Article: Season Cliffhangers

Cliffhangers are are the very core of television programming. We use them to keep viewers hooked between ad breaks. We use them to make sure viewers come back next week. But nothing inspires more water cooler clap trap than the much loved (or much hated depending on your perspective) season cliffhanger.

We all do it and, let's face it, we all get a sick kick out of giving our viewers the metaphorical bird that they might return for another season or two to find out why. However, give the bird to them wrong (one assumes by giving them the pinky finger or another animal) and you'll be lose more than just a few fans.

I didn't mean you should give your fans actual birds or a literal middle finger... got carried away with metaphors for a second there.

Season Cliffhangers

Or "How To Bring 'Em Back"

In order to accomplish a successful season cliffhanger, you must evoke an atmosphere of heightened intensity and viewer concern for your characters' futures, more so than any normal episode. You have to aim big and remind your viewers why they're watching your show.

The three following rules are sure fire methods to achieving this goal.

1) The Twist

What:

The act of revealing a new piece of information that changes the way the viewer understands your universe.

Example:

In The Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vadar was Luke Skywalker's father all along.

Why:

This event operates on an psychological level for your characters. If their goal was to become a pilot for the military, the revelation that the military is evil would completely screw up their goals and hang a big question mark on their future. The twist always requires careful planning and it helps to already know what it is before starting the season or preferably even the show.
Catch:

Requires a careful balance between setting up hints prior to the twist and not having your viewer work it out before you're ready to reveal it.

2) The Change

What:

An event which permanently changes the core or future direction of your universe opening up exciting new possibilities.

Examples:

In Red Dwarf, the crew lose the ship that the entire show is named after and must go on a quest to get it back.

Why:

If there are no stakes and everything is always back to normal at the end of an episode, there's no reason for your viewers to care. With The Change you're showing your viewer that nothing is guaranteed and promise to explore new territory next season rather than resting on your laurels.

Catch:

You can change the core of your show so much that viewers don't recognize it anymore. Careful to keep it on-theme and it's spirit in-tact.

3) The Odds

What:

Pitching your protagonists against impossible odds of victory in which the viewer cannot see a way out without a heavy price.

Example:

In Angel, Cordellia ascends to a higher plane without telling Angel and the others, Conner leaves Angel at the bottom of the ocean to die and joins Angel's friends without telling them what he did, Wesley is sleeping with the enemy after being exiled for betraying the others, Gunn and Fred are left alone and not knowing where everybody's gone.

Why:

If you're going to resort to good old fashioned "mortal peril" for your cliffhanger, go ballistic. Divide your heroes, give them near-fatal or fatal wounds, let the villain win and conquer everything, just make victory appear impossible! The Odds are designed to exploit your viewers emotional attachment to your characters, so the more daunting the better.

Catch:
Writing yourself into a corner to a degree that you can't write your way out without cheating.

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There are, of course, exceptions to these rules. Comedies such as Family Guy and American Dad do not require cliffhangers as they do not pursue the heart pillar and thus do not require an emotional investment. Another example is CSI, as it is designed for casual viewing with minimal alteration episode to episode.

A very unique example of ignoring season cliffhangers is the season four finale of Buffy. Joss Whedon chose to resolve the season arc in the second last episode, then spend the last episode exploring a very surreal, very arthouse character exploration. It worked a treat, winning over fan loyalty in a different, arguably more powerful way.

But there is one rule you must always recognize when it comes to season cliffhangers.

YOUR SEASON CLIFFHANGER'S WORTH IS ULTIMATELY DETERMINED BY HOW IT IS RESOLVED THE NEXT SEASON.

Your fans will hate you forever if you construct an exciting season cliffhanger that promises new and exciting things only to have everything be back to normal second episode back. It is the equivalent of stabbing a friend in the back and punishes the viewer for investing in your show. You'd be amazed how many shows do this, and nobody likes it. Nobody.

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Just remember, season cliffhangers shouldn't be a cheap trick to get your viewers back. It should be a joy, a tease and the promise of a reward to your viewers for sticking with you. So don't be afraid of change or the new.

Aim big.

Project: Inanimated Now Available On YouTube

Inanimated was my submission for the end-of-uni Exhibition for my Bachelor of Art course. It was completely voiced by Luke, and took about a month to animate. It has been on Newgrounds for a couple of months now, to what I can only egotistically describe as rave reviews. Finally posted it on YouTube.

The description in the Exhibition's Brochure was as follows:

"Over the years, a large percentage of my work has somehow involved cardboard. I marvel at its many uses, appreciate its expendability, and admire its subtle contours and graceful corrugations. I like to think of cardboard, here in the 21st Century, as cavemen would think of a freshly peeled length of bark or a cave wall; blank canvasses that lie discarded and neglected in the margins of our society - ready at a moment's notice to become immortal art.

At work, I am forced daily to thrust my Stanley deep into the neck of these magnificent beasts, and sever the lid - splitting open its packaging tape, as its insides spill across the floor. After all this time, coming home with my pockets full of paper fibers and my hands stained with sticky scraps of tape that never wash off, I have finally taken a stand and joined the anti-recycling league.

By bringing a cardboard box to life with animation I aim to create a character out of these inanimate objects. I make my art to deaden the guilt, and exorcise the visions of anthropomorphized boxes that cry out to me in my sleep."

Article: The Three Pillars

In the endless quest for new methods of categorising Films in pedantic and unnecessary ways, we've recently chiselled this bad boy out of some metaphorical rock.

Time will show whether it was granite or sandstone, but so far it has held up reliably.

The Three Pillars

Planning Tone
Heart, Creativity and Comedy

Heart:

What:
This is the Characters, the Arcs, the Themes, the Message, the Poetry and the stronger emotions.
Why:
If you've mastered this Pillar, the audience will have an unbreakable loyalty and investment in all your characters.
Where:
Usually Drama, Romance and Historical films have this as their central Pillar.
Demonstration:
Schindler's List
Heart: Very emotional
Creativity: Based on real life
Comedy: Serious drama

Creativity:

What:
This is the Ideas, the Situations, the World, the Mystery and the unique experiences.
Why:
If you've mastered this Pillar, the audience will love experiencing your world and looking at things in new ways.
Where:
Usually Science-Fiction, Fantasy and some Art-House films have this as their central Pillar.
Demonstration:
Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome
Heart: Characters unlovable
Creativity: Interesting, inventive and unique
Comedy: Only funny in a not-meant-to-be-funny kind of way

Comedy:

What:
This is the Jokes, the Gags, the Craziness, the Parody and the lighter emotions.
Why:
If you've mastered this Pillar, the audience will laugh till they cry and have a really good time.
Where:
Usually Comedies and Light-hearted films have this as their central Pillar.
Demonstration:
Hot Shots! Part Deux
Heart: No lessons or character arcs at all
Creativity: Based on other films
Comedy: Hilarious

How to use Pillars in your idea:

Every Idea needs to decide on one Central Pillar.
Even a Romantic-Comedy needs to decide if it is a Comedy or a Romance first.

In odd cases, some genres rely on an additional 'Specific Emotional Pillar':
- Horror movies for example would have Horror
- Pornography would have Arousal
- Documentaries would have Education
- etcetera
These are automatically the Central Pillar. If this Pillar fails, the movie fails.

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Once an Idea has its Central Pillar, it needs to find its natural Limits.
(Our #1 Writing Rule: Give the idea what it needs, not what you want)

Finding an Idea's Limits means finding how much of the other Pillar's the idea can use. I always ask myself:
How much Heart Pillar before it takes itself too seriously?
How much Creativity Pillar before it becomes bogged down or overwhelming?
How much Comedy Pillar before this becomes ludicrous?
Usually there is no limit to the Central Pillar.

Most Ideas, because of their needs cannot master all three Pillars - rarely can they even fully master two. This can be a handy guide to finding an Idea's inherent potential, but is by no means foolproof.

The better a film masters all three Pillars, the better a movie should be:

• Movies that master one or two Pillars, but not their central Pillar can be enjoyable but are usually not memorable.
• Movies that master their central Pillar, are usually very good movies.
• Movies that master their central Pillar and one other, usually go down as classics.
• Movies that completely master all three Pillars aren't really made, but movies like Titanic and the Indiana Jones series have come close.

(This is of course assuming the original Limit assumptions were accurate)

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Once it's all said and done, these rules by no means guarantee a good movie. Ideas seem to still have natural limits. Pixar's Cars I believe was done as well as possible (I hesitantly label it a near perfect movie, polished to its highest sheen) but even then I didn't really care for it that much.

Secondly, there are so many other factors such as budget, acting, design etcetera that go into making a movie or any idea that the Pillars are really only useful as either a writer's aid or a 'diagnostic tool'.

EDIT: Recently we watched The Brother's Grimm (2005) and not since Shaun of the Dead have we seen a movie that so clearly does not know what its central pillar is. At some points it felt like it wanted to be an all out kiddie slap-stick comedy, at other's a full fledged fantasy, even at some points an adult-gore horror. Story tones should not compete, they should compliment - and without knowing your central pillar, you run the risk of elements cancelling each other out. Done right, this movie just might have been the next Princess Bride.
Also, I award the 'Gingerbread Man Scene' the Nicholas Cage Award for Jumping-the-Shark before it even comes close to a franchise.

Blog: Woah, Sweet Banner

Yes, yes it is. You have the lovable yet confrontingly hairy Mutt to thank for that one.

Welcome to Luke & Mutt's official joint blog minus actual joints. It's been a long time coming, but finally we've joined forces to keep those who wish to know what we're up to in the metaphorical loop. Here you'll find stuff about our projects, random tidbits about our experiences relating to our careers and general thoughts on what we both find interesting.



So stay tuned, despite the fact that the internet does not require tuning nor possesses the ability to do so in the first place. Do that thing browser users do instead. What is it again? Ah, yes. Bookmark this baby, cause the boys are back in town.

That didn't make any sense. We are off to a good start.