"Where's the goat?" A Great Setup and Payoff Example
In my previous post I wrote about the concept of setting up and paying off gags, based on the Rule of Threes from Dan Olson's video essay. After writing that post, I was thinking about strong examples of this concept (as you might remember the video was inspired by a poor one) and, as happens often, it got me thinking about Steven Spielberg.
I love Spielberg because of his clarity. If you're looking for strong examples of any given cinematic technique, start with Spielberg. Because, if he uses it, he will use it in a very solid manner. Which brings us to Jurassic Park, one of my all-time favorite films. (I was 12 when it came out, this is my Star Wars) More specifically it got me thinking about the goat: a perfect example of this rule of threes. (spoilers ahead)
I guess you know this, but it starts when our heroes are getting a tour through the park and the dinosaurs fail to show up. When they reach the Tyrannosaur paddock (introduced very dramatically: "Quiet, all of you!") again nothing happens. But then a radio-voice informs the heroes that they'll try to lure the T-Rex and a goat appears from the ground. The kids in the first car have the strongest reaction. Lex finds it awful, Tim thinks it's awesome.
We wait. the tension builds up. And then . . . Nothing happens. The goat just lies down and we move on without seeing the T-Rex.
The reminder happens when we cut to the stranded cars, stuck in the rain. We open on the goat, still standing there and then the camera moves to the right to reveal the cars.
Finally the payoff happens after Tim notices the ripples in the glasses on the dashboard (another perfect example of setup and payoff). The other's feel it too and Tim moves back to the rear of the car with his night vision goggles. He zooms in on the goat, but it is gone. The chain that it was attached to just hangs there. We cut to Lex and Gennaro, Lex is scared, breathing heavily. We move to a shot behind Lex, looking up at the plexiglass roof: "Where's the goat?" Splat. A disembodied goat leg lands on the roof: there's the goat.
Now what makes this such a great example to me, is that every time that we see the goat it is a gag in itself. Which makes it a far less obvious setup. Every time the goat appears it has a function beyond setting up the 'Where's the goat' gag.
The first appearance is both funny and exciting. Really we, the audience, feel the same as Lex and Tim. Are we going to see a dinosaur slaughter that goat? That's disgusting, also it would be so cool! Besides of this sensation, the cynicism that shows in having some poor goat set up underground for exactly this purpose tells us a lot about the morals of the people running this place.
The introduction of the goat is done with a lot of added suspense. Dramatic camera moves. Music. The camera pushing in on the main characters, we really expect something big to happen -and then the goat just lies down and all the tension is gone. This got a big laugh in the cinema. It's a perfect gag in itself, that not only entertains us, but also tells us something about the characters.
The callback to the goat also has a clear function: it shows us where we are. In the previous scene systems have been crashing in the control room because of Nedry. When the guys in the control room fail to get into Nedry's computer, they wonder where the cars have stopped. And we cut to the goat, standing in the rain. Again, I clearly remember everybody in the cinema laughing at this moment, just because the way it happens. There is a lot of tension in the control room and the sudden cut to the poor goat apparently still standing there in the pouring rain, is funny to us.
But it also very clearly shows us where we are and after our initial laughter, we quickly realize that this is a very bad place for the cars to have stopped.
As I said the ripple of the water in the glasses is another great example, it also is setup and brought back, without it being a super obvious setup for a later gag. The first time we see it is when Ian Malcolm is talking to Dr. Sattler about the chaos theory. Looking for an example he asks her to give him the glass of water standing on the dashboard. Because he is giving us some very interesting information -and also because he is flirting with Ellie right in front of Alan Grant- we are not giving much attention to the glass of water itself, but unconsciously we noticed it.
(And think about it for a moment, why would you put two glasses of water on the dashboards of these cars? They just stand there, next to an -at that time- very expensive touchscreen? Even though they are running on a rail, there are bound to be some bumps along the ride. Why not just put some bottles of water there, instead? It makes no sense, but this is the typical trickery that Spielberg is an absolute master of.)
The callback is a plainer reminder than with the goat, but it is done very sneaky. We cut from the first systems going offline in the control-room, to the car with Grant and Malcolm. We see the dashboard. The touchscreen switches off and the camera moves up from the dashboard to the two men who are so caught up in their conversation that they didn't notice the screen going black. Just as we didn't notice the two glasses of water standing there next to the touchscreen.
And so it is very carefully established that these cars have two cups of water on the dashboard. And nobody will be wondering where these cups came from when Timmy notices that rippling . . .
I love Spielberg because of his clarity. If you're looking for strong examples of any given cinematic technique, start with Spielberg. Because, if he uses it, he will use it in a very solid manner. Which brings us to Jurassic Park, one of my all-time favorite films. (I was 12 when it came out, this is my Star Wars) More specifically it got me thinking about the goat: a perfect example of this rule of threes. (spoilers ahead)
I guess you know this, but it starts when our heroes are getting a tour through the park and the dinosaurs fail to show up. When they reach the Tyrannosaur paddock (introduced very dramatically: "Quiet, all of you!") again nothing happens. But then a radio-voice informs the heroes that they'll try to lure the T-Rex and a goat appears from the ground. The kids in the first car have the strongest reaction. Lex finds it awful, Tim thinks it's awesome.
We wait. the tension builds up. And then . . . Nothing happens. The goat just lies down and we move on without seeing the T-Rex.
The reminder happens when we cut to the stranded cars, stuck in the rain. We open on the goat, still standing there and then the camera moves to the right to reveal the cars.
Finally the payoff happens after Tim notices the ripples in the glasses on the dashboard (another perfect example of setup and payoff). The other's feel it too and Tim moves back to the rear of the car with his night vision goggles. He zooms in on the goat, but it is gone. The chain that it was attached to just hangs there. We cut to Lex and Gennaro, Lex is scared, breathing heavily. We move to a shot behind Lex, looking up at the plexiglass roof: "Where's the goat?" Splat. A disembodied goat leg lands on the roof: there's the goat.
Now what makes this such a great example to me, is that every time that we see the goat it is a gag in itself. Which makes it a far less obvious setup. Every time the goat appears it has a function beyond setting up the 'Where's the goat' gag.
The first appearance is both funny and exciting. Really we, the audience, feel the same as Lex and Tim. Are we going to see a dinosaur slaughter that goat? That's disgusting, also it would be so cool! Besides of this sensation, the cynicism that shows in having some poor goat set up underground for exactly this purpose tells us a lot about the morals of the people running this place.
The introduction of the goat is done with a lot of added suspense. Dramatic camera moves. Music. The camera pushing in on the main characters, we really expect something big to happen -and then the goat just lies down and all the tension is gone. This got a big laugh in the cinema. It's a perfect gag in itself, that not only entertains us, but also tells us something about the characters.
The callback to the goat also has a clear function: it shows us where we are. In the previous scene systems have been crashing in the control room because of Nedry. When the guys in the control room fail to get into Nedry's computer, they wonder where the cars have stopped. And we cut to the goat, standing in the rain. Again, I clearly remember everybody in the cinema laughing at this moment, just because the way it happens. There is a lot of tension in the control room and the sudden cut to the poor goat apparently still standing there in the pouring rain, is funny to us.
But it also very clearly shows us where we are and after our initial laughter, we quickly realize that this is a very bad place for the cars to have stopped.
As I said the ripple of the water in the glasses is another great example, it also is setup and brought back, without it being a super obvious setup for a later gag. The first time we see it is when Ian Malcolm is talking to Dr. Sattler about the chaos theory. Looking for an example he asks her to give him the glass of water standing on the dashboard. Because he is giving us some very interesting information -and also because he is flirting with Ellie right in front of Alan Grant- we are not giving much attention to the glass of water itself, but unconsciously we noticed it.
(And think about it for a moment, why would you put two glasses of water on the dashboards of these cars? They just stand there, next to an -at that time- very expensive touchscreen? Even though they are running on a rail, there are bound to be some bumps along the ride. Why not just put some bottles of water there, instead? It makes no sense, but this is the typical trickery that Spielberg is an absolute master of.)
The callback is a plainer reminder than with the goat, but it is done very sneaky. We cut from the first systems going offline in the control-room, to the car with Grant and Malcolm. We see the dashboard. The touchscreen switches off and the camera moves up from the dashboard to the two men who are so caught up in their conversation that they didn't notice the screen going black. Just as we didn't notice the two glasses of water standing there next to the touchscreen.
And so it is very carefully established that these cars have two cups of water on the dashboard. And nobody will be wondering where these cups came from when Timmy notices that rippling . . .
