The Quest to Tell a Good Story

There's a difference between a "sequence" and a "story" on film.

A sequence is a series of events that follow each other.
A story begins with a great problem that must be solved.

If the footage is beautiful or the music is enchanting, we can convince ourselves that it's a good "story." People will ooh and ahh over the cinematic effect.

But without a plunging the viewer into a great problem, without giving them a great hope and then putting them on the edge of their seats until its resolved, there is no story.

It leaves the viewer unchanged and unmoved. And our beloved sequence disappears into the vast sea of other beautiful sequences on Vimeo.

Comments

[Carrie Starr]

Our story becomes more edgy and raw every time I hear from you! Thanks for encouraging me to invite people into the conflict. This book is going to be one incredible story!

[Bjorn Amundsen]

I have a few thoughts about this

Rollo May writes this in the preface to "The Courage to Create":

"Is it not the distinguishing characteristic of the human being that in the hot race of evolution he pauses for a moment to paint on the cave walls at Lascaux or Altamira those brown-and-red deer and bison which still fill us with amazed admiration and awe? Suppose the apprehension of beauty is itself a way to truth?"

Certainly theres plenty of forgettable sequences on Vimeo, into which little care has been taken. they are more experiments with cameras and shallow depth of field or whatever the most recent plugin is. I also think people confuse their terminology when they call making a video "storytelling". As for me, the goal is not always necessarily to tell a story, as in the Story 2012 opener, but to facilitate an emotion, for the viewer to engage in an experience.

Obviously storytelling is important

But what about Samsara? or this video?

http://vimeo.com/58291553

I would disagree that the above link leaves me unchanged or unmoved. That sequence, which it very much is, no trace of an arc, or even much of a progression, and yet I could watch it forever. It stands as a signpost that points me back to the Creator, that he would design a system so seemingly beautiful extravagant, where little else is accomplished than a sense of wonder and awe.

[Ben Arment]

Bjorn good thoughts. I'm finding that beauty is becoming more and more prevalent as the tools and the artists get better. At the end of the day, it's story that makes the biggest impact in my own life.

Example: the Audi Super Bowl commercial

They could have shown beautiful images of the car on breathtaking roadways. But they used storyline. A boy without a date to the prom. Destined to feel shame as hinted by his sister.

There's the inciting incident

But ahhh a great hope emerges as his father hands him the keys to the Audi.

He emboldens.

Parks in the principle's spot. Heads straight for the popular girl. A kiss. An angry boyfriend

As he drives away beaming... with a black eye

I think the solution is not to defend beauty but to strive for story. It's agonizing to create, but far more impactful