tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post2581811607158841003..comments2024-03-29T04:56:23.027-04:00Comments on Cockeyed Caravan: Mackendrick's Rules, Part 3: Rules 22-31Matt Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07319984238456281734noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-48861611840159165872011-12-13T13:26:02.160-05:002011-12-13T13:26:02.160-05:0028 is my favorite. The reader or the audience has...28 is my favorite. The reader or the audience has to gasp at the ending, while recognizing that the ending is absolutely inevitable in terms of what has gone before.<br /><br />The real test: Whether the audience still gasps after the third or forth viewing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-29204226483522575242011-12-12T21:20:33.403-05:002011-12-12T21:20:33.403-05:00These are great, keep 'em coming! Great remind...These are great, keep 'em coming! Great reminders of things I tend to forget.Jill Rasmussenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17555843950694683041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-12532022007394659602011-12-12T20:48:29.058-05:002011-12-12T20:48:29.058-05:00I agree that going all-in on "information sup...I agree that going all-in on "information superior" positions can be tricky, but to sprinkle a little bit here and there at key moments throughout many stories really increases the quotient of suspense. If you alter Mackendrick's rule ever so slightly to "...ignorant of some of the circumstances..." then it might be more useful and it might speak more to the way dramatic irony can feed into rule 31, that lovely definition of drama as "expectation mingled with uncertainty."<br /><br />I'd say there are moments in most really excellent thrillers like Hitchcock films other than FRENZY, BREAKING BAD and the new TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY where the audience knows more than some of the characters for some of the time. And when I'm watching a great story unfold and it momentarily shifts me into an information superior position, I feel like it only ratchets up my interest in what's going to happen next. <br /><br />Once again I'm compelled to say I'm very grateful for this blog and the meticulous commentary and careful hyperlinking that Matt offers in all his posts. I'm a huge fan of posts like this that organize, reference and build upon many other posts so that we can learn and relearn these rules, think them through different stories and push them up against one another.j.s.noreply@blogger.com