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Communication, Creativity, Consilience, & Cost-Benefit Ratios
in Cinema
JT VelikovskyPhD candidate
The School of Design, Communication and Information Technology, Faculty of Science and Information Technology,
University of Newcastle, Australia.
(Diffee, The New Yorker, 2005)
Consilience
https://storyality.wordpress.com/2013/08/23/storyality71c-consilience-and-vertical-integration/
(E.O. Wilson 1998)
Consilience:Evocriticism
`I suggest that we redefine artists’ primary problem not as expressing themselves or their times, or as trying to convey meanings, but as creating works to maximize audience attention and response - and hence their own status - within the current economy of attention, given their position within this art mode’
(Boyd in [eds] Boyd, Carroll &Gottschall, Evolution, Literature & Film: A Reader, 2010, p. 438).
(Boyd 2009)
(Boyd, Carroll and Gottschall [eds], 2010)
My Background:
• Movies, TV, Games, Comics Screenwriting & Screen Production
Training • UoN - B.A. Communication (1991-3)
– Screenwriting• AFTRS (1995-6)• The Feature Film Screenwriter’s Workbook (1995, 2011)
Working in the Screen Industry (1993-2016)– Screenwriter, Director, Producer, Actor, Crew, etc – Script Assessor/Reader/Story Analyst – Australian Writers Guild & ADG judge
Communication & Creativity…Q: As a screen storyteller
(a movie screenwriter)…
Q: How to communicate your MOVIE-STORY TO: The WIDEST AUDIENCE,For the LEAST COST-?
Thus “Communication, Creativity, Consilience, & Cost-Benefit Ratios in Cinema”
• RQ1 - What is the current orthodoxy (or, doxa) of movie screenwriting?
• RQ2 - What evidence do we have that the doxa influences the movie screenwriting process?
• RQ3 - What are the formal and structural characteristics of the top 20 RoI, and also bottom 20 RoI (Return on Investment), movie stories?
• RQ4 - Which movie story characteristics are common to, and conversely, which are unique to, the top 20, and the bottom 20 RoI movies?
• RQ5 - In light of the evidence, are there any additional, improved or revised screenwriting heuristics that might potentially emerge from the above enquiry?
Research Questions:
Communication & Creativity…
A comparative study of the Top 20 Return-on-Investment (RoI) Movies,
and the Doxa of Screenwriting
The Top 20 & Bottom 20 RoI Movies
4 x screenplaymanuals
GENRE: Top 20 vs. Bottom 20 RoI
Top 20 RoI Movies
• 9 / 20 = Horror• No Dramas…
Bottom 20 RoI Movies
• 4 / 20 = Drama• 3 / 20 = Comedy-drama• 5 / 20 = Crime-hybrids• 4 / 20 = Drama-hybrids
MPAA Ratings: Top 20 vs. Bottom 20 RoI
Top 20 Bottom 20
R = 40%
R+UR+NR = 60%
R = 75%
R+NR = 85%
Emergence: Top 20 RoI Movies
Every 2.05 years on avg. Suggests: a system in operation
See: the systems model of creativity (Csikszentmihalyi 1988-2014)
Emergence: Bottom 20 RoI Movies
Also suggests: a system in operation (see: the systems model of creativity (Csikszentmihalyi 1988-2014))
The Top 20 RoI Movies – Sequels? = (13/20)
(14/20)
TRANSMEDIA: Top 20 vs. Bottom 20 RoI
?Velikovsky, J. T. (2014). `Two Successful Transmedia Film Case Studies: The Blair Witch Project (1999) and The Devil Inside (2012)’ In: D. Polson, A.-M. Cook, J. Velikovsky & A. Brackin (Eds.), Transmedia Practice: A Collective Approach (pp. 103-117). London: ID-Press
ON LAUNCH
POST-LAUNCH
Literature Review / Search What do we know (about: `movie success’) … (?)
The most comprehensive research to date:
Simonton, D. K. (2011). Great Flicks: Scientific Studies of Cinematic Creativity and Aesthetics. New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press.
See also:
Jordi McKenzie (2012)
`The Economics of Movies’
&
The Wharton School on: Movie story & Movie RoI
(2007, 2010, 2014)
Critical/Awards vs. Commercial…
Simonton, D. K. (2011)
?
7 x CATEGORIES OF CANON (vs. `ARCHIVE’)(sensu Csikszentmihalyi 1988, and, Moretti 2000)
Seven categories of canonVelikovsky, J. T. (2014). Flow Theory, Evolution & Creativity‘, IE2014, p. 4
Canon
Archive
Screenwriting Manuals: Data
Collated statistics of selected canonical screenplay manuals (@ 2012)
1. Field, S (1979/2005), Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting.
4 x Canonical Screenwriting Manuals :
2. McKee, R (1997/1998/1999), Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting,.
3. Snyder, B (2005), Save The Cat!: The Last Book On Screenwriting You'll Ever Need.
4. Truby, J (2007), The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller.
(1) Story Premise, (2) Theme/s, (3) Genre, (4) Setting (Spatial), (Where is the story set)(5) Setting (Temporal), (When is the story set)(6) Plot, (7) Character, (8) Character Arcs, (9) Story / Screenplay / Movie Structure, (10) Dialogue, (11) Movie Duration - thus Screenplay Length, (12) Number of Scenes, (13) Dramatic Principles, (14) On Creativity, and (15) Human Nature.
In the study, these fifteen guidelines are compared to the relevant observed traits of the 20 highest and 20 lowest Return-on-Investment (RoI) movies, in order to test these fifteen guidelines of the doxa, or, the screenwriting orthodoxy.
15 x key SCREENWRITING GUIDELINES, derived from these 4 x manuals:
What the 4 x manuals say:Screenwriting (movie story creation) orthodoxy (or: `doxa’) 1. Story Premise ≈ A character has a problem2. Theme ? (…Choose a theme - or themes)3. Genre ? (Choose any genre)4. Setting (Spatial) (Choose one)5. Setting (Temporal) Choose one (historical `period-piece’, etc)6. Plot Various plot templates (one in each manual)7. Character Make them likable; (or, not)8. Character `Arcs’ `Arcs’ are virtually obligatory9. Structure Aristotle & 3 x `Acts’ (not Truby)10.Dialog `Less is more’ (i.e., many guidelines)11.Duration / Length 90-120 minutes/pages 12.Number of Scenes 40-70 scenes13.`Dramatic principles’ Many… But: note, Conflict & Agonistic structure14.On creativity No mention of the scientific study of creativity (c1950)15.On `human nature’ All agree: this is the subject-matter of
screenwriting…
ROI# MOVIE YEAR
RELEASED1 Paranormal Activity 20092 Mad Max 19803 The Blair Witch Project 20004 El Mariachi 19935 Night of the Living Dead 19686 Rocky 19767 Halloween 19788 American Graffiti 19739 Clerks 1996
10 Once 200711 Napoleon Dynamite 200412 Open Water 200413 Friday the 13th 198014 SAW 200415 Primer 200416 The Evil Dead 198317 ET: The Extra-Terrestrial 198218 The Full Monty 199719 Star Wars 197720 My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2002
TOP 20 RoI Movies BOTTOM 20 RoI Movies
LOI# MOVIE YEAR
1 All the Queen's Men 20022 The Open Road 20093 Taxman 19994 Ca$h 20105 Harvard Man 20026 Gentlemen Broncos 20097 Fascination 20058 This Thing of Ours 20039 Southland Tales 2007
10 Edmond 200611 Outlander 2009
12 A Woman, A Gun and a Noodle Shop 2010
13 Imaginary Heroes 200414 World's Greatest Dad 200915 Welcome to the Rileys 201016 All Good Things 201017 Winter Passing 200618 Eye See You 200219 The Gambler 199920 I Come with the Rain 2010
Data Source: The-Numbers.com
Main Findings (on: Movie RoI)What do the high- and, low- RoI movies, suggest?
1. Story Premise A character has a problem2. Theme Evolutionary themes (Survival, Family, Revenge)3. Genre The Horror genre dominates (`Drama’ is problematic)4. Setting (Spatial) US, urban (and: minimal locations) vs German5. Setting (Temporal) Present Day (overwhelmingly in the top 20) 6. Plot Manual plot-templates are in: both high- and low-RoI7. Character Male, 20s-30s, Villains = 10 years older8. Character `Arcs’ 6 /top 20 movies, heroes die (i.e. - `Arcs’ are optional)9. Structure All movies have 3 x `Acts’; (see also: Truby 2009)10.Dialog Correlates well with the doxa / guru guidelines…11.Duration / Length 93 minutes (not: 120 mins/pages), bottom 20>10mins 12.Number of Scenes Top 20 = 119 scenes on average, not `40-70’ scenes13.`Dramatic principles’ Conflict & agonistic structure, (plotted = `Villain’
wins)14.On creativity All top 20 RoI movies involve: Writer-hyphenates…(!)15.On `human nature’ See: Evolutionary Psychology (and Evocriticism)
Main Findings of the study
Table 10-31 - Top and Bottom 20 RoI Movies Comparison - Across 15 Elements of the Screenwriting Doxa (Velikovsky 2016, pp. 413-14)
