OVERVIEW:
I'm learning to be more "sensitive" by paying attention to a cat. Yes, one day I started wondering why my girlfriend's cat likes his toy mouse so much, and as I wondered, I had an epiphany: I realized that something can be special to someone else, even if I didn't understand why. I realized that not understanding something doesn't change the facts. The truth is, this little, often-repaired toy mouse is his favorite toy in the world...and knowing this has helped me become a better filmmaker. I call it "story sensitivity".
ABOVE: When I realized how special this little stuffed mouse was to kitty, it changed my life (for real). I began seeing the joys and struggles of each "character".
WHAT IS "CHARACTER SENSITIVITY"?
To properly create a film that tells a story, you must first understand the story and be sensitive to how it affects each character (i.e. the "motivation"). I call this "character sensitivity". To acquire this, you don't necessarily need to have a cat, but you do need to pay attention to how things affect people (and other characters) around you. This sensitivity is achieved when you understand the story from the viewpoint of each of the characters. I think it's very important (especially for stories based on reality) but it can be difficult to achieve depending on how many characters there are (and how long the story is). Ideally, you'll know every character "inside and out" but in a practical sense, you only have so much time (and heart) so try to focus on the characters that have the most effect on the story. These are the characters the audience looks to for either positive or negative change.
CREATING A "CHARACTER MAP"
As you define each character, you're beginning to create what I call a "Character Map". As I've been building my Storyboard Comics™ system (COMING SOON) I settled on the term "Character Map" for the poster I make of each character. It's like one of those old cartoon illustrations of a fisher who is fully equipped for the sport...with fishing pole, worms and the whole kit, alongside captions describing each item in the kit, but also the mindset of the character. I realize this is a new use of an old term, but it "maps" the mind of each character, so I thought it would work.
ACTIONS ARE IMPORTANT, BUT REACTIONS MORE
While I don't want to de-emphasize the importance of "story", I do think there should be more emphasis on how the story affects each character. For example, you can include lots of action and special effects in your movie, but if each character's reaction is not understood, mapped out, and demonstrated, I don't think the film can be as believable, because there's no human element. For instance, if an explosion occurs and no one is shown to care or react in fear, it can feel fake, like a video game (where everyone is hardened to trauma and violence because those "characters" are not real people).
CONCLUSION:
So, to a create a film that tells a story, you must first understand the story, and be sensitive to how it affects each character. To do this, you don't necessarily need to love cats, but you do need to be sensitive, so try to keep a soft heart.
Comments