Posts by Will Csaklos

Very rarely do we enter a story world grudgingly. We approach stories with high hopes and, on our best days, a sense of childlike glee and anticipation. “I can’t wait to see this!” “This is going to be amazing!” I still start every new story that way—mostly. But there’s another part of me that’s cautious,…

Talk to me, Goose. Imagine you’re streaming Top Gun: Maverick at home In one pivotal scene, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, the legendary Navy combat pilot, walks into the briefing room on the morning of his team’s most crucial mission, with the fate of the free world hanging in the balance. INT. BRIEFING ROOM – DAY Chatter…

Last post, I touched on Emotional Truth, one of the two aspects of verisimilitude critical to great storytelling. Before diving into the second aspect, Story Logic, I’d like to shed light on something that’s inspired my thinking about the semblance of truth in storytelling. The term “suspension of disbelief” is tossed around easily and often.…

Truth In Storytelling The primary downfall of many film stories is the lack of verisimilitude— the semblance of truth. It’s what gives us a reason to care about the characters and their story. Verisimilitude in movies takes two forms: story logic and emotional truth. When I headed the development department at Pixar years ago, I…