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“You enter the extraordinary by way of the ordinary.” ~Frederick Buechner
Sample
Movie Deconstruction (5 A)
Endings
 “Avatar is primarily an action-adventure
journey of self-discovery, in the context of imperialism and deep ecology.” Wikipedia
Another aspect to consider when looking at endings is how
the plots and themes and characters are brought to completion. What is the
message that is left in the air? A movie or a novel may effectively tie
together the ribbons into a neat bow and still not be pleasant. How do you want
readers to walk away from your novel—what word or image or metaphor is
important to linger?
The quote above accurately shows both the theme and the
conclusion behind Avatar, regardless
of how much viewers agree. It doesn’t leave the audience in confusion. Imperialism
results in death and destruction. The world must respect the ecosystem of its
roots. Jack Sully discovers peace. All viewpoints that are open to continued
conversation or argument personally. However the closing image is Sully as a
Na’vi, a tribe of peace who nurture their ecology and whose culture does not
practice imperialism. Image metaphor.
The series Firefly
addressed all its story questions as well in the final movie Serenity. Since the series got cancelled
before Joss Whedon had the opportunity to develop the whole story, he produced
a movie sequel rather than leave fans adrift. The situation in the opening episode
of Firefly with Reynolds and Washburn fighting for freedom from the Alliance
comes to a full battle scene at the end as well—completing the circle. Each
main character’s storyline is brought to completion, although not happily to
many fans, and the mystery behind both the Reavers and River comes into full
light and disclosure. Mal Reynolds has fought a successful battle, opposite to
the opening sequence. Truth has won out over deception. Serenity, the spaceship
is still able to fly. Serenity—the
state of being serene—at peace. Word metaphor.
Journal
Prompt:
1.
What ending image did your movie use? Was it a
metaphor that has lingered?
2.
What would have been better, in your opinion?
3.
What word or image or metaphor do you want your
novel to end with?
Share: Why do
you consider your choice for your novel the right one?
Sample Movie Deconstruction
(1 A)
 Author David Morrell shares in his book, Lessons From a Lifetime of Writing, that
he can pinpoint the exact age, date and time he was when he realized he wanted
to be a fiction writer. How? That was the date that the television series Route
66 began. “I vividly remember the power
with which the opening sequence struck me.” He so identified with the
characters that he felt their search became his search and the journey of the
route his journey. The title, its metaphor, the characters, and the theme
changed his life. “How ironic that a
television program became my salvation.”
Deconstructing movies and novels help us find those pulse
points that keep us coming back to watch or read regardless of how many
countless times we already have. Sometimes it’s not even the quality of the
presentation, but the resonance or memories the story connects within us. Other
times it may just be one part, or the sheer craft or creative whole. And it’s
when we can identify those something’s that we can implement their qualities
into our own work. Or at least understand what we are trying to share ourselves.
When I taught English at a junior college, each semester I
presented a movie for an analysis assignment. One movie that elicited
widespread feedback was the movie Green
Dragon, despite the fact it’s first third is communicated in sub-titles.
Since I’d seen it more times than I could count, I always planned to use the
time to grade papers, and yet invariably at some point the movie would pull me
in and I’d watch it all over again with my students. And every time I’d see
something new that I had not noticed previously. Also, with only a few
exceptions, my students were completely hooked by the end of the first few
scenes, including the grumblers.
We’re often encouraged as novelists to write what we know,
but how does that work when we write in different genres, or history, or
characters of various ages and genders, which we have not factually
experienced? Part of the joy of writing is living other lives in other worlds
and other vocations. Yet when we recognize the emotional threads that engage us,
then we do write what we know—always.
Journal Prompt:
1.
Make a list of the movies you consider to be
your “go to” movies for inspiration. Which ones have you watched ten or more
times? Five or more times?
2.
What is your emotional connection to each one?
3.
Write out a metaphor for each one?
4.
How many of those same emotional connections and
metaphors do you incorporate in your own writing? Consciously or unconsciously?
Share: Which movie
pulls you in to watch no matter how many times you’ve seen it? Why?
 “Besides furnishing a plausible abode for
the novel’s world of feeling, place has a good deal to do with making the
characters real, that is, themselves, and keeping them so.” Eudora Welty
Some of the richest metaphors come from the most ordinary
plausible details. They parallel the external realities alongside internal
hopes and dreams, and transform the common with translucence.
Some excellent examples of several mythic influences can be
found in the recent release of a romantic Four-In-One Collection, Central Park Rendezvous. This
contemporary/historical threads three common details throughout a century plus
time span: letters, a coin and a bridge, each of which also mirror and
complement each other. To the passerby—nothing of importance. To the
participants—a heart aching search.
In A Love Meant To Be,
by Dineen Miller, the valued coin, a keepsake,
is a link to the past and promise to the
future, yet becomes the catalyst for miscommunication, strained friendship, a
broken heart and failure. Just the act of passing the coin from one hand to
another explodes all preconceptions of family dynamics forcing the characters
and the readers to re-evaluate everything. The concrete coin becomes a spinning
metaphor for plot, characterization, theme and atmosphere. Plausible. Ordinary.
Real. Translucent.
Journal Prompt:
Your
main character needs to pack and move with little notice. A friend comes to
help and discovers a small box in a drawer or in a closet. Overcome with
curiosity he, or she, opens it. What do they find inside?
Share: Which of
the items does your character choose to hold?
 “To be a true
symbol, the object must be emphasized or repeated, and supported throughout the
entire story; it represents something quite different from its literal
meaning.” Rebecca J. Lukens
To the royal house of Elysiel, the scepter was a sacred trust under a
vow to protect. The long list of heirs stood as the Keepers of the Promise with
their hearts merged into the heart of the scepter. To outsiders like King
Pythius it was power awarded to the victor, and he intended to claim the magic
for himself.
In the recently released fantasy The
Crystal Scepter, (The Gates of Heaven Series) by C.S. Lakin, this symbol
weaves its way through the entire story, whether characters are even aware of
the actual scepter’s existence, influence and potential or not. Heart decisions
must be made by minor and major characters alike. Their choices become mirrors
and reflectors of the battle between truth and lies. Personal actions move towards
life or death from the inside out.
King Cakrin warns Pythius of his consequences, “You have come in treachery and out of a lust for power, but you have
gotten a taste of the price of your action.”
But the obsessed king dismisses the warning as subterfuge to
keep him from his victory. He cannot imagine or believe that the scepter can
mean anything else that literal power, or be wielded for any other purpose.
Despite repeated honesty spoken to him, his heart rejects anything but his own
interpretation despite the grueling and frightening evidence he experiences.
How will the prophecy end?
Journal Prompt:
What
symbols/metaphors have had the most impact on you from novels and movies? I
have never forgotten the image of the birds waiting on the telephone wires in
Alfred Hitchcock’s movie, The Birds,
from my first viewing as a tween. In fact when I once tried to watch it again
as a ‘mature’ adult, I had to turn it off.
Make
a list and then divide them into categories of fear or hope or humor etc. Can
you adapt one of categories to your own wip and parallel a symbol metaphor
likewise?
Share: Which is
your favorite and why?
 Metaphors have the ability to explode our thinking. However,
the most effective are not delivered by loud gestures and shouting voices
clamoring for our attention. They simply are. And at some point we begin to
notice that they are different from what we expected, or what we thought we
knew, and decide to take a better look. And a better look is required because
competent metaphors can be used for both good and evil intent.
“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute
darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and
sweet for bitter!” warns the prophet Isaiah.
Sometimes we just don’t notice. For example, growing up I
often heard the reference to little green men from Mars and always given in a
negative context. I realized the idea came through a story or movie, but I
wasn’t all that interested. In later years I’d still notice the reference given
in books or shows and again wonder where and why the origin.
This week I’ve finally seen the movie John Carter and the first thought I had when I saw the first
inhabitants that he saw was, “Oh, green men from Mars, but they aren’t little.”
In this movie they are eight to ten feet tall, with four arms. They ride
creatures as if on horseback. They argue; they care; they are funny and loyal. They
insist that they don’t fly in spaceships and they won’t interfere in a war
between two opposing cities. However, because of John Cater, their perspective
changes as well.
Metaphors can go far beyond word choices and stereotypes to
bring fresh nuances to timeless stories, especially when we tap into heart
motives.
Journal Prompt:
Take a support character in your novel. How can you change
the readers’ expectations of him or her?
Try one or two characteristics towards positive and then
again as negative. How does that influence your own perception?
Share: Which one
impacts your purpose effectively?
“Dance is the hidden
language of the soul” Martha Graham
Over the past few months I’ve been watching old movies for
some workshops I’ve been teaching and considering what enables them to pass the
test of time and be relevant in today’s generation, which is so more high tech
than twenty years ago.
Shag, one movie,
is named after and highlights Carolina Shag dancing in the 1960’s, focuses on a
week-end of four young women transitioning from high-school, and tracks
personal discovery as they begin to see themselves from a new perspective. As
this movie was made in 1989, it was already then an historical movie. Yet
reached that audience with enthusiasm.
Some of its timeless appeal definitely included the music,
which captured the era, was fun, and wove its own magic. However that isn’t
enough, as the next movie’s music I’ll discuss actually became a detriment to
new viewers.
What captured Shag’s timelessness was the metaphor of dance
behind the actual dance steps and music. And the movie blended the dance
concept/metaphor seamlessly throughout the storyline.
For example, the character Pudge loves to dance, is so
excited she can’t wait to be at the dance hall, and faces immediate
disappointment as no one wants to dance with her. She sees herself through her nickname as undesirable. The
surface dilemma is a minor inconvenience to the deeper desire for Pudge to have
someone value her for herself, for someone to wants to ‘dance’ with her, to
match her heart. The young man she meets insists he can’t shag so Pudge offers
to teach him. He actually is an excellent dancer but he too is looking beyond
the surface and doesn’t want to be liked just because he can dance in the
contest. The dance metaphor guides them into a real understanding of friendship
and relationship and possibilities.
And underlines the transition for all the main characters, as
they learn their new steps as individuals hearing their own heartbeats, their
real desires and their soul hungers.
Journal Prompt:
Choose a dance theme that matches your character, whether
current or historical to her real timeline. Chart out the actual dance moves
and the pattern to them.
How can you apply that pattern to an emotional conflict she
is trying to comprehend?
Share: What
timeless quality does it unveil for her situation?
“I never make work
that is careless.” Tezuka Osamu
Cont’d Part Three
 Animator Tezuka Osamu’s images, themes and stories that he
worked with came from the heart. It showed through his choice of topics and the
manner in which he developed his films. Some techniques he had to let go of
because he couldn’t find enough people skilled in the process, but he kept as
close to the passion of creating film by hand because “I really wanted to keep the preciousness of the hand animation in the
work,” he said. At the time his industry was undergoing a metamorphosis of
its own and Osamu felt that the original work of Japanese animation was
becoming imitative instead of original.
The story was fueled by the techniques and the techniques
enriched his storytelling. For example in his short film, The Legend of the Forest with Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony Op.36,
he divided the story into four parts. And then each movement he animated in a
different style beginning with a basic form and adding more details and
complications with each transition. So alongside the legend he also visually
showed a development of animation without speaking about it at all. He embedded
the metaphors naturally.
“Perhaps the animation
can be supported by the passion of the creators.”
It’s that passion that creates timelessness as well as
creativeness. Viewers today may find some of the imagery he uses odd or old-fashioned;
especially since now computer graphics have emerged in leaps and bounds since
his day. Which he also recognized as a growing field of development. Yet we
still can identify and relate to his metaphoric images because he has grounded
them in familiar circumstances.
Often we ourselves don’t recognize the metaphors in our work
during the early drafts but by nurturing the quality and technical craft of our
novels we will begin to recognize them. Then our use of image and metaphor,
allusion, theme, symbols, echoes will all have the naturalness of originality
instead of imitation too.
Journal Prompt:
1.
Make a list of the words you’d like readers to
say about your novels?
2.
Write down the themes you’d like your readers to
identify with in your novels.
Share: Which one
would make your heart sing?
“I never make work
that is careless.” Tezuka Osamu
Cont’d Part Two
Last week we looked at how one word in a title, or as a
character summary, can be strengthened into a metaphor for a broader
understanding. But before you can even do that it’s important to know what are
your themes and your goals for your story. For example, one of Osamu’s goals
for his work was to include a touch of humor or irony, especially when dealing
with difficult topics. He felt that especially when he tried to show culture
out of control or present the idea that technology had the potential to become
unstoppable he would lean into irony.
In the Tales of a
Street Corner all the characters were developed with humor and pathos as
war came to their corner crashing into their lives. And showed those who
remained self-centered and those who grew into selfless actions, like the
naughty little mouse who tried to save the bear.
Another key word image for Osamu in creativity was joy and
fun. “The fun of experimental animation
is the different perspectives people saw.” He appreciated the unique
insights his audience had and in turn their comments often sparked new ideas
for him to pursue. He worked diligently to create quality work, but did not
expect everyone to see only his vision. Once his work released it went free.
That is the gift of metaphor in any work.
In his short
film Mermaid he explored potentially
closed thinking through “the story of a
boy from faraway lands that likes fantasies.” The boy saw a mermaid.
Everyone else only saw a fish and went to great lengths to blast his idea of
out him. He too eventually saw the fish, but with Osamu’s tilt of angle the
last line went, “But the boy did not
forget the mermaid.”
Like a firecracker a familiar image might start off in plain
wrapping paper and then explode into showers of light.
Journal Prompt:
1.
Read through a picture book the next time you’re
at the library or a bookstore but don’t read the words. Look only at the visual
background first. Then go back and read the story. How do they complement each
other? Does each page have a one-word tag? Funny, scary, curious?
2.
Now do a reverse action. Take one of your
chapter scenes and mark it off as if it were a picture book. Can you identify a
main image on each ‘page’?
Share: Did you
find an image that surprised you? Can you develop it further as a thread
without it being forced?
“I never make work
that is careless.” Tezuka Osamu
 While discussing experimental animation during an interview
he gave during the 1960’s, Tezuka Osama explained that he desired to introduce
the good parts of Japanese animation to the world. He wanted it to be
understood internationally or globally. “I
would like to convey big messages to the world,” he said. So he began to
make pieces for an international audience so that others would understand and
care.
To convey his messages of animation and life, culture, humor
and irony he worked with familiar images drawn from universal theme and
experience. He built upon common ground to engage his viewers, and then angled
the image or the expectation of the story in a way that it became a fresh
insight and a means of communication. He thoroughly enjoyed the different
perspectives that people saw after viewing his style of experimentation.
Next week we’ll look at some of the techniques Osamu used
but for now here’s a glimpse into one of his pieces.
The titles he chose also provided an introduction to his
images and concepts: Jump, A Memory, Mermaid, and Legend of the
Forest, showing a wide range of topics and idea grist. Often we forget that
our titles are as valuable as the metaphor images themselves. Titles,
characters, music and images all intertwined as metaphor in his animation.
Here is Osamu’s list of characters (images) for his short
film, Tales of a Street Corner.
According to the caption these are the people who live at
this corner. Note their variety.
:
a friendly girl and a teddy bear
:
a naughty mouse
:
a plant with seeds
:an
old street light
:
a street Punk “Moth”
:
a woman on a poster
:
a young violinist on a poster
Journal Prompt:
1.
Choose two of these characters and make up a
sketch of them even if you are a stick figure artist. (Like me)
2.
Then from your interpretation choose a word
image or metaphor as their main personality characteristic.
Share: Whom did you choose? Why? What is your word
metaphor for them?
“Every image in a poem is a portrait of a state of a soul.” Jane Hirshfield
Photo by Bevin Hunter
And likewise every image has the potential to represent a theme or a metaphor.
Journal Prompt:
1. What first catches your attention? Your
feelings?
2. Make a list of possible other emotions.
3. What ‘voice’ fits this image?
4. Choose one and turn it into a word metaphor.
Share: What
metaphor did you choose?
“Metaphors are the
gate-crashers of the spirituality static
quo.” Joy Sawyer
Author C.S. Lakin has been posting an interesting
mini-sequence discussion re theme at www.livewritethrive.com
under her category The Heart of the Story. She noticed that the movies she
chose for her discussion were huge hits because of their deep underlying
themes, which the viewers did not necessarily notice at first glance. Yet
because the themes “were so rich and deep” the audience took to them in spite of
poor acting. She has inspired me to take on a longer blog sequence on metaphors
and examine ways that ordinary images can create impact.
Metaphors are meant to help us see life through a fresh
perspective. When they tap into theme and character and setting and atmosphere
they have the ability to gate-crash through our pre-conceived clichéd views. Even
clichés were at one time a fresh perspective—so innovative in fact that they
eventually became overused.
And we don’t need to jettison familiar images. In fact
metaphors often work better through familiarity but need to be slightly angled.
Sometimes the image must loom large in order to crash through numbed thinking.
Other times it only needs to be a soft reflection that catches us up enough to
pause and take a deeper look.
Waiting For Midnight,
by Merrie Destefano, is a brief collection of short stories and flash fiction
that highlights the power of image and metaphor and theme in unexpected ways. By
altering the anticipated viewpoint character or the setting we step into the
story one side up, but come out the other end as if we were in house of
mirrors.
For example, in her flash fiction piece Breathtaking we immediately identify with the character’s desperate
struggle to simply take a breath—to fill out the form—to remain calm instead of
anxious in the emergency room—to remember. How many other images of trying to
simply breathe pass through our imagination as we struggle along with this
person wondering what is really causing his anguish. And then the mirror
metaphor shifts.
“No.
Not poison. My sweat on the floor, my blood, my skin. It was my own
designer disease, all brand new and deadly—
And, unfortunately, highly contagious.”
Journal Prompt:
Take a brief scene from your novel, either in dialogue, or
internal monologue, and twist the end into something opposite.
What impact would that have on your character’s situation
emotionally, spiritually, or mentally?
Even if you cannot use the shock difference at this moment,
is there a way you can introduce the possibility of another outcome?
Share: Did your
opposite effect turn into humor or shock?
 A tree is often used as a symbol or metaphor of growth and
life as we saw in the last sequence. However, in reverse, it can also impact
story by exposing lies and shadows. Fairy tales and folk tales are rich with
living images in all forms. Scriptures too remind us that choices spread beyond
immediate actions.
“For the creation was
subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who
subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its
bondage to decay.” Romans 8: 20-21 NRSV
In the opening of the movie Penelope, as the curse is laid upon the family for their refusal to
take responsibility for their actions, the tree is the courtyard falls into
immediate decay as well. Yet it doesn’t die. Instead it remains as a visual
image reminding the family and others of the curse. Even if they try to pretend
it doesn’t exist, the tree stands in judgment as a silent metaphor.
And it raises the question as to why are women willing to
marry into this family? Do they not believe in the curse or do they not care? What
metaphor warning could your character not see or acknowledge? Or what warning does she represent to
others? Silent metaphors woven into your setting can speak in volumes.
Journal Prompt:
Brainstorm a list of possible plants or trees, or other
growing vegetation that could be a metaphor for loss to your protagonist and
then be restored at the end of his ordeal.
Share: Which one
did you choose? Why
Time as a metaphor can open up as much energy as splitting an atom. The possibilities seem infinite whether we approach it only in chronos time, or in kairos time. Combining both areas together can overwhelm our imagination with the result that we often return to clichés or common metaphors in order to communicate even the most basic characteristics. Every day we live in both time dimensions. We march to chronos clock schedule. We hold our breath and our souls drink in kairos eternity. When we’re fortunate the two combine and give us a sense of timelessness. We are infused with a sense of purpose. And when our lives start to drift we hold onto those images to keep us on track. Often the very common images themselves are rooted in the ordinary and yet we see something far more. In the recent movie Hugo this concept of time as metaphor is explored with extensive creativity, unveiling itself in multiple ways. The kairos time shines through the literal clock-ticking center. Keeping the clocks wound daily grounds the young boy Hugo into an everyday rhythm of reality. And living with the clocks keeps him connected to the memory of his father and the dreams of a new future. The clocks are so ingrained in his life that in some ways they become a picture of his heartbeat. And still everyone will see this image through a different perspective. I came to the movie version without having read the novel. And I have not seen the 3D version. Others who have bring a different interpretation. In addition we all add our own personal ‘time’ attitudes to the mix. And the possibilities continue to explode into more metaphors.
Journal Prompt: 1. Have a conversation with your protagonist and ask how she feels about time. Is it an ogre waiting to devour her day or a beloved friend inviting her to adventure? 2. Make a list of words that reflect her perspective. Look for small opportunities to incorporate them either as description or turn them into new metaphors. Even if time itself is not a central theme in your story the attitude towards it can still be heightened for effect. Share: How do you see time? J
 In her essay “Talent Is Not Enough,” taken from her book on writing for children of the same title, Mollie Hunter says that a writer is like a person locked in a cell for life, who learns things they desperately want to convey and develops a code to tap out the messages on the wall of the cell. “And all the time he taps he is asking himself, Is there anyone out there listening? Can they hear me? Do they understand?” Often times the words come out in metaphors that we need to decipher, even to ourselves. We are drawn to truths before we may know what they mean. Each of us may only glimpse pieces. So we need to share together to see the whole. Metaphors give us the creative imagination to see truth in fresh ways. And to repackage them when they’ve become clichés. A Christmas Carol, by Dickens has become a well-worn, well-loved story that touches multiple themes. The characters themselves have become familiar echoes. It’s a holiday favorite, and yet after how many times watching do we think we know the story and may have forgotten key parts? Heart parts. On a Christmas special, the Dr. Who series re-told the story with familiarity and yet such differences spread throughout that kept viewers on their toes. From set design to story line, past and future merged. The streets resembled Dickens’ England and yet felt odd enough to wonder what had changed, pulling you into the story immediately. For one example, the set designers had made everything out of steel riveted together. And all the windows were round or half-round. Not noticed immediately, or perhaps not at all, until reading the production notes but the effect had a metaphoric impact.
Journal Prompt: Take one aspect of your setting and replace a few natural parts with another texture. They make be the same color and shape but different. Do one version is subtle tones and another as wildly opposite. How does it change the view? For example: Take a main street and turn all the wooden buildings into another material, but keep same shape. Or turn all the buildings into breathing wood.
 While most metaphors lean towards subtlety building to a slow realization, there are times when the use of social and culture images can startle an audience into looking at the familiar from a new approach. Most often the iconic type metaphors are used as shortcuts to set a theme or atmosphere, such as a John Wayne style western set or a New York cityscape. We enter the story with certain expectations. However—what if they don’t mean what they used to? The movie Larry Crowne adds an extra layer of vocabulary through its use of social Americana metaphors spread throughout the visual setting. The scooter posse rides motorcycle style through the streets hitting their various stops. On one street they then pass by a ‘traditional’ motorcycle gang who waves to them. Larry’s neighbor operates a yard sale that covers almost his entire property and runs on a daily basis. A junior college class only requires ten students in attendance to remain in the schedule. And then shows the disparity between one class in one small room, barely functioning, and another auditorium size packed with probably four hundred students. None of these experiences are examined or explained. Different generations may look at each view or circumstance from an entirely different perspective: some humor, or sarcasm, or sadness, or confusion. Nothing is as expected and what is expected is turned around. Although movies have an advantage by silently sharing cultural metaphors, choosing particular details in setting and description can still add another layer to our novels when appropriate.
Journal Prompt: Mentally drive down a key route in your story world. What public icons do you see? What are the advertisements? What kinds of shops or houses or buildings are there? If one or two could have a connection to your character’s personal journey, then magnify it a little and see if it adds an extra perspective.
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“Avatar is primarily an action-adventure
journey of self-discovery, in the context of imperialism and deep ecology.” Wikipedia
