Great films share common threads of design. The design enables the audience to follow along as the tale unfolds. The story can be twisted and turned around, broken into pieces and even bounce around, only to come back together again by the end of the film. Each film has a unique way of telling its story using certain elements to capture the main theme. In order to keep the attention of the audience, a filmmaker must combine a beginning, middle and end, along with an interesting point of view.
There are several things to consider in regards to point of view. In film, point of view, or POV, can mean were the camera is positioned or how much it zooms in for a close-up. For instance, in Red Violin the camera is positioned in such a way that it looks as though we are seeing what the violin sees. The storyteller is also an integral part, he/she must tell the story in either first, second, or third person. He/She must also take into account the overall attitude of the film. Is the film sympathetic, angry, joyous, mysterious or comedic? All of this plays a part in every movie.
Now that the storyteller has decided on which point of view the story will be told from, the next challenge is to bring together the beginning, middle, and end. The beginning, also called the back-story, is where the preliminary information regarding main characters and plot start. The audience learns about what type of people will be involved in the film and how the characters get thrust into situations that will develop. Another term for this is called The Inciting Incident, which is what gets the characters into their predicament. `The start of a film also sets up themes that may reoccur throughout the film. This is a good place to grab the audience's intrigue by foreshadowing an event that may happen later. For example, during Red Violin, the violinmaker's wife has her fortune told by the nursemaid. This scene is used as a flashback to push the film forward as well as a prediction for what will come next.
