Story Is Built on 4 Pillars

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2 Hey guys, I m. And I m. And I m. And together we re the creative directors of Stillmotion. Kathryn Hey guys, I m Kathryn I m. And I m! Kathryn And we are your Muse Story Guides. This is Muse. It s important to understand that there s a big difference between just any story, and a remarkable one. Muse is designed to help you craft remarkable stories; it s a process built on the four main building blocks, or pillars, of story: People, Places, Purpose, and Plot. People are the characters in the story. Places are where your story happens. Purpose is what your story says to the audience. And Plot is the structure of your story. The first pillar is People. As people, we connect with other people. It gives our audience someone to relate to, to root for. An interesting study comes to mind. It showed that when you re actually tasting something disgusting and when you re just watching someone taste something disgusting, the same parts of your brain are responding. So whether the emotion is something we re experiencing ourselves something real or the emotion is something we re witnessing other people have as part of a story the same parts of our brain are activated.

3 And what s really amazing is that when we re remembering this sensation, this disgust, this joy, this pain, we remember it the same. The imprint is the same as whether it was real or part of a story. And that s why we lead our stories with people. Because people connect with people most. They will give us the best ability to create empathy, to move the audience. One of the biggest mistakes that people make when choosing the people for their story specifically the main character is that they go for the choice that s the most obvious, or the easiest, or the one that s gifted to them by the client. And this choice is made whether or not it s the character who creates the strongest connection with the audience, and therefore makes them care about the story. The second pillar of story is Place. Place grounds story in reality. It s where the story lives, where it happens. Place is our opportunity to show and not tell. To look in on our people and allow the audience to draw their own conclusions rather than just telling them this or that. It creates authenticity showing us the Places that have shaped him, that both inform and reflect who that character really is. And this authenticity allows the audience to trust our character. When we really let you feel a Place it lets so much more of our story come through. Place is NOT just a backdrop, it is a way to let our story speak. If everything is expected, your audience is learning nothing. There is nothing new for them. It has no value for them so we re trying to go to unexpected places and we re using Muse to do that. The biggest mistake folks make is not understanding the power of Place to show all of the places that have shaped who your character really is. It s not about using the expected places, rather, it s about using the ones that are truly authentic to your character and her unique journey. The next pillar of story is Purpose. Purpose is what you want the audience to take away from the story. It could be spreading a message or selling a product or service, but whatever it is, it needs to be clear.

4 The biggest mistake storytellers of all mediums make with Purpose is that it s either ill-defined or all over the place. It s not knowing what you want to say, or saying too much. Too many mixed messages.it s like the reason we have one director on set. Or one editor-in-chief. There needs to be one clear vision that resonates through the entire team so that everyone is moving forward with the same idea. And finally Plot is your story s structure. It s giving all of your elements and overall form or shape and creating an emotional arc. It is how you arrange the elements of your story into a clear beginning, middle, and ending. A story s structure will help to maximize the physiological arousal in the audience. It will get their palms sweating and their heart racing. It allows you to maximize the impact of your story, and not leave anything on the table. The biggest mistake people make with their stories is having no plot at all. We get scared of conflict. We think we can t have conflict in a wedding, or in a commercial piece, or we don t want to offend the person we interviewed. And so we just show how awesome the product is, how beautiful the wedding is. But when we do that we give away the answer. And if we ignore plot, we have nothing to leave the audience with.story is all about the value to the audience. Plot is a reason to keep watching. So let s think about these four pillars in relation to movies. And we can think of the different types of movies we get as a result of the P we put first, or prioritize. If a story leads with purpose, it s typically a commercial or an advertisement. If a story leads with plot, it s an action movie. If a story leads with place, it s usually a travel video, or often a wedding.if it leads with people, it s an emotionally gripping story. People are about connection. Places create authenticity. Purpose leaves us with something. Plot keeps us engaged. That s why we lead with people--because the other three don t matter if you can t connect to your audience. So now you understand what the four pillars are People, Place, Purpose, and Plot

5 And how important they are to story. let s look at the guidance and results you can expect from Muse in exploring and identifying these pillars for YOUR story. Muse is a tool to help you listen, and it prepares you for what you re listening for so you know an epic component of a story when you come toe-to-toe with it. And as you find these elements, you can then start to build them together into something much bigger and more powerful. Muse is not a storyteller. It won t make stories for you, it will pull everything out of you to make you the strongest storyteller possible. Each step of the process will have videos, key takeaways, and quizzes to practice your understanding. More than that, this course has very specific and tangible ways to apply each step in your stories moving forward: questions to ask, things to look for, prompts you can give yourself to see things in a different way. There are also guided challenges for you to take on, apply your understanding, and get feedback from us. It s the bridge from the idea that s always been dancing around in your head to that incredibly powerful story that you can share with others. That going to make you proud. That will move your audience. And that will create the kind of action you want to to see. Every story begins at your early impetus--your reason for telling that story. This is a person, product, service, or an idea that inspired or compelled you to tell the story. Now, Muse is all about helping you take that early impetus and build it into your purpose which is what we re going to guide your viewer to. And Muse is going to teach you to find the Big 3 Things that every character needs to help you really connect with your audience. Muse will help you understand and identify the four layers of Place in your story. And Muse will help you define your purpose, what it is you want to say through a process of creating 5 keywords. These keywords will be huge in holding yourself accountable to making sure all your decisions are letting your story speak Muse will show you the 6 universal types of conflict, and help you find the strongest and most relevant plot for your story.

6 The pillars, people, places, purpose, plot, 4 layers of place, the Big 3 things, 6 essential plot points, 5 keywords, the psychological and neurological studies, the entire Muse process what does it all boil down to? We speak to the heart to move the mind. What we re talking about here is how to build a story that leads with people, someone who is going to connect your audience and then lead them on a journey using a plot and that leads them to your purpose. We must speak to people on an emotional level before we can expect to change their mind or move them to action intellectually. It s about using the power of story and moving people emotionally. It s using story as a conduit to what it is you want your audience to take away. This is Muse.