Boredom is the dark side.
That may seem bizarre, at first glance, but it's true. If your wish is to entertain an audience, you will write and rewrite, edit and shoot new scenes, brainstorm and plan and remove subplots, all to eliminate boredom. Creating "entertainment" means eliminating boredom; it's the opposite of the desired goal, and removing it takes time.
Classic Movie Trailers: Battlestar Galactica (1978)
Time, as it turns out, is an important thing, when watching a feature. In order for an audience to connect to the story, it takes screen time. Storytellers can choose to begin films with great tragedies, but this is done with limited results. When the audience first sits down, they have a barrier of time, that prevents their immersion into the fiction, and any attachment to the characters.
Say you blow up a bus full of people, at the beginning of your movie. If the story requires that scene, you put it in, but don't expect tears. They're not going to be laughing at that moment either, but if they had more time with those characters, their on-screen deaths would mean so much more. This concept also applies, to romances between characters.
You can have two characters that are together, or even married, in your story. Then, you can open a film, with one character cheating. However, this is a dangerous game; if you don't establish the loving relationship first, no one's going to care about the infidelity. Even worse, your audience may not even realize, that one character's committed to another, especially if they're not watching closely.
To avoid confusion, and save time, you can use things like genres, as reference points. You probably don't have to explain what a cop does, in a cop drama. Doctors are self-explanatory, and certain things, like cowboys and dwarves and humanoid aliens, are going to be expected in specific settings. Whenever you introduce a new setting, or a new type of character, you have to give your audience enough time, to grow comfortable with them.
I've seen a number of films that don't take this into account. If you've ever felt lost, while several actors are blathering on about several planets you've never heard of, don't blame yourself. You've just been thrown in the deep end of the pool, without first being taught how to swim. The authors have to take the time, to explain things.
Omitting the scenes, or chapters needed for exposition, is a fatal mistake. You see, omission leads to confusion. Confusion leads to indifference. Indifference leads to boredom...
Jedi pen masters must resist the trap of boredom; it's the one pitfall, they will be glad you avoided.
http://youtu.be/9_opi69O2Q0
That may seem bizarre, at first glance, but it's true. If your wish is to entertain an audience, you will write and rewrite, edit and shoot new scenes, brainstorm and plan and remove subplots, all to eliminate boredom. Creating "entertainment" means eliminating boredom; it's the opposite of the desired goal, and removing it takes time.
Classic Movie Trailers: Battlestar Galactica (1978)
Time, as it turns out, is an important thing, when watching a feature. In order for an audience to connect to the story, it takes screen time. Storytellers can choose to begin films with great tragedies, but this is done with limited results. When the audience first sits down, they have a barrier of time, that prevents their immersion into the fiction, and any attachment to the characters.
Say you blow up a bus full of people, at the beginning of your movie. If the story requires that scene, you put it in, but don't expect tears. They're not going to be laughing at that moment either, but if they had more time with those characters, their on-screen deaths would mean so much more. This concept also applies, to romances between characters.
You can have two characters that are together, or even married, in your story. Then, you can open a film, with one character cheating. However, this is a dangerous game; if you don't establish the loving relationship first, no one's going to care about the infidelity. Even worse, your audience may not even realize, that one character's committed to another, especially if they're not watching closely.
To avoid confusion, and save time, you can use things like genres, as reference points. You probably don't have to explain what a cop does, in a cop drama. Doctors are self-explanatory, and certain things, like cowboys and dwarves and humanoid aliens, are going to be expected in specific settings. Whenever you introduce a new setting, or a new type of character, you have to give your audience enough time, to grow comfortable with them.
I've seen a number of films that don't take this into account. If you've ever felt lost, while several actors are blathering on about several planets you've never heard of, don't blame yourself. You've just been thrown in the deep end of the pool, without first being taught how to swim. The authors have to take the time, to explain things.
Omitting the scenes, or chapters needed for exposition, is a fatal mistake. You see, omission leads to confusion. Confusion leads to indifference. Indifference leads to boredom...
Jedi pen masters must resist the trap of boredom; it's the one pitfall, they will be glad you avoided.
http://youtu.be/9_opi69O2Q0
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