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On the peak of a literary, musical or cinematographic work

July, 18; 2020. By
On this occasion we come to comment briefly on something that although in some artistic disciplines is well documented, in others there is a scholastic gap on the matter. We are referring to the peak moment of a work of art, eminently sequential, such as a literary work (including a comic), a musical composition or a film.

Thus, in modern electronic music we speak of the "subidón" (in Spanish) or the "drop" (in English), as the climax of a work of this nature, a moment for which the rest of the work works and to which it is subject. In literature we could talk about the outcome or important milestones in the plot of the written work, and in the cinema we can talk about the peak of the film, that is, mainly when it is resolved, desirably in a positive way; this moment usually manifests itself in the viewer with a feeling of euphoria for action-adventure films and in the "tear drop" for dramas.

And it is necessary that every self-respecting film has one or more critical moments, being desirable that the last is the strongest (the outcome), although it is not strictly necessary, remember art is free. It is also necessary for every good film that this climactic moment means that the viewer starts crying, like when the water starts to boil. And, heh, heh, let's not fool ourselves, the viewer is willing to suffer a little bit in the cinema, since he lowers his defenses and lends himself to the creator of the film giving him the occasional emotional shock, in a controlled way of course.

Thus, in good films that are valued there must be a peak moment for every thirty minutes of footage, if for example we are talking about a simple 60-minute feature there will be approximately two peak moments, the first being of less intensity and temporarily located around half the length of the movie. In the industry-preferred 90-minute standard film, there should be three, one every thirty minutes, as we've discussed.

Well, and finally the icing on the cake is, as it should be, somewhere, and that part is the music section. The good film worth its salt must have a powerful soundtrack, desirably original and dedicated, recognizable and musically strong, that will manifest itself in all its glory at peak times and will serve as a secret condiment to really take off the viewer's emotions, and therefore, the attraction of the film by the general public.

As examples, we can mention the works of Steven Spielberg or George Lucas adding to these two names that of John Williams as the icing on the cake. But we can also mention some movies from the Walt Disney studio with its strong soundtrack. And finally, the work of the writer, Pedro Alonso Pablos, who, using his technique "solo filmmaking", can modulate and model the sequences of his films to the liking and displeasure (of the viewer, it is understood) to achieve the desired effect, that is to say, a strong climax, in which the spectator can do nothing but completely disarm and burst into tears. And the more they cry, the better, heh, heh, heh (cinematically speaking, of course).