Singin' in the Rain 

Opening Image: Don and Lina arrive at the red carpet premiere of their newest movie and are met by a reporter. Don does all of the talking and explains the story of how he became an actor and started working with Lina.
Catalyst: At the party, there was a man who introduced the idea of movies with sound and showed a short film of himself speaking.
Midpoint: After the disastrous initial showing of The Dueling Cavalier as a talking movie, Kathy, Cosmo, and Don have the idea of turning the movie into a musical and having Kathy sing for Lina.
All is Lost: Lina intends to have Kathy voice all of her future parts, and plans on suing R.F. if he doesn't follow through.
Finale: The audience loves the premiere of The Dancing Cavalier and wants Lina to sing live. Kathy sings for Lina from behind the curtain, only to have Cosmo, Don, and R.F. pull back the curtain, exposing Kathy to the audience. Cosmo takes Kathy's place singing and the whole audience knows that Lina was a fraud. Kathy tries to run away, but Don directs the audience to stop her because, "She's the real star of the show."

Genre: Musical/Dance- Singing in the Rain included themes of love, success, and wealth.

Explicit Meaning: As movies were turning into "talkies" not all actors were able to keep up their success, while others accepted the challenge and hired diction coaches and other new actors with great voices.
Implicit Meaning: Always do what you love and stay true to your heart, don't be afraid to follow your dreams. But always keep your dignity. 

1927: The world of Hollywood was shaken as "talkies" were suddenly becoming popular. Sets had to include recording studios and actors had to learn how to talk into the microphone with specific lines, rather than saying whatever they want during a silent film. Actors with bad voices lost their fame because they weren't able to continue making movies unless they could convince someone else to speak for them. Diction coaches, live actors, and recording equipment sales skyrocketed due to the immediate need to switch from silent movies to "talkies" in order to keep audiences interested.
1952: During 1952 the United States was just booming with the baby boom, boom of subarbs, and the economy boom. Because of this a happy, joyful movie Singin' in the Rain was created and made to reflect the postwar euphoria. 

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace Beats and Dialogue 

Dialogue- in Amazing Grace was used almost constantly throughout the movie. During sessions, the men would speak and be either approved or not by the noises and words of the other men in their seats. It was used to show whether they agreed or disagreed on what the speaker was proposing, with their unintelligible words becoming louder based off of how strongly they felt about the bills being proposed. The lack of dialogue was also able to send its own message and to cause the audience to reflect on what the movie is trying to tell us by what it isn't saying or through a brief sentence and then a pause, such as during the dinner when Wilberforce is told, "You can do both."

ACT 1

Opening Image- Wilberforce "saves the cat" by riding along in the rain and stopping to help save a horse from being beaten. Afterwards, you see that Wilberforce appears to be rich and you find out that he is known for giving speeches in London. He also commonly has nightmares and must take pain medication due to his colitis while staying in his family's home. His family sets him up on a blind date with a woman who holds the same ideals as Wilberforce, though the date does not go particularly well. You find out that Wilberforce vehemently opposes slavery during a poker game where a black man is being used as money to wager with, and he leaves with his friend Pitt. Wilberforce finds God and then discusses with Pitt about changing the government.
Theme- While talking with Pitt, Wilberforce decides that they are going to "Change the world."
Set Up- The initial idea of wanting to get rid of slavery is the main set up, however there are many smaller ones such as how Wilberforce can no longer sing, as well as the bottle joke with Miss Spooner.
Catalyst- At the slavery dinner, Wilberforce is told that, "You can do both."
Debate- Whilst trying to make his decision, Wilberforce chooses to visit Johnny at the church who proceeds to give him the advice that he should go for it and stop the slave trade.
Break Into 2- Wilberforce decides that he is going to help the people wanting to abolish the slave trade.

ACT 2

B-Story- This is the romantic point in the story where the family and Miss Spooner collect for lunch at his family's home and we have the payoff to the bottle joke made earlier. After lunch, Spooner and Wilberforce walk around the yard talking and further convincing Wilberforce to go with his gut and fight for the slaves.
Fun & Games- Wilberforce and Pitt make multiple arguments and attempts to bring up how the slave trade is unethical. Outside of Parliament, Pitt brings many people onto his ship for a meal, only to find out that it was a ploy for Wilberforce to make another argument against the slave trade, this time while standing on the deck of the Madagascar, a slave ship that has just dropped off new slaves from Africa, which is parked next to Pitt's ship. As he gives his argument, the smell of death radiates to the passengers of Pitt's ship, making the argument appear more valid. Pitt and Wilberforce collect more followers who hold meetings together to discuss their next move.
Midpoint- Fox signs the petition to abolish slavery in the midst of a Parliament session.
Bad Guys Close In- There are extreme arguments against the proposed bill to abolish slavery, and Wilberforce's friendship with Pitt becomes strained.
All Is Lost- The bill is officially rejected in court.
Dark Night of the Soul- Wilberforce talks again with Barbra Spooner about what has been happening in court and with the slaves in general.
Break Into 3- Wilberforce decides that he needs to go back to London.

ACT 3

Finale- Wilberforce and Spooner are married and Wilberforce visits Johnny again to see him with a scribe, writing down the story of what happened when he was in charge of a slave ship and his 20,000 ghosts. Pitt gets sick and dies. Then Wilberforce "cheats" by giving all of the men opposing the slave trade free tickets to the races at the same time that the votes are taken and counted for appealing the slave trade. The bill passes this time! "The slave trade is no more."
Final Image-Wilberforce's life was talked about through text on the screen about how he continued to fight for various rights until his death. Military men play the song, "Amazing Grace" on bagpipes as the movie comes to a close.


Deus ex Machina Moment- was when the men left for the races, rather than casting their votes, causing for there to be far more votes in favor of getting rid of the slave trade.

Setup/Payoff- where Wilberforce was unable to sing caused for an uproar of emotion within the audience, myself included, when Barbra called for the song to be sung at their wedding and Wilberforce was able to sing again. More specifically, the fact that Barbra chose the song, "Amazing Grace" was a payoff and a setup for how the song affects the story at many different stages. First with the title of the movie, with Johnny, then at the wedding, and the song is used again for the final image of the movie. The song was a constant sort of setup and payoff for itself throughout the movie as it was used to describe different moments of self-reflection.

Batman Begins Beats

ACT 1

Opening Image: In this initial scene of the movie, you learn who Bruce and Rachel are as they play around the yard as young children. From this scene you can notice that Bruce was born into a very wealthy family. It soon flashes to a more recent time period where Bruce spends his time out on the streets, seeming to fight evil. Around this point in time is also when we first meet Ra's Al Ghul.
Theme: "Become more than just a vigilante." The theme behind Batman Begins is for Bruce to make a legend of himself.
Setup: The first setup of the movie takes place during the childhood flashback where Bruce is terrified of bats. Within a few moments, there is another setup where Bruce gives back the arrowhead he stole from Rachel. Later Bruce gives a coat to a homeless man who states "This is a nice coat." Further along in the movie there are more setups where Rachel tells Bruce "It's what you do that defines you.", "Didn't you get the memo?", and "Our company's future is secure."
Catalyst: At this point in the movie, Bruce has just asked his parents if they could leave the opera early and when they walk out of the theater they are immediately greeted by a man trying to mug the family. Despite throwing his wallet on the ground, the mugger shoots both Bruce's father and mother, leaving them dead as he runs off. At this point, Bruce's life is changed forever.
Debate: The initial debate takes place when the man who killed Bruce's parents is going back to court for the possibility of being granted parole. Bruce does not agree with this and wants to take revenge against the man who killed his parents by keeping a gun in his jacket so that he can shoot the mugger as he leaves the courtroom. However, this does not take place because upon walking up to the mugger, someone else suddenly shoots and kills the mugger. This causes Bruce to leave the court area and drive downtown where the town's mobster takes residence. Before going in to the building, however, Bruce realizes that he could never kill anyone (this is also a setup for later in the film as Bruce is training) and he throws his gun into the water before going into the mobster's shop. While Bruce does get beaten up a little bit, he also tells Falcone that he is not afraid of him.
Break Into Two: Bruce leaves Gotham for years, catching up with what was going on during the opening image where he meets Ra's Al Ghul and Ducard and begins training with them to potentially become part of the League of Shadows. However, at one point they ask for Bruce to execute a man(this is the payoff we set up for by throwing the gun in the water earlier), and Bruce states that he can not do it, instead he lights the building on fire and gets himself and Ducard out. Bruce brings Ducard back to his burnt down house and makes the decision to leave and return home to Gotham. 

ACT 2

B-Story: During the B-Story we initially meet  and allow for some character development of Dr. Crane, Gordon, and Fox. This is also the point in time where Bruce "comes back from the dead." 
Fun & Games: Bruce makes his way back to Wayne Enterprises and decides to go snooping in the Applied Sciences department. Bruce works together with Fox to get together all of the different equipment necessary to build the Bat Cave, Batman Suit, and even the Bat mobile.
Midpoint:After playing around with his new toys, Batman makes his first real impression by taking down Falcone and leaving him chained up to a light in the shape of a bat. (This is a setup for the later creation of the Bat Signal in the next movies.) 
All Is Lost: Ducard comes back explaining that he is trying to purge the city of Gotham and sets the Wayne Manor on fire, after Scarecrow is blasted by his own fear gas, all of the other prisoners are set free, and finally a large log falls on top of Bruce, making it seem as though this is how Bruce is going to die.  
Dark Night of the Soul: "I wanted to save Gotham, I failed."
Break Into 3: Batman makes the decision that he is going to go and fight the gas and Ducard.

ACT 3

Finale: Batman fights Ducard on the monorail and when it appears the the monorail is going to make it to the Wayne Enterprises and release the gas throughout the entire city, Gordan suddenly clears the path by causing the monorail track to break and fall apart as he is driving the Bat mobile. Ducard is left on the train to fall off the tracks and die as Batman gets out and gets away. Fox is placed back on the board at Wayne enterprises, firing Earle and taking his job. Bruce goes back to his home where he kisses Rachel and they walk of smiling. 
Final Image: Various people are walking around looking at the ruins of the Wayne Manor and Bruce states that he intends to rebuild the manor just as it was before.

Deus ex Machine Moment
During Batman Begins the  Deus ex Machina moment took place when Gordan drove the Bat mobile, breaking the monorail so that it would fall off the tracks before reaching Wayne Enterprises and releasing the fear gas throughout the city. 

Favorite Setups
One of my favorite setups was when Bruce gave his coat to the homeless man so that later in the movie it could be payed off by Batman when he sees the homeless man while fighting and states, "Nice coat." providing some comic relief before taking off again to finish fighting off the bad guys.

The way Rachel found out who Batman really is was also a good setup/payoff. Earlier in the movie Rachel was talking to Bruce about how, "It's what you do that defines you." So when Rachel tries to figure out who Batman really is, he just has to repeat that line and suddenly Rachel was able to realize who he really is.