the moving visual medium starts with a shot. since the Lumiere's and Edison moving pictures have used composition, lighting, and movement to build stories - from a single shot to a series of shots. and still today whether telling a story in a single shot, a series of shots, or a seamless 360° VR experience it still all starts with a shot.
cut
two shots joined by a cut, fade, or dissolve. rhythm, punctuation, and in the age of high resolution footage the possibilities of resizing and reframing, digital compositing of multiple shots are among the tools to join shots into a narrative string.
sound
an image first accompanied by the clatter of a projector, then piano or small bang, and finally by sound in synch with the image. Dialogue, sound effects, music - accentuating emotion, and rhythm, creating dissonance, and tension, essential to pictures in motion.
duration
30 second commercial, 5 minute VR short, 90 minute feature film, or 10 or more episodes of television, a story finds its length. Simplicity, complexity and everywhere in-between. A stories length will help it find its audience, but also tells you what kind of story it will be.
