Cinematic Storytelling : What is it

For the past twenty years of film history, cinematic storytelling was the only way to convey story. As sync sound was not invented, movies like The Great Train Robbery, Metropolis, and The Battleship Potemkin had to use non-dialog techniques to carry character and plot. Titles cards were used when explanations were necessary, but always as a last resort.



Camera placement, lighting, composition, motion and editing were relied on as the primary storyteller. Cinematic tools, like camera, were not just used to record the scene. Instead, they were responsible for advancing plot and character. There was no dialog to default to.



After soaund came in 1926, dialog and voice-narration soon appeared in movies. These device, borrowed from novel and plays. Were literary in origin, and were floated on top of the moving picture. Many purist bemoaned the coming of sound, while others saw enhancement. In either case, both storytelling system were available to screenwriters and directors.



+Cinematic storytelling : Jennifer Van Sijil