A Cozy Chat Regarding Storytelling

 Hi everyone! In my most recent Aice Media AS class, I was shown an interesting Ted-Talk hosted by a filmmaker named Andrew Stanton, who has created numerous films such as Finding Nemo, Toy Story, or WALL-E. This speech had some very interesting components that I want to incorporate into my film opening to make it the best it can be, especially since I think my script could use some refining. Here are some of the key points that I want to discuss today!

                                         (Here is the Ted Talk if you wish to view it for yourself.)

Make Me Care

Immediately, the first thing that jumped out at me from the speech was the statement, "make me care".  There are so many stories and forms of media in the modern world that it is difficult to grab the attention of an audience. In my film opening, I want to immediately catch the audience's attention to ensure that they'll remain hooked throughout the piece. At the very least, my opening should demonstrate that the story of the film is going to go somewhere interesting. A criticism that I heard previously is "Okay, so your main character is depressed. So what?". Although a bit harsh, I saw their point. The main thing I want to get across is that the main character in my film's depression is harming both them and their relationships around, yet he is trying his hardest to put himself out there in order to feel better. This would serve as like a "promise" to the viewers that my story is going somewhere, retaining viewer attention in the process.

Take a look at the opening for the film Ratatouille for an example. In less than a minute, the story sets up the conflict of  "can anyone cook?" with a TV broadcast. Immediately, this tells the audience that the story is going to go somewhere as it attempts to answer that question through its story and characters.

Work for the Story

An interesting thing Mr. Stanton pointed out was that the audience likes to "work for their meal". What this means, is that the audience actually prefers to have to think and work to understand the story that the film is trying to tell rather than having every key plot point spoon-fed to them through dialogue. To better understand my point, look at this scene from WALL-E. 

There are no snappy edits or corny "I love you" lines in this scene. Although the story occurring onscreen of WALL-E in love with the white robot, EVE, seems obvious, it wasn't outright stated by the film. You had to think in order to understand that plot point, and that is something audience's love. My opening won't have many lines of dialogue, but after today's research, I'm feeling inclined to include even less. I want the main story of the opening to be told through other mediums such as characters or setting, and not by a piece of dialogue.

Invoke Wonder

Andrew Stanton said in his presentation, "The magic ingredient, the secret sauce, and that's can you invoke wonder? Wonder is honest, it's innocent, it can't be artificially created. For me there is no greater ability than the gift of making another human being giving you that feeling, to hold them still just for that brief moment in their day, and have them surrender to wonder.". I want to have one of my scenes to invoke wonder, and I want it to be the scene where my main character (Theodore Mead), covered in darkness, looks at a picture of he and his friend together having fun, bathed in light. I want this shot to be beautiful, and I have been planning it for a while to be the "magic ingredient" in my film. After hearing this quote, I am only more inclined to make the scene happen to the best of my ability. Thank you all for tuning in, I'll see you all next time!