Concept and Character Development For Animation Lecturer: Simon Norton Email: simon.norton@rmit.edu.au Website: www.myballoonhead.

com

STORY CONCEPTS Making up stories is not an exact science. Some people seem to have a natural talent for telling stories well, or for knowing what kinds of stories people like, just like some people have a natural talent for drawing or for music. But for others, it can take a lot of practice and experience before they can figure out how to tell stories well. Theres nothing wrong with this; storytelling is a skill which can be learned and developed like any other. As a medium, Animation in particular often attracts artists who are interested in making visuals and not in telling stories. This is not necessarily a bad thing; it is possible to make interesting animation which entertains chiefly through visual spectacle. However, films which tell a story, whether animated or not, are always more popular with audiences. And films which tell a story well are extremely popular with audiences. Simply put, audiences prefer stories to pure visuals. And telling a story well doesnt mean the visuals have to be forgotten the best films usually have both good storytelling and good visual design

There are also certain types of stories which audiences tend to prefer. In his book Story, Robert McKee identifies three basic types of story. The Arch Plot, which is the most popular. It is the kind of story in which all the questions have been answered at the end of the story. All the loose ends are tied up and it is generally quite clear what happened. Most entertainment films are in this category. The Minimal Plot is less popular. It is the kind of story in which all the questions have not been answered at the end of the story. Some or all of the loose ends have been left untied so the viewer might be left unsure about exactly what happened, and it is up to the viewer to decide what the film means. Many art films are in this category. The Anti Plot is even less popular. It is the kind of film that doesnt really tell a story at all, presenting images in an experimental or illogical fashion, often like a dream or nightmare. Many experimental or underground films are in this category.

Concept and Character Development For Animation Lecturer: Simon Norton Email: simon.norton@rmit.edu.au Website: www.myballoonhead.com

Its important to be realistic about how big an audience will be interested in a Minimal Plot (small) or Anti Plot (really small).

Some more characteristics of these three kinds of plot:

ARCH PLOT Causality Closed Ending Linear Time External Conflict Single Protagonist Consistent Reality Active Protagonist MINIMAL PLOT Open Ending Internal Conflict Multi-Protagonist or Passive Protagonist ANTI PLOT Coincidence Non-Linear Time Inconsistent Realities

As beginners at storytelling, its much better for students to work on constructing simple Arch Plots. Sometimes, students who havent had much experience telling stories want to begin with an unconventional story structure like the Minimal Plot or the Anti Plot. These projects dont usually work out too well. The reason is its much harder to get these unconventional structures to work. Its a bit like deciding to become a creative chef, and starting off by inventing your own recipes before learning how to cook anything. A bit of practice learning the basics first is a more sensible approach first learn the rules, then change them or break them. Learn your craft; it wont stop you being a genius Pierre-Auguste Renoir (painter)

Concept and Character Development For Animation Lecturer: Simon Norton Email: simon.norton@rmit.edu.au Website: www.myballoonhead.com

So how do we go about creating a simple Arch Plot? We can do this by asking one simple question about the character we have been developing; What does this character want? Entertaining stories are very rarely about characters who dont want anything. The characters desires are what drive the story, and the obstacles and conflict which prevent the character from getting what they want are what creates the drama. These obstacles are sometimes simply circumstantial, but often they are created by adding other characters whose own desires create obstacles for the main character, causing conflict. Conflict is the root of drama.

EXERCISE Create an original story concept by asking What does this particular character want? If you dont know, make it up. Whats stopping the character from getting what he or she wants? If you dont know, make it up. Whats the character going to do about it? (Remember: Its not just about figuring out any way to get past this obstacle; you have to imagine how this particular character would go about solving the problem) If you dont know, make it up.

Note: This story development technique is not guaranteed to create the best stories, but it will give a beginning storyteller a better chance of telling a clear story which makes sense and interests an audience.

Concept and Character Development For Animation Lecturer: Simon Norton Email: simon.norton@rmit.edu.au Website: www.myballoonhead.com

USING A SIMPLE 3 ACT STRUCTURE Using a 3 act structure is not absolutely essential to creating a good story, but it is a good guide to use when a simple story needs to be told clearly. 1 SETUP The events in the beginning set things up, by telling the audience clearly Who are the characters? Where are they? Whats the situation? and What do these characters WANT? 2 CONFRONTATION / DEVELOPMENT The events in the middle keep the audience interested by introducing conflicts and obstacles. What OBSTACLES stop the character getting what s/he wants? (If you dont know, invent some) What ACTIONS does the character then take to get past these obstacles? (If you dont know, invent some) REPEAT AS NECESSARY (OBSTACLE, ACTION, OBSTACLE, ACTION...) The writer should know this particular character well enough to know exactly how the character will behave when confronted with different kinds of obstacles a whole story can be generated out of this. (Note that above says actions to get past obstacles and not accidents stories tend to be more interesting when the character is active rather than passive in other words its generally better for the story when the character does something to solve his or her problem, rather than the problem being fixed by the author obviously fixing the circumstances for the character (this is the deus ex machina of Ancient Greek plays when the gods come down from the sky and fix everything when the writer cant figure out how to solve the story even back then it was already obvious that this pretty much sucks as a story device)) 3 RESOLUTION The events at the end resolve the situation set up at the start. Audiences appreciate a sense that the story has been wrapped up, BUT they also want a little surprise with it. The character often gets what he or she wanted, but in a surprising way. (with a twist.) (A common twist is that the process of getting what they wanted has taught the character to value something else more instead.) Do your characters get what they want or not? If so can they get what they want in an unexpected way? Or in a way the character him/herself did not expect? SHORTEST EXPLANATION OF 3 ACT STRUCTURE 1. Put character up a tree (setup) 2. Throw rocks at em (obstacles you, the author, are throwing obstacles at the character to challenge him or her, and seeing how you think the character will act) 3. Get em down (resolution)

Concept and Character Development For Animation Lecturer: Simon Norton Email: simon.norton@rmit.edu.au Website: www.myballoonhead.com

ANOTHER NOTE ON STORY CONCEPTS - Conceptual use of the Animation medium - When writing a story for animation which could just as easily be filmed using live actors dont forget to consider the other imaginative options made available to you by your choice of animation as the medium. Note that I am not claiming it is always bad to make animation which follows realistic rules and could have been performed by actors. Almost all of The Simpsons depicts realistic events and it is a successful and entertaining animated show. The mistake here is to automatically conceive your project only in terms of realism, or naturalism, instead of at least considering what else your chosen medium can do. Animation is an unusual film medium in that it is not photographic, ie. not limited to imitating appearances and behaviour as observed in reality. For example, Animation can include (notably) - Actions which are physically impossible, (some of the most common historically explored in animation are Metamorphosis, Expressionist Exaggeration, Absurdist Exaggeration, Talking Animals Acting Like Humans, Objects Behaving As If Alive, Gravity Defiance, Bottomless Pockets & Survival of Dynamite Blasts, but there are more say, characters who are suddenly able to reach up ten storey buildings, or who grow limbs only when required (see for eg Tex Avery, Robert Clampett, Fleischer Brothers) - Design which is photographically impossible (employing stylisation and abstraction of characters, images and movement. The very lines and shapes which define characters and objects are designed to communicate meaning via graphic concepts which would be impossible to photograph for eg. - a single line represents the entire ocean, and a character picks up this line and uses it to wet things or cause a flood; such a concept is not photographable) (see for eg Osvaldo Cavandoli La Linea series, Raoul Servais Chromophobia, Dusan Vukotics Surogat, Zagreb Studio, UPA, John and Faith Hubley) - Metaphorical use of visual designs, shapes and lines (this is the animated cousin to the newspapers editorial cartoon for eg - a simply drawn box heaves and coughs because in the animations context it represents a nations ailing economy; however, the same technique need not always take politics as its subject) (see for eg Bruce Petty) After consideration, there might be a more creative design approach which is not naturalistic (And its fun too for example, part of the appeal and popularity of the Simpsons Halloween specials is how they throw their usual naturalism rules out the window) Remember: An animation, unlike other films, is entirely designed by the animator; it is not a document of reality. So it doesnt automatically have to follow realitys rules or appearance. Of course live-action films are not true documents of reality either (and it can be argued that no film ever is, including documentary films) However; a live-action film is still limited to recording the movements and appearances of those objects which can be placed in front of the camera in reality. An animator is not limited in this way at all. ( Special Effects movies such as Spiderman dont count as exceptions because all the special effects are animation.)