Building Story - Ideas for the Animated Short - page 141

every point in the story, is thinking and feeling something. This is called internal monologue .
When you understand what the character is thinking and feeling, you can determine
the most truthful way for the character to react to the confl ict. You can also alter the
internal monologue by trying different tactics to fi nd which are most entertaining to your
audience.
If you are having trouble writing confl ict events, it is helpful to write out, or talk out what
the character is thinking. This helps clarify where the story needs to go or identifi es when
the character or confl ict has deviated from the focus of the story.
If you know what your character is thinking or feeling, you also know what he is doing—and
the intensity of emotion with which he is doing it. This gives you the weight and force of
the action. When you know what he is doing and how he is doing it—you can draw strong
poses in your storyboards.
Putting It Together
The last thing we need to do is understand how confl ict relates to the beginning and ending
of the story. To do this we are going to look at our basic story structure again. The last time
we looked at this we analyzed what happened in each stage of the story. Now we are
going to look at how these elements relate to each other.
Exposition : The character will say or do something that reveals a character trait that
establishes his outlook on life.
Inciting Moment : Something unexpected happens and the reaction of the character
establishes how he will react to future rising confl icts: physically, emotionally, critically, or
strategically.
Rising Confl ict : As obstacles increase, the character will attempt different tactics to over-
come or resolve the confl ict. How the character acts and reacts depends on the connection
established in the exposition and inciting moment.
Contrast is the key to confl ict. If you have a good character, put her against a bad character.
If the character needs to reach something high on a shelf, make the character short. Contrast
can also be used for how she makes decisions or uses tactics. Make one approach the
confl ict physically and the other approach emotionally. Make them use opposing tactics.
Have one use negotiation and the other use control.
Remember that emotion drives the story. As the confl ict escalates in intensity, the emotional
state of the character will escalate or defl ate exponentially.
Crisis/Climax : It is in the crisis/climax that the character can change how he approaches
the problem. If the character has acted emotionally, he may now act physically as an arc
occurs in the character.