Beginners Guide to Epic Fantasy

 

Bran is a young man content with this life in a sleep village, cut off from the rest of Buresia. One night a stranger comes and forces Bran to leave the village and travel Buresia to defeat a dark force. With him travel a band of mismatch companions, who were forced together by chance, but eventually become strong friends. While on the quest Bran discover he has a unique gift that means he is the only one who can stop the dark force, who he faces at the climax of the film.

The plot of an epic fantasy is essentially a coming of age story. There are wise mentors to lead the protagonist down the right path, as well as friends to help him through the difficult trials and a love interest to fight for. As the story develops the characters will rapidly mature and see the clear differences between good and evil. It is a story that has stood the test of time in literature, but only recently started to be seen on the big screen. This is because achieving the great depth and scale of these stories on film has only just been possible.

Epic fantasies are set in parallel worlds that have their own geography, religions and history, and the techniques to fully capture this have only been around in the last 25 years. Due to the improvement in CGI as well as international travel, plus the larger budgets, directors can successfully create the grand scale that comes with an epic fantasy. So now all the beauty and richness that is described on the page, sine most epic fantasies were originally books, can be brought to life on screen.

In the past epic fantasies have been saddled with the stereotypes of overacting leads, big bosomed women and low budgets, which means that film studios have avoided financing many projects. However, since the huge success of Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter, people in Hollywood have seen how epic fantasies can become mega buck franchises due to the hard-core fans that support them. Unfortunately even after the success of some franchises the old stigmas still exist so epic fantasies are found more often on the bookshelf rather than with the DVDs.

 

Films you must see

TheNeverEnding Story (1984)

Labyrinth (1986)

The Lord Of The Ring Trilogy (2001-2003)

The Harry Potter Series (2001-2011)

The Chronicels of Narnia  (2005-present)

Stardust (2007)

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (2010)

How To Make A Classic…Psycho-drama-The Taxi Driver Tangent

Martin Scorsese’s psycho thriller ‘Taxi Driver’ received four academy award nominations, including one for best movie, but why is a film about an unstable veteran turned taxi driver such a success? Why did it inspire John Hinckley, Jr to try and assassinate President Regan in 1981?  The answer lies at the feet of two men: Robert De Niro and his excellent character Travis Bickle, and Scorsese himself with his excellent directing.

Never before or since has there been a protagonist like De Niro’s Travis Bickle. After not being able to sleep at night  Bickle starts taking graveyard taxi shifts to cope with his insomnia. It is during his taxi work that Bickle shows us the darker side of human nature. From the extracts from his diary that he narrates we see Travis’ darker feelings as he points out what he calls ‘the scum of New York’;  prostitutes, murders and drug dealers, all of which disgust and frustrate him. His observations about these people are surprisingly perceptive for someone so unstable and illuminate what many of us choose to ignore around us. What is strange (and yet compelling) about Travis is that even though he despises the petty crime he does not interfere with it since he sees it as part of life. When a customer in the back of his taxi tells Travis he plans to shoot his wife and her lover Travis does nothing to stop him or help his wife, but instead simply drives away.  This disconnection is quite terrifying, but not nearly as terrifying as when Travis tries to help which always seems to end in violence and blood.  Through this creepy behaviour he does command respect and even manages to get interest from Cybill Shepherd’s Betsy who works for a senator and Jodie Foster’s Iris who is a 12-year-old hooker he wishes to save. All these aspects create a fascinating character that is impossible not to watch to see what he does or thinks of next.

Along with De Niro’s great character Scorsese also puts his own mark on this classic psycho-drama. He puts a great sound track in the film that conveys a huge volume of emotion in every scene. The chilling soundtrack was written by ‘Psycho’ composer Bernard Herrmann and was his last project before he died. Every time the terrifying signature song was played my blood went cold, and if you don’t believe me just take a listen the it down below. Scorsese, since he is a great director, tried to make all the characters as real as possible. This is no ‘Pretty Woman’; these prostitutes are young, scared and abused while being a taxi driver is not made to look like a glamorous profession. There is nothing attractive about the fact that Travis must wipe vomit and semen off the back seat of his cab every night. By including this realism the audience are hit a lot harder and given a better understanding of what Travis is seeing when he goes out to work each night.

Overall the film expertly delves into the psychology and mind of its complex lead character. Both Scorsese and De Niro take the audience into Travis’ mind and don’t sugar coat the horrors we find in it. This journey is unforgettable and is what makes ‘Taxi Driver’ one of the best psycho-dramas ever made.

How To Make A Classic…Cult Hit- The Rocky Horror Phenomenon

‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’, like most cult films, didn’t make a lot of money when first released in 1975 and it isn’t hard to see why. Although the songs are catchy they don’t really make a lot of sense, the characters and the plot are even wackier and the controversy Tim Curry would have caused must have been astronomical. None of these elements spell out box office success, but they are the reason that the film has its cult following today.

The film is parodying many sci-fi and B horror movies and in doing so it goes beyond anything we usually see. Each character in Dr Frank-N-Furter’s castle is larger than life and wouldn’t look out of place at a Lady Gaga concert. The plot is even crazier with Dr Frank-N-Furter trying to create a living, breathing sex toy called Rocky. These bizarre aspects might not have gone down very well with a 70s audience, but in the modern day this sort of experimental creativity is not just accepted, but also greatly followed by fans.

Tim Curry’s Dr Frank-N-Furter is easily the most bizarre and controversial aspect of the film. To me he might just seem like another Soho regular, but for others, especially audiences in the 1970s, he is like nothing like anything they have ever experienced. He represents the very styles and sexual appetites that were all tightly ignored in 70s America, but as our society has grown more liberal Dr Frank-N-Furter has become the embodiment of being true to yourself and your sexual identity. He has also become a fantastic Halloween costume.

The final part of the film that makes Rocky Horror a cult hit is, obviously, the music. Very few musicals can make as little sense as this one, but by having memorable songs such as ‘Sweet Transvestite’, ‘Touch-a, Touch-a Touch Me’ and of course ‘Time Warp’ (if you haven’t heard this classic there is a treat for you at the bottom of this article), the film manages to get away with it. The songs work for the audience because their adult content make them different; instead of singing about love and loss the cast sing about sex and lust. These saucy undertones work in favour of the songs and make them stick in the audiences mind.

Like many films with the cult brand Rocky was made at the wrong time. Now it has its deserved following and success with many special screenings going on around the world at any one time. But it is interesting to question whether the film got its cult status from being made in the wrong decade and being underappreciated. Would it have done so well if it was made in 2010? I would like to think yes, but I’m not too sure.

How To Make A Classic…Family Film- The Disney Equation

Walt Disney has made some of the most known and best-loved family films of all time. Success to them is a formula that works every time. Every classic Disney movie has several key aspects that make the movie a classic; they need an unoriginal story, adult themes and an amazing soundtrack.

The idea of using an unoriginal story seems a bit backward, but looking at all the Disney classics many, if not all, are based on old children’s books and fairytales: Aladdin, Hercules, Cinderella, The Jungle Book, Alice in Wonderland are just a few, but the list goes on ad infinitum. These stories work for Disney because they are timeless tales that are known to work. If these stories have survived decades (often centuries) of publishing then they can survive a Disney make over. As anyone will know, the success of Disney franchises tends to wane when the House of Mouse releases the sequels and prequels they develop themselves.

On top of the classic story a Disney family film will include adult content. Some of the most memorable scenes from Disney are also the most harrowing; the death of Bambi’s mother and of Simba’s father defines both films. These scenes work because they don’t treat the child watchers like idiots. Not only do these scenes leave a lasting impression on the children, but they also bring in the parents who can enjoy the film as well. But there is a limit. Bad deeds done to the protagonist are fine, since the protagonist can overcome them; bad deeds done by the protagonist cannot be so easily justified. In the Hans Christen Anderson version of the ‘The Little Mermaid’ the mermaid must murder the prince’s wife in order to remain human. She decides not to, but instead drowns herself in the ocean. Suitable content for a children’s film? I think not: Disney wisely decided to leave this story direction out. The final essential part of a Disney family film is of course the music.

All classic family films must have a great soundtrack that is so catchy that you will remember it years later merely seconds into the song. It is these catchy tunes and wonderful lyrics that have families coming back time and time again. The music and the happy ending.

This formula which Walt Disney first equated almost a century ago has been shown to child after child for generations. And how successful it has been!