Structure is essential for giving a story emotion and timing for the best impact. Structure is vital as a foundation for a good story. Story Beats are the important moments in your story - decisions that your character makes with the resulting consequences of that decision.
Story Spine is the simple pattern that stories follow.
1. Once upon a time...
2. Every day...
3. Until one day... (inciting incident that sets the story in motion)
4. Because of that...
5. Because of that...
6. Because of that...
7. Until finally...
8. And ever since then...
And the moral of the story is...
My favourite film story spine: The Lion King
1 Once upon a time there was a family of lions that ruled Pride Rock
2 Every day the young son went out adventuring with no regard for his parents rules
3 Until one day his father Mufasa got killed by his uncle Scar, using him as the bait for a trap
4 Because of that, Simba had to leave Pride Rock letting Scar take over the kingdom
5 Because of that he met Timon and Pumbaa and survived into adulthood to be found by Nala
6 Because of that he found out about the horrors that had happened and returned home
7 Until finally the truth comes out and Simba beats Scar in a fight
8 And ever since then Pride rock has returned to its peaceful, balanced environment.
And the moral of the story is believe in yourself.
My story spine:
1 Once upon a time there was a kitty
2 Every day he got the zoomies and raced around the house
3 Until one day he sees a ghost appear
4 Because of that he stops suddenly and attracts the attention of his owner
5 Because of that, the owner decides the cat is crazy
6 Until finally the cat loses interest and walks off
7 And ever since then the ghost reappears now and then to prank the kitty.
And the moral of the story is that cats are crazy... lol
Theme
What are you trying to say? The theme is connected to the moral. What your protagonist needs will drive the structure of the story. You dont need to start with a solid theme, but to have a memorable story you need to have one by the end.
Theme/Moral of my favourite film: Overcome your self doubt and let your friends help.
Moral of a story from my own life: Sometimes a big change is good for you.
Brainstorming moral ideas for my story: Just because you cant see something, doesn't mean its not there..
Act 1: Step 1, 2 and 3 of the story spine
Act 2: Step 4, 5 and 6
Act 3: Step 7 and 8
Antagonist: something that gets in the road of what the protagonist needs.
Act One
Act one introduces the character, in their world. The inciting incident comes near the end of act one to launch the story into act two. Act one should make the audience care about your character, and sets up the story.
1min animation breakdown, Act 1 - 10secs, Act 2 - 40secs, Act 3 - 10secs
Act one of the lion king
Simba, Mufasa, Nala and Scar are the main characters in the lion pride. We care about them because they remind us of our own families, with an animal twist. They do normal family things, with the exception of Scar missing simbas coronation which hints at the rivalry. Scar kills Mufasa to take over the Pridelands which makes Simba run away to survive.
Act one of my animation will be introducing the kitty in his usual state of sleeping, then bursting into zoomies.
Act Two
Act two is where your character gets knocked down over and over to help them grow. This is where your character changes into the final character that you want them to be. Act 2 also contains the low point where everything has gone wrong, or the character has a achieved all they want but its not what they thought it would be. Quite often in the middle of the act is where your character makes a decision with final consequences and no turning back.
Act two of the lion king
Simba is forced to run for his life due to his fathers death. Scar makes him think it was his fault, and so he doesn't want to stay because he is afraid everyone will blame him. When Simba decides to finally return to Pride rock and confront his uncle is the life changing decision. He is leaving his current life to return to his old life.
Act two of my story is the cat suddenly stopping while the human is looking at it. The human tries to get the cats attention while he is staring off at nothing. The human insinuates that the cat is crazy and goes back to ignoring it.
Act Three
Act three contains the inevitable climax where the character has to face their ultimate test and make the choices they need to, to achieve what they actually need at the risk of losing it all. After making that decision the world returns to what it should be again, with the new character mentality and the correct lessons learnt. The story is resolved.
Act three of the lion king
Simba defeats Scar, takes control of the pride, kicks the hyenas out and pride rock returns to the well balanced area that it was when Mufasa ruled. The balance has been restored, and the cycle of life begins again with Simba and Nalas child mirroring the opening.
Act three of my story is the cat returning to its sleeping spot, from where the story started and falling back asleep. Then the ghost pops into view making a funny face, where the cat had been staring previously.
Advice for storytellers
Work backwards, start with the end so you know what you have to work towards. Expose yourself to as many ideas as possible, use books and find new stories. Find a story that you are invested in, finish a story even if u are not sure. Then you can decide whether its worth more time, or tear it to pieces and start again.
Tips for a good short story
Treatment
Story checklist
Act 1 - opening image, first inciting moment, debate(can i do this), point of no return
Act 2 - First challenges, escalation in action, midpoint where everything is going great or awful, bad guys close in, all is lost, rock bottom\
Act 3 - fresh idea, finale/fight to the finish, final image(opposite of opening image, shows change)
Logline - a one sentence summary of the story. use action and descriptive words to create an image in the readers mind.
A treatments purpose is to work out story problems. Must have a clear beginning middle and end. Writing in prose like a story, with no dialog. Elaborate on synopsis details. Put each major scene into its own paragraph.
Treatment example
My current treatment status: finished the first draft
No comments:
Post a Comment