FILM DIRECTOR: It is true that certain characters and plot

[MBA Applicant 2007/8]

FILM DIRECTOR: It is true that certain characters and plot twists in my newly released film THE BIG HEIST are strikingly similar to characters and plot twists in Thieves, a movie that came out last year. Based on these similarities, the film studio that produced Thieves is now accusing me of taking ideas from that film. The accusation is clearly without merit. All production work on the THE BIG HEIST was actually completed months before THIEVES was released

Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest support for the director's rejection of the accusation?

A) Before thieves began production, its script had been circulating for several years among various film studio, including the studio that produced The Big Heist
B) The characters and plot twists that are most similar in the two films have close parallels in many earlier films of the same genre
C) The film studio that produced Thieves seldom produces film in this genre
D) The director of Theives worked with the director of the The Big Heist on several earlier projects
E) The time it took to produce THE BIG HEIST was consderably shorter than the time it took to produce THieves

Based on MGMT methodology, here is my diagram and the elimination technique:

T = H (character & plots)
Author: PW: H....T

W A
s B
s C
W D
-- E

I chose C instead of B ( the correct) answer. Can you explain why C is not correct?

[dbernst]

In this problem, the film director concludes that the accusations that ideas from THE BIG HEIST were directly lifted from THIEVES are without merit. To strengthen this contention, we must provide additional information that supports that these ideas were not stolen.

A) Before thieves began production, its script had been circulating for several years among various film studio, including the studio that produced The Big Heist
-W: This provides additional evidence that supports the ideas may have been stolen
B) The characters and plot twists that are most similar in the two films have close parallels in many earlier films of the same genre
-S: This provides evidence that similar characters and plot twists are simply a part of the genre rather than specific to the film THIEVES
C) The film studio that produced Thieves seldom produces film in this genre
-Not relevant: It does not matter what types of movies this studio normally produces
D) The director of Theives worked with the director of the The Big Heist on several earlier projects
-w: This provides some connection between to two projects, leaving open the possibility that certain ideas could have been exchanged (i.e. stolen)
E) The time it took to produce THE BIG HEIST was consderably shorter than the time it took to produce THieves
-Not relevant. The production time for each film does not relate to the origination of plot lines or characters.

The correct answer is B.

-dan

[Guest]

Can D) The director of Theives worked with the director of the The Big Heist on several earlier projects be the right ans here.

Cant we assume that the director of Thieves copied the ideas from the director of Big Heist

[RonPurewal]

Can D) The director of Theives worked with the director of the The Big Heist on several earlier projects be the right ans here.

Cant we assume that the director of Thieves copied the ideas from the director of Big Heist

golden rule #63-a:
if your question starts with "can't we assume that...", then the answer is NO.

--

see dan's post above. choice (d) actually weakens the director's argument, because collaboration would increase the likelihood of "creative exchange of ideas" (i.e., plagiarism).

[chetan86]

Hi Ron,

The Film Director claims that "The accusation is clearly without merit" and adds that "All production work on The Big Heist was actually completed months before Thieves was released."

For this strengthen question I was expecting that correct answer would provide some evidence to prove that The Big Heist was released before Thieves and "Characters and Plot" are not copied from the Thieves.

But option B says that similar characters and plots were already available in previous movies, so indirectly it says that both movies have characters and plots copied from previous movies.

I want to know how option B helps the Film Director to reject the accusation?

Thanks!!!

[RonPurewal]

For this strengthen question I was expecting that correct answer would provide some evidence to prove that The Big Heist was released before Thieves and "Characters and Plot" are not copied from the Thieves.

i was expecting something like that, too. but ... well, that's not what they gave us.

But option B says that similar characters and plots were already available in previous movies, so indirectly it says that both movies have characters and plots copied from previous movies.

if that ^^ is introduced as another alternate explanation, then there are even stronger grounds for rejecting the accusation.

basically, you have even more reasonable alternatives to "x", and so "x" is that much less likely.

[RonPurewal]

analogy:
let's say you accuse me of stealing the tune of a song you wrote.
but... if that tune is strikingly similar to the tune of, say, "happy birthday" (or any other famous song that lots of other people have also sung), then it certainly makes your accusation seem a lot less plausible.

[RonPurewal]

also, the four wrong answers here are 100 percent wrong (as will always be the case--there should NEVER be wrong answers that are "close").

(a) makes the accusation seem more plausible, because the script was out there early enough for the Heist people to copy it.

(c) this is just plain irrelevant, because that studio did produce the one movie that we actually care about (= the only movie they're accusing the Heist people of plagiarizing).

(d) is irrelevant, since "earlier projects" are neither of the movies discussed here.

(e) works somewhat like (a): if thieves was produced on a longer timeline, then the material could have been out there early enough for the Heist people to steal it.

[RonPurewal]

the above, by the way, is a useful criterion for review: you're not done reviewing a CR (or RC) problem until you reach a point where ALL 4 wrong answers are completely and obviously wrong.

• none of them should be wrong for "subtle" reasons.

• none of them should be "close". e.g., on a "weaken" problem, every wrong answer will either strengthen the argument or be irrelevant. and so on.

this idea takes some getting used to; it's not very ego-friendly. (it doesn't sting as much to miss a problem if you believe that you picked a "close" answer.) but, once you get there, a lot of CR will "click" for you.

[chetan86]

the above, by the way, is a useful criterion for review: you're not done reviewing a CR (or RC) problem until you reach a point where ALL 4 wrong answers are completely and obviously wrong.

• none of them should be wrong for "subtle" reasons.

• none of them should be "close". e.g., on a "weaken" problem, every wrong answer will either strengthen the argument or be irrelevant. and so on.

this idea takes some getting used to; it's not very ego-friendly. (it doesn't sting as much to miss a problem if you believe that you picked a "close" answer.) but, once you get there, a lot of CR will "click" for you.

Hi Ron,

Thanks a lot for your wonderful explanation.
Now I am clear how quesion and options are structured.

In many Verbal questions, while doing POE I eliminate 4 incorrect options and then check the last remaining option. If it sounds awkward or off then I get confused. I start thinking - how this last option can be the answer? I must have done some mistake in other four choices. Finally I do the POE again.
At the end I select wrong option, even though I was sure that selected option was wrong.

I think I am lacking confidence. :(
If possible, could you provide any tip?

Thanks!!
Chetan

[RonPurewal]

the only tip that comes to mind is "if there are five answers and you eliminate four of them, then you're done."

don't make life any more complicated than it needs to be.

[RonPurewal]

^^ especially since the logic of the problems tends to be somewhat simple. overthinking is MUCH more of a danger here than insufficient thinking.
as a result, second guesses tend to be wrong far more often than first guesses. (or, equivalently, re-interpretations tend to be less accurate than initial interpretations.)

[chetan86]

^^ especially since the logic of the problems tends to be somewhat simple. overthinking is MUCH more of a danger here than insufficient thinking.
as a result, second guesses tend to be wrong far more often than first guesses. (or, equivalently, re-interpretations tend to be less accurate than initial interpretations.)

You are absolutely correct. I have faced these issue many times.
Sometimes I unnecessarily make the issue over-complicate, wasting time and energy.

Your tips would definitely help me to achieve my target score.

Thanks!!!

[RonPurewal]

sure.

[fionaw752]

Can D) The director of Theives worked with the director of the The Big Heist on several earlier projects be the right ans here.

Cant we assume that the director of Thieves copied the ideas from the director of Big Heist

golden rule #63-a:
if your question starts with "can't we assume that...", then the answer is NO.

--

see dan's post above. choice (d) actually weakens the director's argument, because collaboration would increase the likelihood of "creative exchange of ideas" (i.e., plagiarism).

HI Ron,
could you talk about more about the "golded rule“ in above post?
Thanks advance!