On
Mark Kennedy's blog, "Temple of the Seven Golden Camels," he's posted Handouts by Rowland Wilson concerning color, light and shadow, and composition. While I was looking over the notes on composition, it struck me that many of the visual concepts can be readily applied to the art of storytelling as well.
What follows in this post is a reminder to myself of things that I should be thinking about as I go through the creative process. In my own work I haven't always been successful at applying concepts such as these, but by thinking them through, and writing them down, I hope to improve. If it happens to be of any help to anyone else, all the better.
The phrases in quotes are taken directly from the handouts. The indented passages are my own thoughts.
Focus
"Directing the Eye"
- Make sure that you keep your eyes on the prize when storytelling. The elements of your story, characters, dialog, locations, events, should support the themes, emotions and ideas that you are trying to get across. Lead the viewer where you want them to go. Don't meander aimlessly, screen time is precious use it wisely.
Tie Ins
"Places where the tonal value of the character anchor him to the tonal value of the background"
- Your character should be grounded within the "reality" of the universe you are creating. Even in a "fish out of water" story the character needs to be a part of the world, however reluctantly.
- Pinocchio on Pleasure Island being bad and starting to turn into a donkey connects him to the scene and the location more intensely than if he'd been a good boy above the goings on. The lure of the locale, and his succumbing to the temptations of that world, bring home the real danger that he's in.
Breathing Space
"Have some air or breathing space for the eye to rest in"
- In classic horror movies there is always that moment of calm, just before all heck breaks loose. You have to give the audience room to breathe, and collect their thoughts before you take them on another wild ride. This concept is also part of both the Harmony/Contrast and the Grouping concepts.
Harmony & Contrast and Dominance
"The importance of harmony cannot be overstressed."
"Harmony is achieved by Dominance"
"Every aspect of picture-making is made up of linked complements"
"When one side of the complementary pair dominates, Harmony is created. Only then is Contrast Possible."
"Make the objects have a definite hierarchy"
"Dominant objects are usually not the center of interest"
"Contrast gets the attention, so it assumes a major role in the viewer's mind…But it absolutely depends on Harmony to exist"
- These concepts work verbatim when related to story.
- The scenes with Stromboli and Pinocchio are most graphic examples of this. Corrupt/innocent, Big/small, Loud/quiet, Heavy dialect/no dialect, Dominant/submissive
Internal Rhythm
"After the structure is solved try for internal rhythm"
- Once you've got the overall structure of your story figured out, you need to then approach each individual scene as a mini play. Each scene or sequence has emotional builds and releases that affect the story as a whole, but the scene needs to have an internal rhythm to make it work on its own terms as well.
Grouping
"Go for a 'rubato' rhythm, uneven spaces, no two alike, visual jazz"
"Avoid mechanical "metronome" spacing. All the same, a march beat"
- When applied to story, I think of this concept as "pacing." The pacing ot the story should be fluid and organic, not mechanical and predictable. This is where the concept of breathing room really comes into play. The quiet before the storm, tension and release, surprise turns and twists keep the audience engaged.
Style
"Avoid the diagrammatic"
"Avoid the arranged man-made look"
"Not decorative, not photographic, but an artist's interpretation"
- This concept is much more subjective, because the artist's interpretation may be "arranged" and "diagrammatic", or "decorative". I think it's all about the intentions of the filmmaker as an artist with something to say, and getting that vision/point of view across to the audience by any means necessary.
"Use reference"
"Make your pictures 'what the witness saw.' Be a witness."
- These points speak to the believability of your story. Use reference to add touches of reality. Research can put you in a place that your imagination alone might not.