Blogs To The Future

[amsansbury]

How Lighting Informs the Theme, Plot, Genre, and Story of Back to the Future (1985).

Back to the Future (1985) Week 2 blog

Various types of lighting are used in Back to the Future (1985), and for different reasons. High key lighting is defined by Goodykoontz & Jacobs (2014) as having a “Very bright light over everything, with few shadows and relatively low contrast between the lightest and darkest parts of the scene,” and it symbolizes hope, potential, and friends going the extra mile—or year-- for one another; low key lighting and three point lighting foreshadow ill-willed characters and the sci-fi genre as well as the noir sub-genre. Natural lighting also contributes to the sci-fi genre, and is used to express the essence of the Doc. Let’s take a look at some specific examples from the film to demonstrate these concepts in action.

In the opening scene, shadows from natural lighting are cast against the bars on the door. The shadows created from this natural light immediately give the film—and the Doc-- a noir aura. The Doc and the plutonium under his bed are mysterious, like the film’s sub-genre.

One benefit of using three point lighting to introduce the DeLorean is that the pop-out effect focuses the audience on the car, informing the deus ex machina (i.e., or God from the machine). Key lights are actually placed on top of the truck that stores the DeLorean spotlighting the car, the character, the DeLorean. Even after Marty crashes the DeLorean into Old Man Rivers’ barn traveling to 1955, the spotlighting from above gives the impression that the heavens are shining down on the machine. Soon after the accident, the backlights become noticeable.

When Marty exits the barn, a backlight from the headlights shines on him making him seem like an alien—which is exactly what he is mistaken as. According to the text, backlights are meant to make actors “pop out” from the background (2014). The lighting makes Marty seem like an alien popping out of the barn, thus benefiting and informing the sci-fi genre. But that’s not the only way the lighting informs the genre of this film.

Natural lighting is used when Marty explores the city in 1955. This type of lighting gives a realistic (or authentic) feel to an unrealistic, fictional event: time travel. When Marty returns to 1955, the audience begins to accept the year as a reality, when, in reality, one can most definitely not go back in time using a DeLorean and plutonium. Lighting is also used to inform the antagonists and protagonists in the plot as well as character development.

Flat lighting is used to show the protagonist’s, Marty’s, potential. Conversely, low key lighting tends to be a constant whenever Biff (the antagonist) is in a scene. The way the light hits Marty in this dinner scene is bright while shadows are cast over Biff’s face, foreshadowing Biff’s antagonistic ways. Biff degrades George, Marty’s father, and disrespects multiple people. The lighting reflects his lack of respect for others, and his antagonistic ways. Marty spends most of his time in the light because he’s a good guy. Let’s see how lighting expresses theme.

Lighting informs the theme of parents being people, too. Lighting is used to accentuate this theme during family dinner at the McFly’s house. Key lighting is used during the dinner when Lorraine explains how she met Marty’s dad, George. Shadows are cast harshly against George’s and Lorrain’s face while Lorraine explains to the kids how she and George met. The story Lorraine has known her whole life isn’t exactly the truth because George was never entirely honest with her, and the shadows express this. Further into the story, the audience learns that George was actually peeping in on Lorraine when he fell from a tree into the middle of road—at which point Lorraine’s father lightly hit him with the car. Marty learns this truth about his parents when he goes back to 1955, but the lighting foreshadowed this theme at the dinner table.

Had different choices been made in regards to the lighting, then the plot, story, and theme would be affected. If Biff and his car received the spotlight and the lighting from the heavens, then the entire story and theme would be altered. The lighting symbolizes hope and godlike power. If Biff is the good guy, the film becomes Machiavellian; the theme would be drastically changed to something along the lines of doing whatever is necessary to get what you need despite the people one might hurt on the way. Doc and Marty care about people and respect the past. That’s why Marty leaves the sports almanac in 1955. The lighting is pivotal in expressing the story, plot, genre, and the theme of parents being humans that make mistakes, too. TO be continued…

#Week2blog #Week2 #Deusexmachina #Britannica

                                                                                                      References

Deus Ex Macina. (n.d.). In Encyclopedia Britannica online. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/159659/deus-ex-machina 

Gale, B. & Zemeckis, R. (1985). Back to the Future. United States: Universal Pictures.

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. 

Machiavellian. (n.d.). Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=machiavellian 

Noir. (n.d.). In Encyclopedia Britannica online. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/206993/film-noir

[amsansbury]

Story, Plot, Character Development, Foreshadowing, and Order in Robert Zemeckis' (1985) Back to the Future.

ENG 225 Introduction to Film

Professor Allison Sansbury

#week1blog

#week1blog, #week1 

Back to the Future (1985) is a Robert Zemeckis film that was directed by Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg. Zemeckis and Bob Gale co-wrote and co-created the film (IMBD.com). Some of the major actors include Christopher Lloyd, Michael J. Fox, and Lea Tompson. Back to the Future is the first film of a trilogy, but this blog will focus on the story, plot, character development, foreshadowing, and order from the first film.

Story and plot can be difficult to distinguish. Story time extends beyond plot time. If we take Back to the Future as an example, the story about going back in time and then back to future to save the Doc doesn’t begin when the plot does. According Goodykoontz & Jacobs (2014), the plot includes “those particular elements of the story that the writer and director decide to use in the film, including the order in which they’re presented, the point of view, etc…” The plot begins at Doc’s house in the 80’s. The exposition would be when Marty enters the house to find Doc missing. The crisis develops when Marty helps Doc test the time machine, and it works. Shortly after, the Doc gets shot by a Libyan that he acquired plutonium from, so Marty goes back in time to warn him. After a fantastic week in the 50’s, the plot reaches the climax when the Doc trashes Marty’s warning letter, successfully harnesses the lightening as energy, and sends Marty back to the future. In the future, the Doc wears a bulletproof vest and doesn’t get killed by the Libyans; he taped Marty’s letter back together. The Doc goes to live in the future (the year 2015), and Marty returns home to Hill Valley—but the denouement, or resolution, at the end of the movie is a façade. This home isn’t how Marty left it, which left room for an adventure filled, time traveling, sequel. 

In the course text, the story is defined as “a narrative; all elements and events that characters experiences, whether before, during, or after the plot that is depicted” (Goodykootnz & Jacobs 2014). Back to the Future is a story about time travel in which a boy goes back in time to rescue his mentor and friend, Dr. Emmett Brown, a.k.a, the Doc. The story of how Marty and the Doc became friends transcends the film. Co-creator Bob Gale shares this part of the story in an article for Mental Floss (2011) online entitled “Back to the Future Co-creator Bob Gale Explains How Doc and Marty Became Friends”

For years, Marty was told that Doc Brown was dangerous, a crackpot, a lunatic. So, being a red-blooded American teenage boy, age 13 or 14, he decided to find out just why this guy was so dangerous. Marty snuck into Doc’s lab, and was fascinated by all the cool stuff that was there. When Doc found him there, he was delighted to find that Marty thought he was cool and accepted him for what he was. Both of them were the black sheep in their respective environments. Doc gave Marty a part-time job to help with experiments, tend to the lab, tend to the dog, etc...

Marty risked traveling back in time to save the Doc because he’s Marty’s friend and “accepts him for who he is” (English 2011). At the core, the message in this story is about friendship, and accepting loved ones for their accolades as well as their faults. 

While this film spans three decades, it moves in chronological order. Chronological order means that the “events in the movie’s plot follow the same order in which they would in the story” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs 2014). The film begins in 1985. After Doc gets shot, Marty goes back to 1955—but that doesn’t make the story nonlinear. Had we seen the alternate time line at the end of the story appear as the beginning of the story, then the order would be nonlinear.  

The chronological order of the film helps the audience learn about the evolution of the characters and the town they live in. One of the first shots of the Doc’s house introduce him to the audience without him even being there. A medium shot shows Marty place the key back under the mat—indicating that Doc trusts him enough to let him come and go as he pleases. These characters are friends. The camera slowly pans over the collection of cat clocks and simple machines that govern this eccentric home. The clocks foreshadow the time travel that is to come, and the “brevity of human life” (Goodykootnz & Jacobs 2014). There’s also a quick shot of plutonium under the bed. Once the Doc calls and talks to Marty, it’s clear that this is the Doc’s place and someone is going to have an adventure sprinkled with danger.

Had the movie started in the middle (during 1955), the audience wouldn’t know about time traveling in style with the Delorean or the purpose of going back in time in the first place. Beginning at the end of the story would have been even more confusing since an alternate time line is in place. The audience wouldn’t see Marty’s dad grow from a shy guy to a confident man. The audience also wouldn’t know who Marty’s mom and dad are; they wouldn’t understand the internal conflict Marty experiences in 1955, and why he can’t date Elaine—but George McFly needs to. To be continued…

                                                                                                     References

English, Jason. (2011). Mental Floss. http://mentalfloss.com/article/28526/back-future-co-creator-bob-gale-explains-how-marty-and-doc-became-friends Gale, B., Spielberg, S., & Zemeckis, R. (1985). Back to the Future. United States: Universal Pictures Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.