Telling Stories Thru Cinema
Originally posted by Pia Romans.
Story telling has kept the listener/viewer riveted. It's how we share ideas, emotions, and lessons and touch our psyches at the core. Throughout the ages story telling has manifested through spoken words, acted out upon on the stage, through still images on the canvass, and ultimately through moving images on the screen.
Cinematography: Writing with light.
Light: floating photons of energy...elusive...ethereal... blithe.
And yet we've managed to capture it. And through magic, focus it. And through skill, communicate with it.
Its become an enchanting medium with which to share our stories; ideas, emotions, and lessons. It reaches beyond cultural boundaries. Its images are human. The sounds of laughter and sorrow are the same in any language, and the images that draw on these, universal. This visual connection reaches off the screen and communicates individually with each viewer. As we watch the story unfold visually, we feel transported to that event. We feel were a part of what's happening there in front of us, in the story, as a quiet bystander. Whether with compassion or distain we watch the images dance before us leading us through its tale, and somehow we're magically involved and connected. Perhaps it's this reason alone why Cinema has such a powerful hold. We have visceral reactions. Pupils dilate, pulses race, and chills cross the skin. Those images move us emotionally...and the ability to move someone emotionally whether to tears, laughter, or fear is quite compelling for the artists as well as the viewer. And it's in this way how we tell our stories.
Somewhere in our minds we know these films are just light and shadow but the influence they have is the mystical drug that draws us back again and again for more. We allow ourselves time and again to suspend our disbelief while we journey psychologically and emotionally through the artist's story. We revel in the ride as the drug of Cinema washes over us and watch the story. And the good ones, I mean the really good ones, impact us like a fond memory and those stories stay with us forever.
The Basis of All Film, part 1
In this post we are going to look at the first part of a story. The WANT. The want is what drives, or motivates the main character. An example of this would be Memphis Raines in Gone in 60 Seconds, played by Nicholas Cage. The want for Memphis is very clear, it is to save his younger brother from Raymond Calitri. The rest of the movie, from the car thefts to the chase sequence in the final part of the film is motivated by Memphis' want to save his younger brother. Every decision that is made by Memphis correlates back into his want. That is why it works as an example for the first part of the structure of a story.
Next we will examine the Struggle.
As always, please feel free to comment.