In this video, we're going to look at one of the most iconic endings ever.
The somber finale to "The Graduate".
How did director Mike Nichols turn two people sitting in a bus
into a cultural touchstone.
♪ I've come to talk with you again♪
"- Oh, Jesus, God, no."
"- Oh, Jesus, God."
- By "Calling the Shots".
The role of the director is to take words in a script
and turn them into cinematic language.
"- Hello, Benjamin. - Oh, hello."
But what does this process actually look like?
We're going to use StudioBinder's preproduction software
to put us in Mike Nichols director's chair.
We'll import the script.
Do our own breakdown.
And build a shot list.
With this exercise,
we attempt to reverse engineer the iconic ending
to see how and why it works.
At the end of this video, we'll show you how you can get access to this project
in StudioBinder, to see it for yourself.
Let's begin our analysis with the screenplay.
To see how these tricky themes and story beats were handled,
we imported the script by Buck Henry into StudioBinder.
"The Graduate" centers it's thematic exploration around 80 ideas
and emotions like disillusionment.
Aimlessness.
"- Benjamin, what are you doing with yourself these days?
- Oh, not too much."
- And the generational divide.
"- I just want to say one word.
Just one word.
- Yes, sir. - Are you listening?
- Yes, I am.
- Plastics.
- Exactly how do you mean it?
- It's a great future in plastics. Think about it.
- Will you think about it? - Yes, it will.
- Enough said. That's a deal."
- And nowhere are these ideas more resonant than in the closing moments of the film.
The story follows Benjamin Braddock,
a college graduate unsure of what to do with his life.
"- Ben! - There's the award winning scholar!
- So proud of you. - Proud, proud, proud, proud, proud."
- He needs something to fill the emptiness he feels inside.
"- How are you Benjamin? - Fine. Thank you, Mrs. Robinson."
- And begins an affair with his former teacher, Mrs. Robinson.
"- Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me?
- Oh, gosh.
- Benjamin, I want you to know that I'm available to you.
And if you want to sleep with me this time...
- Oh, my Christ. - If you won't sleep with me this time.
I want you to know that you can call me up anytime you want,
and we'll make some kind of an arrangement."
- Then he falls for her daughter, Elaine.
"- Elaine certainly is an attractive girl, isn't she?
I've got this feeling ever since I graduated.
It's kind of compulsion that I have to be rude all the time.
You know what I mean?
- Yes, I do.
- Can we do something tomorrow?
- All right."
- But after they broken up...
"- I've got to tell you something. - What is it?
- That woman... - What?
- That older woman that I told you about.
- You mean that one? - Yes, the married woman.
- This wasn't some woman. - What are you telling me?
Benjamin, will you just tell me what this is all about?
Oh, no."
- And Elaine is about to marry someone else ready to meet you.
"- Glad to meet you, Ben. - Great meeting you, Carl.
Well seeing you.
- Sorry, we won't be able to invite you to the wedding, Benjamin.
The arrangements had been so rushed.
- What the hell did you do?
- I don't think you'll have time for that drink after all.
- Benjamin decides to finally take action with his life.
"- Say, fellas. Do any of you fellows know where Carl Smith is?
- He took off in the middle of the night to get married.
- Hey, where's the Make Out King getting married?
- Santa Barabara."
- Now that we have this climactic story beat isolated,
let's see how director Mike Nichols stuck the landing.
To emphasize Ben struggle as he races to the church,
let's use a telephoto lens
to compress the perceived distance in the image.
This will make it look like Ben is getting nowhere,
even though he's sprinting a full speed,
pushing his panic and desperation even further.
"- Oh, Jesus, God, no.
- Elaine!"
- The windowed balcony of the church where the script describes Ben
like a trapped moth.
"- Elaine!
- What's going on? What's he doing?
- I'll take care of him. - He's too late."
- Instead of showing the confused reactions of the guests,
let's hang on to a closeup of Elaine as she drifts towards Ben
as if in a trance.
The only voice she wants to hear is Ben's.
"- Ben!
- You crazy punk!"
- The chaos that ensues can be ideally captured with handheld shots.
The escape from the church and onto the bus should be as thrilling as possible.
"- Elaine, it's too late. - Not for me."
- Then the golden cross that he wheels as a weapon and uses to bar the glass doors.
Nichols maximizes the impact of the penultimate shot
through the expert use of one simple ingredient.
Contrast.
A sharp contrast in motion, energy and mood.
Let's cut to a POV of the passengers,
which could just be any extras we can find.
Or there might be an opportunity here.
If we fill the bus with extras from their parents' generation,
we can also tie this moment back to one of the core themes of the film,
the generational divide.
There blank expressions will further highlight this juxtaposition of energy.
A two-shot will maintain the shared experience of the two characters
whereas individual closeups would isolate them.
And then the music.
♪ Simon & Garfunke - "The Sound of Silence" ♪
The Simon and Garfunke track will add a great
deal to the emotional punch of this moment.
We heard the song before
in a melancholy sequence of Ben lost and searching.
♪ Simon & Garfunke - "The Sound of Silence" ♪
Playing the song again here,
let's us know the Ben is still just as lost.
We let the shot linger so we can watch the
excitement and adrenaline drain from their bodies
as the truth sets in.
That this subversive act won't fill the emptiness they have inside.
You'll find a link in the description to our
breakdown of "The Graduate" in StudioBinder,
where you can download the script.
And storyboards.
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Before it's too late.