Once again worldwide ticket sales determined what was successful in theaters and what was not. Tentpole Sequels like Harry Potter, Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean, Fast Five and the Rise of the Planet of the Apes drew $3.4B. While you may be tired of seeing sequels, as long as the box office till rings, they’ll continue to make them.

Children and family fare was next in line with the Toons category bringing in $1.49B. The next category in line is a little surprising to some: R-Rated Comedies drove $1.31B in sales. The growing popularity of the commercial R-Rated film started with The Passion of the Christ, the first R-Rated film to break the $100M barrier. Prior to its release, no one in Hollywood would dare put large budgets into an R-Rated film.

Superhero films were next in line with $1.3B, followed by Family Live Action at $329M. Adult Dramas were at $217M and Romancers $128.1M. Adding in miscellaneous categories put the total summer at $4.03B, up 5% from 2010, with a 3% increase in attendance.

The studios are already gambling on the summer hits for 2012, which includes:

The Avengers (May 4)
Dark Shadows (May 11)
Battleship (May 18)
Men in Black III (May 25)
Rock of Ages (June 1)
Prometheus (June 8 )
Brave (June 22)
G.I. Joe: Retaliation (June 22)
The Amazing Spider-Man (July 4)
Ice Age: Continental Drift (July 13)
The Dark Knight Rises (July 20)
Neighborhood Watch (July 27)
The Bourne Legacy (August 3)
Total Recall (August 3)
The Expendables 2 (August 17)

Audiences have complained for years about some camera shaking to be a distraction rather than artistic. They can tell when the device pulls them out of the story, making them very cognizant of sitting in a theater our staring at the HD screen that accentuates the movement. The artistic value has been questioned for years due to the equal number of successes and failures the technique achieved.

I believe that the key to its success is directly related to the emotions of the storyline. It typically won’t be effective if a first time filmmaker wants to use the technique because it’s cool, rather than knowing if it fits the story. Even the experts struggle with when to use the device, but those who have mastered it are the ones that understand how to build emotions within an image.

My dad shot film before I was ever born and by my Jr. high years he suggested how I could improve my filmmaking. He told me the simplest thing: Motion pictures is all about motion. He further explained that if the actors aren’t moving, the camera should be.

If we take this simple lesson to it’s obvious conclusion, we must determine what will be happening in the shot and to what degree or level the added movement must be at. In stage shows the actor moving toward the audience is comparable to a close up, just as the actor moving up stage is similar to a long shot. Each relative position sets a different parameter of emotional values.

When an actor gently whispers in a close up, the audience feels pulled into intimacy. And, obviously stated, the actor shouting across the room demands a wider shot to capture the space needed for the appropriate volume.

Camera movement is similar. If the handheld is shooting an intimate scene, having the camera bouncing more vigorously makes no sense. Likewise, if the scene is fast paced with lots of movement, keeping the camera moving at the same tempo increases the emotional pull on the audience.

Picture a man and a woman sharing an intimate conversation. The camera is in close and the words are just above a whisper. Having the camera off of the tripod but barely moving gives the audience a sense of freedom and love.

Suddenly the man wakes up from his dream. He jolts to look around the room with the camera following the same intense pattern. Then he sees him – the antagonist with exposed bombs strapped to his chest. The whacko raises the detonator button and laughs. The camera jerks around from the laughter, to the bombs, to the detonator, to our hero who scrambles down the hallway to get away from the lunatic.

The key is to fit the handheld movement to the emotional level, in conjunction with the pacing of the scene. What makes it difficult is the fine line of error that pulls the audience out of the story if it isn’t executed properly. For instance, what if the camera suggests intimacy, but the actor fails to draw the audience into the intimate moment. Or, in a chase scene the actor isn’t running at full speed and the audience can tell, but the camera is frantically moving to preserve some form of tension – It will look silly.

The test to the handheld’s movement success is directly correlated to the audience being pulled deeper into story or noticing the camera movement and losing track of the story in any specific moment.

I’ve seen shows where the camera movement is so well articulated around the emotions of the scene that I found myself physically leaning, subconsciously trying to shift the camera’s perspective without being pulled out of the story. I was shifting with the camera, as if I could somehow help the hero make his way through the perplexing situation unharmed. I’ve also seen films where the camera movements made me feel sick and I willingly turned from the film.

It takes great communication between the director, cinematographer and actor to pull off the shaky camera effect and when done properly it saves time, budget and builds great emotions into a scene.

Copyright © 2011 By CJ Powers
Photo – © Peter Atkins – Fotolia.com

There are a few steps that faith and family filmmakers need to apply in order to compete against the secular tastes of the day that drive R-rated films. These steps seem to go against the norms of the G and PG rated film, but do not hurt it. However, each filmmaker has to consider to what depth he or she takes the recommendations.

1. Develop Strong Conflict. I use the GAC2 (Gack Squared) principle in all but transition scenes. The letters stand for Goal, Action, Consequence and Conflict. Every scene must have the main character (“MC”) of the scene experience GAC2 or the audience gets bored.

In the beginning of the scene the story has to reveal the MC’s goal, just like in the beginning of the movie the story has to reveal the MC’s overarching or universal goal. But, within each scene the MC has a minor goal that needs to be obtained like trying to get to someone for information, convince them to change their mind, or influence a person to hand over the whereabouts of the answer.

When the goal is well established, the audience has something to cheer for and can be taken on an emotional ride, especially once the action is taken. The action could be crossing the room, throwing a drink in someone’s face, or letting go of an embraced loved one.

Since the scene most likely has a supporting character to help reveal more about the MC, he or she has to respond in a way that reveals conflict. If the MC crosses the room toward a pretty blonde holding the answers to his forgotten life, a bodyguard might create conflict by stepping between him and her. Or, maybe the MC throws a drink in the boyfriend’s face to lose him in order to talk to the blonde, but instead he pulls a knife on the MC. Or, maybe the MC is dancing at a wedding reception with a loved one when he spots the blonde, he releases the loved one and walks toward the blonde, causing the loved one to jealously shout that she wants a divorce.

You can see that the possibilities bring interest to the scene. It also drives a question that forces the audience to desire seeing the next scene in order to find out how the story unfolds.

2. Give the Audience Something New to Think About. This is the hardest thing for most faith and family filmmakers, because it requires pushing their audience out of their comfort zone, which conservative families do not like. It can create animosity and shut down the filmmaker’s future.

Without it, the audience goes home saying, “Gee, that film was swell, but it’s just like all the others.” If the story doesn’t reveal something interesting, unique or life changing, then it should be a minor video release and not a silver screen presentation. Most people aren’t willing to pay $10 a head for a film that confirms they are living right or are better off than others.

People only find value in revelation and growth, yet those two items are the two things that no one wants to experience because it takes change and energy. Most people don’t want to think through a film, yet they talk about how stupid the show is unless it caused them to think.

People hate change, especially if the change is how they think. However, if the filmmaker has the audacity to attempt to change the minds of the audience, he will receive significant controversy – And, box office success. That is something few faith and family filmmakers are willing to bring to the table. They would prefer to make less money and not risk their mediocre career.

3. Introduce the Audience to a New Character or Location They’ve Never Seen. In the time of franchises puking out copycat films, the audience is hungry for something they’ve never seen before. I mean, how many different takes on Spiderman can we see without saying, “Enough already!”

Forest Gump, Amadeus and Rain Man won Oscars for Best Picture and were huge successes because the audience was introduced to a new character worthy of mental and emotional exploration. Similarly, locations that prompted the eye opening visual fascination and Oscars or Box Office successes include Avatar, Dances with Wolves and Slumdog Millionaire. Several films that combined both elements won an Oscar like Shindler’s List, Gone with the Wind, and Braveheart.

Most of these films took more production days and larger budgets to accomplish, something that is rare among faith and family films. That’s not to say it can’t be done, as Slumdog Millionaire was a low budget film that introduced audiences to new locations, cultures and characters.

Competing for screen time and drawing in the audience in this day and age demands the above three points be a part of every story. The question is, which faith and family filmmaker will risk his career to make a film that gives the audience a huge payoff mentally and emotionally, and drives interest in an Oscar nomination. I can’t wait to find out the answer. It makes me want to rewrite some of my direct to video scripts and take them all up a level or two.