Good Script Writing: Place People and Believability

Movie recommendation of the week: Thor

Its been awhile since my last blog, and quite naturally many movies have whizzed by my eyes, like galaxies in the night sky, leaving me with a plethora to write about. There are 3 movies that come to mind, and of which I will be writing about. Typically I like to write about movies that are already out, so that you, the reader, can easily access them through movie rental or purchase. However, this week I will be discussing the movie Thor and its relation to story telling. 

The movie Thor, is based on a popular comic, which itself is based on Viking mythology. The movie starts dynamically, later on, in the scope of the overall narrative story line. The first scene is of three scientists traveling across the desert looking for an aurora borealis phenomenon, which is high altitude static discharge. Because the movie starts here and not in Thor’s far off galaxy, it gives the audience an instant bearing toward our own reality, drawing us in on familiar principals. Humans like us, studying space, is a normal concept. Quite normal until a large flash of light collides with the desert and we see our scientists hit a figure who has mysteriously appeared.

If the movie had started off in Thor’s universe, the audience, ourselves included, would not have the same believable connection to reality. A good story must always start with something familiar.

Thor is unique in that as soon as the story establishes familiar and believable realities, we are instantly transported to a fantasy reality far different from our own. What Makes Thor so enjoyable is this quick story line transition and then the later bridge. We spend awhile tracing the path that leads back to the beginning of the movie where Thor lands and is discovered by the three scientists. 

The rest of the movie makes these 2 realities exist with a similar plain of logical acceptance by the audience. Basically, the constant jumps between what is going on in Thor’s reality and the reality here on earth, make both realities make sense together, and because we started with our own reality, we believe and easily accept Thor’s. Fantasy movies that aren’t very good, do not draw us into there realities, they are not believable and thus are rejected by our own psychology. Movies like Star Wars are so popular because of its use of rivets, and other common building methods and materials to our own galaxy. Indeed much of Star Wars's dialogue is very similar to ours, it does not alienate us, but instead makes us comfortable. Other Movies, like Lord of the Rings, draw us in with familiar medieval warfare and lifestyles.

Thor is so entertaining because it only takes place between 3 places: the simple New Mexico desert and town, the ice world Jötunheim, and Thor’s home planet of Asgard. The simplicity of these places allows us to believe and be enthralled with the story line and entertaining dialogue. 

So the next time you watch a movie, pay attention to how believable it is, are there familiar elements and do those elements relate well within the fantasy. Good movies give us a believable back drop and allow us to focus on the characters and their struggles, which are the essence of our cinematic enjoyment, and the main reason movies like Avatar suck, but thats for a different blog.