THE ART OF CREATING EMOTIONS IN YOUR AUDIENCE: AN IDEAL HUSBAND
Scott McConnell
Story consultant and former producer helping screenwriters and producers to develop resonant scripts. Book a Story Consult now. Screenwriter.
When you are writing your script or novel or producing your film or television show, what emotions are you wanting to inspire in your audience? Excitement, love, benevolence, anger, fear, horror, tragedy, for example.
All creatives should work out explicitly what they want their audience to think and feel. And then know how to induce these emotional reactions through their writing.
You don’t do this?
Then you are entering the creative arena part blind and will exit it not fully done.
Let’s consider one example of how this emotional “manipulation” was well done.
I recently enjoyed a very well written, produced and directed 1999 feature film adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s classic play, An Ideal Husband. The script was adapted and filmed by Oliver Parker, and starred Rupert Everett, Jeremy Northam, Cate Blanchett, Minnie Driver, and Julianne Moore.?
As just one example of its emotional resonance, during the film and especially in its climax, I felt a range of positive afterglow emotions:
I was feeling benevolent about my fellow humans, after experiencing the conflicts, antics and wit of the high-level human beings in the story. I felt a sense of amused adventure at being in their lively, beautiful, and untainted-by-pain world. I was smiling because the story has some of Oscar Wilde’s very best golden lines, witty aphorisms and ironic comments that were extremely clever and often instructive. I was captivated by the ironies in the well-integrated two main plot lines of a great man wrongly considered an ideal husband, and of his best friend whose great life purpose is to remain single and idle. And I (spoiler!) cheered at the ending when this ideal husband, in fact all the lead characters, pretty much turned out to be good people. I also felt admiration for all the talents associated with this production and its excellent artistic elements. This adaptation of An Ideal Husband is art and benevolence at a mountain peak level. Oh, so very nice to live in a world like that for a while, don’t you think? Such stories as these are those that we remember and revisit!
The Creative Takeaway
I’m not going to go into chapter and verse of how Wilde and the excellent talents involved in this film created those feelings; that is your homework! But here are some hints: Look at the intelligent positive theme, the charming and witty characters, the ingenuity and warmth of the character arcs, and the cleverness and ironies in the plotting.
My specific takeaway to you, dear creative, is two things: If you can, first watch this film as just a pure pleasure of humans and art finding their best selves. Then afterwards recollect the emotions you felt during the film and go back and watch it again and ask yourself during this replay:
What am I feeling, and how was I made to feel this?
After better understanding this writing issue of creating emotions, you may when writing your own stories apply a greater more deliberate skill to manipulate your audience to feel stronger emotions. Isn’t that a vital key to successful storytelling and story experiencing?
Here is the trailer to this enjoyable film adaptation of An Ideal Husband: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST4ne1nVK0w
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Scott McConnell is a story developer and fixer. Write to him at [email protected] so he can help you make your story better resonate with an audience.
About Scott McConnell The Story Guy & His Editing Services
Scott McConnell started in the business in Los Angeles performing script analysis for Samuel Goldwyn, Sundance, Hallmark, Nu Image, and Roger Corman, among others. He ended his producing work in Los Angeles as a showrunner. Scott is now a writer & story consultant.?He supports writers, producers, and directors, as well as production and publishing companies, to develop and improve all forms of stories, but especially scripts and novels. Besides developing and editing individual stories, Scott also offers a Mentorship Program, where he supports creatives to write a story from concept to first draft, while teaching them a writing process of all the key stages of crafting a story. To discuss your story needs write to Scott at?[email protected]
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Screen | Tv Writer | Content Creator
2 年Thanks for this article. I watched the trailer and will definitely watch the movie. Just the clips have me salivating. Inflict emotion in the audience...it's an everlasting task!
Screenwriting
2 年I'm a fan of Oscar Wilde's wit so this film is on my watch-next list. But the main reason is to understand how the writer can lift the audience emotion. Last night I was wondering how to build audience emotion while watching 'Thirteen Lives' (The Thai boys & their coach being rescued, against all odds, from a flooding cave). A true story. I wondered why it made me cry. For me, I think it was the rescuers trying to save the boys against all odds. It'd never been done before. The cheering villagers also heightened the emotion.
Writer at --Self employed
2 年I have not seen the film but I'll check it out. From the way you describe the film, I'd say that Sense and Sensibility (script by Emma Thompson starring her, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, Alan Rockman directed by Ang Lee) yields similar good emotions.
The Story Doctor - Speaker & Author
2 年Exellent, Scott.