What HOOKS you into seeing a film... and what is your most obvious MOVIE FORMULA?

MattinSTL

MattinSTL

Sound Modulator
I almost posted this in Jeremy's WALL-E thread, but I'm curious what people will say about this beyond the following response or two.
  • The awkward dork wins the heart of the beautiful woman through his quirkiness.
  • The average girl struggling to fit in has her beauty revealed and accepts the courting attentions of the football star, prince, movie star, etc.​
I guess the most interesting stories in life have elements that we can relate to, even subconsciously... and it's always satisfying to see the underdog overcome.

People sitting there in the dark are investing themselves in the character... observing the story and identifying (or befriending) the character so they care about what happens to him/her.

I wonder what are some obvious "formulas" that you notice? I'm thinking there may be less then 20 formulas in the history of film making :grin:
 
Dan Harmon of Channel 101 boiled story structure down to 8 basic words--

1) You
2) Need
3) Go
4) Search
5) Find
6) Take
7) Return
8) Change
 
For instance... "Slap Shot" was the same formula as "Bad News Bears".

Or say Hoosiers, Friday Night Lights, Varsity Blues, and Remember the Titans.

I'm not talking genres here... I mean where the synopsis is almost interchangeable, save for whatever minor detail they HAD to change to avoid accusations of plagiarism.

This is what's killing super hero movies for me... I feel like they're "skinning" the same movie. Isn't Iron Man and Bat Man nearly the same story? A super rich entrepreneur builds himself a suit full of surprises to fight crime? I like these movies, but they're starting to bleed together.
 
Last edited:
I'm glad I can get hooked for almost any reason. It looks fun, it looks intelligent, it looks dumb but funny, it looks like the CGI rules, it looks like the story is amazing/groundbreaking/unique, blah blah blah. I'm the guy they get money from regardless, me liking the film however is a different story.
 
What usually hooks me into a story is real human drama and emotion that I can relate to. If one of the characters is relatable to me, I usually am along for the ride.
 
Joseph Campbell had a whole thing going about what makes an 'archetypal hero', and that's probably the most famous "formula" of them all. Think Star Wars, the Matrix, and more. Here's how it goes:
-Unusual Birth
-Initiation (coming of age)
-Hero has nees to set out on quest
-Hero faces several trials
-Hero suffers literal/figurative death or decent
-Hero is reborn
-Hero becomes a legend.
It's amazing how many stories use this formula.

Ahh...the things you learn in Lit class...
 
its about communication. Like Brandon said, I need to relate to the movie in some way, may it be the characters, the film "world", the theme or elements of the plot.

I find that the movies that impress me the most are the ones that are apparently very simple, but, yet, have other layers of reading, and are incredibly fulfilling.

One thing is for sure: I hate pretentious movies.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top