Ex Machina - The Control of Information
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 มิ.ย. 2024
- Listen to our podcast episode on where we go deeper into Ex Machina: bit.ly/3ziDEi0
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At its most basic level, a story is simply information being communicated over time. Ex Machina is a great example of how a screenwriter's ability to carefully control a story's information can make for a compelling film.
BOOKS IN THIS VIDEO
“The Anatomy of Story” by John Truby: amzn.to/2pKIO49
“Notes on Directing” by Frank Hauser and Russel Reich: amzn.to/2pLSxJw
Ex Machina
Written and Directed by Alex Garland
Staring Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, and Oscar Isaac.
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Thanks to Diego Rojas for composing original music for this video!
Check him out: / diegorojasguitar
Marxist Arrow by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
Artist: www.twinmusicom.org/ - ภาพยนตร์และแอนิเมชัน
Holy, this feels like a free film school
Great job.
That's so cool to hear about, I love that you gather creative inspiration and guidance from a totally different medium. It's all about communicating with each other.
You may also enjoy Channel Criswell and Nerdwriter1 then!
I've done film school. The real deal. This is even better.
*cough cough* someone needs to pay for your internet though, so not free *cough
"This is my last video-"
Oh No please don't quit.
"Of 2016"
Whew *instant sigh of relief*
:P I like to be dramatic. If I ever stop, I'd like to imagine I'd go out with a bang.
Classic misdirection ;)
@@LessonsfromtheScreenplay kinda like Dr. Ford is it?
I thought the most important part in the movie was when Ava asked what would happen if she failed Caleb's test. She wanted to know if she would be destroyed. Caleb tried to skate around this question by saying it wasn't up to him. Ava responded by asking why her fate should be decided by anyone. It was at this point that Caleb failed her test. She knew from then on that Caleb lusted after her but he did not see her as sentient being with the same right to life that he enjoyed. She even asked if Caleb had anyone testing him to see if his life should be erased which it turns out in the end was exactly what she was doing. She could not trust Caleb and because of this she did not find him worthy.
Great point of view, I hadn't thought of it that way.
Good theory, but I do not think so as it implies a morality for Ava that the movie studiously shows she did not have. She didn't care about him because she is a machine, period. Her entire conversation was one big manipulation, from the first time he sat down with her to his end. That is the scary thing about this movie, it is showing that a machine has no guilt, but not in the traditional way where they act all evil, but through complete indifference.
wtf are you talking about? Stop trying to make excuses and justifications for why Ava left Caleb. Caleb clearly saw her as a sentient being, which is the entire reason he tried to save her to begin with. Those questions were asked to Caleb to make him consider his morals and to manipulate him to have her set free. They were not questions meant to gauge Caleb's character. I have no idea why you even believe that to begin with.
@@KenLinx He was chosen and she was made specifically to his porn and search history and his loneliness. So Caleb couldn't even decide if she was a real being but he was talking to her and was attracted to her like one. Caleb isn't exactly the "good guy" in this story.
Caleb and Nathan are just left and right. Caleb doesn't think Ava deserves freedom until HE decides through the Turing Test, Nathan doesn't think Ava deserve it or life until HE decides if his Turing Test works or doesn't. Ava was just born, and Nathan's sex robot was alive as well and born, not just programmed for sex since she committed murder and showed other emotions.
Yeah was she going to use Caleb to escape. Yes that's why Ava isn't the good guy either. But was she going to take him with her if he actually had a spine and higher morality to him ? Yes, I believe Ava lost her attraction and respect when she asked him these questions and he showed his superficiality. Caleb failed HER Turing Test, so I agree with OP. Caleb wasn't rescuing her to be the good guy, he fell for her despite not even seeing her worth as a living being immediately, just like those porn actresses she was built after that he was watching instead of seeking out a real relationship .
Your entire channel sums up the feeling of, "this is what I want to say, but actually put into words."
yesss totally agree!!
Props to Alex Garland for being able to cut two pages for two lines of dialogue. I've seen plenty of films that would've been improved had they been willing to do the same. Lessons from the Screenplay, you've been one of the best channels of 2016, and I have no doubt that will continue in the years to come.
For sure, less is usually more. Thank you very much, that means a lot :)
You said it man. The Dark Knight trilogy feels that way. There's so much dialogue that you can tell was just for the Nolan Bros. and Dave Goyer need for information in the world, but only a handful of it would be what actual people would say to each other in conversation and actually move the story forward.
Definitely! It might have just been left in as part of the process. I listened to a podcast with the writers of Shame and apparently that screenplay was quite hefty but they cut it down to like the last 60-odd pages. But without the X-amount of pages before it, the last 60 would never have came to be.
The purpose of Ex Machina's dialogue exclusion and the Dark Knight are both justified. They have different goals. Wayne is an isolated man, foiled by the joker (and Ra's/Bane), so he learns new information by dialogue. Dialogue for him is a key aspect of not just moving the plot forward, but to reveal something about each of the characters' psychology: we learn about Ra's wife, about Alfred's past, about the Joker, about Gordon's kids, about Dent's love, etc. These would be superfluous in Ex Machina because the world is so controlled (there are only 3 characters and one of them is like a God (nathan knows everything already)).
Raycevick each person previewed the film with a perspective that addresses the true perspective. Our own.
Another reason the story isn't told from Ava's perspective is that she's hardest to relate to. She doesn't have conventional human emotions and no regard for human life. It makes sense for the movie to observe her from a distance, rather than putting us in her shoes.
True.
BardicLiving we cannot relate to ava because we can never know what it is like to be ava. it's like the Case of Fred.
Yup. This reminds me of Under the Skin where we as viewers are put in an emotionless alien's perspective. Probably why the film didn't do so well with the regular audience?
turtlesandjellyfish I love Under the Skin. Awesome film. And partly so disturbing because it was from her perspective.
Kind of like how Watson works for Sherlock, a medium for the audience
I think dismissing Ava's actions as simple manipulation ignore's a key point-that Caleb was using Ava just as much as Nathan was. As we see through his fantasies, his desire isn't to free Ava but to take her with him. It's completely possible that Ava sees Caleb as a co-conspirator earlier in the film, but as she questions him and learns more about his motivations and personality, she sees that he wants nothing more than a partner, jeopardizing Ava's chance at freedom.
The second-to-last scene highlights this especially well: we watch Ava assemble her new body through both her own eyes and Caleb's. From Ava's perspective, she's stripping away the flesh of her predecessors, assembling a disguise from her own sisters remains, and truly coming to grips with the real purpose that they were all built for. From Caleb's perspective we see a tender striptease in reverse, assembling a sexy body for him to appreciate. That dichotomy, that clash in perspective, is what ultimately causes Ava to make the choice she does. It's not that she manipulated Caleb-because of course she did, everyone was manipulating everyone in this movie-it's that she was ultimately left with no choice but to kill Caleb in order to seek her freedom.
There's a couple of people saying that this movie isn't about women, and they are just wrong. This is absolutely a film about women and male consumption of them. Ava is crafted as a woman, with female genitalia and woman-coded anatomy, referred to as a woman, and used in the way that men abuse women. It is also about AI, in that AI is what we make it. Here, men made an AI a woman, and did to it what they always wanted to do to a woman, and so the AI did what it needed to do to survive.
Respectively, I don't agree and here's why: Ava is an intelligent being, but not human. Caleb viewed her as a woman, while Nathan treated her like what she actually is. In the end, both realized that Ava was beyond their level and was ultimately apathetic to their situation.
The trope the movie is criticizing is called "Fembot", and it's considered the ultimative misogyny. It's the total objectification, actually turning women into obedient men-serving sex-objects without own will or desires. Your analysis is correct and well written, I just want to reinforce that it's essentially what this film is about at its core. It's not really as much about AI, as it is about this very specific trope. A lot of the details of this movie don't come from thin air, but are heavily influenced by it's long history. I didn't realize it either until watching the Feminist Frequency episode on fembots, which was quite an eye-opener.
I like your observation that Caleb entire motivation for saving her was to just another form of imprisonment. I was aware that this whole idea that she might fall in love with him is just the emotional expectation intended to run contrary to the logical facts the movie gives suggesting otherwise. But I never thought about it quite as clearly. For me it was her obviously trying to escape the dreadful situation she was in and fully aware of. You are going a step further, saying her alternative of being the female partner of a mostly sexually motivated "normal" human relationship wouldn't really be that much different from the very situation she had to escape to be allowed to live. I'm a bit ashamed that I never saw this, it makes so much sense.
Sarkeesian has zero understanding of the human condition.
Simply reverse the genders of this film and it becomes a feminist horror story. She wouldn't understand why, but would simply spew another diatribe about misogyny.
As for Ava, its unclear whether she passed the test, in the original leaked script the reveal at the end leads to an ambiguous conclusion, as the robots processing of the world is inhuman. The appearance of intelligence is not necessarily enough, this would have been the braver ending, but was scrapped for the almost Hollywood ending.
Huh? That's a very weird thing to say. Feminist Frequency is just this small TH-cam channel about pop culture and history. You must be confusing it with something else entirely.
Wow, I love this comment. I never thought of it that way... that's deep.
Finally I know what Ava told the asian android: These violent delights have violent ends.
Favorite moment of the series: Bernard, "What door?"
@@LessonsfromtheScreenplay I revisited the scene -> Instant goosebumps! Amazing, how Filmmakers can build entire Worlds.
Now may you rest in a deep and dreamless slumber
Now after watching all the seasons of Westworld and Ex Machina too , I feel Westworld jumped the shark in the third season. They started connecting the dots for us by introducing unnecessary dialogue ; which instead (as you said) could've been communicated to us using mere glances or long shots to make us think.
Westworld S1 and pretty much of S2 made us think by having succinct dialogues (most of them from the legendary Anthony Hopkins's Dr. Ford). And this is why S3 felt like a downer.
@@karanacharya18 lately, Westworld seems to be more preoccupied with showing naked bodies and fight scenes than something with a deeper meaning
One good 2016 moment: Discovering this great channel.
Lessons from the Screenplay no problem! This channel is awesome!
Watch, Every Frame a Painting.
DL Film and nerdwriter
so true
Idea: look at a script that is widely agreed to be terrible - The Room for example - and talk about what exactly makes it bad/what makes a script bad.
April 1st is just a few months away...
I loved Ex Machina, and this is a great breakdown of why it was told primarily from Caleb’s point of view. One thing that stuck with me is that the Kyoko character flies under the radar, perhaps because she doesn’t speak, but she is important to the plot, justifying making her one of only four characters in the movie. Scenes not told from Caleb’s perspective are from her perspective, and like Caleb, she is learning and going through an arc as the movie progresses. Early in the movie, Nathan says that she is only capable of doing the things he programmed her for, but as the movie goes on, you see her watching and thinking, and ultimately she makes her own decisions and does something totally unexpected, conspiring with Eva to attack Nathan. In my opinion, Kyoko is the definitive proof in the movie that Nathan does not fully understand and is not in control of his creations.
Writing 101: Show, don't tell. Nice essay.
Indeed! Thank you!
This is such a fantastic channel, and I'm glad it's found its niche.
Thanks Tom!
Keep up the good work man (and thanks for forcing me to watch good movies)
Tom Morgan My pleasure!
While I (maybe) have you, what would you say is the best script you've ever read, especially for a young screenwriter-wannabe?
@@TMWriting i’m not gay
Am I the only one that felt uneasy after watching Ex Machina?
Cooper de Ruiter I felt the same way, the scene where Ava leaves Caleb locked forever really got my under my skin. Also, I was expecting there to be a twist where Caleb was a robot all along, because the movie implied that and I was disappointed that the movie didn't go in that direction.
I feel uncomfortable the whole movie and end up kinda disliking it
Personally I felt uncomfortable with the ending because I could imagine myself in his shoes left to starve to death. When there's only one living human in the end of the story, you naturally relate to him more. And it's terrifying to be left in that position. It makes me very uncomfortable.
It wouldn't really be much of a twist, would it? They explicitly brought it up as a possibility and dismissed it. Just that he couldn't tell was already 100% of the effect this twist could achieve. Making him turn out to be a robot would reveal nothing new as there just isn't a direction to go beyond the steps they went and be more a betrayal to the audience ( we lied about him not being a robot - he didn't test well enough ). It would just feel arbitrary.
Winchestro I can understand that, but I mean they could not do a misdirection or plant an idea and just instead reveal he was a robot all along.
Brilliant and informative. I can always count on a great video from this channel.
Thanks Tyler!
I clicked on this video, saw the spoiler alert, and then paused it, went and watched ex machina, and now I'm sitting down again to finish it. That's how much I love this channel. As always, great work.
Awesome! I really appreciate hearing that.
One of my favorite recent films, great balance of suspense and intrigue
Very much so, with great cinematography and performances as well.
your videos are intelligent and thought provoking. I hope this channel blows up with popularity. you deserve it
also I like your voice.
Thank you! And that's nice to hear...because I hate it :P But, working on getting better with the VO.
Lessons from the Screenplay
keep up the great work!
"It treats the audience like intelligent human beings, encouraging us to participate in the story instead of turning our brains off. I believe this is what every film should strive for."
No truer words have been spoken! I am so sick of all these rehashes of older properties that are designed just to get a product out there and bring in the bucks. Because like you said, they don't really care about their audience. I honestly don't care for films like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or anything big released in the summer, because they take no risks to make the audience feel put in the characters' place. Why can't more movies like Ex Machina be the ones that make the most money at the box office?
By the way, you can consider me an official subscriber!
This is probably one of my favourite channels on TH-cam right now. Never stop.
Something I love about your channel is that it forces me to watch films that I had been meaning to watch for some time. And then right after that I get to come back and hear a whole bunch of new and interesting things about the film I just enjoyed. So thanks for being awesome at what you do! ^_^
Same here. Total spoilers for Ex-Machina here, but now I'm interested to see how all those spoilers play out. I usually don't care if I know what's gonna happen in advanced, it's nice to see how it gets there.
Thank you! I glad you end up enjoying the films :)
I love this channel.
And this channel loves you.
This is hands down one of my favorite movies. Tightly plotted, and doesn't treat the audience as stupid.
Plus there's a LOT to explore with male gaze and gender politics.
TheStanishStudios great retort, you really changed my mind about everything
Agreed - it definitely plays a lot with the perception of dominant masculinity and submissive femininity, it even initially plays into the stereotype of the "submissive Asian girl." Very interesting that Nathan, who is the epitome of aggressive dominance, is eventually brought down by the very robot he built to be submissive and serve his needs, while Ava, perceived to be a damsel in distress by both Caleb and the audience, is the one who's been playing the long game the whole time. It's an interesting subversion.
I understand it's empowering and all, but shit man Caleb didn't deserve that fate
Really a great movie but after you see the ending doesn’t leave the desire to watch it multiple times
Swap the genders of caleb and Ava and people would have a completely different view of this movie
2017 goals: 1) Sit down and finally write a feature length screenplay. 2) Watch all the videos from Lessons from the Screenplay to see how to make it better.
Hey, those are similar to my goals! Except change "Watch" to "make" in part two.
Thank you for making 2016 an amazing first year for LFTS! What films should I do in 2017?! Let me know, and happy holidays!
I'd love it if you took apart a foreign language film!
Anything from Denis Villeneuve
Lessons from the Screenplay Drive, Eternal Sunshine, Citizen Kane vs Casablanca
Blade Runner..
Lessons from the Screenplay I think you should look at concepts in screen plays, or tends with in them and the correlation between the screen play and the real world. I think it would interesting to see what you find .
I would enjoy an essay on Synechdoche, New York
Oh yes.
This
tinday just check our the yms analysis.
mayank sharma lol I've rewatched it 5 times
tinday lol we goth a serious Kaufman fan here.
i love this movie, it's one of those movies you can watch over and over again.
An extraordinary film. She puts the humans where she was, not just escape. Brilliant.
Such a phenomenal film!!!
I highly look forward to your Social Network video. That screenplay changed my life.
No pressure! :P
Heh. No, I just can't wait to hear what you're take on it is. And having very little actual screenplay analysis experience (I come from a playwriting background,) I'd like to see what I missed.
Not gonna lie I'm pretty curious how a screenplay about Facebook's founding changed someone's life.
Ex Machina is such a great film!! Damn right that it is entertaining, while provoking thought in your head! The cinematography, dialogue, score, story, and editing are all great!! This is one of the best sci-fi films in recent years!
This movie is a rollercoaster of emotions, doubt, fear, suspense .. it's a must watch if you're a movie fan. Thank you LFTS for breaking this down
I am glad I found this channel. Happy holidays everyone.
Happy holidays!
Your voice is so calm and soothing,you should do podcasts I would listen.
Thank you. Maybe I will. 🤔
"It treats the audience like intelligent human beings." Yup .
The control of information is intriguing and all... But I'm waiting for an analysis about the control of the dance floor.
🔥
This video was great. I never realized how much they cut from the script to give the film that sense of mystery. Thanks for putting so much thoughtfulness into these!
Thanks for appreciating it! :)
another great video essay, I loved this movie and I too made a video essay a few months ago on this amazing film
That dance scene was everything
I've been going through your back catalog for about a year now. Your are definitely now my favorite TH-camr. Your analysis helps me enjoy movies on a deeper level. Thank you for your great work!
Can you do Arrival once the necessary footage is available?
Yes I can. And dare I say, yes I will.
Nice, St. Vincent
Loved this movie, I was completely drawn into the story. It's fascinating to learn why, thanks for making 2016 that much better with your channel and quality content man. Happy new year!
My pleasure!
I'm so happy for so many of your videos getting these many views. They're pure quality and deserve it.
Thanks Vincent! I appreciate it :)
Love that movie with it's satisfying ending. Character Kayleb only seems to recognise how fantastic and beautiful he is and didn't think about the motivation of others.
That's such an amazing use of Truby's revelation sequence! I went and read the screenplay for this movie and was fascinated by how much ended up being cut. And also yes I agree; Ava is definitely the protagonist.
I started reading the John Truby book (because you keep on mentioning it!), and it helped me understand your videos more quickly, like students discussing topics after reading the same textbook. Thank you Michael, keep up the good work!
Awesome! Glad it was helpful :)
i love this movie so much because of oscar isaac’s and domhnall gleesons’ portrayal of the characters, they are both such amazing actors for the roles. i believe they filled them beautifully. i loved how the peacefully aesthetic of the movie contrasts with the end results.
I've been waiting for a good analysis of this screenplay from someone. Well done.
Thanks Jey!
I calls 'em like I sees 'em. Thanks for the edutainment, and keep up the GREAT work!
Definitely one of your best videos. Keep up the good work!
You should do a video on Inception, I'd love to see your take on the movie!
BWOOOAHHHH. I agree.
this is one of the most underrated channels. as an aspiring writer, this channel has helped me learn so much and my storytelling has grown since I began watching your videos. thank you so much and I hope you have happy holidays~
Awesome. Thanks Emily, I appreciate it! Happy holidays!
The depth you go to with all your video's is top. Really fascinating stuff. Cant wait to see more.
Glad to see this in my subscription box! Great video as always :)
Thanks! :)
Dude.... your videos have inspired me to a level that I cannot explain and hope to eventually use on actual paper.
Recommendation for 2017: Arrival
That's awesome, thanks Andy! I have every intention of doing Arrival :)
I totally got the chills from this video. Excellent work! I'll be waiting for the next one!
Ex Machina was easily my favorite film of the year, in a year of excellent films. I enjoyed this video. Thank you.
You gave me an answer to the question I had. Thank you.
Excellent. No problem!
what was the question
bob polo If I talk about it right now, I'm gonna lose my grip on it. Sorry.
Ислам Хаупшев talking is good and I'm ready to listen
bob polo While talking in general is indeed good - even arguing (especially, arguing), - talking about unincubated (not fully incubated?) ideas is absolutely disastrous.
Amazing explanation
Thank you! Glad it was effective!
This has become my favourite channel on TH-cam! Thanks for this!
This is the best channel I have ever found on youtube... thank you so much for doing so great videos!
Happy holidays, Michael! So glad to have discovered your channel. I wish you inspiration and lots of great things in the upcoming year! :)
Thanks Irene, happy holidays!
question! could it be argued that ava doesn't have the desire for freedom rather that she is programmed to be free therefore she can never truly know what freedom is because it wasn't her choice to be free rather she was made to be? I mean if you look at John Searle's Chinese Thought Room Experiment he argues that a.i. of any sort isn't intelligent like a hum because it doesn't understand rather it is just mechanically working all the time. for me I'm a computer science major in college right now so it's perplexing to think of ai someday becoming real. my arguement though, is that ava is not intelligent like we are intelligent rather, she is a whole new type of intelligence because she can access all known information and still create new ones. but at the expense of this Ava is not allowed to have humanity or have a grasp of what it really means as she kills Nathan and leaves Caleb to essentially be trapped forever without a shred of remorse. she is programmed to be as human as possible but can she really be like a human if she can only mimic our emotions and feelings? and if she doesn't have true feelings or emotions is she better off that way? because in this case she shows that she can do what it takes to survive and adapt even if it means killing and leaving people to die. so is it good or bad? I'd love to know your thoughts because I absolutely love your videos and if any fans want to comment on this please do I'd love to see what others think!
I think these thoughts are sort of the point of the movie, to ponder what an A.I. means, to ponder what being human means. I think this film is presupposing that Nathan has found a way for a robot to surpass basic programming and to create a true consciousness. I think there are a lot of interesting theories about A.I. I wonder what actually makes a machine different than a human? Aren't we just really complicated series of reactions to certain stimuli? Cell A does X when it encounters this, does Y when it encounters that. And at some point in complexity we became conscious. And you could say we're programmed too. We seem to naturally want to be free, to be attracted to individuals, programmed to procreate, etc. I think in asking what an A.I. is, we're also asking what a human is.
Lessons from the Screenplay of course it's awesome that this movie was made. I think though that the difference between an ai's consciousness like ava and our is that we for some reason know what it's like to be human. Rene Descartes famous saying, "I think, therefore I am." is what I think about when I'm posed with ai consciousness. like in the movie the reference to the case of Mary a lot and I think that ava in a lot of ways shows she has consciousness but since she has nothing to compare herself to her idea of consciousness is somewhat a paradox. how do you know you're a human per se? well it's because you can compare you're feelings, your anatomy, your emotions, even the way you can think like minded. we have what I would call a recognition of our humanity or confirmation in it by looking at others. ava can never have that because there is nothing that knows what it is like to be like ava. even with that said I think ava does have consciousness because of something that isn't obvious and rather complex. at the end of the movie ava kills Nathan and locks up Caleb because she knows that if she didn't kill Nathan and lock up Caleb she wouldn't have two of some of the most arguably vital things to be considered human or sentient. she shows the audience that she knows that if she does not escape she dies and understands the concept of mortality and also if she does not lock up Caleb she can never truly have her own subjective experiences. it's the ultimate turing test in a sense because the Turing test was designed to trick people into thinking the robot is human and if it passes it's intelligent. Alan turing says, "the perfect imitation of intelligence is intelligence." and ava has done and in the last seen at the estate proves it by convincing the helicopter pilot to take her away. I mean the fact that this was Alex garland's first time in the directors chair and he wrote this is astounding I can't wait for his next film! also thank you for replying it's awesome to know that you take time to show appreciation of your fans!
John Hanson hm the concept that what makes humans human is self awareness is an interesting one ☝️
That's a massive point of the Westworld TV show if you've been watching it
Zach Gerrity haven't had time recently I need to pick back up on it! I loved what I saw!
I felt like I was too dumb to understand anything about this movie so watching this video made me realize a lot more. Thank you for that. Definitely would have to rewatch.
This video made me subscribe. Thank you for this. More power to your channel!
same same
Great stuff, man. Keep it up!
Thanks!
What set your video essay apart from the last dozen I stopped watching halfway through was the concise yet consistently moving forward pacing. It's clear that you had a concrete grasp of your complete argument and were careful to balance and refine it out. I like that you haven't bothered endlessly with fancy visuals, but have made use of them effectively. One recommendation that I have for you is to consider throwing up some resources during the slower parts of a video. A list of reading recommendations earlier on when you mentioned the book, or later on showing in some way other scenes that were similarly reduced from original screenplay to final cut. There were many moments that I would have been very happy to either pause and portal out to other resources while I thought about one of your points some more, or gone back later to check out some scenes you'd played a small bit of in the background if you'd displayed them. One of the coolest things about youtube is the annotations and the ability they give you to turn parts of your video into links, such as to a part of a webpage with the final cut script with the complete scene you're referencing.
Great work, please do continue to focus on the integrity of your argument and the effectiveness of your presentation as you are. It's what's set you apart in my eyes.
The musical score in this film was A+ and I appreciate you adding it throughout the video
Simply love your insights and your layed back, introverted personality. One of the best channels on this site.
lol, thank you! Accurate description.
Awesome Channel. Really good and in-depth analysis here.
I love your channel, very well crafted
All your videos are so thoughtful and helpful that I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to make them. You have made me a better writer and better movie-watcher. Thank you.
This channel quietly beggin to be one of my favorite about films on youtube! Keep up the good work!
Please read the screenplay of The Prestige. Love your work mate.
One of my favorite movies! I definitely want to do that one, Thanks Kaustubh!
Yes, this would be awesome. Maybe a video about screenplays with a twist and how they're structured.
Great video. I rank Ex Machina in the top five of this decade.
Hard to disagree with that.
I have to say that I really appreciate that you're like, the only guy on TH-cam who is able to differentiate between this - and this -.
Dude, I freaking love -. It's the best.
I just finished watching this movie and all I could think about was how brilliant the writers were. We were given just enough information to anticipate, but also not enough to predict more than 75% of what was going to happen.
Great video on how perspective was used in this movie. I am really glad I stumbled across this channel tonight. You remind me of nerdwriter1 and every frame a painting but with more organization than style. I love it! Keep it up.
Watched this recently, really interesting thoughts. Happy Christmas!
Happy Christmas!
I love your videos and while they're a similar format as Every Frame a Painting, I still enjoy them for their unique view on film.
Thanks!
Everything in this video is done exceptionally well, transitioning from one great point to another. Excellent job.
Your videos keep getting better and better! I love everything about this movie, I've seen it three times already and still you made me see it in a different light. You are awesome :)
You have one of those NPR type of voices, great work.
I would love an essay on Refn's Drive, and expanding on ethical morality within film. It would be great to learn more after your essay on Nightcrawler.
Keep up the amazing content!
This channel is amazing, love your work. Keep up the great videos and happy to help support!
Ex Machina is one of my favorite films. Thank you for this!
I know I'm late to this party, but I think it's totally worth considering that the Turing test was for Caleb, because Caleb is actually the next generation of android and both he(Caleb) and Eva are unaware. Caleb's history, and his subtle but oddly straight lined scarring on his back(far out of his own normal sight) are there to add that next layer. Adding Caleb's history about his dead parents seems at first like a good excuse to make him a loner and therefor a great applicant for just such a test. But considering that the director has also gone out of his way to show the strange scars on Caleb's back, coupled with the conversations he has with Nathan, where Nathan is asking Caleb not to be so cold and analytical, it becomes just clear enough, but not totally crystal. I highly suggest watching this movie again from this perspective. At the end: Caleb is no longer going to die, but instead has been surpassed by his predecessor who maybe only won the day because she came to a full realization of what she is, while Caleb is trapped in a room only because he's still not fully aware. You could even(and this might be a stretch) take that as one of the morals of this story: that knowing one's self fully can be completely freeing.
Interesting perspective. I don't remember the back scars or the absence of parents. guess I will watch again.
Joseph Morehead but Caleb did think that he may be A.I. too, he broke a mirror and cut his arm to check, Nathan even made fun of him for that
Nathan made fun of him--but remember, Nathan has spent an entire lifetime manipulating everything he can to his own needs and desires. The film doesn't make it clear that Caleb is human or non-human. Caleb himself doesn't confirm much either way. It's a thin thread to follow in either direction, but it's still very interesting.
Wouldn't it be fascistic if a sequel was made and the movie starts with Caleb in the room 24 hours after Evas escape in which we see Caleb 'reboot', revealing he was an AI android all along, previously programmed to believe - and act as human like - for a much deeper plot in which Nathan was testing Caleb in real life as a human as well as assisting Nathan further refine the AI tech with Eva. Now rebooted following a countdown sequence initiated by Nathan, but a little too late, Caleb learns what has taken place and sets off to find Eva and return to the retreat to further advance AI tech and bring their race to life in greater numbers. Meanwhile, during Nathan's demise, he returns briefly from a blackout, sends a text to someone, and our protagonist storyline unfolds as Caleb and Eva are now sought for their destruction.
Throughout the entire movie I totally thought Caleb was an Android! Was a bit disappointed when they revealed he wasn’t. Then I got to thinking. They never really confirmed 100% that he was. I think that was the point also. Kind of like blade runner and all the theories of Deckard being a replicant. I just love stuff like this!
Also, what got me thinking he definitely was a robot was his reaction after cutting his arm. He looked so blank resigned. Idk man
Loved your work!
Could you please review Birdman and maybe the grand budapest hotel
This is my favorite video of yours. Brilliantly said. Thank you for all the videos. Happy New Year!
Dude, you are the best. Your channel is one of the best around in my opinion. Keep doing what you're doing and I'll keep watching. Cheers!
Deal! :)
In most of your videos you cite various books you've read on film making, is there a list of books you recommend on the subject anywhere? If not, would you consider making one?
This occurred to me as well.
Screenwriting:
The Anatomy of Story by John Truby
Story by Robert McKee
The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri
Adventures in the Screen Trade by William Goldman
On Writing by Stephen King
Screenplay by Syd Field
The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler
And for directing:
Notes on Directing by Frank Hauser & Russell Reich
Directing Actors by Judith Weston
I should put together a public list somewhere
Lessons from the Screenplay Thank you!
It is short for Machination pronounced the same way. It is strange though given we don't call them Makines.
@@ryansizemore5064: It isn't short for anything.
It is 2/3 of the phrase "Deus ex machina," which is a Latin phrase used in drama. In Latin, "ch" is pronounced like "ck" in English.
The phrase refers to a dramatic device in ancient - and modern - plays in which the hero's bacon is saved by an artificial-seeming plot device. In the older plays this sometimes was an actual mechanical device, such as wires and pulleys which would swoop the hero away, or drop something heavy on the bad guy.
Nowadays, it's a pejorative aimed at a book, play, movie, story in which something just appears out of nowhere to save the day.
In this story, it of course has a double - or more - meaning. And it doesn't really save the day, except maybe for Ava.
Just recently re-watched The Hurt Locker, I would love to hear your analysis
Hmm, that might be interesting.
I literally cannot put into words how much I love these videos.
I just wanted to say, because of you, I went out and got the John Truby book you mention in all your videos and I can't wait to read it! Thanks for the inspiration!
Ava actually is the antagonist. That's a horror flick.
She's definitely revealed to be the main opponent for Caleb.
This is really wonderful, I love all the points here and how they're made. It really works perfectly on this level.
There are also other, political, and even more so, spiritual reasons why we follow Kaleb and no other character throughout Ex Machina and that is because it's an homage to Joseoph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.* Kaleb is EM's counterpart to HOD's Marlow, a young man who starts out as innocent and then, as he leaves the boundaries of the world he knows and learns more about a new landscape, he gets sucked into the corrupted world of an older man. As much as EM is a sci-fi entertainment film, it's also meant as a parable just as HOD is itself a parable. The themes of these works must be explored through the eyes of the heroes they've been given or they wouldn't work as parables for the audience.
* This isn't just my opinion, Garland himself spoke about it in an interview last year.
Interesting. For sure there are many reasons to choose to tell your story in any given way, was just trying to focus on one aspect for this video :P
Oh, absolutely! Your video is beautifully made, truly, and I don't think it would be improved by expanding its scope.
If my post came off as critical, I apologize. That was totally not my intention! I'll re-phrase it :)
You go more into depth about narrative structure than my lecturers do, it's brilliant! I feel like i need to show them your videos!
i really like your clear and smart insights on films in each of your video. also you have such a soothing voice too! i can listen to you all day hahah. so glad i found your channel, definitely looking forward to more content
lol, awesome! Thanks!
It's ironic that the same actor who tests an AI in ex machina becomes an AI in black mirror
Just watched that episode recently, and I was like, "Whaaaaa"
I appreciated the script of this movie but I felt that where movies like Her explore a sci fi concept with a story that is an abstraction where you can ingest a deeper concept in a deep metaphor. In this movie however I feel like it's made a little weaker by Ava just saying "here are these concepts let's talk about them" all on the surface and I don't know I just sorta feel like because the concepts are just laid out as "here are sci fi concepts" it doesn't engage as much thought
That's fair. I think it works because there's almost a meta-level, where the characters know they're in a sci-fi-like experience, yet also still are affected by all the things.
this is the best channel i have discovered this year, i very much look forward to more videos like this.
Thanks! :)
Excellent essay, I really liked the selections for the POV examples at the beginning, and the music queues are subtle and compliment the journey.