Building Story - Ideas for the Animated Short - page 138

Building Confl ict
Now that you know how your story begins and ends, the challenge is to build confl ict in a
way that engages the audience. Remember in the short that there is no time to deviate from
the focus of the story, the goal of the character, or the single problem the character must
overcome.
When building confl ict it is helpful to think about the way the confl ict unfolds, the type of
intensity building, the character in the confl ict, and the location of your audience in your story.
Progression of Confl ict
Often when beginning storytellers think of confl ict, they default to the catastrophic. They
think about big problems. Problems don't have to be big to cause confl ict. An itch, a head-
ache, or a stubbed toe can all have great affect and be wonderful inspiration for story. But
if you scratch an itch, take medicine, or put ice on your toe, the story is over. These are
single events that cause a problem and can be easily resolved. To build story confl ict, the
confl ict has to get worse. Scratching an itch leads to itching all over that leads to a spread-
ing rash that lands you in the hospital where you meet a pretty nurse that catches your
rash . . . .
In story, the progression of the confl ict for the character occurs in predictable ways:
1. Compounded Confl icts : A single problem builds in layers upon itself through
similar or related events. Compounded problems follow two patterns:
• Domino Effect. This is a chain reaction where one problem will cause a similar problem
to occur in a linear sequence. In Early Bloomer , the tadpole has grown slightly bigger
only to gain legs and then arms with more to come. The physical problem of growing
more body parts layers upon itself to make the situation worse.
• Cascade Effect #1. One problem will cause a similar problem to occur in a branching
structure. A large snowball is rolling down a hill toward a ski lodge. The snowball
hits a tree and breaks into two large snowballs rolling down toward the ski lodge.
Both of these snowballs hit trees and break in to four, and so on, until an avalanche
of snowballs threatens the lodge.
2. Accumulated Confl icts : Multiple problems build in number or complexity through
different or unrelated events. Accumulated problems follow three patterns:
• Cascade Effect #2: A change in one event will lead to a change in multiple subsequent
events. This is the philosophy behind cascading formats in web design. If you
change a logo on one page, it will automatically change in all other places that
the logo appears. In story, this is often used with concepts of the time and timelines.
If we change events in the past, we can affect the multiple events of the future in
unpredictable ways.
• Ripple Effect. One event leads to other unrelated events that spread out, escalating in
all directions. Gobelins, an animation school in France, produced a short called Le