Thursday, November 7, 2013

The power of surprise

It's amazing how powerful surprises are, they can drastically affect the balance of any situation.
Case in point, check out this video from one of the thousands of TV talent shows: the painting is obscure and mysterious to the audience until the very end, and while it's a pretty impressive painting for being created in a minute and a half (and in those conditions), the public's reaction would have been much more tame if it wasn't for the final plot twist:
By further confusing the audience, the artist almost makes them give up, and accept a weak result: expectations have been tamed to the extreme.
And then: Voila'!
The excitement for being back in the world of wonder, after having given up hope, swings the needle all the way to the other end, well beyond the normal reaction to the painting itself.
This neat trick took his act from "oh, wow!" to a standing ovation... it's amazing how many shapes storytelling takes.

Mahalo

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