Expanding on the lecture week 5

In the lecture we got introduced to the paradigm in motion. The paradigm consists of three acts. During the lecture we were supposed to focus on the first act when we were shown the beginning of the movie “Rubber”. The first act should answer the three questions: who the lead character is, what the movie is about and where the movie is set.
The first thing we see is that the movie is set in a deserted place. It takes some time, but we then get to know the lead character, a tire. At first we get sympathy for the tire because it seems weak and unstable and is all alone in the desert. The tire off course cannot speak, so we only get our impression of its personality out of its actions. As is says in Exploring the Meaning of Movies, dramatic action is not so much as what is said, but what is not said… By reading between the lines or watching the actions of a character, we are able to understand their point of view.

That is what the movie is about: Understanding the life of the tire and make up our opinions by its actions and behavior. Even though the tire is all alone, it meets different obstacles on its way, and how the tire responds to these elements makes the plot. The tire early discovers that it has the ability to destroy the things on its way. The tire learn that it can blast bigger and bigger things, and we get the feeling that it gets better self-esteem as his explosion objects increase. With the lack of anyone else being in on the tire’s level, its life gets meaning from destroying things.

A plot point is defined in Syd Field's Paradigm Worksheet as: any incident, episode or event that hooks into the action and spins it around into another direction. I believe that the first plot point is when the tire kills the rabbit. This is the first time it kills something that was actually alive and the music that gets played and the happiness it shows afterwards underline that this is a turning point in the movie. If the tire can kill something living and be satisfied afterwards, it’s capable to do a lot of damage. It gets a whole new personality and seems a lot scarier than before.

Resources:

Syd Field - the paradigm worksheet, viewed August 25 2011, http://www.sydfield.com/featured_theparadigmworksheet.htm.

Exploring the Meaning of Movies, viewed August 25 2011, http://www.theclapperboard.com/view_posting.php?posting_id=129.