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How long?”, she asks the doctor, tears filling her eyes.
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With that simple line we're immediately right in the middle of a story – which
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is very typical for modern movies.
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It's one of the aspects in which storytelling in movies has changed
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significantly over the past few decades.
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The average early nineties movie is hard to bear for many teenagers
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because they started so slow.
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Part of the reason was that filmmakers back then felt the need to start
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as early as possible so we would have the backstory to understand
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what was going to happen later.
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Today's movies – and also TV shows – are very different.
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They will start as late as possible, ideally right in the middle of the
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action, at the most captivating event.
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And they will give us only exactly the pieces that we absolutely
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need to understand the action.
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They make us care first before they inform us.
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If at some point we would need backstory to understand what's happening, modern
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movies will give it to us at that point, a point where we absolutely need that piece
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of information to be able to follow along.
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This makes for a much more tense story.
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Actually today's most brilliant film makers push that principle even further.
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They will make sure that we want a piece of information before
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they finally give it to us.
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They make us curious for the backstory.
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In contrast, yesterday's filmmakers considered backstory as pure information.
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Often, they would give us the information before we wanted it, just to make
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sure that we had it when we needed it.
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Now, how about your own comunication.
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How do you treat background information?
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Are you starting your presentation with it?
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If so can you restructure your storytelling in a way that you're
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giving the backstory at a point when your audience is dying to learn it?
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Can you make them want the backstory?
