Save the Cat! Goes to the Indies

by Salva Rubio

  Dark Night of the Soul: Alone, sitting among dead leaves, Heather reflects on what has happened, still ready to blame the others, as she thinks that Josh just ran away. She also laments that she will have to carry his camera.

  Break into Three: For the first time, Heather negotiates with Mike about what to do next. Desperate, he asks “Which was worse, the wicked witch from the East or the wicked witch from the West?” They decide to go east. Do they still have a chance?

  Finale:

  Gathering the Team: Their new collaborative spirit works to make them, for the first time, a team, as they comfort each other joking, talking about the things they like and even, later, hugging each other for the first time.

  Executing the Plan: As stated, their plan is to head east until they find the way out of the woods, still terrified about what they hear on the way. But night is not far away.

  High Tower Surprise: After they hear Josh screaming in pain again during the night, in the morning they discover a strange package made of branches and their friend’s shirt. Heather looks inside and finds blood, teeth and other body parts. Though scared as hell, she decides to say nothing to Mike, possibly because she now cares for him.

  Dig, Deep Down: The next night, Heather “digs, deep down” and finds the inner strength to apologize to the camera, which she found impossible before, acknowledging how difficult it has been for the others to deal with her and for the first time conceding that everything has been her fault.

  The Execution of the New Plan: The last night, upon hearing Josh’s cries again, they decide to get out of the tent, finding a nearby house where the cries came from. Braver (or crazier) than ever, Mike goes inside the house and is knocked over in the basement by an unseen attacker. When Heather follows him, she is attacked too, her camera rolling on the floor.

  Final Image: The last image is a blurry one, like the feeling we have about what happened in that basement. As much as we know that the experience changed Heather and her friends forever... was the Witch’s legend true in the end? Do supra-natural beings exist? What happened with the three filmmakers’ bodies and souls? Do you really want to know the answer?

  FUNNY GAMES (1997)

  Can you write a psychological horror film in which the sadistic “monster” knows you are watching the movie? Austrian writer-director Michael Haneke literally played games with audiences in this film with some of the most horrid home invasion tropes. It’s one of the best and most terrifying “Nihilist Monster” films that you will ever behold.

  This MITH subgenre deals with a cruel kind of creature, one that looks for victims whose “sin” is not clear to them, and who do not know why something so horrible and seemingly undeserved is happening. Nihilist Monsters, besides being sadistic, says Blake, play with “games of life and death” (hence, this movie’s title).

  Were we bad persons, bad parents, bad citizens? The Nihilist Monster does not care and will not tell you, as he will not disclose his seemingly absurd rationale for torturing people. For this reason, Haneke shot a film about the depiction of violence in media and used meta-cinema techniques to further “play” with the rules of narrative, montage and point-of-view to make his effort even more horrifying.

  The result is an interesting example of how to bend many of cinema’s rules, like altering traditional feature film timing with a celebrated (and nerve-chilling) 10 -minute panoramic shot while keeping intact, as we will see, a completely tight structure (which was also kept in the 2007 shot-by-shot — even made in the same house — remake with Tim Roth and Naomi Watts). So, shall we press “play”... or “rewind”?

  MITH Type: Nihilist Monster

  MITH Cousins: Cabin Fever, Cube, Green Room, Audition, Battle Royale

  FUNNY GAMES

  Written and directed by Michael Haneke

  Opening Image: A movie like this has to start with a game, of course, albeit a very innocent one. A well-to-do family heads for a vacation, while playing “who’s the composer” as they listen to classical music, and the wife Anna (Susanne Lothar) is winning. Then, violent jazz-grindcore metal music by Naked City blasts in (non-diegetically) like the assault they are going to suffer. Will they be alive by the end?

  Theme Stated: “Did daddy look?” asks Anna, inquiring if husband Georg (Ulrich Mühe) cheated. The rules of the game are our theme. But what happens if unbeknownst to the players, those rules include horror movie conventions, the same from the genre the characters are starring in? And what happens if the “monster” knows the rules and could even cheat?

  B Story: Our “love story” refers to how Anna and Georg can keep their love alive when they are about to suffer an ordeal which will force them to endure psychological and physical torture. Can they still love each other under such terrible circumstances?

  Set-Up: The family arrives at their country house near the lake and they “set up” their vacation, filling the fridge and getting their sailboat ready. They also have a strange encounter with their usually friendly neighbors, who act cold and uninterested, while they are accompanied by two unknown young persons dressed completely in white. Little son Georgie (Stefan Clapczynski) misses his girlfriend Sissi, and family dog Rolfi seems uneasy, especially when neighbor Fred and one of the white-gloved youths (introduced as “the son of a business colleague”) come to say hi. Another kind of Set-Up is purely visual: a knife is left forgotten in the sailing boat.

  Catalyst: At minute 11, “flabby” Peter, the other white-gloved youth, arrives at the house, and ever so politely — as with everything they will do (including torture) — asks for some eggs for their neighbor friends, with whom they seem to be on familiar terms, so Anna does not suspect anything.

  Debate: How crazy can a “normal” situation like this get? Well, things get slowly more weird as Peter does not know how to answer Anna’s Debate questions. What do they want the eggs for? How did he get in the house? Peter tries Anna’s patience when he drops the eggs, gets the home phone uselessly wet and asks for more eggs. And things get stranger as Paul, apparently the smarter one, enters the house and asks her to try their golf clubs. Outside, Georg notices Rolfi’s sudden silence, and when he arrives home, he finds Anna, temper lost, trying to kick the white-clad duo out of the house.

  Break into Two: Clueless why Anna is so mad at the duo, Georg tries to persuade the pair to leave the house, but they just confront him provocatively. So at minute 25, an angry Georg slaps Paul, setting things in motion — Peter breaks his leg with a golf club. The violence has started and there is no turning back. Let the “funny games” begin!

  Fun and Games: What is it like to be in a home invasion with two sadistic Nihilist Monsters? Paul is seemingly eager to have Fun and play Games. Indeed, the promise of the premise of being in a home invasion is delivered with flair. The family is very scared as the first games begin, one being “where is the dead body of our dog?” As Anna searches for it, Paul breaks the fourth wall and winks at “us,” signaling his “Nihilist Monster superpower”: he knows the rules of horror narrative and will follow them or break them for our viewing “pleasure.” More horrible games ensue as Georg agonizes over his broken leg and Georgie seems paralyzed by fear.

  Midpoint: Stakes are (terribly) raised as Paul bets that in 12 hours (the ticking clock!), the family will be dead, and for the second time, Paul asks “us” if we think they have a chance of winning. “You are on their side, aren’t you?” But the bet is rigged: “They’ll lose in any case. Obviously.” Unhappily for us, at Midpoint we get a whiff of Sex at Midpoint too: A and B Stories cross as loving husband Georg is forced to tell his wife to undress, or their child will suffer the consequences. Then a false victory ensues: as his parents fight the assailants, Georgie is able to flee from the house.

  Bad Guys Close In: Georgie runs away, and has to dip into the lake and swim to reach the neighbors, where he expects to get help. But he sees Paul “closing in” and hides in the house. Paul playfully chases him in the empty home, and Georgie finds his dear girlfrie
nd, Sissi, dead. He then takes a rifle and aims at ever-smiling Paul, who even advises him on how to use it... but the chambers are empty. At home, Peter chills out watching TV, when Paul arrives with Georgie and the rifle. The clock keeps ticking when Paul asks for the time — they must think about their bet, so they play a new game with the family: “Eeny meeny, miny, moe.”

  All Is Lost: Paul merrily goes to the kitchen to fix himself a sandwich, and a loud bang is heard. When he comes back, the TV set is splattered with blood. Can there be anything worse for a family than having their only son killed? It is also All Is Lost for Paul, who reprimands Peter — he has killed the child, so now they will not get anything from the others. So surprisingly or not... they leave the house.

  Dark Night of the Soul: The DNOTS beat is particularly long (10 minutes!) and nerve-wracking despite its stillness (which should inspire calm). Anna silently “contemplates the death” of her child, her defeated husband and the destruction of her family.

  Break into Three: Now that the killers have gone, Anna frees herself and Georg, trying to think what to do next. They attempt to fix the phone, but it won’t work, and her husband is too hurt to escape with her. A and B Stories cross again as Georg asks Anna to forgive him of his “sin”: not being able to protect his family. Anna kisses her husband, showing their love is intact, and off she goes for help.

  Finale:

  Gathering the Team: Anna tries to gather “a team” to help her, first visiting the neighbors and then stopping a car. At home, Georg does likewise trying to call someone on the phone. But unluckily for them both, the team is really gathered when Paul and Peter arrive again, this time with Anna. Has a golf ball ever been so menacing?

  Executing the Plan: The plan is a new game, in which Anna is forced to participate, but she tries to refuse. So exactly (and we mean exactly) at the 95 -minute mark, Paul complains, saying the film is not even feature length yet! “You want a real ending, with plausible plot development, don’t you?” he asks us.

  High Tower Surprise: Suddenly, Anna takes the rifle and shoots Peter in the belly, instantly killing him. Maybe she can win, after all! But her High Tower Surprise awaits: As master of the rules of this game, Paul gets the video remote and rewinds the movie itself, reviving Peter and preventing Anna from taking the rifle. In retaliation, they kill Georg.

  Dig, Deep Down: The next morning, Anna is taken to the boat with the two men and they sail away. Remember the knife Haneke ostensibly set up in the beginning? Anna uses it to “dig, deep down” and try to cut her ties. But it is useless — it was just a red herring, and she is easily disarmed.

  The Execution of the New Plan: While Peter and Paul discuss the limits of reality and fiction, he kisses Anna goodbye and drowns her in the lake. At one hour from the deadline, he has won the bet. How couldn’t he?

  Final Image: A very similar image to the beginning: Paul enters a family’s property, and they ask for some eggs that Anna supposedly needs. The woman kindly complies, and boy, we know the Nihilist Monster is going to start his cycle of torture and violence again. For the last time, he looks at us from the screen, knowing that we know too... and maybe we want to watch.

  2GOLDEN FLEECE

  If there is a story as ancient as human culture (ask old Homer about that), it’s a journey. Even today, in these safe, internet-driven times, no matter if we feel the backpacker’s wanderlust, sign up for a typical touristic voyage to the Bahamas, do business somewhere far from home or just go on a road trip to visit relatives, we can’t ignore a fundamental truth: travel is going to change us.

  And that is good news, since “all stories are about transformation,”so why are you waiting to put your characters on the road?

  Please “hold your horses” a little bit more while we talk about the “Golden Fleece” genre, whose classic provenance (ask old Jason and his Argonauts about it) shows us that the adventure of traveling, its troubles, dangers, challenges and obstacles are first-class narrative material — not only will we learn new things about the road, new cultures or how to overcome our fears, a Golden Fleece will also teach us about ourselves.

  Of course, there are many kinds of travels, and not all of them necessarily require leaving your home! As you will discover, when a group of characters set out on a search or gather to make a plan to reach a goal (as in our “Caper Fleece” genre), they are using their strength as a team to walk a common road toward that goal... whether they actually reach it or not.

  Let’s consider our three main components to use as a travel guide:

  The first thing you will need to have in your writer’s backpack is a team, which will make our movie about friendship, a common theme in GFs. Besides a main character, you should choose some travel companions, who will either accompany him from home or join him on the road. The important thing is that each member of the team complements him in one way or another — our hero may be the “dull” one, with the most room to learn, while the others are his “brains,” “muscles” or “soul.” Remember mainstream classics like The Wizard of Oz, The Guns of Navarone or Star Wars?

  Now, this team is so important that you should dedicate some good scenes to introduce them and set up their powers, skills or abilities — along with what Blake called their limp and an eyepatch, that is, something that will make them immediately recognizable. Remember The Full Monty and how each character has his own strengths and weaknesses? That is what we’re aiming for.

  Once you have your characters and know how to introduce them, we need a road, the metaphorical or real path that your heroes will travel toward their goal. It can be as long as a lifetime or could cross entire galaxies, but for our heroes, what matters is always the same: the encounters and adventures they will find on the way will teach them to overcome their fears and anxieties. The road can be a 317- mile journey, as in The Straight Story, or it can just be a metaphorical road to victory, as in Rocky (yep, that one’s an indie too!), or even the course to follow when performing a mission, caper or robbery, as in Reservoir Dogs.

  Finally, you must include a prize, that is, the sacred object, mythical treasure or golden dream the team is chasing: things like victory, jewels or a dear one who awaits at the end of the path. The search for this prize, and the desire to go on the road, must ideally be propelled by something primal, like family, survival or love. Doesn’t Rocky just want respect when training to fight Apollo? Doesn’t Alvin Straight just want to find his long-estranged brother? Isn’t Reservoir Dogs really about betrayed friendship?

  Ironically, many of the times, the prize itself is not what our heroes will find at the end of their path! As you know, the MacGuffin is an object or goal designed to keep the plot and our characters moving toward it, but that object doesn’t really matter that much. Often our protagonists will suddenly find a road apple, something that destroys their plans when victory was within sight. In many stories (but not all), the road apple will appear in the All Is Lost beat or the High Tower Surprise section of the Finale.

  The goal is to remind our characters that, just like Dorothy and her companions in The Wizard of Oz, it doesn’t matter that the Wiz can give them the characteristics they were longing for. The road itself, the adventure and the experience they gained travelling on it, has bestowed those goods on them — without the need of a divine hand or a sacred object. In the mainstream world, ask Indiana Jones! In our indie realm, the stars of films like O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Little Miss Sunshine know about this firsthand.

  How many kinds of journeys can our heroes take? As always, we will define five, the first of which we’ll call the Sports Fleece, referring to all those movies in which a “team” must compete with others to gain some kind of token, cup or victory itself. The Sports Fleece applies not only to literal sports teams, but to any story in which a bunch of characters will have to learn to work as a team (dancing, cooking or playing music). Think of this when writing your film: the real goal — even if your characters still don’t realize it — is self-respect,
not external awards.

  Let’s also examine the Buddy Fleece, whose signature mark is that it’s lighter in tone. No matter the prize or MacGuffin, the real thematic lesson our heroes will have to learn pertains to friendship and love. Such is the case of indie smash Little Miss Sunshine, Mexican hit Y Tu Mamá También, Motorcycle Diaries, Antonioni’s L’Avventura or the adaptation of Kerouac’s On the Road.

  Next comes the Epic Fleece, whose name takes us directly to its Greek antecedents. These films are sometimes more dramatic, with more difficult trials for our characters to endure, just like the almost-literal “Odyssey” of Kon-Tiki, The Wages of Fear, Apocalypse Now or The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.

  We noted before that the road may be just a robbery, and that is what our Caper Fleece consists of, but that’s not all — everything that involves a plan and a scheme, like prison escapes or war infiltration missions, belong here, as is the case in Reservoir Dogs, Snatch or Rififi.

  Finally, we have the Solo Fleece, where, as its name implies, the team is composed of one person and the road can be a physical journey or simply the person’s actual life and struggles to achieve success. Look at The Straight Story, Broken Flowers or Into the Wild and you will know what we mean. If not, ask old Ulysses!

  GETTING ALL MYTHICAL ON YOUR FLEECE

  If your film idea involves a group of quirky characters getting ready to go somewhere, you should also make sure to give them:

  A “team,” a person or a group that will complement each other and, while passing through many trials and tribulations, will learn something deeper, such as the importance of friendship.

  A “road” that may be physical, like the ones you see on maps, or metaphorical, like a heist, robbery or a life goal. What’s important is its stages.

  A “prize,” something primal that sets the trip in motion and is the only thing on our characters’ minds — although by the end of their journey, they will probably realize it actually wasn’t that important.