Frank Martin

2 weeks ago | wp.me | Frank Martin

Even though anime has a wide variety of stories, the power structure of its characters follows very similar patterns. Protagonists often begin their journeys as weak students. But over the course of many episodes and seasons, the characters level up in ability and strength. This shouldn’t be surprising as characters need to grow and become stronger along with the threats they face. But this power scale provides a problem in terms of plotting. A character’s strength can’t scale indefinitely.

3 weeks ago | wp.me | Frank Martin

When the slasher genre arrived in theaters, it took the scene by storm. Tropes immediately emerged regarding ruthless killers stalking unsuspecting prey. Filmmakers eager to jump in began looking for any way to stand out from the pack. They tried differentiating characters, weapons, settings … anything and everything to be different from their predecessors. Scream changed all this by turning the focus inward and examining the genre itself.

Nov 25, 2024 | wp.me | Frank Martin

It’s always a powerful storytelling tool to mash two unlikely concepts together. Whether it be comedy, horror, fantasy, or any other genre, the more different the concepts, the more interesting the pairing to tell a story. At first glance, the video game Another Crab’s Treasure can seem like a standard souls-like filled with action and adventure. But when peeling away the layers of its story, a very interesting dynamic emerges that contains elements from all over the storytelling spectrum.

Nov 12, 2024 | wp.me | Frank Martin

There’s a running joke amongst comic book fans as to why anyone would want to live in Gotham. The city is constantly being taken over by supervillains and criminal enterprises that it’s astounding anyone still lives there. Films have had various levels of success depicting the insanity inside the town, but The Penguin truly elevates it to another level. Gotham was already ravaged by the Riddler’s (Paul Dano) attack in The Batman.

Oct 17, 2024 | wp.me | Frank Martin

There’s something about ensemble stories that just feels entertaining. Since the dawn of cinema, there’s been a certain aura around star power. And having an ensemble cast full of stars certainly helps elevate a story to the next level. Seeing so many great actors involved in a chaotic scene ups the ante in a way that wouldn’t be the same if it were played out by a bunch of unknowns.