The following quote from the Oscar-nominated director of Crossfire (and more than 50 other films including The Cain Mutiny) seems like a fitting quote to follow yesterday’s post Emotional Manipulation; “Today, many film-makers are afraid to deal with sentiment, dismissing it as sentimentality. But the ability to properly handle sentiment and its underlying emotion, to get the most out [...]
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Archive for November, 2011“Isn’t the whole point of making a trip to the movie theater that you’re actually hoping to be emotionally manipulated? Because you want someone to tell you a story that will then make you laugh or cry? Jim Hill “Our results suggest that film-makers manipulate sounds to create non-linear analogues to manipulate our emotional responses.”ABC Science, Movies [...]
Nov
18
2011
 
No Emotions? “Your Screenplay Sucks!”Posted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“Give the reader an emotional experience or you’re wasting your time. It doesn’t matter what emotion it is, but make damn sure he or she feels something. “ William M. Akers Your Screenplay Sucks! 100 ways to make it better One of those 100 Ways to make your script better in William M. Akers’ book [...] “(James Cameron) gets a lot of points for being a techno-brat, but he is a very emotional storyteller.” Steven Speilberg “James Cameron has made the two biggest movies ever made, and say what you will about his dialogue or his characterizations, but every single one of his movies obviously have resonated with a HUGE audience across [...]
Nov
16
2011
“Emotionally Move the Audience” (Tip #55)Posted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“Storytelling is innate to the human condition. Its underpinnings are cerebral, emotional, communal, psychological. One of the storyteller’s main responsibilities is to resonate in the audience’s psyche a certain something at the end of it all, to emotionally move the audience, to compel the audience to ‘get it’ on a visceral level.” Oscar-nominated director Arthur [...]
Nov
15
2011
The Apostle of Woe—Eugene O’NeillPosted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From IowaFor the last several days I’ve been exploring the topic of emotions and why saddness in particular seems to get quite a bit of stage time throughout theatrical history. The great American playwright Euguene O’Neill (1888-1953) wrote his share of downbeat stories (Long Day’s Journey, The Iceman Cometh) and was once asked if he was “the apostle [...]
Nov
14
2011
Filmmaking Quote #28 (Emotional Heart)Posted by: screenwritingfromiowa in Screenwriting From Iowa“Some of my main influences in the documentary world are David Guggenheim and Lesley Chicott, who taught me about finding the story and its emotional heart through the people (being filmed), and all of Earl Morris‘ films, which bring narrative form to the documentary.” Logan Scheider American Cinematographer magazine November 2011 Scheider was the cinematographer [...] Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. Macbeth William Shakespeare Guess there are times when we all need to share a little pain Sad [...] “We’ve all read books that are technically perfect but emotionally barren. Where’s the life? Why couldn’t we, as readers, engage? Often we find books cold because the author hasn’t raised the emotional level. Hasn’t considered emotions at all. Details and description have their places, but emotions flavor a story.” Beth Hill Writing for the Emotions on The [...] “Storytelling involves more than lining up the action pieces, arranging them in a logical order and then drawing conclusions. Yes, dramatic action pulls moviegoers to the edge of their seats. And yes, conflict, tension, suspense and curiosity hook moviegoers. Yet, no matter how exciting the action, the character’s emotional reactions and emotional development provide fascination. [...] |
