I have recently been obsessed with miniature models in Hollywood movies, mostly watching behind the scene footage from the piercefilm production youtube channel.
The behind-the-scenes footage surprised me because I did not understand how many miniatures Hollywood used. In my mind, those miniatures were real places, full-scale, and awe-inspiring. The visual effect magic worked on me, and I believed. I remember looking around Los Angeles the first time I visited the city, wondering, “Where are all those movie locations?”
I have since realized that while those locations exist in the minds and hearts of audiences worldwide, they are not physical locations.
Miniatures can feel so big!
But after watching hours of miniature special effects footage, a switch flipped in my mind. Suddenly, I could see things I looked at in real life as miniatures. Cars could fit in my hand, houses were cardboard cutouts, and trees were twigs. I imagined behind-the-scenes teams of model builders constructing the world around me. It was a strange experience.
But while the world looked like models, I noticed something else; I could interact with those models with much more freedom than I could with how I imagined the real world, despite both views being in my imagination.
I want you to try a mental experiment. Imagine the home you know best. Maybe it is where you currently live or a childhood abode. You probably know it well enough that you could navigate it in the dark. You can feel your way through that memory.
Now, mentally, go outside your home and walk around it. Can you also fly around it mentally? For me, flying takes a little bit more effort, almost like I have to energize my imagination.
Now, pick up your home and spin it around. Can you feel the resistance? I have to justify this action much more than flying around. Maybe I mentally bring in a crane or an earth mover. Perhaps I have to disable gravity. I can do it, but I have to find an excuse. What’s strange is that I can do this with buildings in my neighborhood that I do not know well. They are just like paper cutouts. But a structure I know resists flippant manipulation in my imagination. All my memories of the place tie that image to realistic behavior.
Now, rewind the home back to the starting position.
Rewind that mental image
This time, create a home model that fits your hand, like a diorama. It should look just like the real thing. It can even have a miniature interior with all the interior decorations, furniture, and paint colors.
Now spin your home model in your mind. Make it the size of a monopoly house. Turn it upside down. Make copies of it and set them in a row. Make it bigger. Change the color. Add a turret to the model. Give it tank treads.
Do you feel less resistance to these mental actions? I notice it is significantly easier to manipulate a model in my imagination than to imagine the actual location. The effect is dramatic for me. It’s not hard to put tank treads on my model, but deciding what kind of treads is more challenging. I decided to go with the NASA crawler-transporter style ones.
It feels like there is a defense mechanism in my imagination. If I imagine a real place I know, there is resistance to doing impossible things. But if I change it to a model that looks just like the actual place, I suddenly feel much less resistance. I can easily imagine things with a model requiring much more effort for ‘real’ objects. I think there is weight to our memories and physics to our imagination, and making models mentally might be a fun tool to use and explore.
Someone who wants physical activity will always want to move more than their generational peers.
Our desires and motivations seem to be fixed as the base of our personality. But we navigate through a complex ocean of motivations and desires throughout life. Groups have their desires, whether a family, a set of friends, a small town, a culture, a country, or a civilization. Age also seems to have its desires. There are phases of life. Playing with friends as a child is different from a company party or a cruise.
So while someone who desires family will always want to nurture more than their peers of similar age, there is a time in life when nurturing children is essential for the survival of the human race. Throughout life, we get to experience hints of these other desires. Age has a significant impact on our desires and Reiss often describes the 16 desires ‘compared with other people your age’.
So the following is a list of Steven Reiss’ 16 Desires ordered by how I think they manifest throughout an average human life.
Eating (Food, thinking about food, and planning meals) – Babies usually tell you when they are hungry.
Physical Activity (Exercise, Active, Moving) – Keeping up with kids can be challenging for adults. I’ve seen toddlers leave their parents gasping for air.
Tranquility (Preparation, Comfort, Calm) – Safety blankets, plushies, and nightlights. Life as a small child can be scary, and managing those fears requires focus and attention to detail.
Curiosity (Explore, Analyze, Discuss) – Kids ask questions. Lots of questions. The world is big, and there is a lot to figure out.
Social Contact (Friendship, Companions, Group play) – Playing is essential to childhood development; kids often want to play. We even put it as part of their school day with recess.
Acceptance (Attention, Approval, Inclusion) – Getting attention and being included in a group becomes important as groups get larger. Where before you played with anyone in preschool and kindergarten, groups might accept or shun you as you get a little older. If I had to guess, this would feel like early elementary school, first or second grade.
Social Status (Exclusivity, Connection, Reputation) – Gossip, slander, cliques, fashions, clubs, and awards. Having the right brands of clothing, backpack, and, I’m guessing, cell phones these days. In my day, it was the Trapper Keeper. This feels like late elementary school into junior high. I still remember girls in my class planning an elaborate scheme on how to shun a new girl from their table at lunch in elementary school.
Romance (Beauty, Art, Attraction) – Join a band to attract girls, put on some makeup to attract the guys, and go to awkward dances as boys and girls notice each other. When hormones hit, they hit hard.
Vengeance (Compete, Retaliate, Defeat, come from behind) – High school sports, debate clubs, chess clubs, love triangles, honor lists. Athletes are usually young, but how many people still play their high school sports later in life?
Independence (Freedom, Self Reliance, Determination) Leaving home and setting out on your own for the first time. Society puts this at 18 in the united states, where you are legally independent, at least mostly.
Idealism (Belief, sacrifice, Justice, and making things right) Join a cause, protest, and change the world. This feels like the early twenties.
Family (Nurturing, raising offspring) – Time to raise your children and ask the grandparents for tips and tricks to keep these kids alive. Marriage ages vary throughout time, but on average, it is safe to guess the twenties.
Saving (Collecting, Preserving, Valuing) Tough times ahead, better prepare, especially with little ones back home. Maybe it means working through school, living frugally to save for a home, or starting that power tool collection.
Order (Organize, Plan, Clean) – Trim the yard, organize the garage, plan activities, and move a family from place to place. Trips to the hardware store to repair and Ikea to organize.
Power (Domination, Control, Authority) – Power seems to come with time. Look at the age of the leaders in many organizations. If you are outside of Silicon Valley, there is a good chance they have some grey hair.
Honor (Integrity, Loyalty, Trust, Tradition) – Time to look back and preserve everything your generation and family worked for. Traditions should be upheld and passed on to future generations by their elders.
At least, that is my guess for how the desires manifest through age. As I said earlier, this does not change our individual desires. Some toddlers want honor, and there are idealistic senior citizens. And this might be particular to my culture as an American. But I think you can feel the pull of different desires as the years pass and you observe other generations.
The phrase ‘plot twist’ makes it sound like there was an unexpected development in the series of events in the story. Something startling took place, and now the story direction will go a different way, like running into a road-closed sign and taking a detour.
But I don’t think plot twists usually have much to do with the plot; that is, the series of events in a story. Often the plot twists make us rethink what has already happened. Unexpected things often happen in stories, but we do not call them plot twists. Take jump scares, for instance. Is it a plot twist if we go to a haunted house? I don’t think so.
So if plot twists are not just about the unexpected, do they change the events? Usually not. The past events remain the same, but the reasoning and intention behind the events changes. The plot isn’t twisted, our minds are. So if the plot remains mostly unchanged, what twists? I think I have an idea.
Plot twists are identity twists. That person or object you thought was one thing is really something else. That is the secret. But it’s a bit of a magic trick. You want to ensure the audience does not realize the illusion until it is too late.
How did you do that?!
So what identities can twist into plot twists? Let’s go through a few famous film plot twists and see where the surprise lies.
We have good reason to think that Mrs. Bates is the murderer.
Psycho (1960) District Attorney: Did he talk to you? Simon: No. I got the whole story… but not from Norman. I got it from… his mother.
Bate’s mother is not the killer, even if we have ‘seen’ her kill. It was not actually her. Norman Bates, dressed as his mother, is the killer. He has multiple personalities.
Multiple personalities are a good way to think about plot twists because even if the medical condition is not part of the story, the audience has to reconcile two unique identities competing. Simon even describes this struggle in Psycho.
Simon:When the mind houses two personalities, there is always a battle. In Norman’s case, the battle is over… and the dominant personality has won.
Is this mental battle between two personalities what a plot twist really is?I think the battle of rethinking identities is what leaves the audience reeling. And there does not always have to be a winning identity.
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Darth Vader:If you only knew the power of the dark side. Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father. Luke:He told me enough! He told me you killed him. Darth Vader:No, I am your father.
The villain from the first two movies, who Luke thinks killed his father, is his father. Obi-Wan Kenobi misleads Luke.
Family is another good way to twist an identity. That person who tried to kill you? They are really your family. That person who died? Actually, they were your family, too. Family is a unique biological relationship because even if someone is terrible, you have a connection to them that death will not change. Siblings, parents, and children seem to be the strongest in the family twist area. Cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents don’t seem to have the same impact.
Changing identities in step
The Usual Suspects (1995) Kujan: WHERE IS HE? DID YOU SEE HIM? Cop:The Cripple? He went that way.
Verbal Kint is Keyser Soze. He does not have cerebral palsy. He was playing the role of a crippled thug to hide his real identity as the dark mastermind behind everything. As Verbal says,
Verbal: A man can’t change what he is. He can convince anyone he’s someone else, but never himself. The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.
Verbal does not have multiple personality disorder. Verbal is an act and an intentional deception. But the idea of being two people, or having two identities that must fight it out, is still here. We have to rethink everything that happened with this new information. The series of events may not change, but we now rethink everything that happened, knowing that Verbal was probably the mastermind of everything, and very little of what he said is true.
Of course, your other personality is more fashionable
Fight Club (1997) Jack: What did youjust call me? Say my name. Marla: Tyler Durden! Tyler Durden, you fucking freak. What’s going on? I’m coming over…
Tyler Durden is not Jack’s friend turned enemy. Jack is Tyler Durden. Jack has multiple personalities. Here we have the raw multiple personality disorder diagnosis again. But because it is done well, and we must rethink the story knowing Jack did everything, we put the whole puzzle back together again, enjoying every moment. A little montage often helps us rethink the events. Tyler joins Jack in a hotel room to flip through previous events to help Jack, and the audience, make sense of it all.
Planet of the Apes (1968) George Taylor: You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!
The planet of the Apes is not an alien planet. It is Earth, years after a nuclear war. The astronauts did not make it to a distant world in their millennia of cryo-sleep. Here, the identity that twists is the planet itself. George thinks he might escape this alien place and get back to earth. But he is mistaken because he is already on earth. This time, it is not a character with multiple identities; it is the setting.
Se7en (1995) John Doe:It seems that envy is my sin. Become vengeance, David. Become wrath.
John Doe is Envy. David is Wrath.
Se7en follows a serial killer who targets victims using the seven deadly sins as a template. The twist is that the investigator David becomes the ultimate killer completing the seven crimes. John Doe is the killer and a victim of his plot. John Doe must die for his sin of Envy, and David and his wife are who John Doe envied.
The setup for se7evn is more complex than many other twists because you need to understand and expect the final two victims. Identity sharing fits into the crimes. Where every other crime, they find new victims for each of the seven sins at the crime scene; we already know the victims of the final two sins. We just don’t know their identity, until the end.
Saw (2004) John:Most people are so ungrateful to be alive. But not you. Not anymore. GAME OVER.
That is not a corpse lying in the middle of the room. That is Jigsaw, the killer who orchestrated the whole situation, and he is not dead. Not a victim, but the killer and not dead, but still alive.
The Sixth Sense (1999) Anna:Why did you leave me? Malcolm:I didn’t leave you.
Probably the most famous twist in movie history. Malcolm isn’t just a psych helping Cole with his ghost problems. Malcolm is a ghost himself. Malcolm has been dead most of the movie and did not know it. Having two identities compete does not require multiple personality disorder. For the sixth sense, it is living and dead, which most of the movie has dealt with because Cole can see the dead.
Do any of the events change with this realization? Technically no, but as we go through Malcolm’s flashbacks, we see the previous events in a new light. We even get a montage to help us understand it all. Malcolm’s wife was not cheating on him. She was trying to move on after his death. Cole even gives us the reason Malcolm does not know he’s dead.
Cole:I see people. They don’t know they’re dead. They’re everywhere. They only see what they want to see.
Now let’s do a couple of sad ones.
The Mist sends its regards, friend.
The Mist (2007) – David Drayton’s car runs out of gas, and he shoots his family to spare them from a grisly death from the monsters hiding outside in the mist. What he thinks is an act of mercy changes to an act of horror, when he sees the military arrive. The situation was not hopeless.
The situation, the mist, is what David and the audience misidentify. He thought it was the end of the world, but he was wrong. If it were a hopeless situation, his act might make sense given the horrors he has seen. But because David was wrong, he will never stop screaming.
Chinatown (1974) EVELYN:She’s my sister— she’s my daughter — my sister — My daughter, my sister— GITTES:I said I want the truth. EVELYN:She’s my sister and my daughter!
Here we have another family identity crisis. This time there is not an identity that wins. Both of Katherine’s identities are true. Katherine is Evelyn’s daughter and sister, and Katherine’s father is also her grandfather. Multiple personalities might be the most famous plot twist trope, but multiple identities seem to be the most important.
Let’s end on a happy note!
Charlie Kaufman makes fun of the idea of serial killers with multiple personalities in the semi-autobiographical film Adaptation (2002), where his fictional twin, Donald, pitches a script idea.
DONALD:Okay, but there’s a twist. See, we find out the killer suffers from multiple personality disorder. Okay? See, he’s really also the cop and the girl. All of them. It’s all him! Isn’t that crazy? KAUFMAN:Look, the only idea more overused than serial killers, is multiple personality.
Nothing like having two personalities talk about how weird it would be to have three personalities.
So multiple personalities are the classic identity twist. Killer’s identities and Family relationships are high up there too. You can twist the setting and the situation.
Some of the strongest plot twists set up their rules in the story and then twist those patterns, like in The Sixth Sense and Se7en. These might qualify as twisting plots and identities because the identities are tied so closely to the story’s series of events and rules.
But twisting identity is not enough. Just because the characters mistake an identity, does not mean the audience will. Let’s look at a classic example of mistaken identity that is not a plot twist.
Famous line? Yes. Plot twist? No.
Star Wars (1977) Luke: Look at him. He’s headed for that small moon. Han: I think I can get him before he gets there… he’s almost in range. Ben: That’s no moon, that’s a space station.
Obi-Wan Kenobi and the crew of the Millennium Falcon mistake the Death Star for a moon. But the audience does not. This is one of the film’s most famous lines. It looks like it could be a plot twist, but it didn’t catch us off guard. We already know about the Death Star and have even seen it destroy a planet.
It’s not just the trick of twisting identities but the audience’s reaction that makes a plot twist magic. The audience’s understanding of identities must change for a plot twist to land a knock-out punch.
the plot twist reaction you want
Murder mysteries seem to be the genre most prone to twisting, but I’ll talk about that later.
Story Palette: A prioritized list of repeating actions and choices for characters that give a story its personality and feel.
I was texting a friend about what the Story Palette might look like for Indiana Jones. In my first book on the Story Palette, I go through my ideas on repeating actions in Star Wars, but do not show how I pieced it together. I walk readers through how most of the scenes in the original trilogy have the good guys rescuing, escaping, and fighting while the bad guys search, capture, and destroy. But you don’t see me laying on the floor in frustration trying to identify a pattern, or giving up for months at a time, which is probably a good part to edit out. I have not made it as far with the Indiana Jones series as I have for Star Wars. But since I watched the Jones series so many times as a kid, especially Last Crusade, which I can almost put on mental replay, I have some preliminary thoughts.
I will focus on Raiders and Crusade because they seem to have the most in common for feel and character choices. I do not know Temple of Doom as well as Raiders of the Lost Ark or Last Crusade, but considering that Temple is how Steven Spielberg met his wife, it’s arguably his most successful film.
Solving puzzles with props
Indiana solves lots of puzzles. Even traps are often puzzles. And I think he even fights like he is solving puzzles. And he usually solves the puzzles with an object or action (kneel, step on the right letters, etc.) Indy often grabs props to help him. He can’t outbox a german soldier, but he can duck under a propeller. Indy can’t beat a swordsman, but he can shoot him. He cannot defeat a tank, but he can put a rock in its barrel. Indiana uses props constantly, whether it is the gemstone to locate the ark, his father’s grail diary, or a flagpole to joust a german biker.
Indiana Jones is kind of like a Jackie Chan character, who fights with ladders, clogs, or whatever is within arm’s reach, to solve his problems. It’s just that Indiana Jones is not a great fighter. He spends most of his time getting beat up, but when he solves a puzzle, like taking a luger from a german soldier, he might take out three soldiers in one shot.
Maybe I need to separate fights and puzzle solving, but I’ll have to think about that a bit more. Even finding his father requires props. And his father uses an umbrella and a flock of birds to beat a german fighter plane.
There might be a clear distinction between plot driving props like the Headpiece to the Staff of Ra, the knight’s inscription on their shields from the crusades, and Henry Jones Senior’s grail diary and the guns, rocks, machetes, and rocket launchers Indy picks up. And maybe there is another division separating all the different vehicles from the 1930s. But, however they split up, it feels like props and puzzle solving are essential to Indy’s story.
Losing objects and people
I will lose you.
Indiana loses the golden statue from the beginning of Raiders. Bellock takes it. Marion gets kidnapped so many times. He leaves her behind to get to the Ark of the Covenant. How many times does he get the ark and lose it? I can think of four off the top of my head.
The Germans leave Indy in the snake pit while they take the Ark away from him
The German Sub takes the Ark and Marion.
Indy threatens to blow up the Ark with a rocket launcher, but gives up and lets the Germans capture him instead.
The ending where the US government takes the Ark
I am overwhelmed by how often Indiana Jones loses things. How can he make money as a tomb raider if he loses everything? Good thing he has a backup career as a professor of archeology.
Escaping
Indiana Jones almost always has to run away. Then he gathers and comes after the object again, only to lose it once more, then run away. Then find a prop, like a rocket launcher, to take it back, only to lose it again.
And that’s what I have so far. It’s not a long list, but I think it covers many of the character’s actions. Unlike in Star Wars, the bad guys do not seem to have different goals from Indy, and their methods are not that different either. Indy is just better at putting the puzzle pieces together. The bad guys lose their treasure every time Indy takes it. Indy is not really enemies with Bellock. They understand each other and chose different teams. Bellock takes the golden idol from Indy because he knows Hovitos, the local tribal language, and Indy does not.
And Indy does not kill Bellock in Raiders or Donovan from Last Crusade, even if he threatens to. They get the Ark and the Grail but die by powers protecting them. Indy lives because he will let go. So while Indy never gets to keep his spoils, he gets to save his life. I’ll keep thinking about this and see what else comes to mind. But losing and letting go also seems essential to the story.
My friend also pointed out that Indiana repeatedly proves biblical events accurate, but completely ignores these findings’ implications or grander meanings. He’s too focused on getting the object, which is a funny reversal. And maybe the audience, like Indy, must let that go.
In my last game of what do they want, I did Bruce the Shark from Jaws. Let’s stick under the sea with this next round with Ariel from Disney’s 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid.
Ariel loves saving and collecting things from the surface world, saying, “I just don’t see how a world that makes such wonderful things could be bad!”
Ariel is so focused on saving that it makes up the first three verses of her “I want” song, Part of Your World.
Look at this stuff Isn’t it neat? Wouldn’t you think my collection’s complete? Wouldn’t you think I’m the girl The girl who has everything?
Look at this trove Treasures untold How many wonders can one cavern hold? Looking around here you’d think Sure, she’s got everything
I’ve got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty I’ve got whozits and whatzits galore You want thingamabobs? I’ve got twenty! But who cares? No big deal I want more!
Ariel is a legendary collector. Besides the items she sings about here, Ariel also has a dinglehopper and a snarfblatt. I don’t know if she has many collecting rivals in the Disney animated universe. In the Marvel universe, they have someone called ‘The Collector,’ but if Ariel’s story took her past her teenage years, she might give him a run for his money. It is safe to say saving is one of her primary motivators.
Ariel is also fiercely curious. She studies humans constantly, learning what they do, how they behave, and thinks about them non-stop. Ariel is not correct in her assumptions, as a seagull is the best informant she has about how humans live. But she wants to live with humans and learn their language to ask questions and explore.
And ready to know what the people know Ask ’em my questions and get some answers What’s a fire and why does it, what’s the word? Burn?
When’s it my turn? Wouldn’t I love, love to explore that shore up above?
When she makes it to the surface, she learns to walk, run, and how to follow human customs. She dances and rides horses, all in the three days she has to woo Prince Eric.
This brings us to her next desire, Romance. Ariel’s goal in the film is courting. She must make Eric fall in love with her in three days, or she will turn back into a mermaid owned by Ursula. Fortunately, Eric is already in love with her voice after she saves him from drowning in a storm.
While most Disney princesses can sing, it is Ariel’s prized ability and gift. She is the best singer in the undersea kingdom of Atlantica. That is why Ursula wants her voice. It is Ariel’s most prized possession, and how Eric would recognize and fall in love with her.
Only… your voice.
I thought maybe acceptance was part of Ariel’s motivations, but curiosity covers most of those situations. As Triton’s baby girl, she has plenty of acceptance already in the kingdom. But she is fine being an oddball as long as she gets to explore. She worries about not seeing her family again when she deals with Ursula, but honor and nurturing do not seem to fit either. I think saving, curiosity, and romance describe Ariel’s motivations.
So how do we sort these desires? I think saving has to go first because Ariel does not seek Ursula until her father destroys her collection of treasures. Ariel’s innate talents in romance are the most obvious. She is a beautiful girl, with a fantastic singing voice. But for her motivations, I think romance is in third place. She falls in love with Prince Eric, but that is because of her curiosity and collecting human artifacts. People fall in love no matter what their desires are. Ariel is talented in beauty, art, and attraction, but I think it motivates her less than saving and curiosity.
So here is my guess for Ariel’s top three desires using Steven Reiss’ 16 desires.
Saving (Collecting, Preserving, Valuing)
Curiosity (Explore, Analyze, Discuss)
Romance (Beauty, Art, Attraction)
And now a funny side note Ariel shares two desires with me, and I did not realize it until I walked through her character arc. I am embarrassed! It seems obvious now, but you have to dig a bit and weigh the desires to test what makes people tick. I guessed Ariel was going to be into acceptance and independence. What a mistake!
I thought I could spot someone who shared desires with me, but moments like this make me enjoy this game. Our desires are complex. Sixteen options may not seem like that many, but how they interact and manifest keeps surprising me.
Sorry, Ariel, I did not notice we had similar desires.
The Libyan terrorists who shoot Doc for not making them a nuclear bomb. It’s difficult to get hold of plutonium, even in 1985.
George and Lorraine’s relationship. If they don’t fall in love, Marty disappears.
Biff, who bullies George, Lorraine, and Marty.
The nature of time itself.
There might be others, but this is all I can come up with for now. I thought about including Principal Strickland but he’s not really an antagonist as much as he is commentary on the McFly’s sad state through time.
All of those seem like viable options. Marty needs to warn Doc about the Libyans, which is why he wrote the letter. But Marty can’t tell Doc before he has to get to the starting line for their ballet of lightning bolt time travel. And Marty does not make it back in time to warn Doc. Instead, Doc pieces the letter together and reads it himself. Marty has already defeated the Libyan threat before he gets in the Delorean. He doesn’t know until Doc pops up from the parking lot with a bulletproof vest.
What about George and Loraine’s relationship? Marty already solved this one at the dance. Once they kiss to Earth Angel, Marty’s hand reappears. He has repaired the timeline. Their relationship is no longer a threat.
What about Biff? George already knocked him out. Biff won’t be a problem until the sequel.
The nature of time itself? Marty fixed his parent’s relationship and just has to follow Doc’s plan and get back to the future. Time will not betray him, but he must get to the wire as the lightning bolt hits. So what is preventing Marty from doing that? What is the challenge?
The ultimate boss in Back to the Future is a tree branch.
Yes, really. The whole exciting sequence of events is because a tree branch falls on Doc’s power line and he has to plug it back in, braving storm winds, heights, and crumbling old buildings.
Tree Branches can be dangerous!
The Delorean’s engine also gets an honorable mention as a mini-boss. It dies right as Marty finishes his time travel checklist. How do Marty and Doc defeat these bad guys? Marty hits his head into the steering wheel, and the car starts and Doc plugs the power line back in just in time.
But, when you look at it like that, it does not do justice to this ending. Back to the Future has one of the best endings in cinematic history! You know exactly how little time Doc has to plug everything back in. The old tower crumbles under his feet, and he slips from the clock face, the plug catching on his pant leg. Doc might die trying to plug this back in, and Marty has already started his run. But Doc finally gets both ends of the cable in his hands, but they won’t reach because of the tree branch! So he pulls to get more slack, and the other side unplugs!
Oh no!
Doc doesn’t have enough time to walk, so he wraps the line around the clock arm and turns the power line into a zipline to get down! The tree branch that caused all the problems now helps Doc make it back to the ground! Then Doc frees the cable and plugs it back in, just as the lightning strikes.
The most satisfying electrical socket scene in cinematic history!
When you think of a movie finale or a cinematic set piece, you probably do not imagine someone plugging in an electrical socket or moving a tree branch. But that is exactly what Back to the Future’s finale is about.
I think part of the reason it is so exciting is we are prepared for what to expect. Doc showed us using models how the final sequence would play out. The music plays a big part, too. We worry for Doc as he scrambles high above Hill Valley’s town square. We feel Marty’s frustration when the Delorean won’t start. The actors also do a great job. You probably can hear Doc screaming in frustration in the back of your mind.
So how can this boring bad guy make for one of the most exciting endings in film history? I think part of it is the ticking clock. It isn’t just one clock. The clock tower ticking behind Doc, Marty’s alarm clock, and we see the Delorean racing down the street along with its speedometer. Doc only has the time it takes for Marty to get up to 88 miles per hour.
But I think the stand-out portion of the finale is the clear series of problems Doc has to solve. It is all communicated clearly and visually. We know when that giant plug disconnects. So here are all the problems our heroes have to solve for the finale.
Doc has to climb around a gargoyle while holding the plug in one hand. He slips.
Doc inches around the clock face but can’t quite reach the plug. Then the ledge below him breaks, and he falls, dropping the plug in his off-hand. Luckily, the plug catches on his pant leg.
The Delorean dies on Marty.
Doc grabs the plug hanging from the clock tower to pull himself up, but the one attached to his pant leg rips his pants as it almost slips away.
Marty’s alarm clock goes off. The Delorean still won’t start. He hits his head against the steering wheel, and the engine roars. Marty starts his run.
Doc climbs back onto the ledge, but the two connectors won’t reach. He pulls, and the street connection unplugs. Doc screams.
Doc plugs the clock tower side back in, loops the power cable to make a zip line, and slides back to the street.
Doc Wrestles the street plug back away from the street and plugs it in just as the lightning strikes, sending Marty back to the future!
Doc already devised a plan to get Marty back earlier in the movie. Nothing in the plan changes in the finale, except a tree branch falls on his power line, and Doc has to plug it back in. The Delorean shuts off for a moment, but it starts up in time for Marty to make his run. Marty does not have that many problems to solve. It’s mostly on Doc. But because we understand the plan so clearly, we are on the edge of our seats watching Doc struggle to plug the cable back in. He could die trying to plug in this electrical socket! And if Doc fails, Marty will be stuck in high school with his parents until Doc can steal more Uranium.
But Marty won’t die. His life isn’t at risk; just his 1985 high school career would be over. But because things are moving so quickly, and we have so many ticking clocks and problems for Doc to solve, we are all in on this time travel experiment. Marty must get back to the future! It’s like watching a launch sequence for a rocket.
And to top it all off, you have Marty and Doc’s friendship. Doc cheers for Marty when he starts his run. Marty sees Doc plugging in the socket and is worried for him. And after Marty leaves, Doc cheers in the street. Doc already knew his time machine worked when Marty showed him the Flux capacitor, which Doc designed just before Marty arrived. But seeing it all work, Doc is ecstatic, and so are we.
It’s hard to believe a wayward tree branch makes such an extraordinary ending possible, but it does. For me, Back to the Future’s ending shows that solving simple problems with some old-school stunts can be more exciting than any special effects extravaganza.
It might seem strange to ask what a shark is looking for, where the shark gives no speeches and sings no songs. Bruce is not a Disney Princess. But does a monster like the great white shark in Jaws have things it wants? I think he might! Let’s find out using StevenReiss’ 16 Desires.
Bruce can’t talk; if he did, it would probably be in bloody bubbles. But fortunately, Hooper, our wealthy and gregarious shark expert, does some explaining for Bruce.
Thanks for the food!
Hooper: There are two ways to deal with this problem: you‘re either going to killthis animal or you‘re gonna cut off its food supply.
And then, to clarify his point to the Mayor, Hooper explains what a shark is and how big this one has grown.
Hooper:Mr. Vaughn, what we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, ah, an eating machine. It’s really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks. And that’s all. Now why don’t you take a long close look at this sign. Those proportions are correct.
So, according to Hooper, sharks want to eat, swim around, and make baby eating machines. No one mentions whether sharks care for their young (they usually don’t), so a desire for a family is off, although this may become an issue in the sequels. Hooper does not talk about how they reproduce, so there is no shark romance.
Hooper gives an excellent overview, but it does not feel like Bruce because Bruce is not a regular shark. His behavior baffles shark-hunter Quint and shark-expert Hooper. Bruce gets away from Quint’s barrels, but then Bruce follows their boat.
Hooper: You ever have one do this before? Quint:I don’t know. — Hold fast! Hooper:He’s chasin‘ us, I don’t believe it! Quint: We’re gonna draw him into the shadows, draw him in the shallow water, gonna draw him in and drown him. We’re headin’ in, Brody! Martin:Thank Christ! Ever have a Great White do this? Hooper: No!
Bruce is out for vengeance. He takes their hunt personally. And he will not give until his hunters are dead.
I’ll show you shark hunter!
Does Bruce have a third desire? Maybe physical activity, curiosity, or independenceare options. Sharks have to move to breathe. A shark that stops swimming will suffocate and die, precisely like Quint’s plan to kill Bruce. So Bruce is not necessarily more active than other sharks. Is Bruce curious? Not really, but he seems like the calculating shark and more intelligent than most.
Independence? Sharks are relatively independent by nature. But maybe Bruce is more independent than most sharks. Is Bruce motivated by others trying to control him? I think he might be. He goes explicitly after fishermen, and when the beach patrol brings out the armada, he circumvents them and goes into the estuary.
The more I think about it; Bruce doesn’t even care about eating. He’ll bite through cables, rip out chains, and chew through ropes to free himself. I think freedom motivates Bruce, too! He frees himself multiple times from barrels and harpoons, shaking off his bonds. He doesn’t have to because he’s such a giant shark. The barrels can’t float him to the surface.
You can’t trap me, fishing guy!
And I overlooked another one, power. Does Bruce the shark want to dominate? Yes, he does. And we see it from his first victim, Chrissie Watkins.
Bruce doesn’t have to tear Chrissie Watkins around, but he wants to.
Bruce can sneak around the shallow waters of Amity Island, quietly plucking victims under the water. He does it several times. But is that a reaction to all the shark watchers? He inspects his prey and surroundings, which is why he is so hard to catch. Set up a shark wall of boats and guns, and he will go into the estuary. But if he gets a chance, he will dominate his food.
Bruce doesn’t need to sink a ship to find food, but wants to. He is the dominant force in the ocean and wants to prove it. This combination of power and vengeance makes this shark highly motivated by your threats. Hunt him, and he will take it personally. He will dominate and eat you.
Bruce is powerful and wants to take on bigger prey. He is not much of a leader as far as we know, but he controls his waters.
So here are my guesses for Bruce’s desires:
Vengeance (Compete, Retaliate, Defeat, come from behind)
I thought for sure eating was going to be on Bruce’s list! But Bruce does not care what he eats. He is eating for power, chasing boats for vengeance, and chewing through ropes for freedom. He frees himself from fishing lines and then goes after the fishermen. And he doesn’t just eat his food; he dominates it. He leaves limbs and torsos behind in his wake. Bruce is not a shark foodie!
Well, that is not what I expected. Bruce is a powerhouse! You don’t want to be anywhere near him. Offend him, and he will chase you forever. Trap him, and he will escape. Get in his waters, and he will dominate you. What a force to be reckoned with! He’ll eat you, but probably leave the carnage behind to terrorize your friends.
And your little boat too!
No wonder Quint and Hooper are so scared by Bruce’s behavior. They are used to sharks that want to eat, swim and make more sharks, but eating is not even a motivator for Bruce. Once he has his sights set on you, he will never give up. You have offended all of his desires by trying to catch him.
Bruce surprised me in this game of guessing desires. I thought a shark of all movie monsters would be simple in its motivations. This is just a game to understand Reiss’ 16 desires better, so you might disagree. But for me, when desires click in, it is like a lock combination opens. Suddenly, it is almost like I can see the personality driving the characters’ actions, even if it is Bruce the shark.
“First, find out what your hero wants, then just follow him.”
Ray Bradbury
The word zodiac derives from zōdiacus, meaning “cycle or circle of little animals”. So let’s make a circle of little animals for Steven Reiss’ 16 desires!
My guess is that one of these desires will describe more than half of what you want. Three of them combined will describe almost everything you want. Seeing your desires clearly laid out in front of you might be like looking in a mirror.
Honor, the Dog (Integrity, Loyalty, Trust, Tradition). Man’s best and most loyal friend. Dogs accompany, hunt, herd, assist, and guard for their masters. There are K-9 units embedded with the military and police because they trust their dogs. There are guard dogs that protect, therapy dogs that console, and guide dogs who see for the blind. While scientists debate whether dogs really feel shame for their misdeeds, dogs know how to look ashamed. And as for loyalty, some dogs mourn the loss of their owners for the rest of their lives. If nothing tops loyalty, trust, and integrity, wag your tail.
Romance, the Peacock (Beauty, Art, Attraction). Nature’s art gallery. Peacocks are beautiful, and they love to share it. They show their feathers off to anyone who will behold them. It’s not just the color of the feathers; it is the dance, the song, and the presentation to ensure everyone sees. Someone who wants romance wants it everywhere, so like the peacock, they may as well bring the art with them. If you search the world for beauty or create art, you may have glorious tail feathers.
Family, the Elephant (Nurturing, raising offspring). Baby elephants gestate for 22 months, or more than twice as long as humans. Elephant mothers then nurse their young for 4-6 years, as the baby grows into a giant. When predators arrive, elephants rush to surround and protect their children. And elephants stay with their mothers for 16 years until they fully mature, learning which plants to eat, which watering holes to visit, and how to socialize with other elephants. While we are talking about elephant mothers, it does not limit the desire for family to women. If you want to nurture and think about it constantly, you might have a trunk.
Social Contact, the Dolphin (Friendship, Companions, Group play). Dolphins are highly social animals and love to play. They will swim along with boats and humans, laughing all the while. A pod of dolphins stays in constant communication, and while usually dolphin pods number a dozen individuals, a super-pod of dolphins can have more than a thousand. Once thought to remain in their pod throughout their life, it now seems dolphins may hang with other pods from time to time. If playing with a pod of friends and companions is its own reward, you might have a dolphin fin.
Acceptance, the Horse (Attention, Approval, Inclusion). Horses can get along with many other animals, as long as it is not dangerous predators or snakes. Horses can perform in front of a large crowd, plow a family field, walk their drunken riders home, or join a parade, basking in the attention. They love being accepted into a herd, whatever its composition may be. Our world history rides on the back of horses and their willingness to join their riders and colleagues on whatever missions they undertake. If you work hard for attention and approval, you might have a horse’s tail and mane.
Social Status, the Fox (Exclusivity, Connection, Reputation). There is a cunning streak in understanding social queues, pecking orders, and climbing the social ladder. Foxes can get in just about anywhere, and good luck following them. To get rid of a fox, hunters need a pack of dogs and a team of men with guns, and even then, it is tough going. You don’t know how savvy a fox is or how deep its network and reputation go. If your network is vast and powerful, and you are interested in the most exclusive connections, look for a fox tail.
Power, the Lion (Domination, Control, Authority). A classic symbol of kings and leaders going all the way back, at least to the ancient Assyrians, who viewed hunting lions as the sport of kings to protect their people. If even kings and empires saw lions as rivals and a threat, it only shows lions’ power. The lion is the king of beasts, and many royal coats of arms throughout Europe still feature the lion prominently as a symbol of their power and Sri Lanka put one on their national flag. Don’t let cuddly documentary footage fool you. Lions have ruled for most of human history. If power is its own reward, you might have a lion’s mane and claws.
Independence, the Eagle (Freedom, Self Reliance, Determination). What greater freedom could there be than flying above everything with no one to stop you? Eagles sit at the top of the food chain, with no natural predators, and prefer to be alone most of the time. With sharp vision and a different view above the earth, they see a different world than the rest of us stuck on the ground. Once they take flight, no one can bring them back. If you value personal freedom, self-reliance, and make sure no one can control you, check for eagle feathers.
Tranquility, the Turtle (Preparation, Comfort, Calm, Stress Tolerance). The stalwart turtle, born with and hard shell to protect itself. They have all the comfort of home with them at all times, because they carry a house on their back. Things may get bad, but they’ll be alright. They can get through this. There’s no need to panic. If your most prized possession is your comfy clothes and you can mysteriously handle situations that make others run in panic, you might have a turtle’s shell.
Saving, the Squirrel (Collecting, Preserving, Valuing). Squirrels are famous for their habit of storing nuts and other food for the winter. Squirreling away something means putting it in a safe or secret place, especially for future use. And looking through the collection can be just as fun as putting it together. If you ever say, “I need this for my collection,” or want to save things “just in case” you might have a collection of acorns and a squirrel’s tail.
Eating, the Truffle Hog (Food, thinking about food, and planning meals). Everyone has to eat. It’s part of life. But if you don’t enjoy it, what’s the point? A Truffle Hog uses its excellent sense of smell to find the rarest and most desirable foods in the world. For their weight, truffles are the most expensive food too. That is a lot of effort for food. Why not just eat something else? Because food is the reward! Truffle Hogs love to eat the truffles too, which is why some hunters replace them with truffle hounds. If you love eating, planning future meals, and just thinking about food, you might have the fine taste of a gourmand Truffle Hog and a snout to find the best food out there.
Physical Activity, the Monkey (Exercise, Active, Moving). Monkeys run and jump through the trees with ease. Their normal day of just moving around puts professional gymnasts to shame. Monkeying around means doing things that are not useful or serious. But that is just how others view it. To a monkey, the activity is the prize. If movement is life, you might have a monkey tail.
Vengeance, the Scorpion (Compete, Retaliate, Defeat, come from behind). No matter how big and strong you are, a scorpion can hurt you. Its stinger is always a threat, and a scorpion might look for a reason to sting you. It might seem like nothing to you, or you may not have noticed the scorpion, but in the words of Michael Jordan, “And I took that personally.” Scorpions have been a symbol for death and power since at least the time of ancient Egypt when a scorpion went to kill the sun. If you have a list of people to retaliate against, compete to defeat, or find coming from behind the most motivating thing in the world, you probably have a tail stinger.
Idealism, the Beaver (Belief, Sacrifice, Justice, and making things right). Beavers are renowned for their ability to build dams. They are one of the few animals that can actively change their environment by blocking rivers and streams with trees and mud. They are nature’s lumberjacks, cutting down trees with their teeth. The beaver looks at the world every morning, takes a deep breath, and thinks, “I can fix this.” If you believe in a better world with more justice, and sacrifice for it because “it’s the right thing to do” you might have nature’s chainsaw; beaver teeth.
Curiosity, the Octopus (Explore, Analyze, Discuss). With eight arms to explore and giant eyes to observe, the octopus might be the weirdest creature on earth. Or should I say, the most curious? Octopus are expert escape artists that get through any opening that fits their hard beak, and they can solve tricky puzzles and mazes to get food. They also have a brain for each tentacle, giving them nine brains running simultaneously, with blue blood pumping through their three hearts. What is the octopus thinking about? Who knows? But an octopus is undoubtedly thinking. If your curiosities require all your limbs, maybe you really have tentacles.
Order, the Bee Hive (Organize, Plan, Clean). A bee hive might look like chaos up close, but take a step back, and it will amaze you how organized everything is. There is a clear hierarchy set up, tasks assigned, and an orderly area constructed. Do any other creatures create a world using geometric figures like a beehive’s hexagons? The symbol of hard work and industry, someone has got to organize it all. If you love taming chaos, you might be comfortable in a beehive.
Note:Desires seventeen and eighteen are NOT officially part of the desires list because they lack the depth of the previous sixteen. They cannot motivate as deeply as the desires above. But that does not mean they are unimportant or rare. You will often encounter them, and I think they are valuable to understand. They may be very important to you, too.
Humor, the Parrot Parrots are nature’s stand-up comedians. They can mimic almost any sound they hear, including human speech. They tell jokes, swear, and have whole routines to entertain crowds. Much like their human comic counterparts, parrots can have self-destructive behaviors. For parrots, it involves feather-pulling if we bore them for prolonged periods. But what is comedy without tragedy? If making others laugh and a sense of humor is paramount, you probably have some parrot feathers.
Territoriality, the Bear While scientists say bears are not fully territorial because they permit others into their domain, there is one thing hikers and backpackers know; If you are in the backcountry, you are in bear country. What other animal gets its own country? A lion might be the king of animals, but if you find yourself in a forest with bear prints, it’s time to be extra careful. And if you keep an extra watchful eye over your area of influence, check if you leave bear paw prints.
Deckard is a tough protagonist to love because he does not want to be part of the Blade Runner story. Police Captain Bryant forces Deckard back into the job when Leon shoots Holden, Rick’s replacement. Gaff arrests Deckard to drag him out of retirement. With four Nexus 6 units returning to Earth, the police need help. “I need you, Deck,” Bryant says. “This is a bad one, the worst yet. I need the old Blade Runner; I need your magic.”
But Deckard refuses, “I was quit when I come in here, Bryant, I’m twice as quit now.” And Bryant threatens Deckard back into doing the job. So, what makes Deckard tick? Despite his great skill at the job, he obviously does not want to be a Blade Runner. It seems like Deckard intends to finish the job to quit again. So if Deckard doesn’t want to be a Blade Runner, what does he want? Let’s guess using the 16 desires!
I think Deckard’s primary motivation is eating. He’s waiting for an opening at the sushi bar when we meet him.
Deckard:Give me four. Sushi Master:Futatsu de jubun desuyo! [Japanese: “Two are really enough”] Deckard:No, four: two, two, four!
And noodles!
Then, while Deckard is munching, Gaff brings another cop to arrest him. Rick pretends he can’t understand Gaff’s pidgin mash of languages and asks the sushi Master to translate for him.
Sushi Master:He say you Blade Runner. Deckard:Tell him I’m eating.
Deckard loves eating. He’s ordering sushi when we meet him and finishing noodles as Gaff flies him to see Bryant. It’s Deckard’s question about food where Rachel fails the Voight-Kampff test. “You’re watching a stage play. A banquet is in progress. The guests are enjoying an appetizer of raw oysters. The entrée consists of boiled dog.” Where Rachel breaks down from this question, I think Deckard would like to try a taste.
Rachel stops by Deckard’s home to prove she is human. She knows something went wrong with the test, but she can’t believe she is a replicant. He tells her to go away and ask Tyrell, but Tyrell wouldn’t take her meeting. Realizing he’s got to break the news to her, Deckard says, “You want a drink? Huh? No?”
He invites Rachel in and tells her what he knows about her implanted memories, but when he sees the information crush her, he offers her a drink again, “Okay, bad joke. I made a bad joke. You’re not a replicant. Go home, okay? No, really, I’m sorry. Go home — Want a drink? I’ll get you a drink. I’ll get a glass.”
Look at all those kitchen appliances and mixing bowls! The man loves to cook too!
Rachel leaves, and Deckard drinks alone.
Deckard visits a fishmonger to check the genetic code on the scale he finds in Leon’s hotel bathroom. When he threatens to check Taffi Lewis’ licenses, Taffi gives him drinks on the house. Deckard is ecstatic and calls Rachel to invite her down to take advantage of the offer. She refuses, so Deckard offers to go somewhere else. He knows plenty of great places!
Then, alone again and rejected, Deckard drinks a Mezcal Margarita with maguey agave worms. He pulls a worm out of his mouth, not liking the bitter flavor.
Extra worms? Sure!
Deckard wants to eat, and he drinks a lot too. This leads to Deckard’s second motivation: tranquility.
After Deckard retires Zhora, and Rachel retires Leon, Deckard takes her back to his apartment and asks how she is doing.
Deckard:Shakes? Me too. Rachel:What? Deckard:I get ’em bad. It’s part of the business. Rachel: I’m not in the business. I am the business.
Deckard drinks a lot. He might be an alcoholic, but it could also be how he manages the stress of hunting replicants. He knows this is an incredibly tough job that makes him shake uncontrollably, and he has the tools to deal with it. This might be one of his reasons for retirement.
It might seem counterintuitive that someone who wants tranquility would take the most stressful job they could manage. Still, Steven Reiss started his research on desires by trying to explain happy Intensive Care Unit nurses. Why would anyone want a position where the stress was off the chart, patients constantly died, and you had to deal with the most challenging events of people’s lives? But the nurses loved their jobs, and it baffled Reiss, leading to all his future desire and motivation research. I think Deckard falls into this category. If you want tranquility, you develop tools to find it anywhere.
Deckard is cool-headed and has the tools and techniques to stay that way. When Rachel leaves Deckard and drinks alone, he wraps a blanket around his shoulders too. Being comfortable is incredibly important for tranquility.
Got to stay comfy!
After Deckard retires Zhora, he sprints to a street bar to get another drink. He knows the shakes are coming, and I think drinking combines his top two desires; eating and tranquility.
“Yeah, what you want?” “Tsing Tao.” Deckard knows what medicine he needs.
After Rachel saves him from Leon, Deckard peels off his shirt and dunks his face in warm water to clean his wounds and calm his nerves. Rachel asks him, “What if I go north? Disappear. Would you come after me? Hunt me?” Deckard says, “No. No, I wouldn’t. I owe you one. But somebody would.” Rachel asks him more questions; her incept date, longevity, those things. He doesn’t have many answers as he puts his shirt back on, doesn’t button it, grabs his drink, and then takes a nap. Does it get more tranquil than this?
Gotta get those nerves under control!
I think Independence is Deckard’s third desire.
Bryant: You could learn from this guy, Gaff. He’s a goddamn one man slaughter house. That’s what he is. Four more to go. Come on, Gaff, let’s go.
Deckard works alone, and everyone in the Police department knows it. When Rachel ambushes him in the elevator to his apartment, he drops his keys on the way to his door.
Rachael:I wanted to see you — So I waited. Let me help. Deckard: What do I need help for?
Deckard can do it alone. He does not need help. He hunts superhuman strength replicants who look and act like normal humans and Deckard has never retired a human by mistake.
Deckard is fiercely independent. Bryant’s threat, “If you’re not cop, you’re little people!” hits him hard. He knows the police can harass and arrest him because Gaff did just that. It might be counterintuitive that someone who wants independence would willingly go back to work doing something he does not want to do, but independent people are in it for the long haul. If doing a task now gives more independence and freedom later, they can make that sacrifice.
Deckard agrees with Leon’s statement, “Painful to live in fear, isn’t it? Nothing is worse than having an itch you can never scratch.” Roy’s statement, “Quite an experience to live in fear, isn’t it? That’s what it is to be a slave.” hits right at Deckard’s desire to be independent. Roy even recognizes in Deckard the desire, even when he is powerless, to spit on people who are more powerful than him because he can.
So here are my guesses for Rick Deckard’s desires in Blade Runner:
Eating (Food, thinking about food and planning meals)
But just wanting something does not mean you get it. Deckard may not like help, but two replicants save his life. Rachel shoots Leon before he gouges out Deckard’s eyes, and Roy catches Deckard before he falls off the Bradbury Building. So he owes his life to two replicants while his job is to hunt and kill replicants. No wonder Deckard hates his job! It almost killed him multiple times. He may be the best Blade Runner in Los Angeles with tricks to handle the stress that comes with the job, but he’d much rather leave forever where he can eat, relax, and be free.
Everything speeds up at the end of a story. There is no more time for explanations or questions and answers. Events will flash by. So how can you make sure the audience knows what is going on? One solution is to walk them through it slowly, using a rough model with a basic simulation.
Then the audience knows what to expect, and a little twist, here or there, won’t spin them in circles. Instead, those little twists might be the most exciting parts of the entire story. The audience must know what to expect for an ending to surprise them when things go awry, making things more exciting. Both Back to the Future and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope uses simple models to prepare the audience for some of the most exciting endings in film history.
Doc Brown builds a complete model of downtown Hill Valley to show us what will happen. “Let me show you my plan for sending you home.” Doc tells Marty. “Please excuse the crudity of this model. I didn’t have time to build it to scale or paint it.”
Now we can carefully walk through everything that needs to happen for the ending. Marty winds up a toy car, and Doc prepares a lead acid battery to shock it at just the right time, playing their respective roles. Sure, the toy car bursts into flames, and the simulation goes poorly overall, but it successfully tells us precisely what to expect. Later, when we see Doc setting up the power line over the road, we see this scale model become real. We know what is going to happen. On Saturday, November 12, 1955, at 10:04 p.m., lighting will strike the clock tower providing 1.21 gigawatts of power to send Marty back to the future. He needs to be going 88 miles per hour at that exact moment.
So when the power cord disconnects and the Delorean’s engine dies, we are on the edge of our seats. This will ruin their entire plan! It is a complex situation, with multiple pieces that have to be hit at the same time. But we understand because we have already walked through a scale model of the situation. We know what Doc and Marty must do. There is no time to go back now; they are racing the clock!
So when Marty tries to tell Doc about the Libyans shooting him in 1985, there are enough pieces in play we that understand why Marty can’t stop everything to warn Doc.
Doc shouts, “Look at the time, you’ve got less than 4 minutes, please hurry!”
The stunt driving is more exciting than the cardboard and toy car model, but because of that crude model, we understand everything going on. Adding some complication to the situation now doesn’t throw us off completely.
Marty tries to figure out how to save Doc, talking to himself, saying, “Dammit, Doc, why did you have to tear up that letter? If only I had more time. Wait a minute; I got all the time I want! I got a time machine! I’ll just go back and warn him. 10 minutes oughta do it.”
Marty solved the problem for now. It’s an imperfect solution, but at least now he doesn’t have to worry about saving Doc. He can focus on getting back to the future. Then Marty runs through his checklist for time travel. We’ve seen the time travel launch process before, but walking through the steps again ensures we are all on the same page for the extra challenges Marty must face. “Time-circuits on, flux-capacitor fluxing, engine running, alright.”
But then the Delorean dies. “No, no, no, no, no,” Marty chants, trying to get the engine to turn over. This makes for one of the most exciting endings in film history, and I think one reason is we so clearly understand what Doc and Marty need to do in the end.
We are not thinking about the model town in Doc’s garage as lightning strikes, but it has already served its purpose of preparing us for the grand finale. If Marty is finally returning to the future, he must take the audience with him.
Star Wars also uses a rough model to prepare the audience for the ending. And the model is cruder than Doc Brown’s model of Hill Valley, although it is pretty cool to see early computer graphics.
General Dodonna tells the Rebel Pilots, “The approach will not be easy. You are required to maneuver straight down this trench and skim the surface to this point. The target area is only two meters wide. It’s a small thermal exhaust port, right below the main port. The shaft leads directly to the reactor system. A precise hit will start a chain reaction which should destroy the station.”
This plan is why the Rebels wanted the Death Star blueprints. Artoo carried the schematics throughout the movie and finally passed them off. After looking over the Death Star schematics, this is their best chance to take out the Imperial battle station. But the plan worries the pilots.
“That’s impossible, even for a computer.” Wedge says in disbelief.
“It’s not impossible,” Luke says. “I used to bull’s-eye womp rats in my T-sixteen back home. They’re not much bigger than two meters.” But that is all the preparation time the pilots get. It is time to sprint to the finale!
But the Star Wars model is not as complete as Back to the Futures. We can’t run through the simulation to build up our expectations with these white pixels. We know what will happen, but we have not seen it.
So the brilliant thing Star Wars does is have multiple pilots try the run to get the audience ready for the finale. Red Leader even runs through the entire process and misses. So with the added complexity of Darth Vader and his wingmen shooting down Rebel Fighters ship to ship, we know exactly what is waiting for Luke, Wedge and Biggs because we have seen it! When these three rookie Rebel pilots start their trench run, we know exactly how things can go wrong. Vader hits Wedge, and he has to Bail. Then Vader kills Biggs. Luke is alone.
The Death Star readies its planet-destroying laser beam, which we have also seen before when the Empire destroys Alderaan. We know what will happen to the Rebel Base and what can happen to Luke. It is not just our imagination. We have already seen planets and rebel fighters explode! Luke will not have time to make the shot!
So when the Millenium Falcon shoots Vader’s wingman and saves Luke from their chase, Luke has time to make the shot, and the audience goes wild.
Wooohooo!!!
Multiple events throughout the movie have prepared us for this ending. We’ve seen the Death Star blow up a planet and know the firing sequence and accompanying sound effects. We know Luke can use the force to guide his hands from the blaster shield training he did with Obi-Wan. And we know precisely how the trench run will go because we saw other rebel fighters attempt it. The computer graphics model is not quite enough to prepare us for the finale, but it helps set the stage.
Back to the Future and Star Wars do an incredible job of preparing the audience for the grand finale. We are dealing with complex science fiction processes that have to go just right, but the audience follows along with the characters because we know what to expect.
It might seem like a waste of time to put in a slow explanation, or a scale model, of what is about to happen at the end of a movie, but that preparation pays off multiple times over. It is a bit like a slow climb to the top of a roller coaster. The ending can speed up by building the anticipation, leaving the audience cheering.
Daniel N. Blair 