January 31, 2023

DZ-96: Ensembles 1 - What do we mean by an ensemble?

1 hour 16 minutes

Listen if you're working on a story with multiple protagonists and want to understand what makes an ensemble different from a single-protagonist narrative

In the first part of our series on ensembles, Chas, Stu and Mel start by laying the groundwork for our future episodes. And we begin by asking the seemingly innocuous question: What do we mean by calling a story an ensemble?

As we unpack our own assumptions, biases and thoughts, we ask (and attempt to answer) more questions: How does an ensemble differ from a single protagonist or two hander? Why does this distinction even matter? What challenges What genres inherently are ensembles? And what do we hope to learn from the series?

We ice-skate over myriad films including JURASSIC PARK, ALIEN, TOP GUN vs TOP GUN: MAVERICK, DEATH AT A FUNERAL, WAR OF THE WORLDS vs INDEPENDENCE DAY, LORD OF THE RINGS vs WILLOW, OCEAN’S 11 vs OUT OF SIGHT, THIEF vs HEAT, AWAY FROM HER, DIRTY DOZEN, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, SE7EN, READY OR NOT. Look, there’s heaps. We talk a lot of movies. Thanks to Chris Walker for editing this episode. <3 Chris!

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

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→ Read the transcript for this episode.

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CHAPTERS

00:00:00 – Cold Open

00:00:09 – ScriptUp Sponsorship

00:00:48 – Intro to Ensembles: Series Scope and Episode Roadmap

00:04:17 – What Makes a Story an Ensemble?

00:07:40 – › Character interaction, not just character count, defines ensemble

00:11:39 – › Character questions and agendas as markers of individuation

00:17:09 – › How genre conventions shape ensemble versus single-protagonist focus

00:22:44 – › Structural rhythms of splitting and reassembling the group

00:26:51 – A Taxonomy of Ensemble Genres

00:29:57 – › Why heist films structurally demand an ensemble cast

00:35:41 – › Scale and disaster films as ensemble drivers

00:39:21 – › Hangout and holiday films as inherently ensemble forms

00:43:59 – › Murder mystery versus detective story on the ensemble spectrum

00:47:25 – ArcStudio Sponsorship

00:48:32 – Group Dynamics: How Characters Interact Within the Ensemble

00:53:19 – › Competitive, Combative, and Collaborative as the core dynamic framework

00:59:25 – › How couplets and shifting alliances generate ensemble momentum

01:01:20 – › Character archetypes as shorthand when screen time is compressed

01:05:15 – › Why shared context explains why these characters occupy the same story world

01:08:39 – Wrap Up & Hopeful Learnings

01:12:32 – › Cohesion, integration, and what ensemble demands of theme

01:15:15 – Patreon Thanks

FILMS

JURASSIC PARK (1993) — (w) Michael Crichton, David Koepp, Michael Crichton (d) Steven Spielberg

ALIEN (1979) — (w) Dan Obannon, Dan Obannon, Ronald Shusett (d) Ridley Scott

HEAT (1995) — (w) Michael Mann

TOP GUN: MAVERICK (2022) — (w) Eric Warren Singer, Ehren Kruger, Christopher Mcquarrie, Justin Marks, Peter Craig (d) Joseph Kosinski

OCEAN'S ELEVEN (2001) — (w) Ted Griffin (d) Steven Soderbergh

SCRIPTS

Study the script: JURASSIC PARK (1993) — Michael Crichton, David Koepp, Michael Crichton

Study the script: ALIEN (1979) — Dan Obannon, Dan Obannon, Ronald Shusett

Study the script: HEAT (1995) — Michael Mann

Study the script: TOP GUN: MAVERICK (2022) — Eric Warren Singer, Ehren Kruger, Christopher Mcquarrie, Justin Marks, Peter Craig

Study the script: OCEAN'S ELEVEN (2001) — Ted Griffin

SHOT ZERO DEEP DIVES

ALIEN Aesthetic (Pt 3) - Framing Ripley

ALIEN Aesthetic (Pt 2) - The Ensemble

ALIEN Aesthetic (Pt 1) - The Visual Strategies

▶ How does Ripley take control in Alien?

▶ Ripley invades Ash's space in Alien

▶ Facehugger attacks Ripley in Alien

▶ Why the fight choreography of Arnie's TOTAL RECALL is so good (and so brutal).