Magicians do it. Storytellers do it. Movies and TV shows plaster it across the screens.
The word today is misdirection,
distracting the reader or viewer from the truth that is right in front of them.
Pickpockets love this human blind spot.
Pickpockets love this human blind spot.
While I am not a fan of magicians—go figure. I write about
wizards and mages—their ability to misdirect is genius. I like
knowing their secrets just as I enjoy how the special effects department pulls
off the Jurassic Park T-rex and the lightning in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’s.
A recent episode of The
Walking Dead totally blew my mind. It employed a version of misdirection
that caused a breathy ahh to slip out. It seemed clear. Backstory explained...or so I thought. A previous episode left me thinking I knew what was
happening. It was emotional. Heartbreaking. But I didn’t know until the last
few scenes that what I took for reality was not
so. The director, actors,
scriptwriters, led me to the edge then pulled the curtain from the truth.
Ta-Daaaa.
In my youth, Arthur C. Clarke gave me a sci-fi example
of misdirection and molded my appreciation for
the genre. In The Star, space travelers from Earth come upon a world blown apart, burned to a crisp
by an exploding star. But what you think is truth might not be so.
4 comments:
Misdirection can definitely be a powerful tool in storytelling.
I love Arthur C Clarke. This is the first time I've read this short story. Lovely and chilling all at once. Beautiful! Thanks for sharing.
Misdirection is a skill I'm trying to perfect in my current wip. :)
Wow, the last line in the story does have that "ahhh" effect. I should have known - but yes, I was distracted by the voice, the sorrow, of the narrator.
Loved the video too. How did he change his shirt in front of everyone? Marvelous.
The trick is to make us think we know everything when we don't. I'm in awe when it's done well.
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