“Everyone has a story. And there is something to learn for every experience.” – Oprah Winfrey
Introduction
The fascination with storytelling is as old as the tale of time. It is in human nature to build self-awareness as well as community because that is what bonds us… the innate desire to connect. In that longing to build bridges between each other, our ancestors painted on cave walls, created cuneiform and hieroglyphics to record information and track supplies, spoke myths into life about gods and goddesses to help explained nature, shared parables for moral guidance, developed the first photograph of what was outside a window, pioneered the first film of a horse running, etc. All to document our experiences, thoughts and feelings. Is it not the human condition to want to be seen and to see others? If yes, is storytelling not the foundation that drives the Film Industry? If not, then what is it?
Storytelling is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as the action or activity of telling stories, or a particular story. Can this be broken down further? Absolutely, as storytelling is way more richer than a simple definition. Storytelling is the active action of building worlds, creating characters, presenting problems to find solutions, historical documentation, sharing lullabies and fables…everything in and up to including a visual record of concepts, places, people and/or things. It seems that storytelling is more complex as a double-edged sword. If that is the case, then words and concepts can be willed like a sword in the sense that it can cut through the collective noise and carve out a space for others to relate with. If storytelling performs as a way to positively express oneself, engage others, and allow space for improvement, then it can be a road map of what we are trying to share and accomplish.
What makes Storytelling and Digital Effects important?
The act of storytelling, regardless of which format, compels us to be creative artists, dreamers, problem-solvers, investigators, inventors, and a dash of entrepreneurs. Well, maybe more than a dash of entrepreneurs because we all know how expensive movie production can be in itself. I would say more like a large crock pot full of investors… and a couple of sugar daddies. Don’t forget sugar mommas for the inclusivity of the politically correct! Needless to say, we have to take it a step back before movie production, we have to know which direction we are going before we can even get there. With that being said, storytelling is similar to a map as it gives us the necessary information on what is being done, where to go, what is needed and what is not.
Storytelling is limited in the sense it is not tangible until it is written down, we can read the script, and sketch out or create digital storyboards. Personally, I think both go hand in hand and are essential to the creative process as again it is the checklist and roadmap to the vision of a film. However, I think that storyboarding is a bit more vital in the industry as it can be so elaborate that it is the actual movie storyline just in illustration form. As we learned in class about Jurassic Park (1993), the video discussed and documents the digital storyboard for the movie. I found it to be so detailed and amazing that it was basically the movie in a digital drawing format. Essentially, it was so well-thought out that it looked exactly like the filmed version of it. I would like to reference the car and bathroom with the T-rex sequence. It was followed to the T that literally the drawn characters and dinosaurs seemed to be replaced by the actors and digitalized and VFX dinosaurs in the motion picture keyframe by keyframe. We can see how successful that movie turned out in the box office and I believe it contributed to the time and effort of the teams involved with both storytelling and storyboarding which cascaded down in the effectiveness of production and postproduction teams.
In response to George Lucas’ statement, “The realm of storytelling is more important than that of the visual effects necessary to bring a scene to life.” I believe it is a bit… for the lack of better words and excuse my frankness… hypocritical in the sense that his film, Star Wars (1977), was prolific in the rise of Visual Effects. Yes, the premise of the story was a success in that it led to many spinoffs, prequels and sequels about multiple battles and characters of different storylines. However, it is common knowledge that several studios like United Artists and Universal passed on the script so it makes me wonder if the storytelling aspect was not as strong as it was originally. Think about it… the film was in the preliminary stages and was not in production. Therefore, there would not have been any visual effects produced yet. In a video, The Rise of CGI, Peter Jackson claimed, “In the world of Digital Effects, anything imagined is possible…”. Yes, it absolutely does! Visual Effects allows anyone to generate their dreams, visions and concepts from inside their brain to their hands to the outside world. It allows one to construct scenes that would not otherwise be achievable in the sense that we now can make nebulas, underwater worlds, enhance character features that would be either more time consuming or eat more of the budget up.
What makes Storytelling or Digital Effects more important?
Now let us discuss the pros and cons for both storytelling and Digital Effects. The pros about storytelling involves providing a baseline for the direction of a film. It gives the producers, directors and everyone involved the who, the why, the what, the when and the where of the overarching theme and plot. The pros for Digital Effects are that it allows limitless creativity and can enhance the storyline in a way that makes an audience more reactive to the film. However, the cons of both storytelling and Digital Effects are rooted in how well written or produced a sequence is made. It can also limit the story in the sense that one’s vision can be so stuck on a specific outcome that it causes other options to not be explored or investigated as a convergent solution to a problem.
In conclusion, I still stand by my original viewpoint. I wholeheartedly believe that storytelling and Digital Effects work hand in hand with each other. They both bring their own attributes to the table in order to support the overall success of the industry. Each has their own pros and cons, but it does not change the fact that both are necessary tools for the film industry toolkit.
References
https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?scope=Entries&q=storytelling
Sara Ann Bracero 