Film School 101
Doing a presentation on visual storytelling for our weekly staff meeting, and I thought I would post some links that correspond to some of the basic topics I am covering.
For starters, lets talk about the very core of storytelling, montage theory. That’s right, welcome to film school 101.
Russian film director and theorist Sergei Eisenstein (and a whole bunch of other Russians who didn’t get quite as much credit) believed that the juxtaposition of independent images will create a sum that is greater than those individual parts. Confused yet? Lets say we start with a shot of the sun, followed by a close up of beads of sweat streaming down a man’s forehead. The viewer, taking these two images in succession, establishes for him or herself that a guy is sweating on a hot sunny day. But lets think about this for a moment, the sun looks the same on a cool day or a hot day. The associations between these images only exist in the imagination of the viewer because of the juxtaposition. To not make an association, is to allow these images to exist unrelated in a chaotic void. But we can’t help ourselves from trying to make order from chaos. It’s in our nature.
This theory is often represented with the Kuleshov effect. Kuleshov showed audiences images of a coffin, a plate of food, and a small child, all followed by the same neutral expression. The audience then imposed their own emotional response on the protagonist, saying he was sad when viewing the coffin, hungry when looking at the food, and happy watching the child. Hitchock demonstrates this theory here.
Knowing how this effect works should force you to put more thought into your shot choices. Each shot should build on the shots that came before it, being consciously aware of the information you are giving to the viewer, and the emotional and narrative associations the viewer will impose.
Now that we have some theory under our belt, lets talk about telling stories. A story is essentially conflict in search of resolution. The subject of the story wants something, and the story concludes when that want is met (or tragically is not met).
In this video piece by the Detriot Free Press, it is established early on that former Steelers footballer Courtney Hawkins wants to reclaim the glory days of his football career. The story then unfolds as he rebuilds the football program from his youth and provides those same opportunities to a new generation.
In this award-winning piece “Intended Consequences” by the folks at MediaStorm, the conflict is immediately apparent as a girl points out her dead relatives in a photo. The conflict has been established, but it also raises a lot of questions. Why are they dead? Who killed them? How did the girl survive? The storyteller then keeps you engaged by slowly unveiling these answers like tasty morsels to wanting baby birds.
As journalists we have a tendency to lay all our cards on the table. We are trying to inform, and we want to get as much information on the table as quickly as possible. Most important stuff first, followed by sequentially less important information. Inverted Pyramid style. All this information up front makes for pretty boring cinematic storytelling. Why bother watching the entire story if the you get the gist of it in the first few seconds.
Check out this video from the academy-award winning director of “Born into Brothels.” In the beginning, you know very little about what story is unfolding. Only an intriguing title to guide you, but bit by bit the director reveals more information to help complete the picture, always leaving a reason to keep watching up until the final seconds.
And that is the big secret right there. You need to find a way to engage your viewer. You want people to be quietly cheering for your protagonist and feel invested in the outcome. And don’t worry if your protagonist is a hardened criminal or a seedy politician. If you tell your story well, and you are honest in your portrayal, your viewers wont be able to help but associate with the protagonist’s mission.
Here are a couple other good stories that utilize these principles.
