Film
And So Our Stories Begin...
There are always two sides to every story, and in film, there is no difference, or at least it shouldn’t be. The majority of movies and TV shows focus on one side of the story, thus neglecting the second and most crucial side of the story, which keeps the audience committed and coming back. The majority of these products focus on “The Physical Story,” and it’s the one most often consumed around the world.
Getting Physical
The Physical Story is just as it sounds. It is the main course of action that drives the plot of the entire story, which is caused by a disruption of the world that all of the characters live in. This major setback is what causes an abrupt halt in the main characters’ lifestyle called the norm. The reason why this event is major is because the event is serious enough for the main characters to take action in an attempt to go back to the way life used to be for them. Along the way, the characters, both the protagonist and the antagonist, experience a series of successes and failures from their opposition. Eventually, the main character is backed into a corner, which would later result in a showdown between the protagonist and the antagonist. The victor of the final battle gets to keep their way of living intact, and a new normal is established.
In execution, The Physical Story (which we refer to as “The Outer Story”) is all about action within the main plot and subplots. Regardless of the film crew, actors, and large film budgets, if the story does not have any heart, then the audience will not be invested in what is happening. Stories have to make the audience care about their characters. Instead, the audience just goes along for the ride, where the visuals, brands, and A-List talent become crutches to compensate for bad writing. This brings us to the second side of the story, which is rarely ever told.
Emotional Content
The Emotional Story, in essence, is the second part of the narrative that displays a character’s weaknesses. This is based on the inner conflict the character is experiencing, thereby giving power to what holds the main character back from accomplishing his goal. If the character’s weaknesses are not resolved to thwart the antagonist’s scheme, the main character may surely fail. It’s not about a physical weakness, although it could be the result of something that is emotionally driven to empower that weakness. Emotional weaknesses could be linked to past trauma, which is brought back because of the main conflict within the first act of the story. By having an Emotional Story, the characters become relatable, as if they were real. This will cause the audience to invest time and energy into seeing if this character will get over his major flaw, which is stopping him from getting his life back to normal. This is why we refer to the Emotional Story as “The Inner Story.”
Putting It All Together
At Ultimate illusions, we understand that to have a great story, we must touch people’s hearts in a way that gets the audience invested in the narrative, where propaganda, overly emphasized themes, contrived religious plots, and unneeded special-interest archetypes should have no place in the world of the story. Upon doing so, this will cause the story to be organically character-driven instead of forcibly driven, which makes for a more authentic tale. Too often, film companies focus on a strong Physical Story to be supported by a strong cast and visual effects, which causes the story to lose substance and become completely plot-driven. This is why most audiences point to their love for the actor by name (not by character), the visual effects, and the action sequences.
On the other side, some movies focus on the Emotional Story alone, which becomes too theme-heavy, preachy, lacking in relatability, and the main conflict of the story is either not present or occurs much later on in the movie. This results in a more contrived story, which will fall on deaf ears, though accepted by a very limited niche audience.
When you have both The Physical and Emotional Story working together, you are going to create realistic and relatable characters, resulting in a heavily invested audience. This is something Ultimate illusions aims to accomplish in all of its products. Stories aren’t just tools to deliver messages. We create a world of make-believe, where the themes are under the plot of the story instead of over it, blending both the action story and the emotional story. We can accomplish this because, at Ultimate illusions, we like to let the characters speak for themselves.