I was recently asked to come up with a list of the Top Ten things I look for in a movie. My #1 and #2 items were Story and Storytelling. This, of course, led to the question, “Aren’t those the same thing?”
No. They are not.
Story is plot, and storytelling is script, and no, plot and script aren’t the same thing, either.
Story is what is being told, but storytelling is the way that it is told. An example I use for this is the film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. For those of you who haven’t seen this film – the story is about a man who is paralyzed by a stroke. He can only communicate through the blinking of his eye, and by blinking his eye, he writes his autobiography.
That is the story. The storytelling comes from the fact that first quarter of the movie is told from the man’s point of view. The screen is hazy and fixed; when the man blinks or closes his eyes, the screen goes dark. Many of the opening scenes involve doctors and nurses peering out of the camera at the audience. This unusual and innovative way of presenting the information gets the audience emotionally involved with the inner life of the main character. He is disoriented and confused, just like the audience.
The choice to tell the story this way shows the strength of the storytelling.
As a filmmaker is it important not only to think about the story, but also the storytelling. How are you going to engage your audience and get them hooked into your story? Great filmmakers have a distinctive style and way of telling a story. Even if the filmmaker is doing a remake of another film, the storytelling style is so distinctive that the film will be interesting.
On this Planet Money podcast, the lead singer of OK Go about the music industry, or, rather, how the internet has changed the music industry over the past couple of decades.
Essentially, he says that we are living in interesting times.
The podcast discusses the traditional financial model of the music industry and comes to the conclusion that the traditional industry is no more. Instead of building your band to the point where a big company gives you a record contract, there are no barriers to entry. The internet has made it possible for every high school student with three chords and the truth to pick up a ukulele and make a music video. Many bands, including OK Go, are able to make a living managing themselves without the aid of the music industry.
Which is great, but it also means that the band is responsible for all of the cost as well as all of the profit. By removing the barriers to entry, we have also removed the protective financial covering from failure. The entire landscape has changed and no one knows exactly what to do to make both music and a living.
The music industry is a great way to see how the movie industry might change over the next couple of years. Internet entertainment like The Guild, Dr. Horrible, and Sita Sings the Blues show that it is possible to be both entertaining and to make a living off creative work.
No one knows exactly what will work, so we have to keep on trying.
A good way to start thinking in visual terms is watch movies with an eye towards the cinematic storytelling.
Every once in awhile, this blog will discuss certain films that a filmmaker should watch and learn from.
The Seven Samurai is a great example of cinematic storytelling. It even transcends spoken language (while the spoken word in the film is Japanese, it works like a silent film in many places; every thing you need to know is available visually).
What to watch for:
Composition.
In many places a perfectly composed image pans to another perfectly composed image. While the acting seems a little exaggerated and stylish, it works because the visual language of the film is exaggerated and stylish. There is a lush, emotional world being explored here, and it is being explored visually.
Both of these websites have stores that offer T-shirts, DVDs, and other accompanying products. The films also allow people to contact the directors for public appearances or speaking engagements. Through merchandise and speaking fees, the filmmakers are able to generate some income off of the films.
It is important to note that neither of these directors are pursuing the traditional Hollywood filmmaker career. They are blazing their own artistic trails. For them, money was not the goal of the project. The idea was to entertain or to convey a message, not primarily to make money. As a creator, it is up to you to decide why you are making your film. Is it for experience, fame, or money?
Why would a filmmaker want to buy a book of screenplays that other filmmakers can use? Isn’t the whole point of making a film to have an original thought?
Yes, but each director has his or her own unique style and approach to the material. No two films are going to be the same, even if they have the same script. Two examples of this artistic experimentation leap to mind – Hal Hartley’s Flirt (which consists of three wildly different short films made with the same script), and Gus van Sant’s Psycho (which does nothing except demonstrate why people should study Alfred Hitchcock).
A director focus on tone and pacing, not necessarily creating a performance or visual experience, but instead shaping and guiding it. To do this, a director needs to interact with the material on a fundamental level. Because we are all fundamentally different - our passions, strengths, and weaknesses differ wildly – the art we create will be different, even if we have the same building blocks.
This goes back to the 26 Screenplays book. If a class of twenty film students took a single script from the book and made twenty films, they would all be different. We enjoy watching different actors play the same roles in Shakespeare. Compare Lawrence Olivier’s Hamlet to Mel Gibson’s Hamlet; no one gets upset because someone has already interpreted a performance of Hamlet. Instead we approach the new interpretation with a curiosity. Let’s see what this person can do with this material. It should be the same with directors and film making.
In terms of web video and short films, a mastery of cinematic language seems to be more important than telling a coherent story. The following two internet videos demonstrate how the cinematic language of spy/action films can be co-opted for different uses. In the first example, the action film cinematic language hooks the viewer into thinking about art and design. In the second example, the same cinematic language raises awareness of a product. Same cinematic language, wildly different interpretations.
The essence of filmmaking is work. A great performance, an iconic image, a thrilling montage all take work.
Which is why a blog about the work behind filmmaking is so special.
There are lots of websites devoted to reviewing films, ratingthem and telling you what is good and what is bad. There are not very many websites about how to make a good film cheaply and efficiently.
It is astounding how much sound, practical advice is available on the internet for free. This is one of the better blogs out there, so take advantage of it.
I have no idea what makes videos go viral. Usually the ones that dominate the internet have something interesting about them, but they do not necessarily show the craftsmanship of filmmaking the way this one does.
This film is a beautiful example of the cinematic language. The images do not have an inherent narrative to them. Only by the juxtaposition of the images through editing does something larger emerge. There is a question at the beginning, “What is a moment?” a failed attempt to answer it with words, and then an attempt to capture the power of a moment with images.
There is a rhythm and a pacing to this film. The screen strobes through a series of images and then lulls the mind into a meditative state by lingering on certain images. Few of these images are in and of themselves remarkable, but when they are stung together, they form a greater context that celebrates the ordinary moment and becomes both wonderful and heartbreaking all at once.
and what is 
. There are not very many websites about how to make a good film cheaply and efficiently.