Unreleased sexual tension

 

Remember these? Good weren't they? Who says that brand storytelling etc is anything new? I guess the only thing that would be different now might be each character having their own Facebook account, the book, the extra episodes online, the exclusives and the leaks and maybe even releasing new characters and story arcs to hardcore fans and maybe letting them in on the story.

The dynamic at the heart of the story is unreleased sexual tension. It's not the only beating heart to a good story, but it certainly is a good one.

Like this..

 

 

This....

 

This..

 

 

And this.....

 

And this ;-)....

 

But it's not in this (nor any chemistry whatsoever)...

 

Like most good elements to a story, we can relate to UST because we see our own lives reflected back at us. Something ad people and genuine entertainers could do well to remember, we want new stories of course, but in reality, we want stories to talk to us about our own lives. It's just that it's usually more powerful when the context isn't humdrum real life but something else. That's why I get annoyed at so called down to earth, community focused clients wanting to only exist in hyper-reality - people don't want their own lives played back at them exactly. Look at soaps, they are not reality, they're exaggerated in almost everyway.

I wanted to pick an argument with someone who opined that Shakespeare is overrated. Fair enough if you consider the emphasis he gets in schools over other's (even Ben Johnson in his own era), but there's a reason. No one has consistently told us about ourselves in a collection of works like Shakespeare, mostly because he has the knack of dealing with universal truths and issues by placing them in unreal settings.

The debate over Shylock - understandable victim of prejudice or a warning against greed is echoed in arguments today over someone as a terrorist or freedom fighter, layabout or forgotten generation.

Rosalind in 'As you like it' was a great source of inspiration for some work I did on dressing up and being able to play with your appearance and identity - how wearing a costume changes you inside - or brings out a version of you hitherto unknown.

Anyway, all I'm saying is that it doesn't matter if you're making an ad, writing a book or scripting a film, whatever the setting, storytelling needs to talk to humans about humans in some way to be truly great and in many cases, it's more powerful when it's not 'real'.

By the way, a useful rule for UST is the same as food - if you lick it, you have to eat it.

Comments

[jonhoward]

"the only thing that would be different now might be each character having their own Facebook account, the book, the extra episodes online, the exclusives and the leaks and maybe even releasing new characters and story arcs to hardcore fans and maybe letting them in on the story"

And you know what - I think it would be less good, and much less effective, for it.

A lot of the idea's emotional power came from not knowing, from being one-step removed, out of the loop etc. You had to join the dots and fill the blanks in your own mind. And you had to wait (now there's a novel idea!!), the patience and expectation adding to the 'experience'.

But put it all out in the open and available now, interactive with nothing hidden (as you would feel obliged to do), and you kill the mystery and intruige that made the relationship so interesting (who are these people, what do they think, what happens in their lives?).

When you can have it all and know it all, what is there to care about any more. And will I actually be bothered to do the 'engagement' thing anyway? It's only a coffee brand after all - do i really want to spend hours of my time in 'conversation'?

Call me old fashioned, but I still think there merit in keeping things simple sometimes.