A Perfectly Structured Film

[M2 Entertainment]

Hello all,

Just throwing out the question. Very curious to see the responses.

What film would you describe, as a film that is structured perfectly and a film that you would show to other writers, because of it's perfect structure?


If someone asked me that question, my answer would be 'The Last King of Scotland'. Structurally, this film is flawless. It is a perfectly told story.

Looking forward to hear your responses!

Best,

 

[Kim Welch]

don't worry about structure

don't worry about structure

i say tell the story. don't worry about structure while ideas are flowing. and, for me the structure will work itself out. worry about it later and not when your are telling the story at the start of creating. There is nothing perfect and i don't see anything that would really make the 'The Last King of Scotland' a shinning example of the best story telling. What exactly is the criteria you are basing the prefect structure on? or what is the perfect structure?

 

[Kim Welch]

new structure

new structure

how about new structure. that might be the perfect thing we need.

 

[M2 Entertainment]

Well when I say 'the perfect structure', I don't mean something that 'fits' into that magical formula, but instead I refer to just simply 'a well told story'. I just think in the way 'The Last King of Scotland' is told, it's flawless. It's a well-told story, a story that flows with logical sense. And I also think another film that falls into this bracket, is 'Match Point'. Again, just a fantastically told story. Structurally, completely different to 'The Last King of Scotland', but in terms of the way the story is told, flawless.

Thoughts?
What films would you put in this bracket?

Best,
Sol

 

[Forty]

"The Last King of Scotland" and "Match Point" are structurally identical. There are minor archetypal (and therefore functional role) differences, but that's all. With structure, I always say refer to Kal at http://www.clickok.co.uk/index4.html

@M2 Entertainment
When you say "a story well told," that has to do with a number of things:

The structure is fundamental to a well told story - in both of the movies you mention, movement is rolled out through the structure like a carpet being rolled out. It really is very standard, almost "magical."

Then there are characters/archetypes; both of the movies you mention use classic archetypes.

The "style" bit is the part that is hard to teach. "How you write"; writing in a way that captures the imagination. That takes practice, being penetrated within the story, using real life experiences and situations, incubating ideas etc.

Finally, some people use the structure to generate ideas and others fit the ideas onto the structure once they have been generated. Often a mix of both.

There is this huge myth that structure inhibits creativity, whereas in reality is helps generate ideas. I cannot express how important structure is.