Have you watched the movie “My Best Friend’s Wedding”? It was an interesting movie featuring Julia Roberts and was nominated for Oscar awards. A scene from that movie is the subject of discussion for our class on how movies can create a compelling experience. Here is my thinking about one of the scenes from the movie. It did offer me a compelling experience, and I think the scene was helpful in creating such an experience for several reasons. It was a wedding rehearsal dinner, with a lot of people in a large dinning hall. The background music at the beginning and noise of chatting added a cheerful atmosphere for the event. While not all people were formally dressed, two young ladies with pretty hats did give the dinner a sense of festival. The crowd later joining the singing with George and others, that really helped move the show to the climax. So, the setting, props, people, and sound effects were all well arranged to make a suitable environment for the play to take place.

The plot is the telling of a made-up romantic story between George and Julianne. Everyone at the table was eager to hear the story and the curiosity introduced a great deal of involvement. However, George did not tell the whole story all out immediately. Instead, he paused and again, and that generated even stronger interest. The story telling was accompanies with singing and cheering by others at the table and eventually all the people in the dinning hall. Close up shots of Kim, Michael, Kim’s folks, and the two young ladies with hats, and other people, Kim’s joyful acts, and Micheal’s suspicious and jealous look all helped in simulating a compelling experience. I was thrilled when I was watching all people in the hall singing – emotions are contagious.

Overall, this episode was well designed and orchestrated in terms of the setting, props, plot, actors and actresses and mass actors, use of montage, and sound effects. The implication is that all elements of a play must work well to create a compelling experience.