story concepts

7/31/2019 Story Concepts

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Concept and Character Development For Animation

Lecturer: Simon Norton

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.myballoonhead.com

STORY CONCEPTS

Making up stories is not an exact science.

Some people seem to have a natural talent for telling stories well, or for knowing what

kinds of stories people like, just like some people have a natural talent for drawing or formusic. But for others, it can take a lot of practice and experience before they can figure out

how to tell stories well. Theres nothing wrong with this; storytelling is a skill which can be

learned and developed like any other.

As a medium, Animation in particular often attracts artists who are interested in making

visuals and not in telling stories. This is not necessarily a bad thing; it is possible to makeinteresting animation which entertains chiefly through visual spectacle.

However, films which tell a story, whether animated or not, are always more popular withaudiences. And films which tell a story wellare extremely popular with audiences.

Simply put, audiences prefer stories to pure visuals. And telling a story well doesnt mean

the visuals have to be forgotten the best films usually have both good storytelling and

good visual design

There are also certain types of stories which audiences tend to prefer.

In his book Story, Robert McKee identifies three basic types of story.

The Arch Plot, which is the most popular. It is the kind of story in which all thequestions have been answered at the end of the story. All the loose ends are tied up and it is

generally quite clear what happened. Most entertainment films are in this category.

The Minimal Plot is less popular. It is the kind of story in which all the questions have

notbeen answered at the end of the story. Some or all of the loose ends have been left

untied so the viewer might be left unsure about exactly what happened, and it is up to theviewer to decide what the film means. Many art films are in this category.

The Anti Plot is even less popular. It is the kind of film that doesnt really tell a story atall, presenting images in an experimental or illogical fashion, often like a dream or

nightmare. Many experimental or underground films are in this category.


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So how do we go about creating a simple Arch Plot?

We can do this by asking one simple question about the character we have been

developing;

What does this character want?

Entertaining stories are very rarely about characters who dont want anything.

The characters desires are what drive the story, and the obstacles and conflict whichprevent the character from getting what they want are what creates the drama.

These obstacles are sometimes simply circumstantial, but often they are created by adding

other characters whose own desires create obstacles for the main character, causingconflict. Conflict is the root of drama.

EXERCISE

Create an original story concept by asking What does this particular character want?

If you dont know, make it up.

Whats stopping the character from getting what he or she wants?

If you dont know, make it up.

Whats the character going to do about it?

(Remember: Its not just about figuring out any way to get past this obstacle; you have to

imagine how this particular characterwould go about solving the problem)If you dont know, make it up.

Note: This story development technique is not guaranteed to create the best stories, but it

will give a beginning storyteller a better chance of telling a clear story which makes senseand interests an audience.


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USING A SIMPLE 3 ACT STRUCTURE

Using a 3 act structure is not absolutely essential to creating a good story, but it is a good guide to use whena simple story needs to be told clearly.

1 SETUP

The events in the beginning set things up, by telling the audience clearly -

Who are the characters? Where are they? Whats the situation?

and -What do these characters WANT?

2 CONFRONTATION / DEVELOPMENT

The events in the middle keep the audience interested by introducing conflicts and obstacles.

What OBSTACLES stop the character getting what s/he wants?

(If you dont know, invent some)

What ACTIONS does the character then take to get past these obstacles?

(If you dont know, invent some)

REPEAT AS NECESSARY (OBSTACLE, ACTION, OBSTACLE, ACTION...)

The writer should know this particular character well enough to know exactly how the character will

behave when confronted with different kinds of obstacles a whole story can be generated out of this.

(Note that above says actions to get past obstacles and not accidents stories tend to be moreinteresting when the character is active rather than passive in other words its generally better for the

story when the characterdoes somethingto solve his or her problem, rather than the problem being fixed by

the author obviously fixing the circumstances for the character (this is the deus ex machina of Ancient

Greek plays when the gods come down from the sky and fix everything when the writer cant figure outhow to solve the story even back then it was already obvious that this pretty much sucks as a story

device))

3 RESOLUTION

The events at the end resolve the situation set up at the start. Audiences appreciate a sense that the story hasbeen wrapped up, BUT they also want a little surprise with it. The character often gets what he or she

wanted, but in a surprising way. (with a twist.)

(A common twist is that the process of getting what they wanted has taught the character to value

something else more instead.)

Do your characters get what they want or not?

If so can they get what they want in an unexpected way?Or in a way the character him/herself did not expect?

SHORTEST EXPLANATION OF 3 ACT STRUCTURE

1. Put character up a tree (setup)

2. Throw rocks at em (obstacles you, the author, are throwing obstacles at the character to

challenge him or her, and seeing how you think the character will act)

3. Get em down (resolution)


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ANOTHER NOTE ON STORY CONCEPTS - Conceptual use of the Animation medium

- When writing a story for animation which could just as easily be filmed using live actors dont forget toconsider the other imaginative options made available to you by your choice of animation as the medium.

Note that I am not claiming it is always bad to make animation which follows realistic rules andcould have been performed by actors. Almost all of The Simpsons depicts realistic events and it is a

successful and entertaining animated show.

The mistake here is to automatically conceive your project only in terms of realism, or naturalism,

instead of at least considering what else your chosen medium can do. Animation is an unusual film medium

in that it is not photographic, ie. not limited to imitating appearances and behaviour as observed in reality.

For example, Animation can include (notably) -

- Actions which are physically impossible,

(some of the most common historically explored in animation are -

Metamorphosis, Expressionist Exaggeration, Absurdist Exaggeration, Talking

Animals Acting Like Humans, Objects Behaving As If Alive, Gravity Defiance,

Bottomless Pockets & Survival of Dynamite Blasts, but there are more say,

characters who are suddenly able to reach up ten storey buildings, or who grow

limbs only when required

(see for eg Tex Avery, Robert Clampett, Fleischer Brothers)

- Design which is photographically impossible

(employing stylisation and abstraction of characters, images and movement. The

very lines and shapes which define characters and objects are designed to

communicate meaning via graphic concepts which would be impossible to

photograph for eg. - a single line represents the entire ocean, and a character

picks up this line and uses it to wet things or cause a flood; such a concept is not

photographable)(see for eg Osvaldo Cavandoli La Linea series, Raoul Servais

Chromophobia, Dusan Vukotics Surogat, Zagreb Studio, UPA, John and

Faith Hubley)

- Metaphorical use of visual designs, shapes and lines

(this is the animated cousin to the newspapers editorial cartoon for eg - a

simply drawn box heaves and coughs because in the animations context it

represents a nations ailing economy; however, the same technique need not

always take politics as its subject)

(see for eg Bruce Petty)

After consideration, there might be a more creative design approach which is notnaturalistic (And

its fun too for example, part of the appeal and popularity of the Simpsons Halloween specials is how

they throw their usual naturalism rules out the window)

Remember: An animation, unlike other films, is entirely designed by the animator; it is not a

document of reality. So it doesnt automatically have to follow realitys rules or appearance.Of course live-action films are not true documents of reality either (and it can be argued that no

film ever is, including documentary films) However; a live-action film is still limited to recordingthe

movements and appearances of those objects which can be placed in front of the camera in reality. An

animator is not limited in this way at all. ( Special Effects movies such as Spiderman dont count as

exceptions because all the special effects are animation.)

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