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Unity and Variety: Pacing, Rhythm, and Tempo in Film

Professor Daniel Cutrara explores the importance of unity and variety in storytelling, focusing on pacing, rhythm, and tempo. Learn how to create tension, build momentum, and engage the audience through thoughtful use of these elements.

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Unity and Variety: Pacing, Rhythm, and Tempo in Film

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  1. Lecture 5: Rhythm and Tempo Professor Daniel Cutrara The Piano (1982) Written by Jane Campion

  2. Previous Lesson Subplots Secondary Characters

  3. This Lesson Unity and Variety Pacing, Rhythm, Tempo Time Lock Assignments

  4. Composition “Like a composer choosing notes and chords, we shape progressions by selecting what to include, to exclude, to put before and after what.” -- Robert McKee Lesson 5: Part I

  5. Unity and Variety • According to McKee: A story, even when expressing chaos, must be unified. • Unity is critical, but not sufficient. Within this unity, we must induce as much variety as possible.

  6. Unity • According to McKee: We should sense a causal lock between Inciting Incident and Story Climax. • Jaws: “Because the shark killed the swimmer the sheriff had to destroy the shark.” 6

  7. The Key to Variety The key to variety is research. The more you know your subject matter the more able you will be to explore the complexity of it. 7

  8. Ways to Achieve Variety • According to McKee: Seek the tragic in the comic, the political in the personal, the personal driving the political, the extraordinary behind the usual, the trivial in the exalted. • Casablanca is a brilliant love story and political drama with excellent action and urbane comedy. 8

  9. Pacing, Rhythm, Tempo Lesson 5: Part II Independence Day (1982) Written by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich 9

  10. Pacing • According to McKee: Pacing is the alternation between rising tension and relaxation. It will vary from genre to genre. • Tender Mercies is a quiet film. • Terminator the tension builds in a straightforward manner. 10

  11. Rhythm • According to McKee: Rhythm is set by the length of the scenes. • “How long are we in the same time and place?” • The average length is 2 ½ minutes. • This means for every 1 minute scene there is a 4 minute scene. 11

  12. Rhythm - 2 • Keep in mind that cinematic scenes do not have to play out in one location. Variety can be introduced through a changing location. • The entrance of a new character can also create a new scene. • These are called French scenes, based on the work of French playwrights. 12

  13. Tempo • According to McKee: Tempo is the level of activity in a scene via dialogue, action or a combination. • High Tempo- active chase scene, riot, etc. • Low Tempo- reflective, peaceful, a character staring out window 13

  14. Building a Sequence Tempo varies naturally through scenes of preparation and aftermath. This three part structuring gives you a low tempo scene of preparation, followed by a high tempo scene focused on the conflict. It ends with a low tempo scene, that reflects on the emotional aftermath of conflict. 14

  15. Tempo inIndependence Day Independence Day (1982) Written by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich • Pause the lecture and watch the first clip from Independence Day. • What is the tempo: high or low? 15

  16. Tempo inIndependence Day - 2 Independence Day (1982) Written by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich • Pause the lecture and watch the second clip from Independence Day. It picks up after the scenes of destruction in clip one. • What is the tempo: high or low? 16

  17. Conflict and Aftermath As you can see from our excerpts the multiple storylines of Independence Day shift from extremely high tempo to low tempo. We have scenes of conflict followed by ones of aftermath. 17

  18. Conflict and Aftermath - 2 This tempo gives the audience a chance to absorb the intensity of the first scenes, and connect to the emotional aftermath during the low tempo of the later scenes. 18

  19. Time Lock Lesson 5: Part III The Graduate (1967) Charles Webb (novel) Calder Willingham (screenplay) 19

  20. The Time Lock Rhythm and tempo can be grounded in the world of the story. This is achieved by creating an external deadline. This deadline creates a ticking clock, or time lock, focusing the expectations of the audience. 20

  21. The Time Lock - 2 According to Richard Walter: “…a clever screenwriter plans a time lock, a structural device requiring some specific event to occur, within a clearly predetermined period of time. This serves to compress the story’s tension.” 21

  22. Story and Time Lock Many stories function with an overarching time lock. For example: Armageddon- the impending destruction created by an asteroid hurtling toward the Earth. Or Juno where the birth of her baby creates a time lock. 22

  23. Acts and Time Lock You can have a time lock within an Act. For example: In the Second Act of Speed they must evacuate the bus before it runs out of gas. Or in the Second Act of Little Miss Sunshine they must reach the beauty pageant on time. 23

  24. Scenes and Sequences with Time Lock You can have a time lock within a scene. For example: The booby-traps in The Indiana Jones movies that are triggered. Or in a sequence: Dark Knight- the race to save the kidnapped Harvey and Rachel. 24

  25. Assignments Independence Day (1982) Written by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich Lesson 5: Part IV

  26. E-Board Post #1 Time Lock Does your second act increase momentum and compression by utilizing a time lock? If so, state how. If not, discuss with your peers ways that might help create this. 26

  27. End of Lecture 5 Next Lecture: Negotiating Story and Laughs

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