[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” use_custom_gutter=”off” gutter_width=”3″ padding_mobile=”off” custom_margin=”|||0px” allow_player_pause=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” make_equal=”off” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”off” parallax_2=”off” parallax_method_2=”off” column_padding_mobile=”on”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”http:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/big-little-lies.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” animation=”left” sticky=”off” align=”left” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Works \/ Doesn’t Work” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” text_font_size=”14″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider admin_label=”Divider” color=”#dddddd” show_divider=”on” divider_style=”solid” divider_position=”top” divider_weight=”1″ hide_on_mobile=”on” height=”20″]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text admin_label=”Verdict” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” text_font_size=”14″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_blurb admin_label=”Reason 1″ url_new_window=”off” use_icon=”on” font_icon=”%%202%%” icon_color=”#81d742″ use_circle=”off” circle_color=”#eaeaea” use_circle_border=”on” circle_border_color=”#dd3333″ icon_placement=”left” animation=”off” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_icon_font_size=”off” header_font_size=”18″ body_font_size=”14″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
EDITING TEMPO<\/strong><\/p>\n BIG LITTLE LIES crosscuts three stories over seven-episodes, then pulls them together at Climax. But instead of limiting itself to the points of view of its three protagonists, the screenplay moves from place to place, person to person, telling the story from an omniscient, God-angle view\u2014as did the third-person novel it adapted.<\/p>\n Free to take the telling where they like, the editing team cuts from the struggles of the protagonists, to the schemings of various antagonists, to snide comments from sideline characters, to inserts of California clich\u00e9s. In fact, the editors toss in more images of crashing waves than you\u2019d see in a surfing contest. <\/p>\n This brisk editing tempo serves two purposes:<\/strong><\/p>\n (1) It counterpoints the subtexts of emotional paralysis and anxiety that haunt the three principals. Without these cutaways, the mini-series could have become as static and mood-ridden as a minimalist art film. <\/p>\n (2) These inter-scene montages also serve as a delaying tactic to heighten tension. The splicings busy our eyes while the crosscutting keeps the storytelling in the air, both devices forestalling answers to the ultimate questions: \u201cWho going to die in this story? Who will do the killing?\u201d As the ancient writer\u2019s adage goes: \u201cMake\u2019em laugh, make\u2019em cry, make\u2019em wait.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_blurb admin_label=”Reason 2″ url_new_window=”off” use_icon=”on” font_icon=”%%202%%” icon_color=”#81d742″ use_circle=”off” circle_color=”#eaeaea” use_circle_border=”on” circle_border_color=”#dd3333″ icon_placement=”left” animation=”off” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_icon_font_size=”off” header_font_size=”18″ body_font_size=”14″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n DRAMATIC IRONY TO HOOK SUSPENSE<\/strong><\/p>\n Beginning in 2007, the closed-season series DAMAGES pioneered a radical technique: Each episode\u2019s teaser flashed forward to a glimpse of that season\u2019s violent climax. As the weeks went by, teaser after teaser gave us snippets of the future, but never enough to know what happened in full. We had to wait to the final episode to experience the grand climax.<\/p>\n Along the way, however, we watched the series through the lens of dramatic irony. Because of the teasers, we knew more than the characters knew; we knew they were heading for disaster. The effect of putting the audience ahead of the characters was twofold: One, it created suspense of a unique quality. Two, the audience\u2019s curiosity looked deeper into the inner workings of the characters, asking, \u201cHow and why did these characters do what I already know they did?\u201d <\/p>\n BIG LITTLE LIES uses the same essential technique but with a comic touch. Between turning points, the telling flash-forwards to a Don Rickles chorus of fast-talking insult artists who ridicule protagonists and antagonists alike. They play no direct roles in the core dramas but instead get laughs as they mock this cast of pretentious elites. Like the foretastes of the future in DAMAGES, these gossipers put the audience ahead of the main characters but keep the outcome to themselves.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_blurb admin_label=”Reason 3″ url_new_window=”off” use_icon=”on” font_icon=”%%202%%” icon_color=”#81d742″ use_circle=”off” circle_color=”#eaeaea” use_circle_border=”on” circle_border_color=”#dd3333″ icon_placement=”left” animation=”off” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_icon_font_size=”off” header_font_size=”18″ body_font_size=”14″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n SETTING AS SIMILE<\/strong><\/p>\n The setting is the costume a story wears. Ideally, the writer would like to wrap her telling in a time and place that heightens the meaning and emotion of its events. The setting\u2019s imagery then acts as a subliminal metaphor for the story\u2019s positive versus negative charges, for good versus evil, comedy and tragedy. With that ambition, the final location of BIG LITTLE LIES is perfection.<\/p>\n The climax takes place at a fund-raising costume party with an Elvis Presley\/Audrey Hepburn theme. Elvis\u2019s leather jackets versus Hepburn\u2019s pearl necklaces express the series\u2019 polar conflict of male v. female, aggressor v. victim, but in a way that is at once romantic and dangerous, serious and humorous, over the top and below the belt.<\/p>\n I was hooked, held, and paid off. I\u2019ll miss these fascinating characters and the superb actors who played them.<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tells the tale of three mothers of first graders, whose apparently perfect lives unravel to the point of murder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9092,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-works-doesnt-work","post_format-post-format-video"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/big-little-lies.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mckeestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}