Filmmaking utilizes the art of audio-visual storytelling to set up scenes that the audience can understand and relate to. This generally requires investing the right dose of emotional moments in the scenes as they unravel onscreen. Making these scenes emotional actually starts with the film’s script, the art and technical requirements of the production following after.
Screenplay
The screenplay is the basic foundation of any film project. Even a regular movie viewer who didn’t study filmmaking would typically appreciate an impressive script or get annoyed or disappointed by a bad script. The script’s emotional content starts with the effective establishment of the story’s plot, characters, conflicts, goals, and motivations. Although these don’t involve a mathematical formula, there are tangible audio-visual elements that can offer a specific scene the right mood and atmosphere it needs.
Generally the characters in the movie must develop like real people the audience can empathize or sympathize with. This way the characters can capture viewers’ attention. The people following the story can emotionally attach themselves to these characters. As long as the viewers can literally or figuratively relate to what these roles contribute to the story, the film will not feel shallow, superficial, and unconvincing.
Artistic Requirements
A film’s artistic requirements encompass a very wide variety of cinematic elements. These include directing, cinematography, production design, acting, editing, sound design and mixing, and musical scoring, among many other aspects of production. With filmmaking being a collaborative art, these aspects don’t need to be artistically impressive as separate elements but as significant parts of a whole. They should work together in a way that the story becomes visually, aurally, and emotionally involving.
For instance, the film should cast not only a talented actor who looks the part — his acting skill and how he brings the character to cinematic life must also be taken into consideration. The lighting design should not simply look interesting onscreen — it should convey the right feelings for the scene. From the special effects to the musical score, all these artistic components should work together to make the movie emotionally sincere.
Technical Requirements
The artistic and technical requirements of the film always go hand-in-hand. The imagination and vision for the film complete its artistic insights while the implementation of these insights in audio-visual form leads to the technical execution of the shots. The technical requirements needed to mount the artistic look intended for the project involves the use of the right camera, lighting, grip, and sound equipment, along with the people with expertise in using them.
Storytelling
As a basic guide, once the script and vision for the film are finalized, it is important that the cast and crew conduct meetings to ensure everyone understands what the film is really all about. If people working on the film don’t have a full understanding of the story, this will reflect on the final output’s lack of focus and ineffectiveness. The film will most likely look fake and the audience would readily feel that the scenes are detached and unable to carry the emotional continuity the storyline needs.
As cliche as it sounds, it is true that in making a movie what is most important is what the filmmaker does with the available tools to tell the story. This goes way beyond how technically exceptional the film is. Even with limited resources, as long as the story is properly told, a film project, whether a home movie or a professional work, can genuinely engage its audience.
Heading to the movies? Get an instant mobile coupon to use at select theaters for free popcorn!