Movies

The fundamental parameters by which it is possible to evaluate a science fiction movie are:

1. Photography

2. Screenplay

3. Acting

These three parameters are the same as those that apply to any type of movie, but in the case of science fiction films it is necessary to consider them with greater attention, since they bring further meaning to a narrative subject that is uncommon for the daily experience of the public.

1. Photography

A film is, fundamentally, a narrative through moving images and therefore photography is by far the most important parameter to consider.

Human culture is made up of symbols.

Every aspect of life has been symbolized in a mythical discourse, every place on our planet, every object or animal has taken place in a system of symbols that constitutes the culture of this or that people.

Cinematography in a film allows us to see the places where the story takes place, to see the objects, to see the faces of the characters, and all these things we see bring further symbolic meaning to the narrative meaning of the film's story.

So, it is essential to decide how to highlight the many meanings of the images, so that among these the one that best accords with the narrative meanings of the story is highlighted.

For greater clarity, here is an example.

The Urban Landscape

The urban landscape constitutes the fundamental component of most science fiction films, that is, those that have a future or alien civilization as their setting.

Science fiction stories set in a city can deal with very different themes, and therefore choosing the most suitable urban landscape to highlight the aspects of this or that story is very important.

The characteristics of an urban landscape can change greatly depending on the time of day or night you look at it.

The panorama of a city seen by day highlights the geometries of the buildings, the color and material of the walls and the possible presence of gardens and artificial lakes.

During the day, therefore, the city presents its architectural aspects, which are the product of rational and creative thinking of modeling the environment to the needs of civil life.

Therefore, the city during the day is RATIONAL.

The panorama of a city seen at night highlights the intensity of life that flows through the urban streets and therefore the quantity of people who live there.

At night, therefore, the city presents its demographic aspects, which are the product of the economic, political and cultural level of the civilization to which its inhabitants belong.

Therefore, the city is ALIVE at night.

It is easy to understand, now, that in a film whose subject is the technological prodigy performed by a future civilization in building a perfect and utopian city, the views of a city during the day reinforce this argument.

Instead, in a film where the central topic is an investigator of the future who searches for a dangerous criminal in the vast city, the nocturnal setting of the metropolis highlights the problem of finding the criminal among the thousands of inhabitants who, with their various pleisure, work and socialization activities give life to the city.

2. Screenplay

The screenplay of a science fiction film should pay particular attention to the realism and verisimilitude of events and dialogues. In fact, especially when telling the story of facts that contain elements of fantasy, it is necessary to strengthen the realism component so that the visual narration is credible.

To better explain the concept of realism and verisimilitude of a screenplay, we will examine some examples of screenplay mistakes.

A spaceship used for the landing of military troops that is left in orbit without a crew during an operational mission. And in fact this lack will create a serious problem for the landed troops. In the reality of military operations, this way of setting a military mission is completely wrong.

[Aliens - 1986]

Having a monarch elected by the people. If the people elect someone, he is called governor or president. The word monarch indicates a feudal regime where there is a family that reigns over a people, and in this case, the people do not have the right to vote.

[Star Wars - The Phantom Menace - 1999]

Letting an ex-husband of the secretary of the president of a nation freely enter the government building of that nation, without the security services being alerted, much less the president himself.

[Indipendence Day - 1996]

Extraterrestrials who inhabited the city of Atlantis close themselves in cocoons of conservation for 10,000 years, waiting for their fellow citizens, who escaped the sinking of Atlantis, to return to recover them. It is not clear why their friends, who had managed to escape from the city of Atlantis, waited so long before returning to recover their fellow citizens trapped on planet Earth.

[Cocoon - 1985]

An atomic bomb with the power to destroy an entire planet, equipped with Artificial Intelligence, which is not equipped with a manual defuse device in case of malfunction of the operating software.

[Dark Star - 1974]

After a day of multiple atomic explosions on a continent, we see the inhabitants walking among the ruins of the destroyed cities without feeling the symptoms of radioactive poisoning from 'atomic fallout'. The average duration of an atomic fallout varies from a few months to several years.

[The Day After - 1983]

When the soldiers of the sabotage team reach the planet on the other side of the Stargate, instead of encouraging the archaeologist to decipher the symbols of the second Stargate, they mock him and consider him useless. In reality, all those soldiers on the mission, aware of finding themselves cut off from their planet, their families, their terrestrial life, would have supported and encouraged him to solve the operating code of the second Stargate.

[Stargate - 1994]

The seven examples reported here refer to screenplays that had the objective of guaranteeing, each one, an important narrative effect for the meaning of the film.

Let's see, then, what these desired narrative effects should have been.

Telling the story of the anguish of the space soldiers who were denied the prospect of being able to return to their logistical support spaceship and, with that, return to Earth.

[Aliens - 1986]

To show the utopian institutional system of the civilization of the planet Naboo

[Star Wars - The Phantom Menace - 1999]

To bring the ex-husband of the president's secretary to have a private conversation in the Oval Office with the president himself.

[Indipendence Day - 1996]

To show the miraculous effects of the life energy of alien cocoons on the aging of human beings.

[Cocoon - 1985]

To allow military software to express definitions about itself in terms of a deity.

[Dark Star - 1974]

To show the deadly effects of radioactivity from nuclear fallout on the human health of survivors.

[The Day After - 1983]

To present the obstinacy of the military mentality in recognizing every powerful instrument of alien manufacturing as dangerous and hostile.

[Stargate - 1994]

When writing a screenplay it is advisable to think carefully about the nature of the elements available to obtain the narrative results that interest you. A not uncommon mistake is to believe that you can show a certain result just because you have the cinematographic means. That is, if you have a set and a camera, then you can make whatever you want happen.

However, writing screenplays is like writing an algorithm for computer use: you need to consider the quantities and variables involved to calculate what the exact result will be.

It is not wrong to have the objective of making certain things happen, in order to give the film the meaning we intend, but it is appropriate to logically connect the right elements to guarantee the verisimilitude of the results starting from the elements shown in the film.

So, let's try to identify what the elements of the script should have been that could have led to the above-mentioned results.

Tip for Aliens screenplay

On the space marine landing shuttle there was the only transceiver powerful enough to communicate with the support spaceship waiting in orbit. When the first shuttle is lost, the marines will desperately have to reach the technical room of the large radio antenna, located on the other side of the terraforming station, avoiding the numerous aliens that infest it. Meanwhile, on the support spaceship, the pilots' comfort of waiting is disturbed by the worry of having lost radio contact with the landed team.

Tip for Star Wars - The Phantom Menace Screenplay

An institutional system suitable for a utopian civilization has been precisely described by some philosophers.

Francis Bacon, in his novel 'The New Atlantis', hypothesizes a government held by a caste of philosophers who take inspiration for their laws from the scientific activity (discoveries and inventions) conducted in that civilization.

David Hume proposes a republic supported by philosophical principles of a pragmatic nature, which take into account progress and scientific research.

John Locke proposes Constitutional Monarchy, as it combines aristocratic prestige with the legal ethics of philosophical legislators.

Thoma More, in his novel 'Utopia', idealizes a republic governed by a Supreme Magistrate, who is elected by 200 other magistrates who are elected by the people.

Tip for Indipendence Day screenplay

Arriving in front of the White House, the ex-husband of the president's secretary warns her that he knows the intentions of the aliens and, therefore, she needs to explain them to the president. She suggests he give it up, reminding him of the hostility that had existed between him and the president. After her ex-husband's insistence, and in front of the president himself who is in front of her in the meantime, she has to explain to her boss who he is talking to on the phone about her. She explains her ex-husband's intentions and the president agrees to receive him on condition that he apologizes to him. The ex-husband accepts. Then later in the film the president will apologize to her ex-husband for having asked for his apologies and will tell him that all earthlings will be grateful to him for venturing with a flying saucer into the aliens' lair.

Tip for Cocoon screenplay

There is no scientific reason why the vital energy emanating from a living organism should take away its vitality. With that said, let's move on to considering script editing.

The extraterrestrials hidden for 10,000 years in cocoons, as well as emanating vital energy for 10,000 years to the fish at the bottom of the sea (and therefore, a group of elderly people who benefited from it for a few weeks cannot be the cause of the death of these cocooned aliens) , they telepathically absorbed the psychic knowledge of the creatures of the sea and the humans who sailed the waves above them. The extraterrestrials who remained in the cocoons were, therefore, collectors of the psychic consciousness of the living creatures of the Earth. Once their mission is over they are brought back to their planet. For them, 10,000 years are as valuable as 1 year for us, since they live forever.

Tip for Dark Star screenplay

The atomic bomb software starts saying it wants to explode to become a god.

The pilots of the spaceship defuse the bomb with the manual system. A short time later, one of the pilots, thinking about the logic of the bomb speech, turns it back on secretly from his colleague, to continue conversing with the bomb. In fact, the work of the two pilots leads them to travel between planets and stay isolated in space for a long time, without contact with civilization.

After repeated conversations with the bomb, the pilot becomes convinced that the miracle of the thinking bomb is a sign of transcendental thought and allows himself to be convinced of the correctness of the bomb's nihilistic discourse. The pilot's colleague will try in vain to dissuade him from re-igniting the bomb, which, once re-ignited for the umpteenth time, will explode.

Tip for The Day After screenplay

If you want to write a screenplay for a film about a nuclear attack, where there are numerous actors acting, and where the deadly effects of radiation are well illustrated, there is no need to make them walk through the streets of the destroyed city or in agricultural fields littered with the bodies of dead animals.

If the nuclear attack occurs halfway through the film, you can continue to have the actors act by showing them holed up in fallout bunkers.

There are numerous themes that can illustrate the anguish of survivors, who are denied any possibility of a future.

Some of them, in the grip of desperate madness, could decide to re-emerge on the surface, to regain the freedom that was denied to them by the atomic explosions and, poisoned by radiation, fall to the ground with the deadly symptoms of high redioactivity.

It is reasonable to predict that, even in bunkers, the lives of radiation survivors cannot be much longer.

Tip for Stargate screenplay

If in a story we see a team of soldiers working together with an archaeologist, all with the aim of investigating the authors of a powerful teleportation device, we will certainly think we are seeing two antithetical points of view clash with each other.

On the one hand there will be the fear that aliens could be an enemy to fight, on the other there will be the curiosity to understand with wonder as much as possible the secrets of this alien civilization.

It is not difficult to imagine that the archaeologist, when deciphering the alien inscriptions for the functioning of the second stargate, lets himself be overcome by curiosity to understand many more things than what is needed to make the device work and bring earthlings back to Earth. It is at this moment that the soldiers could have reminded the archaeologist of his primary responsibilities, thus provoking his indignation at the unique missed opportunity for science to understand the secrets of an alien civilization.

3. Acting

Acting is a very important parameter for any type of film and, for a science fiction film, it is equally important.

However, science fiction films often feature non-human characters for which the acting parameter struggles to be sufficiently satisfied.

It is difficult to make an alien's face take on that expressiveness that allows an actor to show his feelings or emotions when he speaks or does something. And it's even harder to get this from a robot.

Both types of characters presented here are creatures of the imagination and a film production must resort to special effects work.

Many years ago, the special effects for this purpose were artisanal, masks or make-up allowed people to interpret aliens and robots, but in recent years Computer Graphics allows aliens and robots with their own life and levels to be shown in a film. of expressiveness that makes an expert film actor envious.

Although in recent years in science fiction films we easily find expressive and, at times, even cute aliens and robots, in the films of past decades, before computer graphics, the expressiveness of these characters was guaranteed with theatrical mime solutions and with sounds and verses characteristic phonetics that gave these characters their own peculiar character, and this, given the technical possibilities of those years, was already enough.

However, they are famous examples of realistic acting of extraterrestrials achieved with mechanical solutions, when CGI did not yet exist, and this gave those films great value and fame as a success.

Acting Aliens

The best interpretation of an alien in a film is found in Paul (2011), where his face demonstrates enormous expressiveness and his mimic acting is truly exciting.

In the film M.I.B. (1997) all the aliens have good expressiveness and the mimic acting is sufficient.

In The Fifth Element (1997) the Mangalores aliens demonstrate good expressiveness and interesting mimic acting.

In Mars Attacks! (1996) the facial expressiveness is good, with some truly hilarious moments when we see the Martian cry with emotion. Mimic acting is interesting, due to the expressive solutions found.

In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) the expressiveness of the Vogons' faces is sufficient, as is their mimic acting.

In Star Wars (1977) the expressiveness of the aliens' faces is static, except in the case of Chewbacca who manages to be sufficient, but his mimic acting makes up for the expressive deficiencies of the face.

In Alien (1979) the Xenomorph's acting is impressive, as the curling of the lips typical of wolves when they are about to bite is reproduced.

In films like Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957), This island Earth (1955), Creature from the black lagoon (1954) the expressiveness of the face is non-existent, considering that it is a frightening static mask.

Acting Robots

The best acting performance of a robot can be found in Short Circuit (1986): the expressiveness of the face was entirely entrusted to the eyes and eyebrows, while the mimic acting of the body was very consistent with the emotions that the robot claimed to have.

In the Transformers film saga (2007 - 2023) the facial expressiveness is engaging and the mimic acting is interesting.

In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), the expressiveness of the robot 'Marvin''s face is absent, although the large spherical head perfectly expresses his condition as an unappreciated super-computer. However, his mimicry is very impressive.

In Star Wars (1977), it is difficult for R2-D2 to talk about interpretation and acting, given that he is a self-propelled metal cylinder. His whole personality is entrusted to the ability to make whistles and funny noises. Differently, C-3PO, although he does not have facial expressiveness, can count on the refined theatrical mimicry of his body.

In The Love Bug (1968), although the character is a car, his behavior (such as opening doors and turning on the headlights) evokes understandable feelings and emotions, therefore it is correct to talk about acting, which all in all emotionally involves the audience.

In Saturn-3 (1980) the robot has a head that resembles the neck and head of a snake: practically expressionless. The mimicry of his body is insignificant, as he simply walks and picks up objects and people.

In the film Forbidden Planet (1956) the robot has rigid movements and has no real face. What you see all the time are his gears turning inside his glass head, and does that mean he's thinking?

In The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), the robot is incredibly stiff and his face is covered by a visor. His rigidity, however, matches his personality, in fact he simply stands still for most of the film.

In Doctor Who (1963 TV programme) the Daleks are self-propelled nosecones with a tube protruding from them which they move like snails move their eyes. We can't really talk about acting expressiveness in this case, except that the effect they cause on the audience is terrifying, as they incinerate every human being they encounter on their path. Well, in this case they don't really need to be expressive.

In this blog, science fiction films will be analyzed using the three parameters explained on this page.

These analyzes will not help to define good films from bad ones. Not at all.

Each cinematic artistic work is a personal product of those who worked on it and is therefore subject to the principles of the author's personal taste.

The aim of analyzing these films in the way described is to highlight certain cinematographic choices, taking into account that the same scenes could be shown using different solutions, from which other meanings could have been obtained, which in my opinion should not be overlooked.

Another purpose of the analysis will be to understand why, although certain cinematographic solutions are not up to today's production techniques, the scenes of those films have remained imprinted in the imagination of the public of yesterday and today in a surprisingly profound way.

Many other reasons will push me to analyze some science fiction films, but for each of them I would need a separate reason.

______________________

The films, which I will talk about in this blog, will be discussed in two parts. Part One is a spoiler-free PRESENTATION for those planning to see the film for the first time. The second part is an ANALYSIS with spoilers, where I will give my interpretation of the main aspects of the film by examining the story, the events narrated and the ending.