I had a very interesting discussion about theater and film the other day. My parents and I were talking about Little Shop of Horrors and, specifically, about the ending of the musical versus the ending of the (1986) movie. In the musical, the story ends with the main characters getting eaten by the plant and everybody dying. The movie was originally going to end the same way, but audience reactions were so negative that they were forced to shoot a happy ending where the plant is destroyed and the main characters survive. Frank Oz, who directed the movie, later said something I think is very interesting:
I learned a lesson: in a stage play, you kill the leads and they come out for a bow — in a movie, they don’t come out for a bow, they’re dead. They’re gone and so the audience lost the people they loved, as opposed to the theater audience where they knew the two people who played Audrey and Seymour were still alive. They loved those people, and they hated us for it.
That’s a real gem of a thought in and of itself, a really interesting consequence of the fact that theater is alive in a way that film isn’t. A stage play always ends with a tangible reminder that it’s all just fiction, just a performance, and this serves to gently return the audience to the real world. Movies don’t have that, which really changes the way you’re affected by the story’s conclusion. Neat!
But here’s what’s really cool: I asked my dad (who is a dramaturge) what he had to say about it, and he pointed out that there is actually an equivalent technique in film: the blooper reel. When a movie plays bloopers while the credits are rolling, it’s accomplishing the exact same thing: it reminds you that the characters are actually just played by actors, who are alive and well and probably having a lot of fun, even if the fictional characters suffered. How cool is that!?
Now I’m really fascinated by the possibility of using bloopers to lessen the impact of a tragic ending in a tragicomedy…
Hey folks, thought y’all might like to know about this Kickstarter that’s just gone live! It’s an independently-produced documentary miniseries on animals from the Miocene Agate fossil beds in Nebraska, and it looks absolutely stunning!!
“Forgotten Bloodlines: Agate” is a photorealistic animated documentary
focusing on prehistoric creatures 20 million years ago, narrated by the
wonderful Nigel Marven. It takes place in the early Miocene of the Agate
Fossil Beds, one of the richest collections of fossil creatures from
the era, including strange horse-like animals with claws, and huge
meat-eating hippo ancestors. Over the course of three 15 minute
episodes, you will be taken back to a place forgotten to time. Learn
more at forgottenbloodlines.com
There’s a trailer out on youtube as a taste of what this series could be and it looks beautiful
If you can afford it, I encourage you to check it out and consider supporting them! The kickstarter’s open for a month, and it would be awesome to see them reach their goal!
