A reflection of film structure and its role in remaining calm…
This morning I was discussing the indisputably dark time we are living through with a friend. Amongst frustrations of cancelled click and collect orders, we touched upon the pandemic, Brexit, border restrictions and deceitful politicians – our world is starting to feel like a genuine dystopia. It’s almost like we’re living in a Russell T Davies drama, but with less Russell Tovey and more Boris Johnson.
It’s tricky to anchor our thoughts and remain afloat in this maelstrom of vaccines and impeachments. A year of lockdown and isolation has blurred our usual ‘defined’ timescales; days become nights, weeks become months – just when does one moment of time begin and another end?
Finding structure is becoming an increasingly difficult task.
We all crave unity and take natural comfort in patterns. In a muddled world, I believe we can turn to the structure of film and theatre to establish the crucial need for uniformity and calm.
It’s a subject John Yorke demystifies in his stunning look at how stories work. “Into the Woods” examines closely the three-act structure of films, frequently relating this comforting and “irrefutable law of psychics” to our own journey through life. He notes that “dramatic structure is not a construct, but a product of human psychology, biology and psychics.”
Yorke’s observation of why we tell stories with a recurring, ‘classic’ structure led me to contemplate our own new reality.
A beginning, middle and end: that’s what we need. Luckily, that’s what we have. Storytelling has a shape; so it is with life.
‘Dramatic structure is not an arbitrary – or even conscious – invention. It is an organic codification of the human mechanism for ordering information.’ – David Mamet.
What do we feel whilst watching the perilous adventures of a protagonist during a film or stage show? Hope. And hope is what we must hold onto in our own world. Even when consuming a story that is completely new to us, we take comfort in and understand a sense of unity which enables us to ‘predict’ – or at least ‘hope’ for - the successful outcome of the protagonist’s goals. To apply this theory to our own journey might really help us in navigating our strange, new ‘normal’
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“In simplistic terms, human beings order the world dialectically. Incapable of perceiving randomness, we insist on imposing order on any observed phenomena, any new information that comes our way. We exist; we observe new stimuli; and both are altered in the process. It’s thesis, antithesis, synthesis…” – John Yorke, ‘Into the Woods’.
It’s really difficult to identify or establish an ending to this pandemic. But there is no doubt there will be an end. There will always be a resolution to every process, be it in film, the universe or our own lives.
And the climax of a character’s journey represents not just an ending but a beginning. Something fresh, something new. And that is scary, but also magical. We all know deep down that we will get through this. No matter how unrecognisable our world becomes, an underlying sense of unity prevails.
“Three act structure is the cornerstone of drama primarily because it embodies not just the simplest units of Aristotelian (and indeed all) structure; it follows the irrefutable laws of psychics.”
– John Yorke
There is a shape, a pattern, a uniformity we can adopt to make sense of our surroundings. We can only continue by being hopeful and using art to understand this harsh reality. Most importantly, we need to stick together, remain kind and learn from one another.
“Every act of perception is an attempt to impose order, to make sense of a chaotic universe. Storytelling, at one level, is a manifestation of this process…”
– John Yorke
Perhaps this notion lies at the heart of my Theatrabilia website, too. My world was turned upside down in 2016 following my diagnosis of M.E. Since developing my ‘new normal’, and the recent upheaval of life as we all know it due to Covid-19, I’ve yearned to establish structure and order by researching, archiving and sharing my collections and experiences in a coherent manner.
We can learn from the leading film and theatre makers from across the centuries; their teachings and thoughts laced throughout books, interviews, brochures and commentaries. It is deeply reassuring to remember the creatives we look up to have existed within, and, most importantly, successfully navigated global injustice and tragedy. Let this be a reminder, then, that we, too, can conquer our own dark time.
This may be the conclusion of one blog post, but, just like all endings, it’s only the start of something new.
Tim Norman, January 2021
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