CONCENTRATE MINDS WONDERFULLY BY PUTTING GENITALS IN DANGER

Or The Art Of Raising Stakes In Storytelling

My friend teaches at the polytechnic where I once taught. One day, he was driven so far up the wall he needed an airbag to cushion him when he fell back to earth. His students had written a story. My friend advised the students to revise the script as it lacked drama and conflict but they were reluctant. Their response to his feedback could be summed up in one retort. Their friends could relate to the story. Which implied that my friend was out of touch with the current generation. Which set him off on his flight up the wall.

Which led me to wonder.

When you write a story, should you make it appeal to more than just your circle of friends?

More Things On Heaven And Earth Than Are Dreamt Of In Your Mind

In 1977, social psychologists Lee Ross, David Greene, Pamela House wrote a now famous paper on what they dubbed as the “False Consensus Effect”. It talks about the general tendency of humans to assume that people see and react to the world the same way as they do. Ever wonder why you think a movie is lame, and then you’re shocked that someone else considers it a masterpiece? That’s the False Consensus Effect hijacking your brain.

My friend’s students may have a point. Perhaps the criteria by which lecturers measure the effectiveness of a story is different from the students. It doesn’t mean the students are wrong. Hence, it is a good idea to expose the story to as wide an audience as possible to gauge feedback. Conduct focus groups, as one would offer taste samples of a new soft drink to a wide range of audience. Then consider the reactions. If 15 out of 20 people think you have a dud of a story, you need to take a second look.

Assuming one desires a wide audience for your stories, what then should you be doing?

When Your Genitals Are In Danger, You Are Wonderfully Focused.

In his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation” in the journal Psychological Review, Abraham Maslow proposed this idea. A hierarchy of human needs governs human behavior. You must take care of each need before you move to the next.

At the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs is physiological, like food and water. Above that is safety, that of your own, your family and then your tribe and then your country.

Safety means that when you are chased by a vicious Rottweiler intent on making a meal of your private parts, you have no time to philosophize or pontificate on the meaning of life.

You run or you die from a hole in your groin.

Those are the stakes.

Easily understood by anyone anywhere any time.

Stake It To Your Audience!

For your story to appeal to anyone, establish the stakes. And stakes must be life or death. From James Scott Bell, author of Superstructure: The Key to Unleashing the power of story

There are three kinds of death. Physical, professional and psychological. One or more of these must be present if the story is going to work at the optimum level.

Physical death is any situation where your life is threatened.

Professional “death” means that your job, career, and calling is everything. Losing it is like plunging a knife into your heart.

Psychological “death” refers to the feeling of “dying on the inside”. This applies to great love stories. Not being together with your loved one is as good as death itself.

More than one aspect of death is good but one must be at the forefront. Is it any wonder why the stories that Shakespeare told still grip us today? Think about it. Julius Caesar. Physical death. (He was stabbed to death by his best friend. ) Macbeth. Professional death. (The King is desperate to hold on to power). Romeo and Juliet. Psychological death. (If Romeo can’t be with Juliet, it is as good as death. )

For any story to connect to a wide audience, it must have life-or-death stakes. Any story that lacks those stakes, is not a story. It is an incident.

Takeaway for Student Film Makers

Making a film is not cheap, especially when you’re a student. So, if you have to film a story, would it not make more sense to shoot one that not only appeals to your friends, but even strangers as well?

Why not have your story drop like a stone into a pool and have the ripples extend as far as possible?

To do that requires life or death stakes. If a student has not ensured such stakes in the story, then it is merely an incident.

There is no story.

However, if students insist on making that kind of film, let us not succumb to the False Consensus Effect and stand in their way. But if no one beyond their circle of friends watches the film, advise the students thus.

Put the genitals of their characters in harm’s way.