8 Seconds
Justin Richard
ENG225
Instructor Schmidt
December 19, 2011

8 Seconds There are thousands of movies that can be broken down and analyzed but there are a handful of films that tell a story about a cowboy doing what he loves most. In the 1994 film entitled, 8 Seconds, one should stop and analyze all the elements from the story that was told to the overall textual themes that showed why this film was truly a heartwarming experience through the life of Lane Frost. All directors have a story to tell through a film being created. He or she will use either a chronological order or a non-linear order to help guide the audience through the story. Goodykoontz & Jacobs (2011) states, “Most movies follow a standard chronological order, which means that events in the movie’s plot follow the same order they would occur in the story, the order of real time” (p 2.3). John Avildsen, the director of 8 Seconds, used a chronological order to escort the audience through Lane’s life from the time he was a young child riding sheep at the fair to a world champion bull rider. The story starts in 1968 as a kid trying to hold on for dare life in a sheep riding contest at the local fair somewhere in Oklahoma. Immediately following this scene, the director takes us to Lane riding bulls in the All Teen Rodeo Championships; which Frost wins first place after riding a bull for eight seconds. After the early years of learning the techniques of riding bulls from his father he begins his journey through life as he becomes the greatest bull rider of all time. As Lane's legend and fame increases, so does the amount of pressure he puts on himself, to be what everyone wants him to be, and he wants to show that he is as good as they say he is.
His ascent to the world championship is marred by a cheating incident, questions about his wife's devotion and a near broken