Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 1
Story Background
and Theory
As human beings, we live in story all of the time. Story is as natural and essential to us as
breathing. We all have stories to tell, but telling our personal stories on a daily basis and
constructing a story from scratch are two very different things. Usually when we tell stories
on a daily basis, we are relating events to one or two other people. When constructing
story, we are trying to communicate with a mass audience. When we tell stories to a friend
it is because it is important to us or to them. We are connected and moved emotionally
because it is personal. When we construct story, we are moving not just an individual, but
an audience. The goal then becomes to make the personal universal.
Before we can begin getting ideas, developing characters, or building stories, we need to
understand the background of story and how that background lays the foundation for what
we want to make: a story for an animated short fi lm.
This chapter deals with story basics: the defi nition of story, why all stories and characters
seem the same, why confl icts and themes seem similar, originality in story, and the difference
between feature fi lms and the animated short.
What Is a Story?
Screenwriter Karl Iglesias has a very simple and clear defi nition of story: “A story has
someone who wants something badly and is having trouble getting it.” [1]
This defi nition determines the three primary elements necessary for a story: character, char-
acter goal, and confl ict. Without these elements, story cannot exist.
1. Character. This is whom the story is about and through whose eyes the story is told.
2. Goal. This is the physical object the character wants to obtain: the princess, the
treasure, the girl, the boon, the bounty, the recognition, and so on.
3. Confl ict. Confl ict is what is between the character and his goal. There are three forms
of confl ict:
￿ Character vs. Character
￿ Character vs. Environment
￿ Character vs. Self
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