Storytelling and Connections in Film
How to connect elements in our filmmaking stories to make unforgettable films.
I believe everyone has a story and many would like to share them. Thing is, there are many ways to tell a story. Not every story is an account of someone’s life. Some stories, like the ones you read in fantasy and science fiction books and movies, appear to be born from our imagination.
Our fantasies, however, stem from our personal experiences. Our desires, our perspectives, our relationships, they influence our imagination.
Everything is connected.
You’ve heard it from me many times, especially if you know me personally. There are people who see patterns. I see connections. The reason, I believe, I see this way has to do with my imagination, my experiences and relationships.
Without going all in on these things, if you’ve read what I write here, you’ll know I grew up moving a lot and lived a good part of my youngest childhood in Spain. If you read my very first post, “The Secret Power,” you’ll know that realizing the power of storytelling when I was a toddler has had a huge influence in my life.
Stories bring elements together and connect them.
We’re going through life without thinking about storytelling. But there are these things that happen along the way that make us wonder about how the universe works.
When I was living in Italy as a tween, I met a group of guys on a field in our neighborhood. While I was saying good-bye to them, I walked straight into a ditch and literally disappeared from their view.
They all ran over as I was climbing out of it, shouting my name and asking if I was okay. I was totally fine. It was a pile of moist dirt I fell into. It was mostly just embarrassing for me. These were all boys and some of them were pretty cute, not gonna lie.
As I walked away, I thought to myself, ‘Wow. What a dork. Nice first impression. They’ll never forget you now!’
Fast forward three, or maybe four, years and I am in a pizza place with some friends down by the beach in San Diego. It was our hang-out. They had some video games there and my friends and I met some guys. Suddenly, one of them says, “Oh my god! I know you!”
As you can imagine, he shares the story with everyone. I shared how embarrassing it was for me. But hey, here he was retelling it to everyone, which I had not. Yay. We were older, he was pretty cool and we laughed and ate pizza.
There are many moments like this that bring you to believe there is something sketchy going on in the universe to bring instances like this together. The thing is that the connection was simple.
The odds were not as far-fetched as one may think. Our parents were in the military and San Diego is a popular place for military people to be stationed. However, the time and the exact location at that very moment makes it seem magical.
I had practically forgotten that incident falling in a ditch. I’ve not forgotten it since meeting that guy again years later, though.
In storytelling, connections matter.
Sometimes we watch movies and we don’t know why the story is this way or that way. They all have certain elements that keep us grounded. A formula. There are just a handful of them and they are the foundation of every film you’ve ever watched.
“Sixth Sense” is a great example of how M. Knight Shyamalan points out the connections as clues. It takes a master storyteller to keep me from not figuring out how a movie ends.
To impress me, they have to do a great job at messing with my psyche. By the way, if you’re making films using your smartphone, I invite you to submit it to the International Mobile Film Festival in San Diego, and mess with my psyche.
What makes a great story depends on how it’s told. But what it comes down to is the teller, for all the reasons I stated before.
Ideas for stories come from within.
Where do you get your ideas for your stories? I bet there is always a connection to your experiences, your feelings, your perspective, your observations—and they all play a tune in your imagination.
You may not recognize every note by it’s name. Is it a b or a c? You may not even recognize specific instruments. But they all come together to form your ideas and influence your story in how you tell them.
Connecting your stories to all the elements helps you in filmmaking.
When I learned about filmmaking in school and later teach it, or share insights to some who’ve asked for it, I say that trimming off the fat in a story is more important in film than in other mediums. Many bacon lovers may be thinking, if you trim the fat off the bacon, it’s not bacon!
In film, you are presenting a film with more than one medium. You are using music, cadence, effects, camera movements…all these things are part of each moment in each scene which plays to the entire story. Films are an experience. If you feel me on this, you understand why filmmakers work so hard to achieve a particular aesthetic in their films.
The elements you connect to are the elements your viewers connect to. You feel your connection to a moment deeply and you want your viewer to connect to it. However, it may not be at the time the viewer experiences the moment in your story’s timeline that your viewer connects to it personally.
That fall in the ditch…that story on it’s own is not that meaningful. I mean we all fall in ditches when saying goodbye to a group of teens when we are teens, right? Right?
But the story I shared with you is not just about that moment. I brought you back to see it again, just as this guy did years later. While this may not be the best example, it still points to how a movie can bring you back to an element earlier in the film that you may not have felt much of anything about, but later felt it in your heart and maybe even made you cry.
This happens to me when a lovable character dies. I am sure it happens to you as well.
My advice to filmmakers is always to trim and tighten their story. You can make a story better when you leave out even your most loved elements and shots. Leave out long pauses that you fall in love with as a filmmaker. Leave out the extra dialogue that doesn’t play into defining a character that your audience already knows. Be mindful that your connections are comprehensible to your audience because a lot of times they are personal to you.
Don’t disrupt connections.
My dad told me “never burn bridges” so many times that I would sometimes chant along with him.
When you sever connections in your story, you risk the outcome of your story making an impact. But while you, the storyteller may think this is always true, you could be wrong. Your perspective may not match your audience’s. As a director, it’s very important that your vision is presented to your audience exactly as you see it.
There is a delicate little bridge between your vision as a director and what your audience perceives from your film. While there are always people who just “don’t get it,” that doesn’t mean you played it wrong.
If your vision presents itself the way you intended, you succeeded.
There is art in storytelling, and it’s subjective. In the end, you need to please yourself through your vision above and beyond your audience by being true to your intention.
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© 2023 Susy Botello. All rights reserved.