Recently I was asked to speak to a group of fellow filmmakers about some of the things I have learned from experiences in the industry. It’s always a challenge when speaking to one’s peers to present them with new information, so I decided to talk about what I know best.

Emotion. I have found that the most critical element in story telling is the ability to generate emotion. It is vital to making every project successful.

If you are shooting a commercial, your task is to cause an audience to get emotionally invested in a certain product. If you are producing a corporate image piece, you are probably trying to sell employees on the quality of their company and get them emotionally invested in it. Even in a movie, you are trying to get an audience to care deeply about make believe characters.

So, how do you do it?

These are just a few things I’ve learned along the way, and hopefully they will benefit you in your projects.

#1 Reaction is More Important than Action.

The power of reaction amazes me. You can have all the big explosions and car chases you want, but if you want to hit people at the gut level, show people’s reactions to these events. You can see this demonstrated perfectly in the images of the 9/11 attacks. Some of the most powerful images taken on that day weren’t of the impact of the planes, but of the shock of the people looking into the sky.

When telling your story, take a moment to think about how people might react to your event. And while you’re at it, don’t forget about how animals might react. Remember the shot of the hissing cat at the beginning of Aliens? Once you saw that, you knew there was trouble.

#2 Delay the Resolution

If you have ever studied music, you will understand this concept. If you want to have a big emotional release in your chorus, then build a lot of dissonance in the verse. And the longer you delay the resolution, the more pleasant it is when it comes.

When I am editing projects, I pay close attention to this. If it’s an interview, sometimes I’ll purposely make cuts in between sentences just so I can delay the end of the story. The result is that the audience that is dying of to know how the story resolves.

#3 Think With Your Gut

I cannot stress this one enough. If you are writing a scene, or are looking for that story to tell, don’t try to make it unless it really moves you. The story should hit you on a deep level before you even start filming. If you feel that lump in your throat as you are writing the scene, then you know that the same result will happen when people watch it.

If, on the other hand, you aren’t feeling anything for the story, then one of two things must happen Either find a way to connect to the material (many times, using one of the tips above can help this), or find a different story to tell. Weather you like it or not, if you aren’t feeling your story down deep, it will show on the screen.