5/5 Discussion, 5/6 Lecture

5/5/09 9:53 AM Talk To Me: as a Biopic What a Biopic is: Ex. Raging Bull, Ray, Walk the Line, Ali, The Aviator, The Hurricane, Milk, La Vie en rose, Capote, Monster. Features in common: Embellish, in-dramatize live. Not strictly historically accurate. Condense years and years of a character (person)?s life into 2 hours. By: montage, epilogue, flashbacks Rise and fall narrative. Ex. Drug use in Walk the Line. Romantic sub-plot Historical context: a way of situating us temporally. story about individuals. Individual vs. larger society. Innovator: broke social norms. They changed some aspect of society: music, politics, boxing, etc. *Career arc about overcoming resistance from society. Scenes of public judgment (ex. Trials). Appears in front of the public and is evaluated by them. In Talk to Me: First time on the radio: people calling in: public judgment displayed through the caller line. Post MLK Jr.?s death: burning and opening for James Brown concert, gives speech: well received. The Tonight Show: w. Johnny Carson. He refuses to be judged by the white audience. Death: memorial, validating him as a historically important person. # of people came to his funeral high, prolong showing us by withholding XLS to end. Raise the question: ?Who is the public?? Clip: Talk To Me career/success Montage From radio & FCC issues to getting manager, to stand up to invite to white house, television show getting picked up. Doesn?t quite fit: In the beginning or rise montage: found footage of African American people in era walking of a Shirley Chisholm political rally. Piece of historical context to informing/educate the audience about a forgotten period of black history. Links Petey?s rise to rise of African American society rise. I?ll Take You There funk song playing underneath montage. Important pivot point. ?National is next? ?Petey. Post-clip: Petey says he?s uncomfortable. *Indication of central problem. Starts with success ends with problems. Fall montage (Personal life going south, not his career) Seems to have two protagonists. Petey & Dewey. Last ¼ of the film Petey seems to disappear. Dewey pushes Petey towards the ?big time? Sets up assimilation vs. opposition? Mirrors individual vs. society. Lecture notes on Talk To Me: Theme & Dialouge Motifs. Reference that Petey makes to Dewey as Mr. Tibbs. Scence where they play 9 ball. Staple ingredient of Biopic: Moment of public recognition. Memorial service Saturation release: 2,000+ engagements. Wide release 600-2000 engagements. Long run. Below 500: Limited release; use this for independent or art films. Not a large audience outside of major cities. Film you expect to be an indie film Platform release: let word of mouth build and gradually increase # of screens being shown on. Little Miss Sunshine followed this pattern. Goes wide only after it gets really good showing and reviews by critics. 4 walling: distributor renting out the theater for a week. Uncommon. Has been used on a number of successful movies. My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Gave seats to Greek organizations, then buzz starts. Discussion 5/5/09 5/5/09 9:53 AM