My boyfriend bought me this book that gives bunch of exercises to stimulate creative thinking. So, I'm going to do one because I need a writing exercise. The prompt is: Coming Soon - Imagine that a random photograph, one you might have taken or published one in a magazine, is the basis for a movie poster. What is the title of this movie? Come up with the tagline, as well as the general theme and/or plot of the film. Also, I think taglines are really cheesy. Lam is a story that revolves around the definition of "lam," which also happens to be the dictionary.com word of the day today. Lam means to beat or thrash. Lam also means a hasty escape. The movie starts off with Molly, played by Evan Rachel Wood, assertively walking down a highway during sunset. Ultimately, she decides to hitch hike. She is wearing red sunglasses. Molly is in her late 20's and attractive in a Lucy Carrigan sort of way. Also, the editing and cinematography are impeccable in these opening moments. Molly gets in a truck but pulls down her sunglasses to reveal a huge bruise. We don't find out what happens, because when the door shuts, we are brought to a new character, Dane, who is played by Ryan Gosling. It's night time and he wakes up to a girl entering his truck, which is seamlessly edited from the previous scene. (You go, editing team!) He is a greasy, dirty looking man, but attractive because all stars have to be. At this point the audience can only assume that Molly and Dane will inevitably meet and date, but it doesn't happen until a half hour goes by. Early on, we see that Dane hits Molly, but everyone knew that happened already because of the movie trailer. It's also one of those cool movies where Dane and Molly appear together for only 15 minutes out of the entire movie. This movie focuses on the past of these two individuals which helps viewers understand the type of relationship they had. Assuming they had an unhealthy relationship because Dane hit Molly, we find out that Molly and Dane actually had a nice relationship. We learn about these memories through the Dane and Molly sharing them to other characters (ex: Molly tells the truck driver, Dane tells the girl in his truck). However, there are moments where both characters wished they had done/said things differently. We see a pattern of the characters wanting to be honest but being afraid to share their true feelings. These scenes are paralleled with scenes of what actually happened when Molly and Dane were together. Through these memories, the audience learns that Dane had to hit Molly because of a secret (no spoilers!) and Molly had to leave. Molly explains to the truck driver that if she ever saw Dane again, she would forgive him. However, because of their whole past, it makes the audience wonder if she will actually follow through with her plan. Dane says he'll tell her the truth, but that hasn't exactly happened in the movie either. The truck driver pulls over at a gas station and wouldn't you know it? Dane and Molly are at the same gas station! They stand facing each other and make eye contact and then.... the movie cuts to black! The ending of the movie is open ended, because those types of movies are the best (Inception, Blue Valentine, etc). |
About BlogThis blog was originally made for a summer class in 2013, focusing on media, film, and sound. Archives
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