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Re-phi

posted by Zed on August 7 2004 22:44

A while ago, I asked:

Much has been written about the golden ratio in art and architecture and music.

Has anyone sought it in fiction?

Well,

Howard Suber, a film historian and prof at UCLA has posited that the Golden Section is used for a great deal of storytelling, particularly in screenwriting. There is a point, which any screenwriting how to book will mention, 2 thirds of the way thru the script, where the action takes a twist: the protaganist who previously "reacted" will begin to "act". Suber calls this the one hour pivot point as it usually falls 60 minutes into a 90 minute movie (ie, at the golden section).

Suber mentions this on what I believe is the greatest film commentary ever recorded: Criterion’s laserdisc for The Graduate. Though out of print, occasionally copies can be found on ebay. I highly recommend it. I learned more about storytelling and filmmaking from Suber’s 105 minute commentary than I did in four years of film school.

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