Apparently the most perfect movie ever made is

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

LONDON (Reuters) - A British academic believes she has found the holy grail that all Hollywood seeks -- the recipe for making box office hits time after time.

 

  As the movie world's movers and shakers gather in Cannes for the annual film festival Sue Clayton from London University may be the answer to their prayers.

 

"I analyzed frame by frame what elements were present in different film genres and what made certain films successful," the lecturer in screen writing and directing said on Tuesday.

 

According to Clayton the blueprint for the perfect film is for it to have: 30 percent action, 17 percent comedy, 13 percent good versus evil, 12 percent sex/romance, 10 percent special effects, 10 percent plot and 8 percent music.

 

Clayton, who is also a movie director, said she was careful to examine different film types.

 

"It was important to look at all film genres and not just the big box office winners -- that would have skewered the research," she told Reuters.

 

The study was based on watching and breaking down the components of a range of hits on the British screen from Brit-flicks "The Full Monty" and "Notting Hill" to U.S. blockbusters such as "Die Another Day" and "Titanic." Clayton said there were five basic film types -- Romantic Comedy, Comedy Caper, Action/Adventure, Epic/Romance and Special Effects/Fantasy.

 

While the movie "Shakespeare in Love" scored close to having the right combination of ingredients it could have done with more special effects, Clayton's research suggested.

 

As for the film that matched the recipe closest, that honor went to "Toy Story 2."

 

How does Toy Story 2 fit this? the 10% Special effects doesn't fit at all...and how is there 12% Sex/Romance in any disney movie?

[Guest starvenger]

LONDON (Reuters) - A British academic believes she has found the holy grail that all Hollywood seeks -- the recipe for making box office hits time after time.

 

   As the movie world's movers and shakers gather in Cannes for the annual film festival Sue Clayton from London University may be the answer to their prayers.

 

"I analyzed frame by frame what elements were present in different film genres and what made certain films successful," the lecturer in screen writing and directing said on Tuesday.

 

According to Clayton the blueprint for the perfect film is for it to have: 30 percent action, 17 percent comedy, 13 percent good versus evil, 12 percent sex/romance, 10 percent special effects, 10 percent plot and 8 percent music.

 

Clayton, who is also a movie director, said she was careful to examine different film types.

 

"It was important to look at all film genres and not just the big box office winners -- that would have skewered the research," she told Reuters.

 

The study was based on watching and breaking down the components of a range of hits on the British screen from Brit-flicks "The Full Monty" and "Notting Hill" to U.S. blockbusters such as "Die Another Day" and "Titanic." Clayton said there were five basic film types -- Romantic Comedy, Comedy Caper, Action/Adventure, Epic/Romance and Special Effects/Fantasy.

 

While the movie "Shakespeare in Love" scored close to having the right combination of ingredients it could have done with more special effects, Clayton's research suggested.

 

As for the film that matched the recipe closest, that honor went to "Toy Story 2."

 

How does Toy Story 2 fit this? the 10% Special effects doesn't fit at all...and how is there 12% Sex/Romance in any disney movie?

File this under "people with WAAAAAAAAY too much time on their hands"...

[Guest Marshall]

The sex/romance in Toy Story 2 would be the romance beween Woody and Bo Peep and Buzz and Jessie and the end. But, yeah, I'd say it was 100% Special effects.

[Guest Blue Bacchus]

I could see that. The movie was superior to the first. It not only appeals to kids but to adults as well. And who hasn't seen Toy Story 1 or 2?

[Guest The Hamburglar]

Its certainly true that neither film actually contains any flaws as such. I slightly prefer the first one, I just like the delusional Buzz dynamic. They both rule, though. The fight between Buzz and Zerg in Toy Story 2 is genius.

[Guest WrestlingDeacon]

But if you followed that recipe to the exact letter your movie would be the biggest flop of all time. Allowing the math to dictate a creative and artistic endeavour like film making will cause the product to be flat and flowless. The success of a film all goes back to the story being told by the screenwriter and the way in which the various others involved (producers, directors, actors, cinematographer, etc.) relate and develop the basic story.

[Guest godthedog]

The success of a film all goes back to the story being told by the screenwriter and the way in which the various others involved (producers, directors, actors, cinematographer, etc.) relate and develop the basic story.

not necessarily. you can make a successful film without actors, screenwriters, a cinematographer, or even a story. ("artistically" successful, i mean, not financially successful.)

 

this research sounds like something a structuralist would do, not any traditional kind of narrative director. i can see something like this resulting in a cheap 16mm you see in an avant-garde film class...one scene devoted to each category taking up a certain percentage of the running time, while you see the percentage ticking away at the bottom of the screen.

 

random sex scene: 12%

 

random scene of a person running and firing a gun: 30%

 

and so on.

 

i think i might do something like that actually, just for the fun of it. nobody steal that idea.

[Guest Mole]

Pixar will lead cartoons into this century and behond.

 

Seriously, if Disney didn't have Pixar, their animation department would be going down the tubes. Every Pixar movie made, I have liked, has done well in the box office, and appeals to kids and adults.

 

Finding Nemo will rock.

[Guest fazzle]

And who hasn't seen Toy Story 1 or 2?

Well, I hadn't seen 2 until 2 weeks ago or so.