The Nature of Art

Great art pulls you in. It drags you into its own universe, a universe created by the artist. And this is true in any artistic medium.

Sitting in the audience watching a movie, it's easy to forget that you're sitting in the audience watching a movie. We've all had this experience. Getting swept up in the story. The suspense, the danger, the triumph. Reading a book: same thing. Suddenly you realize it's 3 AM and if you don't go to sleep soon you're going to hate yourself when the alarm goes off.

Who hasn’t been transported by music whether hip hop, Zeppelin or Mozart. It's easy to lose yourself in a good story, or any good creative work. It can happen with any kind of art, painting, sculpture, dance.

Generally speaking, the deeper your understanding of a subject, the more capable you become with it. In trying to understand art, a good place to start is with the question, what is art? There is an answer and it's not as nebulous as you might think. Art in any form is a mirror of life. Think about that. Art is a mirror of life or things that happen in life. Art can tell a story, express an emotion, mood or thought. Because art mirrors life, it has all the elements of life in it. Therefore, the basics that govern life are the basics that govern art.

A good story has everything real life has. People. Enemies. Lovers. Accidents. Disasters. Battles. Playing fields. Strategies. Goals. Even though it’s not “real,” a good story has everything life has. And then some. In some stories, for instance, people can fly. Brooding loners have super powers. Evil geniuses have limitless henchmen. Enchanted skeletons attack sailors. Gifted children go to Hogwarts to become witches and wizards. As long as a film stays true to its basic premises, we accept anything as possible.

So art does not always follow the laws of our physical universe, but in every work there are laws it obeys. And so any work of art stands as its own independent “universe” if only in miniature.

In the 1990s, after achieving success as a copywriter (or advertising writer, for those who aren’t familiar) I moved into a new field. I became a scriptwriter. I learned cinematography and editing and special effects. I learned all about the subject of film and video. And over the next six years I scripted 125 films and videos of all kinds: documentaries, marketing and PR videos, educational videos, instructional videos.

What's really crazy is during those six years, I worked between 100 to 120 hours a week every week. So I actually gained something like 15 years of hands-on experience in the field of hammering out scripts day and night.

One thing I found frustrating was that there were few texts on scriptwriting and virtually no good ones. I read a lot of books and I wouldn’t recommend a single one. Since I am, after all, a writer, after several years in the craft, I decided to roll up my sleeves and write that missing manual. I hoped that in the process of my research, I would hit upon factors that improved my own writing since the more you know about something; the more it comes wholly under your control.

So, “How do you write scripts?” I asked. And since no one else had an adequate answer I started working on the problem myself, using my own success in the field as a gauge. And what do you know? It took some time and a great deal of trial and error, but I made great strides toward answering that question. Revelations which I will share with you here.

Next: A Flash of Creative Insight, Chapter 2

© 2008 by Steve Hall. All Rights Reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, or other without written permission from me, Steve Hall, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. That does not mean I will not grant permission for reproduction, especially for student use; simply contact me first. I am easy to reach. Readers are invited to link to this page.