![]() It is crucial that students understand the impact of visual storytelling and how they can successfully execute it in their own work.Īn ideal exercise to begin with is to allow your students to experiment with silent scene writing, with no sound or dialogue whatsoever. Visual storytelling is of course, not purely pictures, but is enhanced by music and dialogue. 51, 2005) This is before a word of dialogue is uttered. Syd Field cites Orsen Welles’ Citizen Kane as a prime example of successful visual storytelling, most specifically in the opening scenes: “From the very first frame, the full portrait of Kane’s character is set up visually the film opens shrouded in fog and the first thing we see if a high wired chain-link fence…a huge, isolated mansion stands high on the hill.” (pg. They can have the quippiest dialogue, the most diverse range of well-rounded and authentic characters, or even the most exhilarating action sequence planned, but it’s how this is executed in visuals that is most important. This is a key lesson for students to understand. Starting of course, with the script where the writer conveys complex emotions and thoughts with as little dialogue as possible. When we talk about movie-going we always refer to ‘seeing’ a movie, therefore the visuals are the most important element when it comes to filmmaking. This could be film, illustration, photography etc. Visual storytelling is what it says on the tin, a story told through visual mediums. Music is used to heighten the impact of the scene, but not a word is uttered.Ĭrafting a silent scene or indeed an entire silent movie is a fantastic exercise for students to undertake to understand entirely visual storytelling. No dialogue is needed due to the intensity and craftsmanship of the visuals. For example, you may have heard of the infamous shower scene in Hitchcock’s 1960 movie, Psycho. This is what silent movies do extremely well, and also in silent scenes when we think of more modern filmmaking.įilm director, Hitchcock reluctantly made the move to sound in films but found ways to replicate his silent movie successes in his later works. What we say does not always evoke what we actually feel, and thus can be deceiving.Įmotions are more complex than just a few words in real terms, so this should also be the case in film and dialogue. When we think of how humans show emotion, the first element that comes to mind is the facial expression and the body language, and then their words, if they speak at all, that is. ![]() In 1970, he declared himself not interested in the content itself but in “how to handle the material to create an emotion in an audience”. Alfred Hitchcock would certainly agree, his work an analysis on emotional responses of human beings. It could be argued that the charm of the silent film is in its ‘purity’ and how it portrays human emotion. From structuring the script in the first instance, ensuring all scenes were relevant in driving the plot forward, to experimenting with flashback and continuity. The movie script was at the forefront of overcoming the complexities of such limitations. With a complete lack of dialogue and minimal physical camera movement, early filmmakers were forced to think outside the box. There is no doubt that silent films are the starting line of the film industry and play a vital role in how cinema is made today. Silent filmmaker Paul Rotha once said, “No power of speech is comparable to the descriptive value of photographs”, citing dialogue as “doing violence to natural instincts”.
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