Descripción de los instrumentos utilizados

MATCH DISSOLVE TO:, is a dissolve effect that pairs together two matching images, similarly to MATCH CUT TO:. This description in a script will illustrate to the reader how a transition between two scenes is made—while focusing on a specific item, or object, that acts as a visual link between two sequential scenes.

As in a MATCH CUT:, this match effect can link an object's thematic link to another object, or combine aesthetic, visual similarities between two items.

However, sometimes a match effect can link two scenes together by cutting to or dissolving to the same exact object in two different locations and/or times, rather than cutting or dissolving to an entirely different item or object. The text is formatted on it’s own line, flush right.

EXAMPLES:

Throughout the opening sequence of Citizen Kane (1941)--the somber throbbing of baritone, the series of barren and surreal locations within Xanadu--the

audience is slowly brought closer and closer to a single lit window that sits high above the land which surrounds a gigantic mansion. A series of seven dissolves occurs, each one bringing the window more clearly into view, until finally we sit upon the window sill—only to see the light which has guided us to it is turned off! This entire sequence is one match dissolve after another, each dissolve managing to keep the window in the exact same part of the frame, even when seeing the reflection of it ripple in a pool. A brilliant sequence that introduces us to the titanic figure of what Charles Foster Kane had become by the end of his life—a process that the film aspires to investigate.

Metaphor

Metaphor, is when one object is used to represent some other object

symbolically, or when something is said to be applied in relation to something else. Metaphor is used to link two different ideas in the mind of the audience so that a connection might be made between them, and often times is a method the writer uses to underline the film's themes. Metaphors will always depend on the circumstances that surround it; which character is communicating the metaphor, which character the metaphor is intended for or directed to (if any), and, of course, what the metaphor itself is. When the writer compares two seemingly unrelated ideas in the guise of simile, it paints a vivid picture in the mind of the

METAPHOR (CONT’D)

audience, allowing them to make comparisons between the material and their own lives, or by seeing something old in a new and exciting way, drawing them into the world of the film.

EXAMPLES:

In the case of A Clockwork Orange (1971), the metaphor is the film's title.

Consider: a clock—mechanical, emotionless, a tool, constant, unchanging. An orange—organic, juicy, pulpy, sweet when ripe, sour when premature. Yet, the film's title transposes these two separate, opposite things into a common point of reference. Enter: Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell); serial rapist, thief, violent criminal and murderer who is brought before the State for reform. By “reform” of course they mean “brainwash” and “condition”. Through a process that involves a straight-jacket, a movie screen and some eye-opening headgear, Alex is shown a series of films that exploit the most base and loathsome human tendencies—

every vice Alex had previously championed. This process begins a process of hard-wiring a drastic change in Alex's behavior—forcing him to become violently, physically ill when confronted with rape, crime or violence, taking away his human choice whether or not to indulge in evil or strive for altruism.

Even if the audience doesn't relate to Alex's prior recreational activities, the audience can certainly understand brainwashing through the medium of film—

for in very much the same way that Alex was shown propaganda footage to make sex, drugs and violence repulsive to him, the audience has been treated to this film and Alex's previous exploits. So, by this metaphorical observation of a clockwork orange the audience begins to understand the film's themes, and apply them to themselves.

The Joker (heath Ledger) in The Dark Knight (2008) uses many metaphors to explain his past, his present actions, and his future vision for Gotham City, even if those metaphors are contradictory at times. However contradictory some of them might be, the audience still finds insight into The Joker's character because there remains a deeper level of honesty to his metaphors than their inherent truths. Yet, in one particular case, while sitting at the hospital bed of the recently disfigured and permanently scarred Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) a.k.a. “Two Face”, in order to explain himself and his actions which led to the death of Harvey's love, Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal). The Joker compares himself and his actions to that of a dog “chasing cars”, illustrating that he “wouldn't know what to do if I caught it”. This comparison rings true for the audience who has seen The Joker work his odd, anarchic chaos throughout Gotham and its

inhabitants long enough to know that this metaphor, though comical in its context, is still fundamentally true. So, in this case, the writer uses metaphor to help provide the audience with a yard-stick with which to measure The Joker's madness, and helps draw the audience further into The Joker's character by giving us a point of reference that everyone can understand: a dog chasing cars, and the question of what a dog honestly thinks it is achieving in chasing one.

Midpoint

Midpoint, is the third major plot point in a film and, as the name suggests, occurs in the relative middle of a film. This plot point is also known as the first culmination, and takes place after the lock in, but before the main culmination.

It's structural function is to display the major protagonist encountering his or her first significant obstacle in achieving their goal. Also, it's important to be mindful of the protagonist's prevailing character arc throughout the entire piece, as knowing whether the main character will win or lose at the end will dictate the emotional pitch of the script's midpoint, which normally mirrors the film's ultimate conclusion. If the protagonist achieves their desire at the end, the protagonist should gain some victory in the script's midpoint. If the protagonist is defeated at the end, then he or she should likewise suffer a significant blow here at the first culmination, which will foreshadow the main character's fate by the end of the film.

EXAMPLES:

The first culmination, or midpoint, in Annie Hall (1977) occurs after Annie (Diane Keaton) discovers Alvy (Woody Allen) following her on her afternoon about New York City. Frustrated, angry and confused by this apparent betrayal, she leaves Alvy on the sidewalk by slipping into a cab and driving away. Alvy, equally frustrated and confused, indignantly begins to strike up conversations with the commuters on the subject of relationships in a desperate attempt to make sense of a mad human phenomenon, and gets a myriad of responses. He asks a middle-aged woman who says that love fades. He asks an older man who reveals details about he and his wife's 'vibrating egg'. A young couple admits that their mutual attraction is that they are both equally uninteresting. Alvy even goes to the lengths of confiding in his childhood preference toward the wicked witch over Snow White to a horse. This scene, coupled with the mounting frustrations

MIDPOINT (CONT’D)

between Annie and Alvy, signal to the audience how their calamitous romance may end.

In Casablanca (1942), the midpoint takes place at The Blue Parrot, a rival club to Rick's Café Américain, where Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) and Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) have gone to procure traveling visas for their departure from

Casablanca. They are told by Signor Ferrari (Sydney Greenstreet), the club's owner and operator, that it is impossible to get the both of them visas, and that it would be a 'miracle' for them both to leave Casablanca. It is decided between Laszlo and Ilsa that they are only interested in two visas. Ferrari then drops the hint that Rick has possession of Ugarte's (Peter Lorre) transit papers.