Chaplin Thread Assignment

This week, please go to the discussion board and complete the assignment as explained.

The assignment: Please watch any modern comedy, say starring Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, etc. and compare the comedic styles and lead characters of the modern picture to the Chaplin formula as seen in City Lights. You will want to particularly address the principles of pathos, save the cat, and the rule of three in your post.

An explanation of pathos: The clear sign of pathos is an underdog going against the odds and fighting the good fight for a noble cause. “To save his mother’s house against the big bankers” or “win the girl away from the evil boyfriend” or even “save mankind from the deadly, all-powerful aliens” would be easy examples you see all the time. Because the goal is noble you root for that character and because they are less powerful than their adversaries you admire their courage. You follow them willingly and share their ups and downs; it is very effective as a movie technique.

An explanation of save the cat: Save the cat is an EVENT that is separate from pathos. It does not have to be tied to the plot, it could just be a scene thrown in there solely for the purpose of making someone look like a good guy. It is a device intended to manipulate the viewer into liking and rooting for the lead character and it comes at the beginning of a movie almost always in the first ten minutes. Here is about minute five or so forward in Mr. Deeds where Adam Sandler does about every good deed imaginable except perhaps saving a cat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUba5D-10NQ&feature=related It has nothing to do with the plot of the movie, occurs in the first few minutes, and is solely intended as a device to get you to like his character and cheer for him as he embarks on his adventures.

An explanation for the rule of three: First what the rule of three is NOT. It is not three buildings or the three statues in the beginning of City Lights. In comedy, it is a gag that is run three times for maximum effectiveness. Consider some of the comic relief moments in the Star Wars movies:

The Millenium Falcon trying to jump into hyperspace three times and failing. First they're being pursued by a Star Destroyer away from Hoth; Han attempts to jump into hyperspace but nothing happens. Then, after leaving the asteroid field and having supposedly repaired the hyperdrive, they try again and again it fails. Later, with Lando now at the controls, and with the hyperdrive supposedly fixed by Lando's mechanics, they try for the THIRD time and it still fails to go into light speed because the Empire had deactivated it!

C-3PO spelling out the ridiculous odds against whatever they trying to do. First he says that the odds of Han and Luke surviving a Hoth blizzard are 725 to 1. Then he says the odds of successfully navigating an asteroid field are 3720 to 1. (Prompting Han to reply "Never tell me the odds!") Finally, he tries to tell Han the odds of surviving a direct assault on a Star Destroyer, but Leia interrupts and tells him to shut up and shuts him down.

An example from the slapstick comedy Airplane! During the landing sequence, Dr. Rumack (Leslie Nielsen) steps into the cockpit three times and says "I just want to tell you both good luck. We're all counting on you" in exactly the same way: once as they begin the descent, once in the middle of the landing, and once after the plane is on the ground

It is used in drama as well all the time: In Pan’s Labyrinth there are three challenges, just as there are in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. In Run Lola Run there are three endings.

In modern comedies with dialogue the rule of three shows up in verbal jokes. The system for using the rule of three here is to use the first two to set up a pattern and then use the third to throw in the twist punchline. Consider: In National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation Clark asks his cousin-in-law, Eddie, "Can I refill your eggnog for you? Get you something to eat? Drive you out into the middle of nowhere and leave you for dead?"

How this is graded: Your post that starts a thread is worth 6 points, depending upon how well you cover the subject. THERE IS ONLY ONE THREAD PER MOVIE - that means if somebody takes, say, Big Daddy with Sandler, then you may respond to that post in the thread but you cannot repeat the movie in another new thread. Thus, the first people to post get first choice of movie to analyze. You are also asked to respond to ONE post thread about other movies by adding your own analysis. "Great choice, I loved that movie" is not college level analysis and is worth nothing. There is a minimum word count for all original posts of 125 words (about half a page) and for responses of 62.5 words (about a quarter of a page). What you need to do is to add to the critical analysis done in the first and following posts by adding new insights of your own. What has been very popular and what I ask you to also do is to link a YouTube (or other) link that allows students to see what you are talking about. As your response posts are worth 4 points the thread total is 10 points available for each student.

Here is an example of an A post. It is pretty thorough and hits all the lesson points though I have cut out the Chaplin side of the analysis as it would simply be feeding you the answers for that side of things. As I have given you the analysis for the movie Superbad this movie is now off-limits so you will have to pick something else.

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To be honest, I was dreading our first assignment. I wasn't too excited about watching a full Charlie Chaplin film. I put in the DVD expecting the worst. After a few minutes, I found myself more and more interested in the film. I even found myself smiling and laughing at a few of the scenes. After learning about these techniques Mr. Chaplin used, it was easy to see how similar the basic idea of City Lights was to Superbad. The Rule of Three, Save the Cat, and The Pathos are all techniques that were found in Chaplin's age and used in many films today.

Rule of Three
There are many times where Chaplin uses the Rule of Threes in City Lights. One example of this is when ...(edited)...three times.

This Rule of Three is also used in Superbad. In this modern day comedy, there are three college bound young adults, looking for their first high school sexual experience. This technique is similar to the Three Muskateers or The Three Little Pigs. Each of the characters has a unique personality that are totally opposite from one another. When these characters come together, they create the ultimate comedy experience. Here is an example of these three characters interacting,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9RWVEAQeC0&feature=related

The Pathos
In City Lights, Chaplin's "Tramp" character is a perfect example of the Pathos technique. The Tramps constant attempts at doing things for the good of others, which are not always successful, make the viewer want to get up and fight for the Character. A good example of this is when...(edited)...

In Superbad, the Pathos technique can be seen in the characeter Even, played by actor Michael Cera. This character's constant nice guy, do-the-right-thing attitude makes the viewer want to go out and help him achieve the ultimate goal of getting laid. In this clip he is more worried about his friends than the goal of acquiring alcohol. This is a notable act of selflessness that meets the definition of pathos. See this scene, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoQAJXRlQjE&feature=related
Save The Cat
In City Lights, this technique is used to make the "Tramp" character appear even more selfless. When the Tramp is faced with the decision to ...(edited)....

This technique can also be seen in Superbad with the character Evan. He has a major crush on the character Beca. When Evan has an opportunity to have sex with her, he declines the begging offer because his morals tell him she is not in the right mind to make that kind of decision. He saves Beca from making that poor decision because in his heart he knows that's not how he or she wants the sexual encounter between the two of them to happen. See this clip, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vR5tzhcIeA

It is amazing to me how the use of these three techniques used in the beginning of film making are still the ultimate building block for the comedies produced in this day in age. Before this assignment, I would have never guessed that these two movies could have so much in common.

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This should be fun.

Cheers,

Charlie