Murphy

1. According to Murphy, what are the two major faults of the traditional screenwriting manuals in their treatment of independent cinema?

They emphasize the 3 act structure but ignore the alternative storytelling pattern.They favor plot over dialog. And the dialog has to be concise and serve a purpose. The manuel writers discourage the use of dialog.

They are formulaic and too inflexible for most indie scripts.
They don’t appreciate the innovations in indie films.

Many independent films are shorter than 120 mins. and don’t have an antagonist which the manuels stress. The behavior of characters are expected to be motivated and the endings have to be unambiguous. They also suggest that the protagonist undergo a transformation but many Independents don’t rely on the strong goal driven protagonist.





2. How are Murphy's claims about act structures in independent films different than McKee's model or Thompson's model?

Murphy’s – 3 acts for most independent films.

Thompson - four acts or 4 large scale parts of 20-30 mins. for feature length Hollywood films but for some 100 mins. features it may break down to 3 acts.

Mckee - 3 major reversals are necessary to reach the end of the line in a full script.
Five steps : inciting incident, progressive complication, crisis, climax, and resolution.
There can be more than 3-4 acts but his most basic structure involves 3 acts and the inciting incident.


5. Why did the filmmakers of the "LA Rebellion / Los Angeles School" (including Charles Burnett) reject traditional Hollywood production values?

They could be completely independent from the white establishment control. To politicize the question of technical competence. They opposed Hollywood

6. What are the two distinct notions of "guerrilla cinema" exemplified by Spike Lee and Bill Gunn?
Gunn made socially subversive films with Hollywood money.
Lee uses Guerilla tactics to finance & to get deals in Hollywood.