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  1. Hammer

    Hammer Moderator Staff Supporter Contributor

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    Critical acclaim... or take the money?

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by Hammer, Dec 18, 2018.

    Excellent article on the BBC website this morning analysing which movies have won critical acclaim and which have made money - the two facets are not always convergent

    It's a great quick-read for anyone interested in macro plot development

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-46385657

    (I presume this can be seen in most countries?)
     
  2. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

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    Good article. I'm not sure how well it translates to literature, especially because the Oscars are much more high-profile than any literary award (except maybe the Nobel...?) Like, most people will have heard of Oscar winning movies, even if they haven't seen them. Not sure the same is true of Man Booker Prize or Pushcart winners.

    I'm also not sure how relevant critical acclaim is, in either industry. Professional reviews do still have influence on book sales, but it's diminishing and reader reviews are becoming more important.

    Would you really care if Kirkus gave your book 3/5 but you had 50 reader reviews raving about it?
     
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  3. Hammer

    Hammer Moderator Staff Supporter Contributor

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    Hi @Tenderiser - I agree that it may not translated directly to literature, but I thought the the "up down up" or "down down down" descriptions of principle arcs may be of interest - especially to new writers like myself - who were considering the "shape" of their novels, along with an analysis of what seemed to be popular with punters and translate to box office.

    at this stage in my journey I would be happy with a single luke-warm review but I hope to improve :cool:
     
  4. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

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    Oh yes, definitely a good article.

    I give your thread 3/5 stars. I enjoyed the subject matter but felt slightly threatened by the blurry duck, which took away from my threading experience.
     
  5. Hammer

    Hammer Moderator Staff Supporter Contributor

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    [ThreadDrift]

    The blurry duck seems to have attracted comment elsewhere - I think this forum is a hiding place for anatidaephobics*...

    He was actually in my back garden earlier this year. I was working on my camper and looked up to see his beady little eyes watching my every move! I only had a phone to snap the beaky little blighter!


    *as immortalised (and I think invented) by the great Gary Larson

    upload_2018-12-18_11-31-6.jpeg

    [/ThreadDrift]
     
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  6. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    I really had trouble pulling much meaning out of that article. I think anytime things are narrowed down to the "there are only X plots" format, the descriptors get so vague they're really hard to apply, at least for me. Like... How do movies with multiple protagonists fit into this structure? Are there times when one protagonist rises while another falls?

    Like...

    Breakfast Club - I can see this as a "Man in a Hole", I guess... they all start kinda rough and then get better? Or would it be Rags to Riches, because their falls all happened before the start of the film? Or...?

    Raiders of the Lost Ark - Would that be Cinderella, because there's a fall in the middle part where Indy is struggling?

    Or am I misinterpreting the whole nature of the rise/fall idea? What does "an emotional rise" mean? In so far as Holy Grail can be said to have any emotional path at all, is it really on a continued emotional fall? I mean, they're on a quest, they're... doing okay? Aren't they? Are the police at the end supposed to be an emotional note?

    I don't know... I'm having trouble with it!
     
  7. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    It sounds like it's purely text analysis, without regard for the plot, characters, anything. So, for example, if that Big Death in Game of Thrones were very quick and didn't have a lot of stage direction to add sad words to the script, and then the script cut to a long joyful conversation about how spiffy it is that there's seed-cake for tea today, I suspect that the Death might be lost in the noise of happiness.

    I do think it's interesting, because language is interesting. I'd be curious to see the high-low graphs for my favorite movies. But I'm mainly seeing the idea as a curiosity.
     
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