Weekly diary of work for ‘Design for Animation, narrative structure and film language’.

Note

Things need to keep in mind:

• A good story need to be read, engage and surprise.
• Structure and treatment of the production needs to be the backbone of storytelling. They are the means conveying the story to the audience.
• The design, movement, staging and performance of the characters should drive the narrative.
• It is important to relate a universally experience to the character or story development so that the audience will immediately associate with those characters and their dilemma.

Character Dimensions

A character can has various traits and various personalities. Because animation promotes a broader definition of a ‘character’ than other media formats.

Character development

• Audiences’ need is to see the character’s growth at the end of the story. Audience will be satisfied even the hero doesn’t accomplish the goal they set for themselves.

Character Weakness

1. Psychological – A weakness that only affect the hero
2. Moral – A weakness that immorally hurts the characters surrounding the hero

• Hero always has both moral weakness and psychological weakness.
• The weaknesses hero encountered need others to exist to be weaknesses such as prejudice, impatience, greed, pride, and dishonesty. Because it’s easy to create both moral and psychological need for the character.
• Make sure at least one other character is harmed by the protagonist weakness so that the audience will notice that weakness.
• It is necessary to enable the audience to pick up the lessons that embedded within the story on the audience own. It is not advisable to make the audience feel strongly preachy.

Develop weakness to the character

1. Is it internal (Psychological) or external (Moral)?
2. What the character will do driven by this weakness?
3. Do the decision that driven by the weakness hurt others?
4. Show the immoral consequences of having such a weakness.
5. Consider the way that the opponent hurt the weakness and how the protagonist overcome it.
6. Don’t let the character realize his or her weakness at the beginning. Give him or her a self-discovery process. Never point the weakness out otherwise it will seems like a lecture to the audience.

Story development

• The most greatest story commandment : Make me care.
• Unifying Theory of 2+2 – make the audience put things together
• The best stories infused wonder.

Turn Ideas Into Stories

• Start at the end
  • Identify your goal
  • Imagine the result
  • Design for that outcome

What makes a story great

It engages the audience by taking them on a compelling journey.

The 3-Act structure (The conventional formula)

• But the problem with formula is the audience gets bored with the same story format and will recognize it.
• Story is about setup and payoff.