3 Act Structure in "Little Miss Sunshine"

Little Miss Sunshine  makes very good use of the 3 Act Structure that many movies in Hollywood follow today. The script uses a "happy ending structure" and applies a quest in the plot, making the 3 Act Structure all the more suitable.

The movie begins with Act I, where we are introduced to the individual members of the Hoover family. We see the father,  Richard, a one-dimensional motivational speaker trying to promote his guaranteed to work "Nine Steps to Success." Then there's Sheryl, his wife who must pick up her homosexual brother Frank,who has just failed at an attempted suicide after his lover left him for an academic rival, from the hospital. They have a son Dwayne, who has sworn himself into silence until he is admitted into the Air Force, and a young daughter, Olive, a rather average looking girl who dreams of winning the Little Miss Sunshine Beauty Pageant. Finally, there is Edwin, Richard's cocaine sniffing, foul-mouthed father. Together, this dysfunctional family sits at a painfully awkward dinner, as conflicting personalities collide. This act introduces the characters and provides a look at their life, before plot point #1 occurs. Olive gets a call from California stating that she has a place in the beauty pageant and must get their immediately if she wants to participate. As a result, the dysfunctional, awkward family must drop everything they're doing and try to deal with each other and drive Olive to her beauty pageant.

Act II is my favorite part of the movie, because I found the family's attempts to get along with each other very entertaining. Many little complications are brought up, including Richard's book deal falling through, the troubles of traveling on a Volkswagen bus that must be pushed every time when first put into drive, Frank awkwardly running into an ex-lover, and the family forgetting Olive at a Gas Station. This act is the longest, dealing with the family's journey together as personalities conflict and sometimes bond over Olive's cause. Complications get more intense when Edwin dies in a motel the family stays at overnight. When the hospital will not let them take Edwin's body, the family protects his honor by smuggling it from the hospital and into their trunk. The family is even stopped by a state trooper who checks the trunk, but is fortunately distracted by Edwin's porn collection and does not see his body. The situation worsens when Olive gives Dwayne an eye test that reveals that he is colorblind. Dwayne is enraged, knowing that he cannot join the Air Force if he is colorblind. The car is forced to halt, when Dwayne loses his composure and runs out of the car screaming and cursing the family and refusing to continue the journey with them. He is finally convinced to get back in the car after Olive gives him a hug. Finally they arrive to the beauty pageant. As the parents check Olive into the pageant, Frank and Dwayne explore the area and are disgusted by the fake overdone make up and tanned little girls strutting around. They both agree that they cannot let Olive compete in such a pageant with those little girls. Not wanting to see her get hurt, they attempt to get through to the parents who decide that they cannot do anything, and they must "let Olive be Olive." The act ends with the family nervously watching the pageant take place.

Act III is the shortest and contains the climax and resolution, which in this case is Olive's highly anticipated routine. No one has seen it except for Edwin who choreographed it. After seeing all the perfect little girls routines, the family anxiously awaits Olive's. Finally she gets on stage and begins performing a strip-burlesque routine to "Superfreak"completely unaware of its meanings. The audience is shocked and the pageant makes moves to stop the routine. But before they can, the Hoovers immediately step up in support of Olive. They begin by cheering loudly, but end up running one after the other on stage and dancing obnoxiously with her. I would define this moment as the climax. Olive is in joy dancing alongside her family. Although the police have banned Olive from ever participating in a California beauty pageant again, the family has bonded deeply and are completely content with themselves and their accomplished goal: taking Olive to the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. The movie is ended on a sweet note as the family gets back inside their volkswagen bus, of course having to push it first, and embark on a sweet journey home.

Aspects of TV Sitcoms

No matter what they're into, most people have followed a sitcom in some point in their life, and continue to do so today. Sitcoms are fun shows that don't really bring up deep, controversial issues, but instead provide easy entertainment that everyone can enjoy. The main aspects of sitcoms include that it is episodic, thirty minutes long, funny, and hyperbolic.

Sitcoms are episodic, meaning that the shows end where they begin. No serious change is developed within characters or plot from episode to episode. For example, if a character is very sick in one episode, they will not still be sick in the following episode. Furthermore, until recently, Bonnie of Family Guy was pregnant for maybe six seasons or more. Each episode of a sitcom is usually only half an hour, explaining why there is not much character growth and plot development between episodes. As a result, writers must instead rely on a funny storyline to keep the episodes entertaining. Of course, the sitcoms are always funny, but they are due to the hyperbolism and absurdity shown in each episode. Characters are put into exaggerated and unrealistic situations, creating absurd conflicts that provide for entertainment. This hyperbolism and absurdity leads to a sort of predictable and repeated pattern visible in every sitcom. While watching a sitcom episode, one is able to predict the conflicts that will arise before they occur. However, all this put aside, sitcoms are still incredibly entertaining for all.

One particular sitcom that I've always enjoyed is Everybody Loves Raymond. It is a sitcom characterized by Raymond's struggle to deal with his hyperbolic nosy, in-your-face mother who just doesn't get it, his jealous brother always moping over Raymond's success, and his wife who he manages to piss off in almost every episode. Raymond is always put in hyperbolic situations, in which he attempts to please everyone in his family and their conflicting views. In one episode he may have to sneak around both his mother and wife, or in another his parents would drive a car through his living room. Episodes were each a half hour long, and none of the conflicts between characters would carry from one episode to another. Deborah and Raymond's mother would fight like never before, but would be back to peace by the end of each episode. The absurdity, hyperbolic situations, and episodic format made this show is one of my favorite sitcoms.

The Final Scene of "Remember Me"

I think the final scenes in “Remember Me” portray very well how the three basic shots work and what kind of connotations they evoke.  It is a film about the 9/11 tragedy and its effect on Tyler Hawkins’s family, and more importantly on the thousands of other families affected. However the tragic date is not revealed until the final scenes, when you see Tyler waiting for his father in his office in the World Trade Center.

The scene begins as Tyler looks upon the seemingly beautiful day through the window of the building and sighs. There, the director uses a close up of Tyler’s face.

As stated in Professor Ramirez-Berg’s lecture, the close up shot evokes feelings and emotions, which is exactly what is stirred up when I see this shot. It seems as though all of Tyler’s recent struggles and grievances that have gotten him to this point can be summed up into this one shot, this one look out of the window.

The scene then shifts to Tyler’s little sister, and a close up of Caroline in class. Then a medium shot is used to show the teacher walk past the board.

This shot for me was the most climatic shot of the scene, because it reveals the date: September 11, 2001. According to our lecture, the medium shot is used to reveal information, which is exactly what this shot has done.

The scene continues with a pan out, and long shot of Tyler Hawkins and his location in the World Trade Center.

This shot reveals that Tyler is in the World Trade Center. Long shots are supposed to evoke sadness, loneliness, and isolation. This is especially true in this shot, because the film has just confirmed that Tyler is in the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks.

I think that the three types of shots are used very well in this scene, perfectly capturing the historical tragic event.

Here is the full scene of the film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAGZIHLngbw

The Star System of Classical Hollywood

If we look back at Classical Hollywood we would find it to be very different from the Hollywood we know today. The studio system of Hollywood between the 1920s and 1940s were characterized by vertical integration, monopoly, a factory based system of production, contract talent, and the star system. I find the star system to be the most significant aspect of the studio system that affected the kinds of films produced in those days.

In the star system, stars were basically products of immaterial production; they were the best representation of what the studios did. The studios discovered the stars, signed them on contract (so they were bound to the movies the studio made), and were then paid to sell the studio’s products. As a result, stars were associated with genres and studios. MGM studios for example, discovered Judy Garland as a child and began to use her in the Andy Hardy series. Like other studio stars, Judy Garland would have a consistent set of character traits in every movie, further limiting the potential diversity of storylines. In the days of Classical Hollywood people would go see movies depending on who was starring in it, rather than looking into the storyline, director, or the usual things we look for today. As a result, studios spent less energy and effort on the script and cinematography, and more on getting stars signed onto their contracts. For example, MGM studio would show off the amount of actors they had on contract,  i.e. "all the stars of heaven."  As the stars became well known, the studios could produce any kind of movie and know that it will be watched because of the star role. Furthermore, the studios could then use their star to sell their products. Another example is Warner Brother’s use of Bogart, and his transition from gangster film, to police film, to detective film. He too had a set of star traits that moved from movie to movie. He set the traditional symbols for his genre, like the raincoat and fedora. Casablanca is an example of a star vehicle film, using Bogart as a war hero, for which it was considered a propaganda war film. Another aspect of the star system was their contracts. Stars were signed onto contracts with the studios, therefore forcing them to star in the studio's movies for many years, no matter what kind of movies they were, further empowering the studios. This contrasts greatly from Hollywood today, where actors audition for whatever role they want, and get signed on to movies from there. The star system of Classical Hollywood significantly affect the films of that day. Studios produced films starring repetitive and consistent characters, in stories that slightly varied one another, following the trending genre of the time. 

"All in the Family" and contemporary sitcoms

If we compare the much loved 60s show “All in the Family” to a contemporary family-based TV situation comedy, we could find many differences. For starters, “All in the Family” was based on the emerging controversial issues and conflicts of the 1960’s. For example, the episode we watched in the screening dealt with the issue of homosexuality. Archie, who is represented as a stereotypical bigot father, is having trouble handling the fact that one of his close friends could be a homosexual, and in addition that a very feminine man is not a homosexual. Similarly, episodes of “All in the Family” display  other significant characteristics of the 1960s, like gender roles. The show represented a family in which the father knows best and has the say, while the wife is simply a domestic caretaker. The main issues of the show were represented through the father's bigot eyes. But if we compare to contemporary sitcoms like “Everybody Loves Raymond,” different and less controversial issues are represented. “Everybody Loves Raymond” episodes are based on issues like dealing with annoying in-laws, a fed-up wife, a lazy husband, a jealous brother, etc. Episodes dealt with more individual family problems based on the characters’ relationships with each other, rather than global issues like homosexuality. It seems as though in "All the Family" global issues are faced by a stereotypical family (i.e idyllic family life vs. the outside world), where as in contemporary shows, many divers issues are brought up as a product of conflicting complex personalities and relationships.

The whole representation of family in "All the Family" is different from contemporary shows. Take for example “Everybody Loves Raymond.” Unlike “All in the Family,” in this situational comedy the wife, Debra has more say. In fact, in many episodes it seems as though her opinion has more power over her husband, Raymond's. In the episode of “All in the Family,” Archie seemed to making all the decisions and saying what he pleased, while Jean stood aside, keeping her opinion to herself. But if you ever watch an episode of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” you can see that it’s usually Raymond ltrying to get what she wants. It basically comes down to the power wives have in both shows. In “All in the Family,” the wife is very limited, and is only there to laugh and watch her husband’s shenanigans, but in “Everybody Loves Raymond,” Raymond for the most part must comply with Debra’s wishes, or else he will be walking on thin ice. Furthermore the characters of "Everybody Loves Raymond," and most other contemporary shows are more complex, and less stereotypical. Archie, for example, is a stereotypical bigot, whereas Raymond plays a husband with a more complex personality.

However, there are many characteristics that “All in the Family” and contemporary sitcoms like “Everybody Loves Raymond” share. For example, in both shows, the wives stay home and take care of the kids, and the husbands work and make the money. Furthermore, in both shows, the husband is into the stereotypical manly activities, like sports, and beer, and hanging with the men, while the wife spends more time cooking, cleaning, and hanging out at home. 

With differences and similarities in mind, it's safe to conclude that both shows represent their day and age; "All in the Family" in the 1960s, and "Everybody Loves Raymond" of the 1990s/2000s.