Principle of Three-Fourths in Art
The Incredibles is one of the highest-grossing superhero movies of all time. One of the reasons it is so satisfying is because it adheres to the artistic principle of three-fourths: something important happens, a major transformation, 3/4 of the way through.
We see this principle expressed in art and photography, probably without paying much attention to it. In the Van Eyck painting, for instance, the circular mirror is at the 3/4 point in the painting, and our eyes are drawn there. The shape of the mirror is both balanced and intense. Our curiosity is piqued by the figures we can almost see reflected. We find this principle of three-fourths satisfying.
In music, the 3/4 point often is the high point of tension where the musical ideas come together. In the folk song/hymn “Be Thou My Vision,” at the 3/4 point in the tune we hear the fastest changes in rhythm and the widest range of pitches in the third phrase, measures 10 and 11.
In the limerick:
There once was a silly young cat,
Whose favorite food was a hat.
He'd wear it all day,
Then hide it away,
That's why he's still named "Mr. That."
We hear a rhyme scheme of AABBA. The first two lines set up the expectation that we will continue to hear that same rhyme, only to be denied by the third and fourth lines. While this limerick hardly is high art, we gladly hear the return of the first rhyme in the fifth line, the 3/4 point.
The rhythm of the limerick also reaches a peak at the 3/4 point: of the 34 syllables, the peak is at “away.” We also are happy to hear the return of the original anapestic meter of the first two lines at this point.
The 3/4 point is important in movies and plays. For example, in The Incredibles, the scene captured above occurs at approximately the 3/4 point in the movie. This is, for the first time, when the family all works together, each one accepting their own superpowers to defeat the bad guys and accepting their place in the family. It’s both an exciting and satisfying moment.
We often can gain insight into what a work of literature is about by looking at the three-fourths point. In Dickens’s short novel A Christmas Carol, at the 3/4 point the morose, miserly, and miserable anti-hero Scrooge first meets the Ghost of Christmas Present. He is ushered into a joyful world where his acquaintances are enjoying their merry Christmas; he would like to stay right there, enjoying it with them. Scrooge at last willingly submits to the ghost as he transports Scrooge to the upcoming lesson. He now is a willing student of what the spirits of Christmas want to teach him. This decision opens the door to Scrooge’s ultimate transformation to a man who “knew how to keep Christmas well.”
The major transformation of a main character often begins decisively at the 3/4 point, whether the Incredibles family, Scrooge, or the beautiful theme of Beethoven’s Fifth. In Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, Roger Thornhill (played by Cary Grant) the main character’s struggle to trust or not trust Eve Kendall (played by Eva Marie Saint) is resolved at the 3/4 point of the movie in a conversation with The Professor (Leo G. Carroll) at the airport—which, in a typical Hitchcock bit of wry trickery the audience cannot hear because of airport noise. Only afterward do we discover the resolution. Nonetheless, the main turning point is 3/4 through the movie: Thornhill discovers whether he can trust Eve.
This artistic principle is eminently applicable to Biblical literature as well, which I will attempt to show in subsequent posts.
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