Is the High Concept Method Shallow?

Paper by Rachel Crippa.

The topic for my research paper that I chose was the high concept method. This method interested me because the types of films that follow this method are vibrant, unique, and standout. The high concept method depicts the importance of a certain idea, and focuses the story’s narrative solely on it. The type of high concept film I decided to focus on was, Shallow Hal. The film’s title describes what the story’s narrative is about. The story’s plot is about a guy named Hal, who is extremely shallow and focuses on the outward beauty of women instead of focusing on the inside beauty. With most of the women he’s been involved with (women with outward beauty), they all share a common similarity with their personality, which is arrogance. The film attempts to explain that most of the people who have an outward beauty are ugly in relation to their personality. Throughout the film, Hal learns the true meaning of beauty by being put under a spell to see the inward beauty in people. This film stood out to me because it makes a significant point for people to focus and be attracted to the inward beauty within people, and not focus on the physical features because in reality, those people are ugly. The high concept method was extremely effective because it achieved success through having the film’s plot described from the title, teaching important life skills, having an original plot, attracts a wide selection of audiences, contained many details within the plot, and focused on character development.

After conducting various, extensive research on the high concept method, I discovered that these types of methods describe the film through the title. Many famous, well-known films, such as, Snakes on a Plane, Jurassic Park, Planet of the Apes, E.T. (Extra-Terrestrial), The Hangover, The Invention of Lying, and of course, Shallow Hal. All of these films are considered high concept films because their titles depict what the film will be about. Another characteristic of high concept films is that the description of the film can be explained with the use of one sentence. For example, Shallow Hal (2001) is about a man named Hal, who has a personality that focuses solely on being shallow with the appearances of people.

The high concept method films are very enjoyable and teach important life skills to audiences through the plot. These types of films contain plots that explore various types of genre that have extensive, unlimited occurrences within the plot. The high concept method can be present in thrillers, horrors, comedy, suspense, drama, tearjerkers, and an endless selection of genres. A very important factor of high concept films is that they are extremely beneficial within their commercial aspect. To become successful through commercial means (of films that pertain to the high concept method), these types of films attract audiences by presenting highly acclaimed movie stars, and connect audiences to the film through the use of soundtracks and other various ways of advertising. By being successful through means of having variety within genre selection and clever advertising skills, high concept films became very successful in the film industry.

Shallow Hal is considered a high concept film because it is original, and stands out from many other films by following the filming techniques of the high concept method. The estimated budget for Shallow Hal was $40,000,000, while the earned profit from the film reached $70,836,296 following the release of the film. The budget for the film was significant due to the commercial advertising costs, high-budget actors, and other various costs that follow the production of films. This film was released on November 9th, 2001. This film contained highly acclaimed actors, who were consisted of Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow. Jack Black was known for his outstanding sense of humor, which made him extremely likeable to audiences. Gwyneth Paltrow came from a famous family, who had a background in acting. Audiences were attracted to Gwyneth’s delightful and charming sense of character throughout her films. Highly acclaimed actors contribute to the high concept method because it attracts the audience’s attention toward pleasant people who seem very likeable. Following the release of the film, although high concept films are supposed to be critically acclaimed from their originality, this film received some critical feedback from audiences. The film’s plot revolved around the theme of physical appearances, which is a topic that people can become sensitive with. In the beginning of the film, Hal is only attracted to women who appear physically attractive. This led the audience into believing, that the physical appearance of people is all that people are incline too. Throughout the film, when Hal is put under the spell to see the inward beauty in women, many jokes are made throughout the film pertaining to the heavyset women. These jokes will either leave the audience with feelings of humor or being personally offended. The end of the film depicts that true love shouldn’t be focused on physical appearance, but more concentrated on the beauty shown through someone’s personality. Aside from the slight criticism from this film, many people enjoyed the humor and comedy presented within the story’s plot.

First, an important aspect of high concept films is that they are unique and out-of-the ordinary. High concept films take plots that would appear unoriginal, but make their own unique twist on them which results in originality. For example, Shallow Hal is a romantic comedy that focuses on a guy who is player, but he meets the right girl and falls in love with her. This plot may sound unoriginal, but in fact, this plot acquires its originality by Hal being put under a spell to see the inward beauty in women show through their physical appearance. In the ending, he realizes that the inward beauty in people is the most important factor when someone truly loves another person. Another factor of this film that made it original is the acknowledgement of people’s physical imperfections in the film. In the end of the film, when Hal realizes he’s been involved with women he wasn’t physically attracted too and discovers his friend has a tail due to an elongated spine, he comes to realization that physical attributes aren’t significant to him. Hal was best friends with a guy, who had a tail, but instead of being judgmental to his best friend, he accepted his physical imperfection and focused on the strong relationship they’ve had together. By having originality within a film, it allows the audience to view different concepts and become inspired by them.

Second, another significant factor contributing to high concept films is that it attracts a wide selection of audiences. These types of films have to force audiences to want to come watch the film because the plot appears fascinating. Many films that are released attract specific types of audiences and are selective with audiences. For example, the film, Friday the 13th, would attract a certain type of audience who enjoys the feeling of being frightened and scared. This type of film would attract an older, more mature audience than compared to a younger audience, who can easily become frightened. The film, Shallow Hal, can reach an extensive audience due to the fact that it’s plot focuses on the transformation of Hal’s character from being shallow into someone who is sensitive and caring. Many audiences would be attracted to these films because the story’s narrative focuses on a positive upbringing by focusing on the inward beauty shown through people’s personalities. After audiences watch this film, they result with satisfaction, happiness, and admiration.

Third, the narrative of a film that follows the high concept method has to be detailed within the plot. A film cannot be basic and unspecific with the film’s details; instead it has to obtain a large amount of interesting, captivating details that capture the audience’s interest. For example, the film, Mean Girls, follows a basic story plot that describes the life a of a teenager who endures difficulties at her new high school with the popular girls. Along this journey, she decides to become part of the popular group in order to seek revenge. This plot is not extremely detailed, and doesn’t provide the audience with more fascinating details and components. The film, Shallow Hal, provides specifics in the plot by incorporating the action of being put under a spell to be forced to see the inward beauty (through people’s physical appearance) in people. If this event wasn’t incorporated into the plot, the film would be uninteresting and not capture the audience’s attention. The specifics and details that were added into the film, allowed the plot to stand out and become attractive and captivating to audiences.

Fourth, another important aspect of a high concept film is the main character’s affect on characters due to either their success or failure. The emotional state of the other characters in the film, solely depend on the choices and decisions the main character endures. For example, in the film, Twilight, the main character, Bella, meets someone who she ends up falling in love with, and it turns out he (Edward) is a vampire. Although Bella is in love with him, she can’t decide whether she wants to be with Edward or Jacob. This unresolved contemplation between both Edward and Jacob lasts throughout many of the series films, but results with Bella staying true to her instincts of being with Edward. Although she satisfies the needs of Edward, the choice Bella (the main character) has made does not significantly affect all the other characters in the film. The main character has to make a significant point that affects a majority of the characters in the film based on either being successful or resulting in failure. For example, the film, Shallow Hal, presents to the audience the shallow personality Hal obtains with women he’s interested in. When he is put under a spell to see the inward beauty in women through their physical appearance, he begins seeing women who are beautiful with their appearance and their personality. At first, Hal experienced being interested in women who were only good looking and obtained an ugly personality. But after being put under a spell, Hal began to see both women who are extremely attractive through their appearance and their personality. By seeing beauty in both ways, Hal fell in love. Near the end of the film, when Hal realized he was put under a spell to see the inward beauty of women through their physical appearance, he begged to go back to how things normally were in the past. Once the spell was off Hal, he saw the woman he was in love with, and saw her physical appearance. After seeing her appearance, Hal become shocked by her appearance and decided that he didn’t want to be with someone who he wasn’t physically attracted too. When Hal went back to the old women he was previously interested in, he became aware of the negative and unattractive personalities many of the attractive women had. Hal started to become appalled by women who had unappealing personalities, so he came to the realization that inward beauty is all that was important to him. Once Hal came to this sudden realization, it marked the event of him reaching success. His success affected many of the characters because they saw the positive transformation in his character development and provided a positive message for society to focus on the inward beauty, and not solely the physical appearances of people.

In conclusion, the high concept method allowed the film industry to view a different type of method that could successful acclaimed for in the use of films. Once audiences began watching films that focused on the high concept method, wide selection of audiences began appraising the film for its originality and unique twist on a story’s plot. There isn’t much known of the origin of the high concept method, but it’s proven to be very successful with audiences due to the focus of character development, successful commercial advertising techniques, the meaning of the film’s plot through the title, and the plot’s creativity and twist on basic genres. There are many high concept films have became very successful with a wide selection of audiences. A few of these films are consisted of Jurassic Park, The Sixth Sense, Inception, The Matrix, Independence Day, Groundhog Day, Nightmare on Elm Street, and a various selection of other notable films. The main film I focused on was the film, Shallow Hal. This film teaches a valuable, important lesson to the audience about seeing the inward beauty in people’s personalities and not focusing only on people’s physical appearance. This film was able to achieve a sense of humor through means of comedic satire, but also sharing a meaningful message with the audience. In the film, Hal is only attracted to people who are physically attractive, but when he is put under a spell to see the inward beauty in women, he falls in love with someone who has an attractive personality. Once Hal realizes he was under a spell, he steps back from being the sensitive, caring man he was becoming, and falls back into being shallow. When Hal’s friend reveals that he has a tail due to having an elongated spine, Hal comes to a realization that all human beings are consumed with flaws. At the end of the film, he realizes that having inward beauty is more attractive and meaningful to him. This realization is achieved through the means of him discovering physical imperfections within every human, and realizing that being physically attractive is very unattractive. The plot of this film taught the audience an important message that everyone is consumed with different types of flaws, but the most important aspect to find within a person is the sincerity and kindness within someone’s personality.

Works Cited:

Wilde, Lori. Got High Concept? Wilde, 2013. Print.
Shallow Hal. Dir. Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly. Perf. Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow. Twentieth Century Fox, 2001. DVD.
“Shallow Hal.” IMDB. Web. 1 Apr. 2015.
Kaire, Steve. “High Concept Defined Once and For All.” Writers Store. Web. 1 Apr. 2015.
“High-Concept.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Web. 1 Apr. 2015.