hired actors and actresses under contract and always had them star in the same genres as usually the same type of character. Because of this, the stars began to grow a following of fans and soon became the face of major studios. "...film studios discovered that certain actors and actresses could attract viewers no matter what the movie was about." (Media Now, page 192) The actors became "such attractions that their names appeared above the title of the film on theater marquees. The importance of the star actor or actress was linked to the rise of the studio system." (Media Now, page 192) And because of the rise of the actors fame, studios would "rent out" the actors to other studios, so that other studios could produce films with big name actors/actresses. Also, the big name actors were used to promote other movies so that viewers would go to those movies.

Actor Charlie Chaplin provides a perfect example of how actors/actresses performed in set genres. Every time a Charlie Chaplin film was made, you automatically assumed it was a comedy, since he always played in slapstick comedy movies.

 From todays standpoint, we might consider Jack Black as this type of actor. Every time we see or hear about a new movie starring Jack Black, it is safe to assume that his character is going to be an idiot who never seems to get anything right and is always making us laugh.

During the early beginnings of film, the star system proved to be very successful in making studios profitable. And because of its power, studios still use it today, since we see so many actors/actresses starring in similar roles, such as Jack Black, or even Johnny Depp in Tim Burton films. For me, I believe the star system will never die out.

All In The Family vs. According To Jim

Within the show According To Jim, we find the main character, Jim, who has almost the same morals as the character Archie in All In The Family. The Character Jim believes that since he is the man, he has the authority of the house and that no one can overrule him. He also believes that men will always be superior to women and that no woman can ever beat him at anything. However, we soon find out that he is completely wrong and that he is really just a lovable idiot who is trying to live his life without getting into trouble with his wife, Cheryl.
The shows According To Jim and All In The Family follow the same plot in where the man thinks he's all knowing and the ruler of the house. However, According To Jim does not dive into the issues of sexism or racism as All In The Family did.

But as seen in some episodes, such as the one where Jim has to prove he can beat his wife Cheryl at sports, Jim will go to great lengths just to prove his dominant status.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRkCDShs644

We will find that even though Jim is beyond tired after the game of racquetball, he is ecstatic to know that he can beat his wife at sports, therefore influencing his thoughts to believing he is the dominant person. However, he is really just a lovable idiot trying to keep his wife happy, much like Archie Bunker is in All In The Family.

Both shows address the fact that men are not the dominant gender and that both genders are equal. But According To Jim does not address sexism and racism and only sticks with a idiot husband trying to please his wife.