Story – who, what, where in chronological order

Plot – how and when- the structure the story follows

Types of structure

• Linear (e.g. most children’s books)
• Non-linear – outside of traditional chronological sequences and may include flashbacks. Action is a theme rather than a driving force.
• Fractured – does not follow chronology, contains uncertainty
• Collage – multiple viewpoints, but cohesive due to a common theme or element
• Braided – different viewpoints and characters that weave together throughout story

Types of conflict

• Man vs Man – the main character struggles against another physical character (e.g. wicked witch in Wizard of Oz)
• Man vs Nature – the main character struggles against a force of nature – external conflict (e.g. Cast Away, The Red Turtle)
• Man vs Themself – the main character struggles with right and wrong / their decisions, etc (e.g. Up) – this is the most interesting one to me
• Man vs Society – the main character struggles against ideas, practices, customs of the people (e.g. Handmaid’s Tale) There are loads of other different versions of types of conflicts but these are the main ones

Narrative building

• Who is it about?
• What do they want?
• Why can’t they get it?
• What do they do about it?
• Why doesn’t it work?
• How does it end?

You don’t have to use this type of narrative structure. Personally. I like it a lot.

We don’t have enough time to fully explore the narrative structure.
So to still be able to take the viewer on a journey we need to focus on the start and the finish.

• Where do we start
• where do we finish
• What does that feel like?
• What does that look like?
• How has the environment or character changed along the way?
• How has our perception of them changed?
• What has been revealed?

Platform
We talked about that we should build a platform for our story to stand on. Then when conflict happens that’s when the platform tilts – that what interests the viewer, the tilt. Without a clear platform/foundation we get confused and likely remain detached.

• Who + who = what is their relationship?
• Where are they?
• What is happening
• What are they doing?

The Tilt
If nothing happens to the platform that would make for a boring story. For such a short animation we only need one tilt and the back to equilibrium

Activity
I really loved doing this activity with my classmates it made it took the pressure off have to have a “good” story as well as taking us is very fun drastic directions.

Scriptwriting
Though this is not something I am going to be doing now. I plan on doing it the future.

The basics of script formatting are as follows:

• 12-point Courier font size
• Each page should have approximately 55 lines
• The dialogue block starts 2.5 inches from the left side of the page
• Character names must have uppercase letters and be positioned starting 3.7 inches from the left side of the page
• Page numbers are positioned in the top right corner. The first page shall not be numbered, and each number is followed by a period.
• Don’t forget every scene has a number!

What is a beat sheet?
Beat Sheets are a list of all the key plot points (or beats) in your film that help guide the narrative forward.

This really helped my have an idea of a concrete story to move forward with when I started thumb-nailing. Traditionally, beat sheets are used to keep production on the same page as well as funding application and pitches.

My platform and tilt right now

• Who is it about?
• Who + who = what is their relationship? – A mother, daughter and cashier talking
• Where are they? – They are inside the corner store
• What are they doing? – The mother is busy picking out treats for a birthday party and the daughter bounces as she talks to the person at the till.
• What do they want? – the daughter want attention, the mother is trying to get out of here as quickly as possible. The cashier is trying to entertain the the child.
• What do they do about it? – the mother wizzes around the store searching for the stuff.
• How does it end? – the mother drops all the stuff on the table in front of the daughter
• What does that feel like? – It should feel slightly humorous
• What does that look like? – It should look very detailed and kind of messy
• How has the environment or character changed along the way? – I imagine the the mother has hit and knocked over things in her frantic search.
• How has our perception of them changed? – The mother might come off as disinterested but is actually really caring and attentive to her daughter

Character over camera
Due to the short time limit and that I am working on this project alone focusing more on character, composition, posing and emotional beats opposed to complex camera moves will be very helpful

For Strong posing and beats

• Break down the beats of the dialogue/story
• what are the key emotional points?
• Where is the emphasis?

This is where I can really push my acting and my staging and I can try the silhouette method to check my poses

(Do some sketches for the storyboard)

Composition tips

• Composition and Negative space-How does space around your character change what you’re communicating? Generally it is in front of front of the direction the character is communicating in unless we are purposefully trying to hide something from the viewer
• Rule of thirds
• 180 degree rule

Staging In narrative pieces we try to avoid straight or profile angle although flat staging could be used for comedic effect, a ‘diorama’/ calm effect, (Winnie the Pooh)

Generally, get in as close as possible to whatever is the most important thing at that moment, while leaving breathing room and enough room for any actions that might occur in that scene.

Shot angle
Eye Level – Placing your character at camera eye level will build a sense of empathy with them.

Low Angle – Low Angles make your character’s feel powerful and important.

High Angle – High Angles look down on your characters making them feel powerless and insignificant. Often creating a feeling of sympathy for them.

Close-up – Close-ups allow us to study the character’s emotional state and get closer to what they are thinking.

Symmetry – achieved through balance in form and line
Balance – measured through size scale and value, makes it easy for the viewer to read

Leading lines – it leads the eye to certain elements in the frame whithout overwhelming the viewer.