Back to the Elective Term

In the first unit of the Humanities elective term, Ollywood, we have been learning about the elements of pre-production. Pre-production comes before a movie is made. Two important roles in pre-production are the Location Scout and Production Designer. Location Scouts find places where a movie or scenes from a movie can be filmed. We went on a field experience to Lower Wacker Drive where a chase scene from The Dark Knight and Blues Brothers were filmed. We took pictures of places where one could possibly shoot a movie. Production Designers help the setting, background, and characters stand out with props and costumes. For this AP, we were assigned to watch one of a selection of movies and summarize the plot, characters, dialogue, inspiration, stage production, and costume design through our observations. I chose to analyze the 1985 classic - Back to the Future. I hope you enjoy!
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Image result for back to the future
Wdwdbot. (2016) "Back to the Future Logo"
Back to the Future begins with teenager Marty McFly and his friend, the Professor, testing out a time traveling car. The inciting incident occurs when men the Professor bought Plutonium from to fuel his car come to kill him. The men fatally shoot the Professor and Marty escapes in the car. Accidentally, Marty travels back in time just before his parents begin to date. With a busted up car and no Professor, Marty is stuck in the 1950s. After he locates the young Professor and convinces him of their future friendship, Marty gets involved with his parents’ lives and alters his own future. The crisis of the story takes shape when Marty’s mom, Loraine, falls for him. The only way Marty can prevent being erased from existence is to help his parents fall in love - this is the climax that will help him escape his predicament.

Marty coaches his dad, George, on how to win Loraine’s heart. Marty, the protagonist, is released from his predicament when George punches the school bully, Biff, in the face after catching him sexually assaulting Loraine at a dance. Loraine falls in love with George at that moment. All of the loose ends are tied and history is corrected. This time, however, Marty sends a warning to the Professor in the past to protect him in the future. Everyone lives happily ever after!

The protagonist of the movie is Marty McFly - a typical high schooler who likes to skateboard. He is clever, adventurous, and assists his friend, the Professor, with his inventions. The way his character is set is a perfect role for a protagonist. A direct quote from him that best describes his personality is, “Wait a minute. Wait a minute, Doc. Ah... Are you telling me that you built a time machine... out of a DeLorean?”

Biff Tannen is the main antagonist of the story. He bullies Marty’s dad, George, throughout the movie. He is big, beefy, and not very bright. Even though he does not know he is the antagonist, he still tries to eliminate the protagonist. Biff is a typical school bully. His goal is to date Loraine, even though she isn’t very interested in him. If that happens, Marty would be erased from existence. A direct quote from him that best describes his personality is, “Whatcha lookin' at, Butthead!?”

My favorite scene is when Marty sticks up for George at a diner. An exchange between Biff and George quickly establishes that Biff is a bully and George is his victim. Biff: "Hey, McFly, I thought I told you never to come in here. Well it's gonna cost you. How much money you got on you?" George: "Well, Biff. How much you want?" Marty distracts Biff to look away and punches him. This begins an elaborate chase scene while establishing the roles of all critical characters involved and their relationships with each other. Marty realizes he’s about to get beat up, so he runs outside and breaks a kid’s box scooter, turning it into a skateboard to escape Biff and his friends. Everyone in the 1950s can hardly believe their eyes. Loraine describes Marty as "an absolute dream." When I watch this scene, I see that Marty is adventurous, clever, and brave.

The dialogue in this scene seems somewhat believable for the era. The phrase “he’s an absolute dream” is a 50s term. Everyone's reactions to Marty's extreme skateboarding makes me believe they're naive and haven't seen anything like it before.

Back to the Future is a story about a regular teenage guy from the 1980s who travels back in time to the 1950s. Both time era sets are great representations of suburban life during those times. The set for the 1950s portion of the movie is fun and campy - an exaggerated play on 50s lifestyle. As far as the props are concerned, those seem to be less realistic, but fit into the playfulness of the movie and the Professor’s outlandish inventions. The movie begins with a modern teenage boy’s lifestyle (modern for the 1980s). Once he travels back to the 50s, it shows the viewers a very different world. I think this movie was made to remind everyone how far our society had already advanced since 1950.

The costumes and outfits for the characters fit the theme of the movie appropriately. The costumes in the 1980s timeline were traditionally modern for that time. During the 1950s timeline, everyone’s costumes were reflective of that era. Marty McFly's outfit was typical of teenage boy from the 1980s. The Professor was styled with a lab coat and Albert Einstein-like hair, leading us to believe he was a silly scientist. Young George's outfit was bland and fit his awkward shyness. Young Biff's outfit was more confident and showed off his athleticism. Finally, Young Loraine's outfit was innocent and tasteful for the 1950s era.

When you think about it, Back to the Future is almost like having to produce two movies in one. There is the 1980s version and the 1950s version. Each era needed its own set and costume design. The script needed to be altered with slang that was popular during two separate timelines. There was so much work that went into such a fun and enjoyable movie.
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Citation

 “File:Back-to-the-Future-Logo.svg.” Category:Heidentor (Carnuntum) - Wikimedia Commons, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Back-to-the-future-logo.svg.

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