Sunny showed high C's pursuit of quality, achieving the widely acclaimed movie "Table for Six"
Image source: movie poster of "Table for Six"
"Table for Six" is a very outstanding comedy and a movie I have been waiting for a long time. It's not just a comedy, it is a movie with a good storyline and deep message to convey. The audience can not only enjoy the joy brought by the movie; when leaving the theatre, they can also feel a heart-warming feeling and savour the deep meaning of it.
The production team prepared and filmed attentively to create this well-received film. Among them, I admire Mr Sunny Chan very much, he is both the screenwriter and director of this film. He is serious, careful, organized and logical about the movie... Hey! Aren't these the characteristics of high C?
Mr Sunny Chan, the screenwriter and director of "Table for Six". Image source: Wikipedia
Through the interview received by Sunny, I have sorted out the characteristics of high C observed from him. Let’s look at the behavioural styles and thinking patterns of a high C person.
What does a high C stand for?
First, let's briefly understand what a high C is.
C (Compliance) is one of the dimensions of DISC, and DISC is a tool for analyzing human behaviour styles. C is the dimension that explains how one handles rules and other people’s programs. When a person inputs a high amount of energy in this dimension, we call it high C.
High C people value rules and processes. They are serious, careful, detail-oriented, and perfectionists. Furthermore, they are natural analysts, seeking accurate facts and correct results.
If you want to know what the four elements of the DISC behavioural style are, click the button below to learn more.
Emphasis on procedures, principles, analysis, and logic
🎬 Create systematically
Sunny has his own set of processes when creating film stories. He first conceives the dramatic contradictions of the film, and then constructs the story development and character traits. After setting the initial shape of the story, he will think carefully about how to rationalize the characters and the content of the story. A clear flow helps him create.
Image source: movie poster of "Table for Six"
🎬 Apply different comedy theory methods
For high-C people, once there is theoretical support, things can be predictable and secure. Sunny shared that he used a lot of comedy theory methods to make "Table for Six" show many different laughing points, including dramatic contradictions, character conflicts, transitions between situations and rhythms, repetitive jokes, layer-by-layer advancement theories, etc.
🎬 Need criteria to measure things
A movie involves a lot of details and elements. Sunny uses the main axis of the story, characters, etc. as criteria to measure and judge different matters in the film, to ensure the consistency and rationality of the story. This seems like a reasonable approach, but when this principle is applied to every detail of the film, it is incredible, reflecting the meticulousness of the director and production team.
For example: What utensils should the actors use when eating? Sunny will think carefully about what the menu is, and what characters the story needs to reflect, and then he would come up with a logical answer - chopsticks. The reason is that the food in the story is barbecue pork, and the choice of chopsticks can reflect that the characters are ordinary Hong Kongers. If you want to accentuate the pretentiousness of the character, then a fork should be used, and the dialogue should be…
Image source: Screenshot of the promotional video of "Table for Six"
🎬 Criteria for selecting dialogues
To create high-quality dialogues, Sunny will review each dialogue again after the first writing. Dialogue must be an explanation of the story or a joke to stay. This practice once again shows that Sunny established different standards and processes for himself when creating to build high-quality work.
Pursuit of high quality and details
🎬 Meticulously characterization
To make the characters three-dimensional and rational, Sunny wrote four to seven pages of character descriptions for each character. This background information is from the character's birth to the experience before entering the play. Each character is deep and detailed enough to make a movie.
Image source: movie poster of "Table for Six"
🎬 Continuously improve the script
Sunny spent four months completing the first draft of "Table for Six". Then, after discussing with the actors and implementing the scene design, he continued to refine the script. Therefore, when the crew was preparing for rehearsal, the script was already in the eighth draft. He shared that it is not a problem to modify the script, as long as the modification can show better effects.
🎬 Serious preparations before filming
To help the actors get into the roles and cultivate feelings and tacit understanding between the actors, Sunny arranged two script readings and two rehearsals before the official shooting. Some actors are more special in terms of role relationships and rehearse once or twice more. This kind of diligent preparation is quite rare in Hong Kong-produced films.
Image source: Screenshot of the promotional video of "Table for Six"
🎬 Enrich the audience's enjoyment of perspective
To make the movie screen more varied, Sunny shot the same movie plot from different angles. He would start by taking a wide-angle shot for an overall scene, and then close up each actor's performance. When the on-camera actors perform, the off-camera actors also act seriously to ensure the continuity of the scene. Therefore, even if it is a short eight-to-ten-minute meal plot, the actors have to sit for twelve or thirteen hours and act eating twenty to thirty times. In addition, to ensure the consistency of the scene, Sunny insisted on shooting the same movie plot in one night. Therefore, the shooting team started at 6 pm and finished shooting the next morning (with a black cloth to block the light in the morning).
Image source: Screenshot of the promotional video of "Table for Six"
🎬 Dedicated to arranging the scene and designing the soundtrack
Sunny believes that the production cost of movies is expensive, and movies are usually played on a huge screen in the theatre, so he believes that every second and every grid presented on the screen should be meaningful. He attaches great importance to every detail of the film, such as how the arrangement and decoration of the room bring out the story and characters, and how the music is matched and used to drive the development of the story. All of which he takes the time to carefully consider and design, so that the audience believes and engages in the story and resonates.
Image source: Screenshot of the promotional video of "Table for Six"
Thanks to Sunny’s seriousness, meticulousness, and perseverance in the film, as well as the dedication of the actors and production team to "Table for Six", we can then enjoy such an outstanding comedy.
Get along with people with high C
High C people are sometimes misunderstood as being deliberately questionable, critical, and difficult to get along with. Through the example of Sunny, we can understand that high C people just have their own set of systems, principles, procedures and thinking patterns. They pursue perfection, logic and detail.
So, if we encounter high C colleagues in the workplace, how can we deal with them effectively? Here are some suggestions.
💬 Start the conversation politely
People with high C value ethics and etiquette culture. They have their rhythm and procedures for doing things, prefer to prepare in advance, and dislike sudden queue cuts. Therefore, you can politely ask before communicating, if it is the right time to communicate with them, which will make them feel respected. Other times, please let them have their own space and do not disturb them at will.
💬 Provide reasons
People with high C are inherently analytical, cautious in thinking and serious in work. Before they start doing something, they need to know why they are doing it, understand the cause and effect of it, and not be confused. So please prepare a legitimate reason for high C people.
💬 Objective arguments and evidence
In addition to providing good reasons, to effectively persuade a high C person, you must provide a strong argument, as well as objective evidence. People with high C are not deliberately making things difficult, they just pursue logic, rationality and consistency. You can prepare past success cases, data analysis and regulations to prove your point of view. This way they will feel that you thought things through carefully and objectively, which helps earn their trust.
💬 Clear job responsibilities and processes
In the face of high-C subordinates or new colleagues, providing them with detailed and clear project schedules, job responsibilities, processes, and standards, will effectively assist them to engage in the workplace and start their work.
Summary
When the team understands the needs of high C people, learns how to communicate with them, and allows them to play to their strengths, they can help the team operate in an orderly manner, analyse in-depth, balance risks and improve quality.
