Examining Some of the Best-Structured Films of All Time

We talk a lot about details in filmmaking such as the technical side of getting certain shots or how to color-grade appropriately, but it's a great exercise to also study more macroscale things such as the narrative structure and how that helps the film to tell its story. This great video examines 10 of the best-structured films of all-time and what makes them so effective.

Coming to you from CineFix, this fun video looks at 10 films with wildly different narrative structures and what makes them so effective. Of course, there're the classical linear progressions and three-part narratives, but as you move into more complex structures, the machinery that makes a film tick takes on a lot of nuance, and it's both instructive and fun to examine why these sorts of movies keep us engaged. For my vote, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" takes the top spot. It's hard to include a clip that shows off the overarching structure, with two storylines moving in opposite directions that nonetheless maintain dependence on one another, but the one below should give you an idea of the bizarrely beautiful way the film interacts with itself.

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Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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1 Comment

Good Stuff!