The evolution of storytelling and the impact of technology on stories fascinate me. The attention span is so short now that strong hooks and “attention-grabbing” strategies are everything. I find it funny that everyone says people’s attention span is getting shorter by the day, and yet movies are becoming increasingly long 😂
I’m not really a TikTok fan, quite the opposite. A number of studies came out recently, accusing TikTok of damaging people’s brains, turning them into dopamine addicts.
Yet Tiktok, and especially how people tell stories on there, is quite interesting for us writers. Last week, the platform announced its annual “TikTok Short Film Contest.” And I wonder, how do you write a 3-minute, attention-grabbing, vertically-shot story for a TikTok audience (teenagers with the shortest attention span)?
The condensed story should contain not one hook, but multiple, to keep the viewers engaged for 3 whole minutes. You can take a look at last year’s winner to get an idea of what a 3-minute-long script can look like:
🏆First Place: Kitte Kitte Iino? and Love in Plane Sight
📜Best Screenplay: Modern Princess
I wonder if I could pull it off. What about you?
Storytelling News
💡How Korean webtoons are changing the comic industry—and the careers of creators
The size of the global webtoons market stands at $3.7 billion and is projected to grow to $56 billion by 2030.
In December, The Economist reported that the Japanese manga market, which is $1.9 billion, has now been eclipsed by webtoons.
What’s more, many of these webtoons are being tapped for adaptations in the booming South Korean film and television industry—and beyond.
Between 2020 and 2021, WEBTOON paid out more than $27 million to its base of more than 120,000 creators who publish in English. In Korea, the company’s oldest and most mature market, creators earn an average of $250,000 per year.
💡Americans at the Movies: A Study
Interesting study from a fellow Substack writer.
The third of consumers who push through price and inconvenience to go to theaters do not come from a particular demographic, nor income level; rather they are, simply put, Cinephiles. Our data seems to indicate, that for this fandom, a richer and more profitable theatrical experience could be attractive, even if those consumers must pay a bit more for it. All available data seems to indicate that building a model to meet this demand will more likely deliver long-term success than hoping pre-pandemic downward trends will ever reverse. The ticket-buying consumer base is loyal and lucrative. Today’s theater business is not catered nearly enough towards them.
💡Everything Everywhere All at Once Beat Sheet Analysis
I don’t think the Save the Cat! beat sheet should be considered the ultimate “right” structure, yet this breakdown is interesting. The example of Everything Everywhere will help you understand how the story is organized and how its various parts come together. Especially useful for writers who struggle with structure and could use a “cheat sheet.”
Thanks for reading,
— Alicia