I ran across a blog today that had made some notes from a talk by Andrew Stanton on the importance of good storytelling in film. It reminded me of a speech I saw him give a few years ago and thought I would make note of a few of the nuggets that stood out.
Audio on Google
"Storytelling Unified Field Theory: 2 + 2. Notice that it’s not 2 + 2 = 4. The story doesn’t tell the answer — the audience adds it up. The writer supplies the key elements, and leaves it to the viewer to finish the thought. This is yet another example of the idea that audiences enjoy working for their entertainment. Plus this is a good way to keep your writing economical. And this applies to every aspect of the film, and not just the writing."
He then played an audio clip to illustrate this idea, from the first lines of an Elaine May/Mike Nichols’ play:
[phone ringing]
[male voice]: Hello.
[elderly female voice]: Hello. This is your mother . . . remember me?”
With those few words, the audience has all the information it needs to fill in the back story and know the situation.
Writing is like Archeology — keep digging, and throwing away what doesn’t fit. Write, and rewrite, and rewrite some more, and be ruthless about throwing away your ideas that don’t fit.
When thinking about characters Andrew said he enjoys returning to The Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Less Masters, which is a collection of post-mortem autobiographical “epitaphs” of 244 former citizens of a fictional town in Illinois. It reminds him that there are an infinite number of characters, and stories about their lives. He also cited a quote from Mr. Rogers to the effect that, “There isn’t anyone you can’t love once you know their story.”
Inner, not Outer, Conflict is key. An example was that initially Monster’s Inc. had a complex lead story involving an “industrial accident” for Sully (he’d been stuck in a child’s room and saw the effects his frightening had on the child, leaving Sully traumatized). This focus on the outer conflict (the screams, and the effects on the kids and on Sully) turned out to be a dead end. In the film you’ll recall that the screams ended up occurring off screen.
More GOODness.
And GREAT storyboard info. If you are serious about storyboarding, Sherm Cohen's storyboarding course is WAY worth the cost.