Does a good story really make a good film? Three 3 M’s of
moviemaking that all films must have to succeed.
by Jeffrey Michael Bays
Maybe story isn’t really that important anymore. I’ve heard so
many times in seminars, how-to books, film classes, and I’ve even
said it myself – that story is the most vital thing in a good
film. We repeat this basic tenant so often that we don’t even
think about it anymore. We just assume it’s true. Of course
it’s true, isn’t it?
But then I’ve sat through many Hollywood films in recent years
that didn’t have much of a story, watched indie films – some that
I really liked – that were vapid on story. Hitchcock was so
obsessed with manipulating us with voyeurism that his stories
often were an afterthought. Stephen Gaghan (Academy Award
winner) said recently that story is the last consideration in
writing his screenplays, after character and setting. Is there
something to that?
The older I get, and the more I think about it, I have to
question whether this long-held gospel of cinema is true. I’m
here to propose that story, while important, doesn’t necessarily
have to be the driving force that makes a good experience for an
audience. And, of course, you’re free to disagree.
Great storytellers and orators have known down through the eons
that it’s not the story, but how you tell it – the showmanship
behind it – that makes it enjoyable.
I’ve developed what I call the Three M’s of Moviemaking: three
key elements that all films must have in order to resonate with
an audience. As a director setting sail on your new project,
these are the three primary things you must consider: mood,
momentum, and manipulation.
1 – MOOD
Firstly, a good film captures and delivers a mood, or a series of
moods. The shifting of moods is where we feel a satisfying
emotional change as a film progresses.
It occurs to me that a great deal of film students and amateur
filmmakers are driven to make films of their own because they’re
chasing after something – a vague feeling or aesthetic – that
they enjoyed in their favorite movies. Fan fiction, after all,
is about recapturing the essence of a film you liked, say, about
Star Wars or any classic Film Noir.
There’s something romantic about recreating that feeling you get
when a detective in a fedora hat walks down a dark alley with a
cigarette. You hear a voice-over with a sarcastic macho voice
telling you about how his days of crime fighting are giving him
the blues. That’s not story! But that mood-setting effect has a
profound impact on us. We’re already hooked.
Recent psychological studies have demonstrated that when we sit
down and watch a movie, our emotional state changes to emulate
what’s on the screen. So yes, mood, is a huge factor to consider
when designing your film. Your job as a director is, first, a
mood setter.
2 – MOMENTUM
The second most important M in designing your film is momentum.
Nobody ever gets onto a roller coaster and asks, “Okay, what’s
the story?” Of course not. There is no story on a roller
coaster, but this doesn’t stop us from the enjoying the ride,
being jostled around safely at high speeds and letting gravity
pull you forward.
In movies, momentum – that forward feeling of anticipation – is
generated by various things. Hitchcock was able to use glances
and subjective camera language to lure you into a character’s
hidden secretive world. Sexual attraction is another one – if a
heartthrob is on the screen, we have a tendency to hang on to see
what they do, in fascination. There’s also the rubber-necking
effect – the thing that causes people to slow down and gawk when
they see an accident on the side of the road.
When a character is faced with a universally understood
situation, we immediately form empathy, and wait to see how they
handle it. Comedy is another one. If someone makes us laugh, we
wait to see what clever hijinks they’ll come up with next.
I could go on, but you see, creating momentum – kinetic energy –
is vital in your job as director. And notice I didn’t mention
story. Story does, of course, create momentum, but not on its
own.
3 – MANIPULATION
The last M essential in a good movie is manipulation.
Card tricks and magic acts work because we enjoy the art of
trickery. Audiences love being fooled! Moviemakers, too, must
grasp this art and make it their ultimate goal. You must
manipulate your audience’s expectations. Use red herrings,
proverbial trap doors, mirrors, sleights of hand, and other gags
to get your audience to think, “I’ve been tricked, and I like
it!”
First manipulate what they know, and provoke them into wondering
what they don’t know. Give your audience secret information that
the characters don’t know, let one character withhold a secret
from another, or mislead the audience with false information.
Then by cleverly revealing this secret in a dramatic way, you
create a sense of satisfaction in the audience.
As a director you must play with the basic psychological need for
closure – that compelling itch to solve a puzzle. Just one more
move and it will be solved. The audience – like a mouse – when
trapped in a compelling mental maze, must feel like they’re on
the cusp of the exit. But then, you have to give them a
surprising new way out before they reach that exit. They will
love the feeling that they’ve discovered a secret door or a cheat
code to get past the expected outcome.
Audiences want to be playfully manipulated and tricked. They
need to feel that the movie isn’t just meandering randomly, that
the events aren’t just happening “because.” Audiences need the
satisfaction that someone has an intelligent plan, that there’s
something profound to be learned from these events, and that the
director has found a way to outwit our skepticism and make us
feel it unexpectedly. If your film doesn’t manipulate, no amount
of story is going to compensate.
Story just isn’t enough to make a good film. Directors must
create moods, generate momentum, and manipulate in order to be
successful at winning over their fans.
Jeffrey Michael Bays, MA, is author of ‘Between the Scenes’ and
‘How to Turn Your Boring Movie into a Hitchcock Thriller.’ He is
a contributor to MovieMaker Magazine, the Director’s Chair eZine,
and maintains the world’s top website dedicated to Hitchcock’s
cinematic techniques. He also directs films, and is producer of
the award-winning radio epic ‘Not From Space’ heard on XM
Satellite Radio.
Website: www.borgus.com
Email: info@borgus.com
Copyright (c) 2015 Peter D. Marshall / All Rights Reserved
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