Theories of Story and Storytelling

How have various scholars, psychologists, and cultures seen stories and storytelling, and how might their visions be helpful to creators of animations, VFX, and games? What scholar of story, and director of VFXfilled movies, have had a successful collaboration in the past?

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Story can be defined as, a series of events. Storytelling can be defined as, relating a series of events. Story and narrative mean the same thing. Narrative is simply a more academic term than story. In a story, causality is involved in some way (along the lines: A leads to B, B leads toC, C leads to D, etc).

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Story and storytelling can be considered as types of play. Anthropology of Play scholars have posited that three conditions to be satisfied for an activity to be considered as play, are that the activity is done in a special time in a special space just for fun

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Play presents a model of the past, and a model for the future. Two kinds of play are Art (which involves creating beauty through collaboration) Games (which involves rules and competition)

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A distinction can be made between actual storytelling, and presenting a story through other mediums. The difference is that in actual storytelling, the tellers and listeners can give instantaneous and ongoing feedback to each other. Even though making movies (or other recordings, or books) is not actual storytelling, we often speak of cinematic storytellers. To be most verbally accurate, we might say that movie makers (and novelists, etc) are presenting a story.

Elements involved in story



    

Projection, Identification, Empathy, Imitation, and Imagination are important processes when it comes to people and stories. People project themselves into story characters. They identify with the characters. They feel empathy with the characters. This occurs through the use of the listeners imagination. The listener may then imitate the character.

Direction & Screenplay



The decisive turning points in the history of every art form.uncover what has already been there; they are revolutionary, that is destructive and constructive, they compel us to revalue our values and impose new set of rules on the eternal game. - Arthur Koestler The industry is shit , its the medium thats great - Lauren Bacall

Methods of Film Directing

Directors have different methods of filming They are 1. Outline the general plotline and let the actors improvise the dialogue. dialogue. Ex. Jean-Luc Godard, Frederic fellini, Robert Altman. Jean2. Control every aspect and demand that the actors follow instructions precisely. precisely. Such as Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, George Lucas, Alfred Hitchcock 3. Write their own Scripts( Ingmar Bergman, Charles chaplin, woody Allen Scripts( akira kurasowa, Satyajitray) 4. Collaborating on screenplays with long-standing writing partners. longpartners. Like Peter Jackson, Robert Zemmeckis 5. Be the cinematographer or Editor, like Steven soderbergh, Robert Editor, Rodriguez 6. Appear in their films( Mel Gibson, Subbash ghai, Martin socrcese) films( 7. Compose a music score for their films( Charles Chaplin, Clint films( Eastwood)


Film Genre
          

Action Adventure Comedy Crime & Gangster Drama Epics/Historical Horror Musical Science fiction War (Anti-war) films (AntiWestern

New genre


Animation Biography Documentary Fantasy FilmFilm-Noir Game-Show History News RealityGameRealityTV

FilmFilm-Language
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2.

3.

Two Prior elements that govern the Film-language Filmare the Filmic Time and Film Aspect Ratio. Ratio. Filmic time or the reel time is 24 frames per second, and it varies in television of 25 frames per second. Aspect ratio has a long history as it went through innovations from the birth of films. The aspect ratio those were primarily used were 35mm full screen aperture 1.33:1 and it is also called Academy aperture,commonly used in Tv &video

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1.2:1 35 mm early sound films

35mm European standard widescreen 1.66:1

Two aspect ratios compared Images 4:3(1.33:1) & 16.9(1.78:1)

The Commonly used ratios in the contemporary era.

Film Grammar


  

 

The term film grammar is best understood as a creative metaphor, since the elements of film grammar described above do not stand in any strict relation of analogy to the components of grammar as understood by philology or modern linguistics. D. W. Griffith has been called the father of film grammar. grammar. FRAME is a single still image. It is analogous to a letter image. SHOT is a single continuous recording made by a camera. It is camera. analogous to a word. SCENE is a series of related shots. It is analogous to a sentence. shots. SEQUENCE is a series of scenes which together tell major part of an entire story. It is analogous to a movie. story.

Script Construction& Script Types Construction&



1) Research 2) premise: outline 3) Treatment 4) Script 5) Pitch 1) Semi-script - a script where details are not practical such as a game show or live SemiTV. 2) Full-script - the details are listed including shot types and angles and additional Fullproduction information 3) Split script- The left column in a two column script usually contains information scriptabout the camera shot, while the right column contains dialog and music information. In a script focusing on dialogue, each character might be scripted to a column. 4) Broadcast style video script- short, concise, assertive phrasing script5) Narrative, Documentary, Fiction, non-Fiction, Adaptation (eg. book to film) non6) Concrete to Abstract continuum - Documentary woud be scripted concretely but also could be semi-scripted. A Narrative might be fully scripted with a more abstract seminature.

Questions to ask yourself about your script

        

GENRE Does your script fulfill the expectations of its particular genre? CHARACTERS Are your characters memorable? Are they larger than life? STRUCTURE Does it create suspense? What's the big question the audience will be wondering about throughout the movie? THEME What is your movie really about? RESOLUTION Is the Movie satisfying to the very last scene? MOMENTS Are there at least four or five memorable moments? Think of this as a "Trailer Moment". Moment". STORY It is the point when your Character is forced to solve his/her inner conflict in order to solve the outer conflict. FRESH Is your script fresh? A new perspective on the human condition. SECONDARY CHARACTERS They must reflect the conflicts of the main Characters.

Questions???
These questions might be helpful to ask yourself about character before you start your screenplay. screenplay. Who is your story about? What kind of trouble is that person in? What does your character want and what will your character do to get it? What is your character most afraid of (his/her ghost)?

  

Logline


The logline, as the shortest, most concise summary of all, may prove the most difficult to realize to your satisfaction A logline is solely for "selling" purposes: a couple of wellwell-chosen lines used to "pitch" your script to prospective buyers. Think about what inspired you to write your script, what you most like about it, and what makes it stand out from other movies.

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Here are three questions to ask yourself as you write your logline: 1. Who is the main character and what does he or she want? 2. Who (villain) or what is standing in the way of the main character? 3. What makes this story unique? Use action words when writing your logline. Film captures the actions of characters. Add descriptive words to create an image that will stay in the mind of your reader

Examples
   

 

Dull logline: A woman plots to murder her sister. logline: Intriguing logline: A woman obsessed by jealousy plots to logline: murder her sister, who married the man she loves. Dull logline: Two lovers plan to flee from their feuding families logline: who forbid them to marry. Intriguing logline: Two young lovers living in a ghetto defy their logline: feuding families' ban on marrying and plan an escape that propels them toward tragedy. story. Dull logline: A woman confronts her past when her illegitimate logline: daughter shows up after twenty years. Intriguing logline: A minister's wife confronts her long-buried logline: longpast when her illegitimate daughter shows up after twenty years.

Character
 

  

They must be EMPATHETIC, have an internal and EMPATHETIC, external struggle. They must have an arc. arc. VULNERABLE, they must tell us what their VULNERABLE, vulnerability is. Your character should be an UNDERDOG... UNDERDOG... But also be LARGER THAN LIFE. LIFE. Give your characters STRENGTHS-Something that STRENGTHSthey are really good at, but... They need FLAWS that could be fatal. Characters with doubts and faults are more interesting and believable.

Synopsis
 

A synopsis generally implies something much shorter than the average treatment, probably a page at the most. Unless you have written an extremely basic script a synopsis will have to omit most of the action and focus on the main points. For this reason, some screenwriters find composing a synopsis more taxing than writing the original script. (Imagine trying to sum up the plot of The Godfather or The Matrix in a couple of paragraphs) You can't describe the whole plot in two paragraphs, you will need to emphasize what constitutes the main thread, the story arc that takes audiences through your movie, and the ways in which this arc develops the main characters and the intended theme (assuming there is one). With The Matrix, for example, it might be easiest to focus on the journey of the main character, Thomas Anderson, as he discovers the truth of his situation (that he is living inside a computer program, his real body is being drained of energy by machines), and claims his power as The One. Everything else would be delegated to secondary or peripheral importance, and excluded from the synopsis.

The following are points covered in a synopsis of a romance novel:

     

The Encounter: How the story opens. Reveal what is at stake for the protagonists. The Romantic Relationship: Why do these two people love one another Relationship: and not someone else? What makes them uniquely right for one another? The Central Conflict: What keeps the characters apart? Conflict: The Chase: The drama that arises out of the conflict. The Obstacles: People, events, issues or principles relevant to the central conflict encountered in the chase. The Dark Moment: The great event that tears them even further apart just before they can finally reconcile. The dark moment will be a grand obstacle that reiterates the conflict. The Resolution: How do they get back together again? What makes them change internally so that they overcome the central conflict and all the obstacles they've encountered?

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Other genres will have different elements, but the purpose and layout of a synopsis will be similar. In a mystery novel, for example, the romantic relationship might be replaced by the progression of the crime and the investigation. In a techno-thriller, technothe dark moment might be when the protagonist believes he is too late to stop the launching of the nuclear missile.

Plot
  

FADE IN: Between pages 1-5: The HOOK, something that grabs our attention and pulls us in. 1HOOK, Page 10: At this point in your script you should have the "MINI CRISIS". The "MINI CRISIS" should lead us into... Page 17: ...The DILEMMA. Creation of the team and what the movie is about. Page 30: The REACTION to the dilemma or situation. Page 45: First "REVERSAL" of the 17 minute point. This point furthers the characters and pushes them deeper into the situation or the dilemma. Page 60: The "TENT POLE" of the movie. Where the passive characters become active or vice versa. Page 75: Second "REVERSAL" to the 17 minute point. To reaffirm what the story is about. Page 90: The LOW POINT of action. The place from which our main character has to rise up from. FADE OUT.

  

  

Pitch


In addition to the Who, What , Where, When, How etc focus on the following: 1) Who is the production about - most interesting character 2) Where is that character - emotionally, physically, mentally... 3)Crises and transformations emphasizing conflicts 4) Obstacles and Adversaries 5) What is at stake? Then include: 6) Genre of production and the market/ marketability 7) Star qualities that are of interest. Does the director want big names? - does a big name suit your production?

The Treatment


A treatment is generally more inclusive than a synopsis (which condenses the story into a few paragraphs), and also more dramatic. Its purpose is to create curiosity and enthusiasm for your script while describing the basic elements: leading characters, key scenes, overall storyline, mood, tone and/or genre of the piece, and any themes to be developed or explored. A treatment is allowed to speculate (or fantasize) about how the finished movie might look, to discuss the overall effect you are shooting for, and to dramatize, not just describe, the action. This is mostly a matter of taste, however; some treatments are just highly detailed synopses.

With all of these forms-treatment, synopsis, and formsloglinelogline- you will want to focus on those elements that are most exciting, challenging, intriguing and original in your script, taking care to place them in a context (that of genre, for example) that is both familiar and accessible to the reader, so reassuring them that your script is "marketable.". At the bottom line of every movie deal, after all, is the $,Rs sign

Basic list of how your script should be formatted

 

Typeface Always use Courier 12-point font 12Margins Because of the 3-hole punched paper, the Left margin should be 1.5 inches and the 3Right is .5 inches. Top and Bottom should be 1 inch each. Dialogue -2.5 inches from the left- will be about 3 to 3.5 inches wide and shouldn't extend more leftthan 6 inches from the left. Character's Name at 3.7 inches and above the dialogue. Page Numbers should be located in the upper right hand corner and then double space and continue writing. First Page A screenplay begins with FADE IN: Last Page At the end of your script you should type The End and center it, or double space, to the far right of the page, and type FADE OUT.

 

 

 

Camera Movements


DollyDolly-When the entire camera is moved toward or away from the subject. zoom, which is an optical version of a dolly, achieves somewhat the same effect. TruckTruck- lateral movement (left-right of subject) (leftCuts or takes are instant transitions from one video source to another. Cover shot and establishing shot are designations for a wide shot (WS) or a long shot (LS). This type of shot gives an audience a basic orientation to the geography of a scenewho is standing where, etc. scene

Shots


Extreme-closeExtreme-close-up CloseClose-up Medium Close-up CloseMedium shot Long shot

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A two-shot or three-shot (also 2-S and 3-S) designates a twothree23shot of two or three people in one scene. The term subjective shot indicates that the audience (camera) will see what the character sees. A canted shot or a Dutch angle shot is tilted 25 to 45 degrees to one side, causing horizontal lines to run up or down hill. camera goes with to indicate the camera moves with a person or object; reverse angle to indicate a near 180180degree shift in camera position; and shot widens to signal a zoom or dolly back

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EXT and INTdesignations commonly listed in film scripts to indicate exterior and INT interior settings. SOTsound-onSOTsound-on-tape. This indicates that the voice, music, or background sound will be from the audio track of a videotape. SOFsound-onSOFsound-on-film. VTR VTRvideotape, videotape recording. VO (voice over) refers to narration heard over a video source. It can also refer to narration heard at a higher level than a source of music or background sound. OSVoff-screen voice. The voice indicated on the script is from a person who is not OSVoffvisible. MIC MICmicrophone (pronounced "mike") POV POVpoint of view. Dramatic scripts will often note that a shot will be seen from the point of view of a particular actor. OSover-theOSover-the-shoulder shot. The picture shows the back of one person's head and possibly one shoulder. (These are also designated as O/S and X/S shots.) KEY KEYthe electronic overlay of titles and credits over background video. SFX or F/Xspecial effects. These may be audio special effects (audio FX) or video F/X special effectseffects that alter reality and are created in the production process. effects