(the video of the following are posted here. To see the solo, skip ahead to 34:20 and for the group go to almost the end)
The 2006 National Fine Arts Festival in Orlando is over now, and I’d like to reflect on a couple of the winners in the Human Video Category, and compare the two. First, let me tell you about the two entries. The first was a Human Video Solo that chronicled the life of one man and the choices he made. Each scene was distinct, but it maintained continuity by introducing each life change in a unique way. Each milestone had it’s own snapshot picture. As the Young man grows up, his choices (small though they seem in the moment) lead him down a path to destruction. It is there in his moment of Crisis that God, the master of the universe, meets him and saves him from a tragic fate. Each choice is undone, and he becomes again like a child, shown by re living each snapshot in reverse. The second video won the Nation Merit Award for Small Group Human Video. It began by relating Biblical stories that were disconnected, then they portrayed a time of worship, then a girl was lifted into the air. Each scene was made distinct by a dropping of character to prepare for the next big and “impressive” move. The “story” was incoherent, the “moves” unimpressive, and the result ineffective. One of these videos left the audience inspired, the other left them bewildered. It is my intent to explain why. As I compare each element of these videos, keep in mind that the goal of Christian theatre is to communicate a message, and that “effectiveness” is measured by how many people in the audience understand your message. Though both of these videos won the Nation Award of Merit, they differ greatly in their storytelling, their movement, and their character development.
Complete storyline is a necessary component of any effective piece of Christian theatre. Why? Well, a complete story arch is not an arbitrary standard pulled from thin air. It is based on the way human beings process information. For thousands of years people have told stories, and great men and women have studied the way the best stories are told and have mapped out for us how they are to be related. Following these standards is not limiting. It does not put a limit on the amount of creativity you can use to choreograph a Human Video. Rather, knowing proper storytelling technique empowers you to tell great stories. So what is it exactly that these great men and women have decided that all great stories must have? The elements of: exposition, conflict, climax, and resolution or denouement. In the merit winner in the Human Video solo category, you can clearly see each of these elements. The exposition (the part in which the principle themes are presented) is clear and concise. It is much easier to identify with a universal image than a specific one, and the author of this human video knows that full well. He begins with a child saying his prayers at bedtime. This type of image sucks you into the story and makes you want to know where this child is going. The small group merit winner was somewhat less effective. Immediately one’s attention is grabbed by the story of David and goliath, but then that scene is followed up by a litany of unrelated scenes. If these scenes were related in the minds of the video’s creator(s) they connection was lost on a good deal of the audience. The conflict portrayed in the solo human video was man vs. himself. There are different types of conflict (man vs. man, man vs. Nature/God, man vs. himself) and any of those conflicts are valid and can be shown in a multiplicity of ways. The next step in the storytelling process is the climax; it is the point at which there is no turning back. This comes in the solo when the man is about to take his own life. Since the neither the exposition nor the conflict in the small group video was present, there was no climax to the narrative. The final step in the storytelling process is the resolution. In the human video solo this is shown when Jesus is re-introduced. No longer is he the mysterious, formless God to whom the little Child prays and the adolescent points, but he is God in human form. Jesus has seen the suffering of his child and meets him in his hour of greatest need. It is then that a transformation occurs. Whether symbolic of the feelings of the protagonist, or merely a reminder to the audience, the re-introduction of the snapshots in reverse brings the audience back to the beginning. It shows how the protagonist got to this point, and reminds you that each choice you make is significant. The message of the Group Human Video appears to be that worship is somehow important and that it makes one feel good, but exactly WHY is unclear. There is no story arch to follow. Without a coherent storyline, a video which had such potential, can be rendered useless. Not only does an effective human video need a great story, but also, it needs continuous motion.
Continuous motion does not mean that the actors on stage must constantly be expending energy in a ceaseless barrage of movement, (on the contrary, if you read other blog posts of mine you will note that physical energy=/=expending energy) but it means that each movement must flow into the next. This kind of care and attention to detail will produce a video that is powerfully effective. When one movement flows into the next, it provides the audience with an advantage in deciphering the meaning of the video. Often times Human Videos can be quite vague and ethereal, any help you can give the audience, any trope you can use to keep them following the story, you must use. Complicated and difficult movements can sometimes hurt rather than help in keeping the audience on the same page. Sometimes you just need to “Keep It Simple Stupid.” The winner of the Solo Human Video Award of Merit had a continuity of movement that is unlike any that I have ever seen. His movements were seamless; each one flowed into the next keeping the audience in tune with his storytelling. Here is where he is like a great storyteller. If you were to go and see a storyteller perform, their voice would carry you from one plot point to the next; he did the same thing with his movement and elegant musical transitions. In contrast, the Human Video Group went another direction in their storytelling. Instead of mapping out clear plot points and making their movements seamless, they attempted to dazzle the audience with fantastical pictures, and move them with emotionally charged spiritual Subject matter. What happened in the attempt was that in-between each interesting and dynamic movement there were huge gaps that left the audience trying to find the connection points. There were great stage pictures that were created. That is not a point that can be successfully disputed. Even now I can recall moments when the audience collectively caught their breath or gazed in wonder. It was in the dead space between these movements that ruined their “continuous movement.” Each time a stage picture was completed, the actors disconnected themselves from the story and from the moment they had created in order to prepare for the next big move. Not one of the actors onstage was continuously committed to their movement, and not being connected to their movement showed a lack of commitment to their characters.
Character, Aristotle said, is plot. What he means is that storyline and plot are made based upon who your characters are. A commitment to character development is essential for a story to be effective. When an audience enters a theatre, they engage in a tacit agreement with those on the stage to believe what it is that they are performing is really happening. This “willing suspension of disbelief” (as it is known in the theatre) is a fragile thing. The actors on stage must work to keep it strong and in tact. The actor’s job of creating a strong attachment to character begins long before the performance. Whether the actor works from the inside out or the outside in, the work is long and difficult. In order for the audience to believe that the character you are portraying is a real character (and in so doing, re-enforce that “willing suspension of disbelief”) you must know the character yourself. This is a great problem in Human Video as most people assume that the song (or their face) will do the work for them. Creating a memorable character requires much more than that. Answering specific questions about your character, even before you know the movement will lend credibility to your character. It will lead you from one movement to the next. Once you know where they are from, what they want, and what they are willing to do to get it, you can then convincingly transition from one plot point to the next without dropping character or losing your audience. The advantage that the Human Video solo performer had was that he needed to do only the developing of two characters. He was able to take one “from the cradle to the grave,” and only disconnect from that character once to become Jesus. When you choose a script that requires 20 or 30 characters, it is nearly impossible for you to effectively connect with each one of them. The result is a watered-down and ineffectual story populated with imprecise and almost ghostly characters.
Though both this human video solo and this human video group won the Nation Award of Merit, you can clearly see that they are very different. By examining their storytelling, their movement, and their character development you can see why one drove the audience from laughter to tears and back again, and the other left the majority of them scratching their heads. My intention in writing this post is not to hurt feelings, nor is it to be divisive, but merely to point out the difference in the two videos and comment on the effectiveness of both.
