Blow me away with special effects (Star Wars 1,2,3), dazzle me with a great character (Napoleon Dynamite - seriously), or wow me with great scenery (Seven Years in Tibet), but if you don’t have a story to tell me, quit wasting my time!

Sounds like a pompous line from someone who thinks he knows something, but it’s not and I don’t.  All I know is I like getting wrapped up in a story more than I care about tricks you can do as a moviemaker (Michael Bay, anyone? - Transformers not withstanding).

I’m stuck in the Minnesota film scene which isn’t exactly as hot as Adrian Peterson, so I don’t know the trends of independent movies coming from LA, NY, or Toronto, but what I’ve noticed in the many screenplays I’ve read and movies in which I’ve been involved up here is that few people care to take the time to make sure they have a story to tell (and their sentences are too long - ha).  The story doesn’t have to be profound; it doesn’t have to be provocative; it doesn’t have to change the world.  But, for the love of Hitchcock, it needs to exist!

Am I in the minority here?  Am I the only one who hated Clerks because it had absolutely no story?  Am I bound for failure because I care more about story than special effects and innovative directing?  Did I get this topic posted in time to get six free issues of Moviemaker?  :)

The post (er, novella as it turns out) has become almost rantish (making up words is fun).  I hope the majority of up and comers reading this agree with me that story is THE most important part of any movie.  It has to be.

Oh, one last thing, I understand my assessment of all referenced movies in this post are opinions and not facts, but I’m curious to know if my opinions are consistent with the minority or majority.

I agree with you. It’s all about stories. Special effects have no effect if there is no world, no characters, no context. An effect alone is nothing and that’s why some films that have a lot of CGI leave people cold because they can’t empathise with mechanical tricks. People watch films to follow the characters and their story.
And - another thing that makes the story original is the setting or the world. Clerks might have interested some people because it offered a window into the world of clerks but obviously the world alone isn’t grabbing enough. So, it all actually comes down to a character. What happens to the people in the film.
And I don’t think I’ve seen any films that are set in Minnesota. Being in Europe, I haven’t got the foggiest idea what it would look like. So I’d be interested to see one.

I agree. However, I would LOVE to see the whole package! It’s hard to find the kick-ass effects, great character developement and great story (Raiders anyone?) Oh, I liked Clerks if for no other reason than it showed what you could do bare bones in one location. I guess, looking at it from a fledgling film maker’s POV, there are so many facets to view that story is just one (probably the most important - I’m sure many will debate that) piece in the puzzle of a good film.

well,i agree with you people.i will add one thing though.sometimes i n e e d a simple “beginning ,middle ,end” pattern.like a fairy tale.i think of movies that way anyway.just some are really weird fairy tales ha,ha.if you stick with this pattern i think the character development comes easier.i mean as the story evolves.once you try to put scenes of different nature and hope that miraculously it will all make sense...well, maybe it will maybe it wont.and during the proccess of trying to find out, guess what.your characters got bored or confused .and the audience too.

I agree. The story is the most important thing. I can enjoy a B-rated horror if the story is good. I also prefer unknown (but good) actors to the big names. When I’m watching the story unfold, I can concentrate on what’s being said rather than who’s saying it. I just recently saw 30 days of night. IMO it was good. It concentrated on the horror, gore, and pure evil of vampires. The age of the teenage f**k-fest is over. After all, the story is what made the classics, classic!

Vince

It depends on the audience you are trying to reach, there are several genres that trying to build in a “story worth watching” is a waste of time....and would in fact turn off your audience...knowing when to work on story and when to simply serve them what they want (nice, hot and fresh) will make a lot of difference in your work....

Q

Jon Rhodes - 10 March 2008 05:41 AM

Very true.  A teenager who just wants to watch Arnie blow things up may be turned off by a good plot!

Case in point in Alien V Predator 2...what the hell happened? plot holes a mile wide and no ending to speak of....the same with Transformers....

and they both made oodles of money from the fan base
Q

I agree with most of you here. Except for Transformers, I mean how much of a story were you expecting? It already had a history and those who loved it the most were aware of that. It was what it was. In most cases, there is a story which has so much trouble keeping you interested that it needs those fireworks of special effects, gratuitous sex and the appearance of male or female eye candy to keep people in their seats. I want to see a movie that can stand on it’s own without all that and be really great. I loved “Mystic River” and “21 Grams” for those purposes. They didn’t have bells and whistles and both had great stories. If you never experienced those topics in your life, it gave you an eye opening view into a world you never knew of or didn’t know much about without giving you a headache from all the excessive noise and visuals. A good movie is truly successful when the audience walks away from it learning something positive, and remembers enough to want to see it again on a second trip or buy the dvd. I don’t know about anyone else but I’m sick of previews that manipulate you into thinking the movie will be great and that is how they get the majority of their money in the first couple weeks of the premier. You can tell it’s good by the numbers afterwards.

I wrote something which has one stunt scene (inspired by “Raiders”!), one visual effect (unless we start doing something to clouds and adding light here and there) and I think it’s a good story.

BH

there were plot holes in Aliens vs. Predator 2? 

You know the thing is that has such a good potential to be a Great Franchise with a healthy fanbase and they really blew it releasing such mediocre efforts.