This video is not going to have any of the typical advice people give filmmakers, that the key to making good films is
Collaboration or preparation or that we should just keep on making stuff to get more experience.
That advice is fine. But I want to try and talk about the creative side because at this point
We all know that film-making is not just about nice-looking shots and snappy editing.
Here's what I mean. When we're watching our favorite films of shows we know that they make us think
They make us feel and that for a while
We are immersed in this world with those characters. but films are so complex
It's hard to pinpoint exactly where that's coming from so we say that a good film has a good story.
But the story isn't just in a script it's reflected in the sound, in the actors' performances, the editing
It's woven into every single part of the film. So it's hard to actually
Understand what makes a good story. So for the moment.
We're going to strip away all of that extra stuff and just focus on the simplest kind of storytelling
Sharing an anecdote and just bear with me. I promise this will make sense by the end
So you've probably seen someone try and tell a story and they go like this. How did I get this scar? Well,
there's a story behind that.
Basically I used to go around my friend's house every Tuesday to play on their trampoline because
my mom used to have to take my brother to football practice on a Tuesday
And my dad would also work late that night. Well it was, it was every other Tuesday
they kind of alternated it based on how many people in the office anyway. So,
you see what I mean, it's so hard to listen to a story like that where there are so many
unnecessary details if you're telling us a story about how you got a scar on a trampoline
Then we probably don't need to know about your dad's work schedule. Now,
I don't claim to be an expert storyteller.
But I do know a couple of people,
who will start telling a story about some little thing that to them last week.
Just a couple of people,
but then the people around them can actually end their
conversations and turn around because they're somehow just drawn to this person who can really tell a story well.
It's not just that they've had interesting life experiences. It's that they know how to express them in a entertaining
way. And I can't help but think, that some of those verbal storytelling skills will transfer over to filmmaking.
So we can listen to people sharing their funny stories, to try and find out what it is that makes them so compelling.
We've already talked about avoiding unnecessary details
And that one definitely applies to filmmaking but something else I've noticed is that good storytellers don't just tell you what happened
Watch this.
So after the job interview, I look down at my shirt and
realized that I had a toothpaste stain on the front.
Now a different storyteller might focus on how they reacted to what happened instead.
Watch this. So as I was leaving the interview,
I thought, yeah that went pretty well actually. But then I looked down at my shirt and
realized that, there was a massive toothpaste splodge right at the front.
I can't believe I didn't check in the mirror,
such an idiot. The first one was just explaining the facts, just saying here's what happened.
But the second one, was an attempt at least. At letting people connect, letting people empathize, to
relate with that embarrassment. I really think that the emphasis on
reaction and emotion could be what separates a film that just makes you think and a film that makes you feel
So learning to tell a good anecdote might actually help our filmmaking
but of course like anything creative there are really no formulas and
Who am I to say what makes a good or bad story?
But the cool thing is you can test it out really easily. For the last few months I've been making a real effort to
tell as many anecdotes as I can. Whether it's hanging out with friends, family
I've even told a few stories in these videos. Although
I would say that it's especially worth doing in person because you get two very useful pieces of feedback
Firstly, it's really easy to see if your audience are still paying attention.
Do they keep fidgeting and interrupting you, or are they listening intently, keen to hear what happens next in the story?
But most of all see if they react at the end
For most anecdotes, if you get a big laugh at the end then you know that you've told the story well.
But here's the thing, when it comes to actually telling a story through a film
It's suddenly very easy to focus on everything except the story. That's what I did for the first few years
I just film things that look cool and edit it into a montage with music. There was no story
Now imagine doing that but with absolutely flawless lighting in the most amazing locations with really
Stylish but tasteful color grading the production value is incredible
But would that hold your attention for two hours?
I know for me at least I would definitely start to think that okay
Yeah, there's a cool shot and yeah, yeah, there's another one, but this is empty. This is meaningless
This is boring. Now at this point
I've got to say that I have absolutely no right to tell you what kind of films are good, or bad.
All of this is purely my opinion. So here's my theory, if you can't convert a film into an anecdote.
Then it might just be a weak story.
Let's try it out. I'll summarize what's going on here.
So I saw this guy riding a scooter
And he did a cool trick in the air and then after that he did a different trick again in the air
but this time he spun the deck around for his hand and
then he grinded along a rail. If
the whole thing was like that then there's no chance. I'd ever want to tell that story at a party.
Whereas the whole
toothpaste job interview story could work as an anecdote
And I could at least imagine it as like the opening scene to a film. You know, we see the end of the interview from
the characters' perspective, and then outside they look down, and we see the toothpaste on his shirt
It could work
Now I'm not trying to say that every single good anecdote
would make a good film or that someone who can tell a good anecdote will
automatically be a brilliant filmmaker. Whose can tell stories visually through film, music and
sound. Of course there are different mediums.
But here's the key thing: You can tell an anecdote
without any actors, without any locations, without any crew.
And you don't have to spend months writing a script and the best part is that you can get loads and loads of practice
doing it, you know multiple times a week and most importantly loads and loads of
feedback from, you know a whole bunch of different people. It's a quick and
repeatable form of storytelling, that can give us experience doing exactly what we're trying to do. Which is to tell stories
that impact an audience.
My name's Simon Cade, this has been DSLRguide, and I'll see you next week.