Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is structured like a classic Hollywood movie musical, but with a video game twist.
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Transcript provided by Youtube:
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the action-comedy Scott Pilgrim vs. the
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world is a comic-book adaptation that
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has earned a cult following of young
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movie buffs and gamers thanks to its
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quirky and stylized video game and
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graphic novel aesthetic but what’s so
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original about the film is how it
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cleverly reinvents the classic Hollywood
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musical director Edgar Wright purposely
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structured Scott Pilgrim like a
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traditional movie musical but instead of
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old-fashioned song and dance numbers the
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numbers are highly stylized fight
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sequences think West Side Story but the
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gangs fight instead of pirouette here’s
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the typical structure of the classic
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musical it begins with the opening
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number and ends with a large ensemble
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finale the opening number sets the tone
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of the movie the next pivotal number is
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nicknamed the I want song it appears in
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the first act and establishes the
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protagonists main goal
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all near the end of the second act is
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the 11 o’clock number it represents an
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important revelation or emotional
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turning point for the main character
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there’s time for a change of heart or
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major realization hear the song acts as
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a kind of answer to the questions raised
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earlier in the I want song the finale
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reprises an earlier song but with some
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bells and whistles the modified reprise
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suggests a resolution to the characters
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journey while bringing home the story’s
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main themes the subtle changes are key
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because they allow us to see how much
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the characters have changed through the
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events of the story and their choices
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along the way now let’s look at the
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structure of Scott Pilgrim like in a
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traditional musical most of the plot and
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the character development takes place
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during the musical numbers or in Scott’s
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case during the fight sequences against
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Ramona 7 X’s Scott Pilgrim is opening
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number is literal this sequence
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introduces the main characters and
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establishes the film’s distinctive look
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the opening musical number isn’t
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necessarily a fight but it’s physically
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active and expressive and it Prime’s us
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for what’s to come
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Scott’s I want song takes place during
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his first fight with Mathieu Patel one
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of Ramona’s evil exes Scott gets his
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mandate he must fight Ramona seven axes
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in order to date her his goal set
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motivation for the rest of the movie
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activated instead of singing Scott’s I
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want song is represented by physically
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fighting Matthew and time with the music
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in Scotts case actions speak louder than
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words as he defeats Matthew by punching
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him in the face and so begins Scott’s
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epic journey to win Ramona’s love and
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each fight that follows Scott
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understands more about Ramona and
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reflects on his own life decisions the
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11 o’clock number for Scott is the amp
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vs. amp battle against the Katya Nagi
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twins which he loses the battle leaves
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Scott at his weakest point he drops out
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of the band and loses Ramona to Gideon
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her most recent most prominent
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ex-boyfriends then in the finale scott
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fights Gideon twice winning the second
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time like a traditional musical the
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final climactic fight involves all the
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key characters for an ensemble reprise
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which brings together the movie central
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themed I want to fight you for me
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soldering the power of self-respect and
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the hero gets the girl most musicals
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tend to take place in a fantasy world or
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breaking into song and dances normal in
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Scott pilgrims world people break into
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video game like fights without seeming
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out of place like singing and dancing
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fighting is inherently physical it’s
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adrenaline fueled emotionally expressive
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and stimulating many of Scott’s fights
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also interweave song and dance
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mixing punching and kicking with
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twirling and singing creating an
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unlikely yet natural visual Association
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by mirroring the musical Hollywood
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extravaganza in fight format Scott’s
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world gets to likewise operate on an
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imaginary plane where the rules of video
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games and comic books apply their
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character stats points and scores extra
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lives and the ever recognizable versus
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graphic music from popular video games
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is also included such as the fairy
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fountain theme song from The Legend of
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Zelda like in comic books some scenes
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split the action into several panels
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captions and text boxes introduce
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characters or scenes onomatopoeia is
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used accenting the actions and sounds
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with clever typography these comic book
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and video game references like the
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musical numbers in The Wizard of Oz
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grease or singing in the rain create a
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sense of unreality that allow Scott
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Pilgrim to experiment and conjure a
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vibrant playful Fantasyland where
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characters get an extra light and
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enemies burst into coins the result a
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modern take on traditional musicals and
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romances sure love can be sentimental
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but it also can be violent and
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competitive love can mean war ultimately
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Scott Pilgrim takes advantage of the
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musical structure to seamlessly weave in
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video game gags and comic book devices
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resulting in a fresh vibrant and
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energizing adventure
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This post was previously published on Youtube.
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Photo credit: Screenshot from video