Chock Full of Payoffy Goodness
We all know a really satisfying movie sets up a bunch of questions or ideas in the first act and pays them off in the third. It just feels good, as a viewer, to see something come back into play later. It's satisfying. But most of us probably feel like a couple of setups & payoffs is plenty.
Well, if Galaxy Quest is any indication, you just can't have too many good setups & payoffs. The movie is absolutely riddled with ideas, people, and lines of dialogue planted in the first act and paid off (often as an integral part of the action) in the third. Here are three examples:
1. The Setup: Brandon, the nerdy kid Tim Allen blows off at the sci-fi convention. Tim, in his Captain Kirkishness, has just overheard a couple of guys mocking him in the bathroom, and he's in no mood for play. He dismisses Brandon and his friends in pretty much the most hurtful way possible: "It's a television show. Okay? That's all. It's just a bunch of fake sets, and wooden props, do you understand?" And Tim leaves the disappointed kids and goes home to get sloshed.
The Payoff: In the third act, when the actors have had to actually crew a spaceship and fight real evil aliens, and their ship is about to self-destruct, Tim needs help making his way to the ship's core. He calls Brandon. He tells him, "It's real, Brandon. All of it, it's real." To which Brandon replies "I knew it!" and then helps Tim and Sigourney get where they need to be.
2. The Setup: In the opening moments of the film, a sci-fi convention is showing an unaired episode of "Galaxy Quest" the series-- the first half of a two-parter, after which the series was cancelled. The episode ends with Tim Allen saying "Activate the Omega 13". The joke is, since the next episode was never shot, no one knows what the hell the Omega 13 does.
When Tim calls Brandon for help, he asks about the Omega 13, and Brandon tells him there's a heated debate among fans: some believe it destroys all matter in the universe. But Brandon's with the camp that believes it "rearranges matter"-- essentially going back in time 13 seconds, or "enough time to redeem a single mistake".
The Payoff: At the climax of the film, Tim has done his absolute best to save the day from the evil aliens, and the crew is together on the bridge celebrating and setting a course for home. Except that the evil Sarris has disguised himself as a crew member, and shoots up the place. Tim, and all of his friends, are dead or dying. With his last breaths, Tim decides to trust Brandon's theory, and activates the Omega 13. Time reverses itself by 13 seconds, and Tim's able to take Sarris down before he has a chance to shoot anyone.
3. The Setup: Probably everyone's favourite. Alan Rickman's Shakespearean-actor character played the alien Dr. Lazarus on the "Galaxy Quest" series. As we see at the sci-fi convention, the role has been a burden to him his entire career. And nothing's worse than fans delivering his signature line: "By Grabthar's Hammer, you shall be avenged."
On the real spaceship, Alan becomes close to a particular alien named Quellek who idolized the Dr. Lazarus character he thought was real.
The Payoff: In the heat of action in the third act, Quellek is shot by one of Sarris's men. Alan holds his wounded friend, and, as he is dying, Alan, heart in his throat, tells him: "Quellek... By Grabthar's hammer, by the suns of Warvan... You shall be avenged."
And after Quellek dies contentedly, Alan gets up and does some serious mother$#@&ing avenging. I admit it, I weep whenever I see this scene. Okay, I'll admit it: I teared up just copying and pasting the words from the script. That's a payoff, friends.
The amazing thing is? There are a dozen other setups and payoffs we could talk about. These are just my top three. If you haven't checked this one out in a while to look at dramatic structure, by Grabthar's Hammer, you should. Here's the script.
A little side note? I normally find the IMDb trivia for movies fairly disappointing, but the trivia for Galaxy Quest is worth checking out.
Well, if Galaxy Quest is any indication, you just can't have too many good setups & payoffs. The movie is absolutely riddled with ideas, people, and lines of dialogue planted in the first act and paid off (often as an integral part of the action) in the third. Here are three examples:
1. The Setup: Brandon, the nerdy kid Tim Allen blows off at the sci-fi convention. Tim, in his Captain Kirkishness, has just overheard a couple of guys mocking him in the bathroom, and he's in no mood for play. He dismisses Brandon and his friends in pretty much the most hurtful way possible: "It's a television show. Okay? That's all. It's just a bunch of fake sets, and wooden props, do you understand?" And Tim leaves the disappointed kids and goes home to get sloshed.
The Payoff: In the third act, when the actors have had to actually crew a spaceship and fight real evil aliens, and their ship is about to self-destruct, Tim needs help making his way to the ship's core. He calls Brandon. He tells him, "It's real, Brandon. All of it, it's real." To which Brandon replies "I knew it!" and then helps Tim and Sigourney get where they need to be.
2. The Setup: In the opening moments of the film, a sci-fi convention is showing an unaired episode of "Galaxy Quest" the series-- the first half of a two-parter, after which the series was cancelled. The episode ends with Tim Allen saying "Activate the Omega 13". The joke is, since the next episode was never shot, no one knows what the hell the Omega 13 does.
When Tim calls Brandon for help, he asks about the Omega 13, and Brandon tells him there's a heated debate among fans: some believe it destroys all matter in the universe. But Brandon's with the camp that believes it "rearranges matter"-- essentially going back in time 13 seconds, or "enough time to redeem a single mistake".
The Payoff: At the climax of the film, Tim has done his absolute best to save the day from the evil aliens, and the crew is together on the bridge celebrating and setting a course for home. Except that the evil Sarris has disguised himself as a crew member, and shoots up the place. Tim, and all of his friends, are dead or dying. With his last breaths, Tim decides to trust Brandon's theory, and activates the Omega 13. Time reverses itself by 13 seconds, and Tim's able to take Sarris down before he has a chance to shoot anyone.
3. The Setup: Probably everyone's favourite. Alan Rickman's Shakespearean-actor character played the alien Dr. Lazarus on the "Galaxy Quest" series. As we see at the sci-fi convention, the role has been a burden to him his entire career. And nothing's worse than fans delivering his signature line: "By Grabthar's Hammer, you shall be avenged."
On the real spaceship, Alan becomes close to a particular alien named Quellek who idolized the Dr. Lazarus character he thought was real.
The Payoff: In the heat of action in the third act, Quellek is shot by one of Sarris's men. Alan holds his wounded friend, and, as he is dying, Alan, heart in his throat, tells him: "Quellek... By Grabthar's hammer, by the suns of Warvan... You shall be avenged."
And after Quellek dies contentedly, Alan gets up and does some serious mother$#@&ing avenging. I admit it, I weep whenever I see this scene. Okay, I'll admit it: I teared up just copying and pasting the words from the script. That's a payoff, friends.
The amazing thing is? There are a dozen other setups and payoffs we could talk about. These are just my top three. If you haven't checked this one out in a while to look at dramatic structure, by Grabthar's Hammer, you should. Here's the script.
A little side note? I normally find the IMDb trivia for movies fairly disappointing, but the trivia for Galaxy Quest is worth checking out.
posted by Jennica at 10:26 a.m.
4 Comments:
I loved this post, Jennica. Sometimes, you just have to admit you're a film geek and accept the consequences.
Galaxy Quest was very sound in its structure as you stated. I do have problems with Tim Allen. Harold Ramis was originally going to direct this and quit after the studio insisted on Allen. It's sad to think what could have been if maybe Bill Murray had been cast instead of Mr. Tool Time.
I kind of love this post too, Joe. :)
It's funny-- ordinarily, sure, I'd avoid Tim Allen and go straight for the Bill Murray. But I really think the GQ casting was fantastic. It's impossible to not be on side with Bill... but Tim, Tim actually embodies the cheesy has-been TV star this character starts out as. He has to work for my love.
Bill? No. Bill doesn't have to work for it at all.
Agree with you on the backhanded Allen defense, J. I can't imagine anyone else in that role now.
As for setup and payoff, how about Shaun of the Dead? Every line in that movie is either one or the other. It's insanity.
Set up and payoffs can be dangerous. When done badly it can be come across as 'look at this - this is important for later'. They can act as blantant signposts. Clearly we all know that Tim Allen will turn around once we see him talk to Brandon that way at the start. We all know it. No surprises.
The best example I can think of is "My Name is Earl" or the 'set up and pay off show' as I call it. Its full of them - and they use it in a clever way. They make the set ups funny. So you laugh at them as a gag in itself. That way you don't even know you've been 'set up'. Bastards!
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