- Take 2 films you enjoy and break down the character development and story development throughout the film:
- Analyse how the main characters evolve
- Analyse how the characters drive the story
- If there are similarities between your films point this out and why you think they are following a similar structure if so.
1. The Albatross
This short animated film has a dynamic and round protagonist, an old man who likes to drink, smoke and fish. The old man’s weakness is alcoholism. He grabbed two bottles of wine and went fishing at the beginning of film. Coloring of the film is kind of tinting in grey but not quite the same. In addition, in many extreme wide shots, the proportion of the main character and the fishing boat is small, while the main part of the scene is gray sky and sea. No doubt that we can feel the old man’s inner loneliness from the atmosphere and color. Later, the old man was not conscious because of the alcohol, and the hook pierced his thumb while he trying to put on the bait. When he fell asleep and his fishing rod fell into the water, he began to realize that drinking too much was not good, so he throwed the remaining bottle of wine into the sea. And the little bird appear in his sight the first time. However, he didn’t realize what the little bird represented. Then the crystal man, represented the shadow and his negative feelings immediately attracted the attention of him and the audience. It took 3 minutes, half of the whole film telling the story of how the old man struggling with the crystal man. According to The 3-Act structure, it’s the latter half of the first act, the second act, and the first half of the third act. In the end, he positively defeated the negative part and smiled at the bird, which also give the audience the feeling that maybe he will not drink too much in the future.
The whole story development follows the pattern of hero’s Journey. The old man goes from order into chaos. He drunk too much than he faced the challenge which is the crystal man. Then he overcame it and he awarded the risk of it. He developed though this journey. He realize his weakness in the end with a self-discovery process. It doesn’t like a lecture to the audience. And the audience see the character’s growth.
2. Reaping for Dummies
This protagonist not like the last one, he is kind of static and flat type. This is not saying that the film is not good, however the aim of this short film is not to show his growth. The interesting thing is that this story also follows the hero’s Journey. The story tells how the protagonist escapes death by various traps he made. The protagonist has a positive and optimistic attitude towards death, which the animator successfully conveys through facial expressions.
Similarities
Both film follows the Hero’s Journey. The first sip the protagonist take in The Albatross represent herald, the call to adventure. While in Reaping for Dummies the Death came to town represent herald. All these two story starts from normal days then something happened and all goes into chaos. Then the protagonist overcame the trouble. So, the story follows the same pattern. The only difference is the protagonist in The Albatross is round and still developing while the second one is well-developed.