A Face Melting Good MovieBy Logan Hessek

Contents 3 – Definition of Plot development stages 4 – Stage 1: Exposition 5 – Stage 2: Complicating Action 6 – Stage 3: Climax Stage 4: Resolution 7 – Definition of dangling cause 8 – Example: Snakes 9 – Example: 10 – Example: 11 – Definition of Motif 12 – Example: Colors 13 – Example: Actions 14 – Example: Music 15 – Example: Music contd. 16 – Conclusion 17 – Citations

Four Stages of Plot Development Exposition – Characters are introduced Complicating Action – An issue arises and the protagonist

takes on the quest Climax – The Protagonist must make important decisions

and fight the antagonist Resolution – The problem is solved and a lesson is learned

from the story

Exposition The ark is introduced and Indy finds out that Nazis are after it Marion and Indy nearly get killed from the men who enter the

bar who are also after the ark

Complicating Action The Nazis are digging in the wrong place They find Indy in a hole with the ark The Nazis take the ark Indy and Marion are sealed in the tomb The two break out but have more Nazis to deal with

Climax and Resolution Indy has a car chase with the Nazis Then he sneaks onto a German U-boat to the Nazi island Nazis open ark and die from seeing the holy covenant The ark is sealed away among many other boxes

Dangling Cause Lines, images and actions shown early in the film that are significant

later on Similar to a Motif The key difference is that a motif uses those same things throughout

the film to make things more understanding A dangling cause just shows something twice- once early on and a

second time near the end

Cause One - Snakes Early in the film – Indiana finds a snake on a plane that he

escapes in. He says he hates snakes Significance – Later, he finds himself trapped in a tomb full of

venomous snakes

Cause Two – The Contents of the Ark Early in the movie, we see a rat in the warehouse where the

ark is and as soon as it stares looks at the ark, it starts acting all weird

At the very end of the movie, we find out why the rat acted the way it did because when the Nazis open the ark, they all die

Cause Three – Marion When the truck blows up, Indy think that Marion was killed

because she was tied up in the back Later though, when Indy goes looking for the ark, he finds

Marion unharmed, but held captive in a Nazi tent.

Motif Something that repeats many times in a movie Color Image Sound Music

Motif One - Colors The color red was repeated many times in the film through

various significant objects Nazi flag – Shown throughout the movie Gas barrel – Shown when Indy is spraying the gas on the

snakes to keep them back and burn them

Motif Two – Music Indiana’s Theme – Whenever Indy was in the middle of doing

a brave thing his theme would play His theme was quieter when he was preparing to do

something heroic and there was no action Marion’s Theme – Her theme would play even when she

wasn’t around and Indy was either talking about her or thinking about her

Motif Two – Music Contd. The Ark’s theme also plays when it’s being discussed The theme also plays when Indy is being lowered into the

tomb to let us know that it’s down there Finally, we hear the ark’s theme at the end of the movie

when it’s in that box

Epic Conclusion Raiders of the Lost Ark was a great film because it had all

those motifs and dangling causes The transitions from each stage were well timed because

they were each about a half an hour Everything in the film was necessary to move it forward The occasional scenes where it seems impossible for

something to be done we forgive because it still fits in nicely to the film

Citations N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2012.

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