Week 5 - Response to content

Using a selection of this weeks readings, write 200 words responding to the questions arising from the lecture. In particular, how does Rubber utilise the elements of screenplay structure in its first act. Bonus points for successfully locating the first plot point.

Act 1 is usually The Setup (Field, Syd).  This part of the film needs to lay the groundwork and answer three questions.


1) Who is the film about?   Eventually, after a bit of lead in time, we find out that the film is about a tyre.

2) Who is the lead character?  Once again, it would appear that the lead is the tyre.


3) What kind of person are they?


 It is appparent that the tyre has just come alive and is learning about itself, its environment and it's capabilities.  It is quite sweet watching it gain its feet, explore and discover. 


First it comes across a plastic bottle.  It tentatively touches it and eventually runs over it.  In the process the brittle plastic bottle gets crushed.  The tyre comes across a desert scorpion and in the process of running it over, it also gets crushed.  It seems that from it's earlier experiences it has learnt that it is not enough just to run over an item but it needs to be crushed, to be desroyed. 


It then comes across an item it can't just run over and destroy, try as it might.  It rolls backwards and forwards, to no avail.  It has a temper tantrum and the ensuing emotional outburst causes the beer bottle to explode.  It turns its attention on a nearby rabbit and tries that trick again. The rabbit explodes.  

As the wheel rollls lightheartedly through the desert, the accompanying music changes to a breezy happy tune with the lyrics 'I don't want to be lonely'. 

 As the tyre hits the highway and it suddenly catches sight of a car driven by a young girl, the tone of the film starts to change as we know the tyre can use itself to destroy indiscriminately.  An element of terror and horror starts to colour our image of the tyre discovering itself - our lead character has now changed from 'cute little lonely tyre' to 'baddie' terrorising the countryside.






References

Syd Field, The Art of Visual Storytelling - the paradigm worksheet (with audio introduction to the screenplay structure paradigm).   http://www.sydfield.com/featured_theparadigmworksheet.htm