Moving On

We’ve all seen bad movies before. Films we couldn’t wait to see after watching a brief two or three minutes trailer on TV only to be disappointed and fooled by the hodgepodge, jumbled collections of vaguely related scenes that look like they were put together by an editor with a severe case of ADD or hiccups.

Action-adventure movies are notorious for this poor visual seizure. Like what was meant to be an epic battle scene in Zach Ryder’s Wonder Woman, the Amazonians are defending the island and Ares, the attacker rambles on about the past while the battle rages from one action beat to another.

These stories that have no sense of direction or purpose and just move from one scene to the next; we often find ourselves leaving the theater feeling ripped-off, like victims of some get rich quick Ponzi scheme that promises big payoffs, but never delivers.

We wonder if somehow we missed something, perhaps during a quick bathroom or snack run. Just maybe the problem wasn’t a weak storyline, but poor transitions or lack of them all together—just a smorgasbord of powerful scenes thrown together in an effort to sell a story (1 Cor. 14:33.)

The real problem is poor transitions or lack of them altogether.

Transitions are important tools to help weave scenes and storylines together in a film.

Effective transitions help your writing (story) flow. They help give your audience a sense of direction and purpose. First the writer (creator) must determine the direction their story is going and then they can plant cues or catalysts to guide the audience along.

We can take notes from King Solomon on how God does this (Proverbs 16:9, 19:21). Once we establish the path of our story, then we need to pick what kind of transitions we are going to use to get from point A to point B.  Film uses different types of transitions.

• Action, movement of one person or object mirrored to movement of another person or object.
• Specific views or shots which are similar.
•  Dialogue.

Dialogue is my favorite form of transition. It allows me to mention something in one scene and have it come to pass later in my story. Foreshadowing saves time, whitespace and allows me to build momentum as my story progresses.

Think of it like a mountain stream that flows from a lake or pond at a higher elevation. Throughout the flow of water, the stream picks up sediments and carries it from one place to another, often unseen by the naked eye. But the end result is obvious where the water’s path ends. It’s where the current stops moving.

Moving on?

In the late 1800s the French Lumière brothers became filmmaking pioneers and patented the cinematograph, a motion picture camera. They used it to make their first film, Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory.

It was basically just a series of pictures of workers leaving a factory, no words, just the common action of workers flowing out of a factory at the end of the day.

It wasn’t until the 1920s that audiences were able to hear sound in movies and that took storytelling in film to a whole other level. It gave filmmakers more dimension to their storytelling (Genesis 1:3.) The whole purpose was always to move an audience from one place to another.

Transitions aren’t limited to just film.  Dialogue transition can also be used in fictional books. Christian YA author Tessa Emily Hall uses this technique in her book Unwritten Melody at the end of chapter 4 when Cassie is talking to herself about sharing her lyrics with a guy she is crushing on when she meets with him again, and then Tessa begins the next chapter with Cassie sharing her lyrics with James.

Transitional writing is key in nonfiction writing as well, even in blogging. If you have ever read a post of mine, you’ve noticed there is a hint or preview of my next blog post hidden in the final subtopic of each post. This way I can keep my train of thought smoothly moving on.

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Truamatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.