Film Analysis: Slacker 1991

“Slacker” (1991) is an independent film by director “Richard Linklater”. It's a character-based

fiction, structured with many individual scenes forming a feature film without an apparent narrative.

The film is portraying bits of everyday life of several eccentric people in Austin, Texas.

The film is built up in a way that every scene presents new characters, and after the scene is over

you will never see the same characters again. The camera floats from scene to scene by following

different characters from one location to another.

Like normal three-act-structure'd films, “Slacker” has no protagonist to lead a plot line. It's

therefore no plot to connect the scenes to each other, creating many individual scenes with their

own mini-narrative.

The scenes are linked together to a full-length film, not by a plot, but by physically travelling with

the camera around the city.

In comparison to normal three-act-structured films, I think there's many similarities and many

differences to “Slacker”

Most of the scenes in “Slacker”, like in normal structure'd films, establishes flaws and inner

conflicts in the characters, but offer no solution or resolution to their problems, but rather drift on to

another place with other characters.

Many of the scenes are built up by very few cuts, or even one-takes. I think this is a way of

enhancing the slow, everyday feeling I think the film is trying to describe.

I often feel like cuts are'nt being used to show new emotions, but often more to drive the film in

other physical directions.

And In regular character-based films, close-ups are used to get the audience involved in what's

going on in the protagonist's head. I can't remember seeing any clos-ups throughout “...

... middle of paper ...

...film to a single character. He allows the

viewer a brief glimpse into the lives of the individuals before the camera moves onto

a new character therefore it journey onto an unknown path leaving no room for

character development.

I would like to conclude by; comparing Slacker’s narrative structure and my term

film, titled Lone Wolf it is obvious the Director for Lone Wolf approached this project

with the Three – Act Structure writing process.My experimental film revolves

around various character problems followed by different solutions for each of the

three main characters’, thereafter the film ends with the benefits of the eventual

resolve.

Whereas Slacker has no clear narrative structure because the characters’ in the film

never reconnect. Thus making it impossible to create a turning point in the story,

which would have raised the dangers in the plot.