“The best Original
Song goes to....”
“The best Cinematography goes to... “
“The best Production Design goes to....”
At the recent Academy Awards event,
viewers listened to all of the above statements as the Oscars were given out. However, many individuals would say that they
have little or no interest in these categories. Most of us only want to know who will win best
actor/actress, supporting roles and picture of the year. The producers of the evening
are aware of our bias and therefore hold us in suspense as long as possible before
revealing our favourite awards.
Music, screen sets and photography, when
done well, are imperceptible. However, they focus the eye through the camera lens,
move us emotionally with lyrics or melodies and provide context for the script
and actions. Without these valuable background features, films would be flat
and forgettable.
This illustration can be applied to
other areas of our life.
In communication it’s often the ‘how’ of
saying something that impacts us more than the ‘what’. “I won’t remember what
you said, but how it made me feel.” Body language or the non verbal is what
makes up ninety percent of the message.
When introducing change, the existing
climate or environment will determine success and outcomes; like the water in a
fish tank—if it’s not treated, the fish will die.
Written stories also require music/sound,
photography/focus and staging/setting to engage the reader. Next time you watch a movie, notice these
invisible, but essential, components and imagine how you can recreate them in
your writing; let’s think like directors with our/His script.
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ
Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Eph. 2:10
(NIV)
I welcome your comments on the topic.
Carol Ford, Speaker, Career Coach, Author
A short story about my first Christmas in my adoptive home will appear in Christmas with Hot Apple Cider, October 2017. I'm co-author of devotional entitled: As the Ink Flows: Devotions to Inspire Christian Writers & Speakers (shortlisted for 2017 awards). To learn more about Carol Ford go to: https/carolfordassociates.wordpress.com
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5 comments:
Thanks Carol for this interesting thought-provoker for writers. That's a worthy aspiration - to be able to write or consistently write in a way that brings into play those choice and effective elements and transitions you indicate pertain to effective screening of stories in film production. It does seem that a 'virtual movie' gets screened in my mind when I read a captivating story.
Hmm, may Father God bring forth the emotions and feelings that people should best experience as the real stories of our lives get played out. ~~+~~
Thanks, Peter. I always appreciate your feedback.
Ha Carol. As I was reading your post I thought of my son and his profession. Well he doesn't work at it full time anymore. But his words still hold true. As a sound engineer, he is/was responsible for making speakers & musicians sound good. He isn't responsible for the content of what they present, but he is 100% responsible for how they sound to the listening ear/audience. He used to tell me that (although he is quite okay with it) no one cares or notices or knows about the sound guy unless something goes wrong. Then everybody turns and stares! :) Kind of like your Academy awards analogy. No one thinks about all the aspects of a movie/story that are so important.
Just like you say, it's good to think about all those aspects you describe, to bring everything to fruition!
Good post, Carol.
You raised a very important part of our writing or speaking. "It's not so much what you say but how you say it" is so very true! The tone of voice, the look in your eyes and expression can make the difference between being heard or being ignored, in receiving the message or being hurt by it. I liked your analogy of the background music in movies etc. Thanks for sharing.
Hi, Ruth & Glynis
Thank you for this feedback. I think this would be an excellent workshop activity sometime. Showing the first few minutes of a movie and see if the authors can capture all the elements in written form.
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