The Story

Where to begin?

I think the most logical point to begin when working with a blog dedicated to filmmaking and storytelling is with the story.

There is an old adage in hollywood that nothing begins until you have the story.  If you only ever take one nugget of advice from my blog, or from the countless other sites on writing, please take the fact that STORY is King.

A common crime committed by 99% of all film school students is that they forget about their story.  Being swept up in the moment they focus on important, but less important, aspects of their film.  Most obsess over the perfect framing of a shot, the crisp clear audio, the steady dolly movement and the perfect delivery of a line.  All these elements while important to the eventual success of the film are meaningless if the story is lost upon the audience.  I have seen plenty of short student films that have amazing visuals and show off the professional level of competence they possess but in the end I couldn't care less about them, or even have told you what they were about because the story wasn't captivating.  Therefore they were a failure.

Let me say this clearly.  Short films don't have to mean short on story.

The mark of a master is one that can create riveting characters caught in a series of conflicting scenes where they must choose their reaction thusly exposing who they really are and in the process changing them from what they were in the beginning.  This in essence is what Story is all about.  If you can craft a short story that has characters that can move you emotionally and whom change as a result of conflict then you will have a promising career ahead of you.

If this concept befuddles you don't fret, you'll just have to work a little harder to grasp it.  You'll have to struggle and earn the fruits of your labor to come out on the other side significantly changed from the experience.  Sound familiar?  It should.

But are stories still relevant to modern life?  A fair enough question and a simple answer.  Absolutely.  If anything modern storytelling has consumed our every day existence almost to the point of having nothing left.

Think about your day today.  What happened?  You probably got up and got ready for work or school and watched the morning news.  The news comprised of real life stories happening in your local area.  Even if you don't watch the news but instead turn on some show to relax before you begin the day, you're still absorbing story.  Every show is a story about a fictional or real life.  Even commercials are mini stories designed to inspire you to purchase a product.  Throughout your entire day you will relay and absorb stories coming from all of your friends, family and colleagues.  The story about how someone was late for school/work.  How that boss/teacher was a real ass today.  All stories.  When you go home it's just more of the same over and over again day after day.  I go so far to say that unless you live as a hermit in a cave in the middle of the desert you're going to hear a story; even then you'll dream and a dream is nothing more than your mind telling you a story.  So it is inevitable and it is everywhere.

Why?  Why are stories so important to us?  Because we are human.  Call it an unintentional accident as a result of our ability to communicate.  Stories at their very basic levels are how we pass our hard won knowledge on to others.  Many sociologist believe that storytelling came about because we used stories to keep our offspring from doing things that might harm them.  Things that we have already figured out through our own series of trial and error.  It is also how we teach about morals.  Every religious text is nothing more than a story.  It is a story that tries to get across a point about morality and right and wrong befitting a certain belief system.

Stories are powerful tools.  They can entice riots and quell rages.  They can lift you to the highest forms of love and expression and drive you into the depths of despair.  They have an almost unnatural ability to influence you in ways that few things in the real world can.

Think about the movie going experience for a moment.  In a crowded room filled with hundreds of strangers you sit shoulder to shoulder you stare at a screen while the lights dim.  Collectively you go through the twists and turns and share this experience with everyone in the cinema.  You experience the greatest of highs and the lowest of lows.  You laugh, you cry.  You go through a range of emotions willingly that you would avoid at all cost during your real life and whats more, you're paying to do so.  Nothing else could make you go through this except for a well told story.

So I say it again.  Story is King.  If I only ever write this one blog and if you only ever read one entry take away from this that your story is everything.  Tell it well.  If you don't pull any punches and you give us the world as you see it with all its imperfections on display then we will love you forever and shower you with roses and gold.