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August 16, 2022

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A Fitting Climatic Ending – Princess Cut Review

If you’ve followed the last few posts, you know I’m determining which director is better: Paul and Sheilah Munger. The husband and wife team launched the Princess Cut franchise. They’ve kept it going without superheroes involved.

Last week I reviewed their film’s openings. I shared how giving the audience an immediate pay-off makes them feel good about their ticket buy. This week I’ll talk about the key elements that make for a great climax—and the answer isn’t explosions and bullets.

Several vital things must happen for a movie climax to be worth the ticket price. To pull it off, directors must focus on the below items.

Define the Climax

A movie is an argument, and the director must define his position in the argument. The director’s position defines the parameters of the climax. The more personal and riskier the argument, the more is at stake and the larger the climax’s pay-off.

In Back to the Future, Marty’s life gets jeopardized when he goes back in time. He inadvertently stops his parents from connecting. Marty overcomes many obstacles to get his parents to connect, so he’s not erased from time. He must then return to the future to live his life.

To get back in time, Marty has to overcome major obstacles and perfect timing to succeed. The climax hits as he transports back to the future.

Transform the Protagonist

A great climax shows the protagonist using their weakness to overcome obstacles and win their internal battle. This journey and character arch are about transforming the protagonist’s flaw into a strength. Once the protagonist has changed, he can execute the necessary steps in the pivotal moment to succeed.

The transformation of the character is critical to the success of the climax. This is possible when the director introduces the protagonist’s goal at the film’s beginning. The director follows with a demonstration of the protagonist’s flaw or weakness.

At the beginning of Act II, the director highlights the new skills, information, and allies the protagonist needs later in the journey. These elements make it clear that the protagonist cannot take on the antagonist. The antagonist’s strengths reveal the protagonist’s weaknesses.

This forces the protagonist into a corner with a lack of ability to battle the antagonist. Most films have the character lose a battle against a proxy antagonist to raise the risk leading to the climax. At this point, the protagonist faces a dark night of the soul with the realization that he isn’t enough.

But as we all do in a time of crisis, the protagonist considers his goal in light of his new skills, information, and allies. He regroups and heads into battle, knowing he will give his all.

In most romantic dramas, the protagonist has to overcome their misbelief before the climax. The simpler the lessons of the journey, the more likely audiences will try the protagonist’s final choices in their life. The protagonist must change to fulfill the character arch and produce the moment that allows them to win the climax.

Support the Climax

If the protagonist’s goal is unclear to the audience at the film’s beginning, the climax will be a dud. If the character doesn’t face the antagonist with their exposed weakness, the climax won’t work. The character arch must be clear and culminate in a changed person to take the win during the climax.

All the 32 story beats a director crafts into their film must lead to a single pivotal moment. The climax weakens with every missing or misdirected beat. A director with 7 or 16 beats has a more challenging time creating a memorable climactic ending.

The director’s job is all about supporting the story and its big finish. If at any time he directs a scene without understanding how it adds to the story, he weakens the ending. When a director ensures most story elements lead to the climax, audiences will watch the story many times.

Paul vs. Sheilah’s Princess Cut Endings

Paul in PC1 establishes that the protagonist wants to get married. Her dad wants her to learn about real love, not infatuation. As the story progresses, the protagonist sees both types of love in action.

The protagonist had to sort through the actions of others, her thoughts, and her feelings. By the climax, she chooses to trust the man she loved despite the circumstances. He, after taking care of the things that could hinder their relationship, shows up with her father’s blessing and proposes.

The climax works because we understand her goal to get married, starting with her first scene. While some scenes didn’t feed this trajectory, many scenes empowered the climax of the film. Overall, Paul had a winning climax.

Paul’s Princess Cut 2

Due to the length of this post, I won’t mention the PC2 climax except for one thing. Paul’s ensemble choice distracted the audience from the throughline, weakening the climax. Paul can learn about focusing on an ensemble by watching how the Avengers films tie to a single character’s throughline.

When a director loses track of balancing the story and keeping the focus headed to the climax, the editor usually brings him back to reality. Unfortunately, Paul’s editor was biased and fully supported his first cut. Why? Well, Paul was the editor. It’s too bad independent budgets make this the rule more times than not.

Sheilah’s Princess Cut 3

Sheilah stirs the audience by having the protagonist toss her boyfriend out after an issue that puts her child at risk. This leads to her facing a dark night of her soul, forcing the audience to wonder if they’ll ever overcome their circumstances. It was perfectly set up to watch the protagonist fight for her love through to the climax, but it didn’t play out that way.

Instead of fighting for her love, the protagonist had to overcome more obstacles put in front of her. This continued until her boyfriend attempted to intervene and ended up in the hospital. The climax soon follows with less emotional enthusiasm than expected.

This weaker climax was due to two things. First, the protagonist wasn’t driving the plot in a proactive battle for love leading up to the climax—a common mistake for first-time directors. Second, too many subplots were intercut at a time when a story should focus solely on the primary characters—I’ll blame the editor for that one.

The good news is that the audience did see the protagonist transform. They watched her shift from distrusting all to trusting the good in life. This opened her to a new world of love she had thought was beyond her grasp—a very satisfying ending for a romance film.

The Winner Is…

Sheilah did an excellent job with her first feature film. She opened with a strong focus on the protagonist. Unfortunately, she didn’t use that strength to drive the plot to the climax. But she did show the character’s transformation, which most first-time filmmakers miss.

This film launched her as a serious director with room to grow and master the craft.

Paul’s first film established the protagonist’s goal of getting married. He took the audience on the character’s journey to learn what true love looks like for a solid marriage. While he allowed too many story elements to happen to her, he did have the protagonist drive several scenes by her choices. This led to a good climax that satisfied the audience.

When comparing Paul and Sheilah’s features, I found that they have different strengths. They can learn from each other’s strengths. Sheilah has an innate sense of character focus, while Paul focuses on the goal of the thesis. Great films need both.

The best director between them will be the one who chooses to learn from the other. It’s too soon to make that call, so I’ll remind everyone that the protagonist must go through a transformation. And, they must also make choices that drive the story forward toward the climax.

Anything less will make the film unbearable for viewers.

Directors must find a balance between the action plotline and the B-plotline. The action plotline drives the story toward the climax. Th B-plotline transforms the protagonist’s character.

Congratulations to Paul and Sheilah for creating features that built a franchise. Also, thanks for sharing your love for each other through your true-love stories. Couples today need that role model in their entertainment.

Copyright © 2022 by CJ Powers

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August 5, 2022

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Princess Cut – Husband vs. Wife Directors

Photo by Ron Lach on Pexels.com

The Princess Cut franchise has birthed two directors:  Paul Munger and Sheilah Munger. My curiosity got the best of me. I needed to learn which one of them was the top director in the family.

To make that determination, I decided to review a few critical actions a director must take to make their film successful at the box office.

This is the second of several blog entries exploring which Munger makes the best director. If you want to follow along, you can find the films at Watchman Pictures and Amazon Prime. And for those who have VUDU, at the time of this writing, the first film in the series is free with ads.

For today’s entry, let’s start in the beginning. To craft a successful cinematic story, the director must accomplish certain tasks, or they won’t build and keep their audience. The first task is creating an attention-getting opener.

Capture the Audience

The audience has spent good money to show up for the film. They expect the director to give them confidence in their buying decision within the first few minutes of the movie. Hollywood directors often give an immediate pay-off to the audience.

Some reveal the uber-bad guy and the threat he brings, while others create a bond between the main character and the audience. This is often done with a touching or cool moment, shared crisis, or funny experience.

When the unique connection is made, the audience wants to see the story through to the end. They want to know what happens and how the main character experiences it. They’ll even consider how the main character’s choices might fit their personal life.

Presenting the Film’s Genre

In the opening, directors must demonstrate the story’s genre, tone, and pace. Genres all have certain tropes that signal what you’re watching. To prove this true, all I have to do is suggest a western, and you instantly have a sense of what you’re about to see—which includes horses.

For instance, sci-fi might include lasers, aliens, space ships, or time travel. A romantic comedy might include some form of hilarity, awkward circumstance, or hopeful adoration. A horror film might open with a startling moment, blood-slashing action, or creepy circumstances in an eerie setting.

Creating the Film’s Tone

The mood or the tone of the film must be in keeping with the genre. A piece of sweet, bubbly music won’t work in the opening of a horror film. Nor would an intense score with low rumbling bass satisfy the audience watching a child’s film.

The tone and the mood of the film are often set by music and visuals. There must be harmony or stark contrast to establish an emotional tonal quality at the story’s onset. This can be happy or sad or land anywhere in between. The key is ensuring it fits so naturally together that the audience feels it but doesn’t acknowledge it.

Setting the Film’s Pace

The pacing of the show is critical to its success. You don’t want a fast-action pace for a romantic drama—it won’t make sense to the audience. Nor do you want a long, thought-provoking pace for a cutting-edge adventure film. You must find the proper balance based on the genre your story fits.

Pace can also shift speed at specific times within the story to demonstrate relevance or alternating life patterns. A roller-coaster ride of a film becomes boring if things don’t slow down enough to reset the audience before the next thrill ride of the story.

Princess Cut 1 Opening

In Princess Cut 1, Paul opens with an intensely dramatic night scene of a man burying a wedding ring. This tells the audience that the film is a drama. But he then contrasts with a dreamy-eyed upbeat girl staring at wedding rings in a jewelry store. This suggests the story fits a romantic genre.

The audience wonders if this man and girl will get married or might collide in an emotional scene that dramatically alters their lives. The bottom line, Paul withholds the overt expression of the genre.

Princess Cut 2 Opening

Paul opens Princess Cut 2 with a harmonious mix of setting, music, and movement. The audience immediately knows who the main character is, and her life seems to be ideal. But to better grab the audience’s attention, Paul has the main character react to pain in a way that drives concern.

The main character seems to overcome it in time to move into a romantic moment. At this point, the audience thinks the film’s genre is romance, but that’s when the story shifts. Paul raises the drama levels with an emergency at the free clinic.

The audience starts to wonder what ties the emergency and the main character together. Again, Paul holds back from making a clear genre statement.

Princess Cut 3 Opening

Sheilah opens her story with the pace, tone, and setting that speaks to a romantic comedy, but she counters it with dramatic content—setting up a romantic drama. After a quick splash of title cards, she moves back to the drama, void of any possibility of romance.

At this point, the audience knows the story is a drama and who the main character is. The audience shares a concern for the main character’s circumstances, but we haven’t yet bonded with her enough to cheer her on to a better future.

Who Wins for Best Opening?

This is a tough call. Paul purposely withheld the establishment of the genre on purpose. This means he knows how to do it but chooses to keep the audience guessing. Maybe his flair for surprise overrides the audience’s need to confirm the genre they are watching.

What Paul may not know is how his choice makes the audience feel about how open they will be to his story’s message. Audience members who are unsure of what they’re watching tend to close their minds to new ideas. This kills the director’s cinematic argument.

If I were directing the film, I’d start with the jewelry store and not introduce the man until the second half of act 1. This would solidify the genre and help open the minds of the audience to the message I’d want to share. The man’s introduction would then become a tool for me to recapture the audience’s attention later in act 1.

Sheilah stays consistent with her leading character. The audience knows who she is and hopefully bonds with her through the opening crisis. Sheilah chose a crisis to start the film to symbolize the ashes of her life reflected in the PC3 title: Beauty from Ashes.

If I were directing the film, I’d take less risk than Sheilah. I’d have the opening of the film reflect a positive kindness shown by the lead to endear her to the audience. Then I’d follow it up with a series of crisis moments that place her life in a proverbial pile of ashes.

As for the winner, I’ve got to say they both win for taking chances as a director. In the long run, they will be better directors, having taken the chance on their openings. And, if their core audience loved the choices made, they’ve positioned the audience for their next film.

But do their choices lead to a stronger or weaker film? Read the next follow-up blog to find out.

Copyright © 2022 by CJ Powers

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July 27, 2022

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A Look at the Princess Cut Franchise

I seldom enjoy faith-based films. In fact, many are so poorly made that they rarely draw enough people to the box office for the film to break even. This is why faith-based franchises are rare.

You can imagine my surprise to learn of the Princess Cut franchise—the result of a husband and wife’s thematic storytelling of real love.

The first go at Princess Cut was a short film. Soon after its release, the filmmaker decided to expand the story and give it a second life as a feature film. Two sequels followed.

Having watched all three features, I thought I’d take advantage of their uniqueness and discuss them over a few blog posts. This won’t be your typical film review, as I’ll share my director’s view or perspective.

Producer/Director Paul Munger

I talked with producer/director Paul Munger, who was happy to receive any and all reviews for the films. He was passionate about the stories that he and his wife, Sheilah Munger, created. He pointed out that she even directed the third film.

When I heard that, I instantly knew I was going to review the films.

Why? Because my curiosity got the best of me.

I had to know if Paul or Sheilah was the better director.

You’ll be surprised by my answer.

The Logline

But before I dive into these family films, let’s start with the premise. A strong director always works from a logline. This is not a tagline. Nor is it a TV-Guide listing.

Loglines play out the overarching storyline in one to two sentences. They can be crafted in many different ways, but most reveal the main character, the uber bad guy or major conflict, and what’s at risk.

In the second film, Princess Cut 2: Hearts on Fire, Paul used a logline similar to the following:

Two expectant couples that are best friends face crushing upheavals in their lives which force them to make life-altering choices.

As a director, I find this type of logline too general. A logline is a blueprint for ensuring the story doesn’t morph into something it’s not supposed to be.

I would’ve focused the story more singularly. Here’s the specificity I would’ve given the story:

Expecting her firstborn, Lauren worries if she’s capable of being a good mom while managing the expansion of her business.

Not Right or Wrong, But Different

Neither Paul’s version nor mine is right or wrong. They are artistic choices that breathe vision into the entire production. In Paul’s version, he sees the story as an ensemble production, with no single person dominating the screen.

My version is very much about one person struggling to find a balance between work and family.

Paul’s version makes it clear that the battle is focused on man against nature or mankind. As a director, he made sure the words “face crushing upheavals” played out in clear ways, including an incredible storm with excellent special effects. Every upheaval raised the stakes in the film.

My version suggests the conflict is within the main character, who must find a way to overcome the incredible stress of giving birth while managing the risk of opening a second store.

At this point, you’ve decided on whether you prefer Paul’s version or my story blueprint.

But before you tell me whose version is of interest, let me clarify that we both built the logline from vital elements in the story. That’s right; when you watch the film, you’ll see both plotlines.

Driving the Story

The key question is what scenes best make up the throughline of the story.

A good director knows how to take the written word and translate it into a visual story on the screen. The best throughline of the story is something that has action or choices made by the featured character.

The director makes sure the audience knows what the main character’s goal is upfront. Then, they work hard to give the audience a reason to cheer the person on through til the end of the story.

If we never know the person’s goal, we never know if their ending is satisfying. Nor will we know when the film is over, except for the hints given by rolling credits.

I find single-character stories more compelling to watch. The audience can relate to the main character and face the same struggles. The audience can even try on the main character’s choices in their own life.

An ensemble piece shortens each character’s story and makes it harder for the audience to buy into a character’s choices. There is also less development time to cover the pros and cons of the suggested way of life. But, an ensemble almost always guarantees that you’ll relate to at least one of the characters.

In either case, the main story must run the entire length of the film for the audience to embrace the theme or message. This is not possible with an ensemble unless you feature one character above the others.

What’s Next

Now that I’ve introduced you to the Princess Cut franchise, I’ll explore several angles on these three films over my next few posts. Stay tuned to learn if Paul or Sheilah is the better director. And no, they do not know what I’m going to share.

©2022 by CJ Powers