I once saw a documentary on Pixar where John Lasseter was talking about contributing factors to the success of all the movies he had helped to create over the years. Apart from just the sheer brilliance of the creative and technical aspects of the team, he basically alluded to the fact that his whole team follows a singular motto:

STORY IS KING

And this got me to thinking. Originally I thought a good script was the backbone of any good film, which in a lot of ways is very, very, very true. But the truth is, you can have a poorly written script, but if you have a killa story, it should be a killa movie (but of course conditions apply ).

Everyone loves a good yarn, and I think that in whatever we decide to do in this medium, it should be really important to take people on a journey. As my friend Sydney once told me “Come as you are, but don’t stay that way”. I think if you treat you’re audience that way, and take them somewhere, I think you’ll be in a good place.

So what constitutes a good story? To be honest I am still learning about it all. I am currently reading Robert McKee’s “STORY” which outlines some amazing story telling techniques (mainly directed at film). You can find this book on Amazon!

That being said, I wanna leave you with this really great song to help you understand how great story telling is. For me, this sort of stuff is the reason I got into film making in the first place.

Its called “the Mariner’s Revenge” by “The Decemberists”.

Enjoy!