Against All Odds: Diversity of Film – The Ry Perspective
Against All Odds: Diversity of Film
Film has been part of my life since I saw Poltergeist at the age of 5. With everything I have seen since then, what is at the core of my experience is diversity. No matter if it’s different genres or navigating past American Cinema, the intrigue of new material has built my list of endearing tales. When you see a story come to life, it creates a sense of living beyond one’s own mind. It imbues a thought of self-worth, where knowledge of cinema becomes pristine. By the different ways to tell a tale, it does have a grand effect.
The diversity of film, I believe, helps grow the medium. From the spectrum of story, when you find a way to grow, the avenues enrich the creator and audience. To have a truly far-reaching affect, you must have a place to begin.
Starting Point – Genre
When you are given an idea, you start with the basics. No matter if you’re trying to write a dramatic tale of love or embark on a magical journey, you must have that general starting point. The three things to get you ready to build that film is:
- Three acts – The essential block are the acts. No matter what happens, you must know where you’re going to start the characters, how the plot thickens and the ending. Fleshing the outline with a beginning, middle and end is what the creator should see at the start.
- Structure – The foundation of the three acts leads to the next layer: structure. Will you build upon the flashbacks or watch character’s grow in a linear fashion? That flow makes the three acts tangible. It creates that web of plot, characterization and pacing, where the idea becomes genuine to the audience.
- Journey – Once you have the three acts and structure, you can bring it all together through one vision. By knowing where that journey goes, it gives purpose to the path. This also gives layers to growth and descriptive detail. The audience can ‘feel’ they are within the world, giving life to the overall experience.
These three building blocks leads to creativity within genres. It gives the writers/directors a place to start, then furthers their ability to diverse a vision through any means necessary. Those means can be done through:
Blending of Genres – (Romantic/Comedies or Sci-fi/Thriller)
Break the Predictability – (Role Reversals or Psychological Twist)
Embracing the Imagination – (Fantasy Trilogies or World within our Minds)
Even with all the tools of the trade, there are many things that have continued to hamper that creative thought. Whenever there is a chance to further push into realms of cultural influence, it hasn’t been successful in the past. The embracement has a solace effect, but when you expose stories from abroad, it shows that there is another realm of possibilities. Creativity can only push diversification to a point, but in the last couple decades, that doors have open to culture that has had a big effect on the industry.
Beyond the Boundaries
For many decades, audiences have been swayed by what Hollywood provided us as captivated material. There ideas have had a strong clamp on the film industry, but more creative freedom in the last few decades have provided another experience.
I go beyond what is generally watched on an everyday basis. I know there are strong possibilities for better stories, seeing other tales that go beyond standards of the past. These standards have suppressed cultural aspects, stuff that could have imprinted excitement in the generic types like ‘boy meets girl’ or ‘hero saves us all’ tropes. Once that cultural door opened, it invigorated the industry within its common storybook endings. Even when the basics are in the writer’s script and director’s vision, by allowing a blend of culture, it lead to an everlasting effect. By taking that chance, great films came across the big screen with true grit that audiences cherished. Some of the films to have that kind of impact since 2000:
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000)
Munich (2005)
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
King’s Speech (2010)
Life of Pi (2012)
Moonlight (2016)
Get Out (2017)
Coco (2017)
With these films, you see the strength of the cast, story and influence with worldly culture. At the heart are the ideas of not purposing a light upon indifference but allowing the art of storytelling to command with true creative freedom. When given the chance, cultural aspect within the story does lead to overall success. That success has culminated in 2018 with two films:
Black Panther – Rave reviews by fans and critics (Rotten Tomatoes); currently sitting at 1.3 billion plus worldwide (BoxOfficeMojo)
Crazy Rich Asians – Rave reviews by fans and critics (Rotten Tomatoes); currently sitting as the number one movie in the world for the Aug 19th weekend (BoxOfficeMojo)
Final Thoughts
By broadening our scope of what we view on the big screen, it allows for magical things to turn the predictable into something better. No matter if its diversifying through genres or culture, it pushed films to new heights. No matter how you see it, there is room to grow. I can’t wait to see what new thing a film brings to the big screen.