Today we watched a short animation about a mechanical gorilla who climbs to the top of a tower, fighting off helicopters as he goes and finds a banana attached to a sign at the top. Just before he grabs it he sees a female mechanical gorilla. He picks the banana, holds it out to her, then eats it himself. So the female gorilla punches him off the building.
This was the first event, we constructed two more.
One student used Chekov's "gun on the mantle" principle perfectly in his two events.
"The gun that is placed on the mantle in the first act must be shot in the third act."
In the second event the gorilla is climbing up the tower to apologize to the female, but she takes the sign and hits him back to the ground.
In event three the gorilla makes it to the top of the tower to find the female gorilla being attacked by the helicopters. He jumps in and saves her. They fall in love. Etc.
This student used everything that had been introduced in the first event: the sign and the helicopters. (The banana had already been used.) A perfect application of the "gun on the mantle" principle.
Remember, good storytellers are like Native Americans cleaning buffalo, not a single part should be wasted.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Severing stories from "What really happened"
An interesting conflict came up today when we were working with our Hegelian stories (Hegelian stories, you remember, are stories where two equally weighty points of view come into conflict. We discussed this structure in "The Moon and the Son" post.)
Many of you had written stories from your own life, so often one side (the student's own) was more heavily weighted than the other side. One side drew more sympathy from the reader than the other.
When one side is more sympathetic than the other, it tends to reduce conflict. If the problem is easy to solve, the conflict suffers. So we often went into the stories and changed them around in order to give both sides equal weight. But when we did that, some of you said, "But that's not how it happened."
Here is a tremendously important rule about stories. It's a good idea to start from your own life to begin a story, but after that, if you want good conflict, you need to sever all ties between the story and your life. Because a good story is a story with good conflict. It is your job as a storyteller to create compelling conflict, not to defend your life.
Remember that: a storyteller's job is to imbue a story with conflict. Look for how you can increase the conflict at all times.
Many of you had written stories from your own life, so often one side (the student's own) was more heavily weighted than the other side. One side drew more sympathy from the reader than the other.
When one side is more sympathetic than the other, it tends to reduce conflict. If the problem is easy to solve, the conflict suffers. So we often went into the stories and changed them around in order to give both sides equal weight. But when we did that, some of you said, "But that's not how it happened."
Here is a tremendously important rule about stories. It's a good idea to start from your own life to begin a story, but after that, if you want good conflict, you need to sever all ties between the story and your life. Because a good story is a story with good conflict. It is your job as a storyteller to create compelling conflict, not to defend your life.
Remember that: a storyteller's job is to imbue a story with conflict. Look for how you can increase the conflict at all times.
The Gun on the Mantle
Today we focused on two aspects of story: the gun on the mantle and the conflict becoming the solution.
We watched a brief animation called "Doodle of Doom" where a boy limping on a crutch fantasizes about becoming a mighty warrior and saving a damsel in distress. We used this scenario as event #2 in a three-event story.
Many of us came up with the idea that the protagonist could be kicked by a bully during a kick the can game, thus hurting the protagonist's leg and leading us to the events of the animation where the warrior defeats the dinosaur. We figured that the warrior represented the protagonist and the dinosaur represented the bully. The warrior was able to defeat the dinosaur using his spear.
Well, if the warrior represented the protagonist and the dinosaur represented the bully, what could the spear represent? How about the crutch?
So now, from the dream, the boy can get the idea to use the crutch as an extension of his arm in the kick the can game and thus become a legendary kick-the-can player, effectively overcoming his hurt leg and the bully.
The Gun
This story follows the rule articulated by Chekov, a Russian playwright, who stated: "The gun that is placed on the mantle in the first act must be shot in the third act."
The Buffalo
In other words, good storytellers are like Native Americans cleaning buffalo, not one part should be wasted. If we introduce a gun, it must be used. If we introduce a crutch, the audience expects us to use it. We prove our storytelling mettle when we not only use it, but use it creatively.
The conflict becomes the solution
This leads us to the idea that in a good story the conflict becomes the solution. The crutch, which represents the conflict the protagonist is having, becomes the solution. At first it holds him back, but then he finds a way to use it to his advantage.
Audiences love it when the conflict becomes the solution. We also had another plot where the girl is attracted to the protagonist because of his drawings, which he never would have drawn had he not been injured.
We watched a brief animation called "Doodle of Doom" where a boy limping on a crutch fantasizes about becoming a mighty warrior and saving a damsel in distress. We used this scenario as event #2 in a three-event story.
Many of us came up with the idea that the protagonist could be kicked by a bully during a kick the can game, thus hurting the protagonist's leg and leading us to the events of the animation where the warrior defeats the dinosaur. We figured that the warrior represented the protagonist and the dinosaur represented the bully. The warrior was able to defeat the dinosaur using his spear.
Well, if the warrior represented the protagonist and the dinosaur represented the bully, what could the spear represent? How about the crutch?
So now, from the dream, the boy can get the idea to use the crutch as an extension of his arm in the kick the can game and thus become a legendary kick-the-can player, effectively overcoming his hurt leg and the bully.
The Gun
This story follows the rule articulated by Chekov, a Russian playwright, who stated: "The gun that is placed on the mantle in the first act must be shot in the third act."
The Buffalo
In other words, good storytellers are like Native Americans cleaning buffalo, not one part should be wasted. If we introduce a gun, it must be used. If we introduce a crutch, the audience expects us to use it. We prove our storytelling mettle when we not only use it, but use it creatively.
The conflict becomes the solution
This leads us to the idea that in a good story the conflict becomes the solution. The crutch, which represents the conflict the protagonist is having, becomes the solution. At first it holds him back, but then he finds a way to use it to his advantage.
Audiences love it when the conflict becomes the solution. We also had another plot where the girl is attracted to the protagonist because of his drawings, which he never would have drawn had he not been injured.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Escalating Events
Events come in two parts:
1. an attempt by the protagonist to reach his or her goal and
2. the action the antagonist takes to prevent the protagonist from reaching his or her goal.
As the story progresses, each event should be more intense than the previous events. Thus, they are called escalating events.
For example, if we set up a little girl who is trying to keep her happiness despite some mean hearted actions by a little boy, the three escalating events will be the attempts the little boy makes on the little girl’s happiness and how she overcomes each of them.
So for the first event you could have something like; “The little boy knocks over her tower of blocks. She ignores him and makes a bigger tower.”
Then you would escalate the intensity of the boy’s attack in event #2 (we always have to escalate the action, otherwise we lose the audience’s attention). For example, he could kick dirt at her, which she could put to use in a sand castle.
The final event determines whether the story is a drama or a comedy.
If the story is a comedy the character makes no change but usually gets what he or she wants in an unexpected way. If it is a drama, the character changes even if he or she doesn’t get what he or she wants.
So the final event could be something like: “Little boy runs up to kick little girl. But he trips, falls and gets a bloody nose.”
At this point we could have either a comedy or a drama. If it were a comedy, the little girl could laugh. If she does this, she hasn’t changed, but she has achieved her goal of keeping her happiness. If it were a drama, the little girl would help the boy up and doctor his nose, showing that can rise above his petty attempts at saddening her.
To sum up:
Escalating event
1. An attempt by the protagonist to attain his/her goal, and the antagonist’s action to prevent the protagonist from gaining the goal.
2. Each event escalates in intensity.
3. The final event makes it clear whether the story is a comedy or a drama by whether the character changes or not.
1. an attempt by the protagonist to reach his or her goal and
2. the action the antagonist takes to prevent the protagonist from reaching his or her goal.
As the story progresses, each event should be more intense than the previous events. Thus, they are called escalating events.
For example, if we set up a little girl who is trying to keep her happiness despite some mean hearted actions by a little boy, the three escalating events will be the attempts the little boy makes on the little girl’s happiness and how she overcomes each of them.
So for the first event you could have something like; “The little boy knocks over her tower of blocks. She ignores him and makes a bigger tower.”
Then you would escalate the intensity of the boy’s attack in event #2 (we always have to escalate the action, otherwise we lose the audience’s attention). For example, he could kick dirt at her, which she could put to use in a sand castle.
The final event determines whether the story is a drama or a comedy.
If the story is a comedy the character makes no change but usually gets what he or she wants in an unexpected way. If it is a drama, the character changes even if he or she doesn’t get what he or she wants.
So the final event could be something like: “Little boy runs up to kick little girl. But he trips, falls and gets a bloody nose.”
At this point we could have either a comedy or a drama. If it were a comedy, the little girl could laugh. If she does this, she hasn’t changed, but she has achieved her goal of keeping her happiness. If it were a drama, the little girl would help the boy up and doctor his nose, showing that can rise above his petty attempts at saddening her.
To sum up:
Escalating event
1. An attempt by the protagonist to attain his/her goal, and the antagonist’s action to prevent the protagonist from gaining the goal.
2. Each event escalates in intensity.
3. The final event makes it clear whether the story is a comedy or a drama by whether the character changes or not.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Hegelian Structure
Today we began work on a possible story for our screenplays using the structure from "The Moon and the Son."
The structure of "The Moon and the Son" is what I call a Hegelian structure. Which means that two competing stories come into conflict with each other, and both are valid. Remember that in the animation life with dad really WAS hard. But Dad's life was also hard, and he was doing his best.
This makes for great conflict, if both people are right but their stories come into conflict.
Here's an idea we came up with as a class for this structure:
Teacher vs. Student
Set Up: The student doesn't bring her homework in to class.
Teacher: "You know, you're going downhill fast. Here I give you a bunch of second chances and extra credit work, but you never do any of it. I'm bending over backwards for you! But you come in a wreck, you never have your homework, you sleep through class. Do you have no motivation? Do you want to be on welfare all your life? 'Cause I'm about to give up on you! Get your act together, sister!
Student: "My mom disappeared a month ago. I don't know where she is. There's not much food left in the house. I try to get money by washing dishes all night at the T and A, but that's just not cutting it. My little brother is always hungry and I'm worried about him. But I'm afraid to tell anyone. What if they send us off to foster homes?"
You can see how this story set up works. The teacher is right. She has done her utmost to help this student get a good grade, and the student seems to be shunning it all. But the student is also right. Her life is in chaos right now. She could no more do her homework than fly to the moon. And she can't let anyone know.
We officially have conflict here.
The next step, which we will be working on during the week, is to take these conflicting stories and find a way to make something new between them the same way the Son was able to in "The Moon and the Son."
The structure of "The Moon and the Son" is what I call a Hegelian structure. Which means that two competing stories come into conflict with each other, and both are valid. Remember that in the animation life with dad really WAS hard. But Dad's life was also hard, and he was doing his best.
This makes for great conflict, if both people are right but their stories come into conflict.
Here's an idea we came up with as a class for this structure:
Teacher vs. Student
Set Up: The student doesn't bring her homework in to class.
Teacher: "You know, you're going downhill fast. Here I give you a bunch of second chances and extra credit work, but you never do any of it. I'm bending over backwards for you! But you come in a wreck, you never have your homework, you sleep through class. Do you have no motivation? Do you want to be on welfare all your life? 'Cause I'm about to give up on you! Get your act together, sister!
Student: "My mom disappeared a month ago. I don't know where she is. There's not much food left in the house. I try to get money by washing dishes all night at the T and A, but that's just not cutting it. My little brother is always hungry and I'm worried about him. But I'm afraid to tell anyone. What if they send us off to foster homes?"
You can see how this story set up works. The teacher is right. She has done her utmost to help this student get a good grade, and the student seems to be shunning it all. But the student is also right. Her life is in chaos right now. She could no more do her homework than fly to the moon. And she can't let anyone know.
We officially have conflict here.
The next step, which we will be working on during the week, is to take these conflicting stories and find a way to make something new between them the same way the Son was able to in "The Moon and the Son."
Friday, September 21, 2007
Bell Work Makeup
Many people have missed class for athletics and other activities. If you want to make up your bell work for the day, what you need to do is to outline an original story (one you make up) using a story sheet. Each story you outline will make up for one bell work.
Of course, the rubric governing story sheets will dictate how many points each sheet is worth.
Of course, the rubric governing story sheets will dictate how many points each sheet is worth.
The Moon and the Son
Today we analyzed "The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation" (available for a mere $2 on iTunes).
We saw this story working in three parts:
Part I starts with John, the son, telling his deceased father about a dream he had where his father was the Man on the Moon. But as John was feeding him, his father turned into a snapping turtle and bit his finger.
"This is what is was like to live with you," John tells his father. "You were always angry.
The rest of part one is John listing his grievances against his father.
Part II is John's father telling his side of the story. We see that John's father had a difficult life as well, and that some of the difficulties John was complaining about, like his father going to jail for five yeras, resulted from his father making ill-fated attempts to provide a good life for his family and keep a promise he had made long ago.
This is an excellent way of setting up a story: to bring two conflicting points of view together, both of which are correct. John indeed had a difficult life with his father. But his father was trying to do a good job.
In Part III of the story John reinterprets his dream about his father being the Man in the Moon to make room for his father's side of the story. "I made you the Man in the Moon so that you would be too far away to hurt me," he says, "But I made you bright enough so that I would never forget you."
This kind of story structure is called the Hegelian Structure. The philosopher GWF Hegel once argued that history is made up of competing forces. But when these forces come into conflict, the conflict does not end with the total destruction of one or the other force, rather it results in the creation of something new between them.
This can be a way you put together the story for your screenplay. Find an incident where you have been in conflict with someone. Tell the story yourself and then let the other person tell his or her side of the story. Then, instead of saying one or the other is right, find a way to make something new between them. Try to find a way to make room for both stories.
We saw this story working in three parts:
Part I starts with John, the son, telling his deceased father about a dream he had where his father was the Man on the Moon. But as John was feeding him, his father turned into a snapping turtle and bit his finger.
"This is what is was like to live with you," John tells his father. "You were always angry.
The rest of part one is John listing his grievances against his father.
Part II is John's father telling his side of the story. We see that John's father had a difficult life as well, and that some of the difficulties John was complaining about, like his father going to jail for five yeras, resulted from his father making ill-fated attempts to provide a good life for his family and keep a promise he had made long ago.
This is an excellent way of setting up a story: to bring two conflicting points of view together, both of which are correct. John indeed had a difficult life with his father. But his father was trying to do a good job.
In Part III of the story John reinterprets his dream about his father being the Man in the Moon to make room for his father's side of the story. "I made you the Man in the Moon so that you would be too far away to hurt me," he says, "But I made you bright enough so that I would never forget you."
This kind of story structure is called the Hegelian Structure. The philosopher GWF Hegel once argued that history is made up of competing forces. But when these forces come into conflict, the conflict does not end with the total destruction of one or the other force, rather it results in the creation of something new between them.
This can be a way you put together the story for your screenplay. Find an incident where you have been in conflict with someone. Tell the story yourself and then let the other person tell his or her side of the story. Then, instead of saying one or the other is right, find a way to make something new between them. Try to find a way to make room for both stories.
Jasper Morello
Today we analyzed "The Mysterious Geographical Adventures of Jasper Morello" (which is available on iTunes for for a mere $2).
Multiple Goals can = Multiple Antagonists
One of the first things we noticed was that the protagonist had multiple goals. At the beginning Jasper wants to overcome his previous failure as a navigator, which had resulted in a shipmate's death. However, we also noticed that later on Jasper's goal changes to getting back home to his wife, who had contracted the sickness.
Interestingly, we found that there was a different antagonist for each goal Jasper had. His first goal, to overcome his past mistakes, was antagonized by the captain of the vessel. But later, his goal of returning to his wife was antagonized by the Dr. who was constantly either injecting Jasper with a sleeping serum, or convincing the captain to continue the voyage rather than return home.
Shape Shifter
This makes the Dr. an interesting character. The captain is reliably antagonistic toward Jasper the entire trip. However, the Dr. begins the trip as Jasper' s friend. It is later that the Dr. becomes Jasper's antagonist.
This kind of character that changes functions during the story is called a shape shifter. In other words, he is a friend who turns into an enemy.
Of course, shape shifters can also change from being an enemy to a friend.
Drama or Comedy?
Though we had to dig a little bit, we finally decided that this story is a drama. A drama, you remember, requires a change on the part of the protagonist.
Jasper's goal is to get home to his wife. Things look up when they find the bug that providedsthe cure for the sickness. But Jasper has to sacrifice his own life to keep the bug alive unti the ship reaches home.
Jasper obviously wants to be alive when he reached home so he can cure his wife and spend his life with her. Therefore, his willingness to sacrifice his life for the sake of his wife and others is an indication of change.
Multiple Goals can = Multiple Antagonists
One of the first things we noticed was that the protagonist had multiple goals. At the beginning Jasper wants to overcome his previous failure as a navigator, which had resulted in a shipmate's death. However, we also noticed that later on Jasper's goal changes to getting back home to his wife, who had contracted the sickness.
Interestingly, we found that there was a different antagonist for each goal Jasper had. His first goal, to overcome his past mistakes, was antagonized by the captain of the vessel. But later, his goal of returning to his wife was antagonized by the Dr. who was constantly either injecting Jasper with a sleeping serum, or convincing the captain to continue the voyage rather than return home.
Shape Shifter
This makes the Dr. an interesting character. The captain is reliably antagonistic toward Jasper the entire trip. However, the Dr. begins the trip as Jasper' s friend. It is later that the Dr. becomes Jasper's antagonist.
This kind of character that changes functions during the story is called a shape shifter. In other words, he is a friend who turns into an enemy.
Of course, shape shifters can also change from being an enemy to a friend.
Drama or Comedy?
Though we had to dig a little bit, we finally decided that this story is a drama. A drama, you remember, requires a change on the part of the protagonist.
Jasper's goal is to get home to his wife. Things look up when they find the bug that providedsthe cure for the sickness. But Jasper has to sacrifice his own life to keep the bug alive unti the ship reaches home.
Jasper obviously wants to be alive when he reached home so he can cure his wife and spend his life with her. Therefore, his willingness to sacrifice his life for the sake of his wife and others is an indication of change.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Multiple goals and a breach in comedy
Today we watched "Ward 13" written and directed by Peter Cromwell. We watched it because it is more complex than the short films we've watched so far. The main character has two goals (instead of one, as we've been used to), and there are many turning points (rather than a single turning point, as we've been used to).
The protagonist (main character) starts low on the graph as he has just been hit by a car and taken to a hospital. However, things get worse when he wakes to find that his nurse seems a little demented.
The next time he wakes up he tries to ring the nurse, but discovers that the cord has been cut. This starts him into
Goal #1: to find out what is going on. He reaches his goal when he finds a man who has been turned into slime monster. As he runs away, the protagonist realizes that his fate will be the same. Which leads him to
Goal #2: to get out of the hospital alive. He finds a bottle of strength pills and a cane which gives us some hope that he'll be able to accomplish his goal.
But he is immediately apprehended and brought to a surgery theater (down on the story graph). Though he is able to escape (up), he runs into the slime monster (down). He defeats the slime monster (up) but runs next into the Jason Nurse (down). However, he is able to defeat the Jason Nurse (up), only to run into the crazy guy where he has a battle on a speeding gurney (down). After this victory (up) the protagonist must fight three people, including the head doctor (down).
The head doctor is, of course, the most imposing foe. In fact, as we look back over the line of opponents, we realize that they have become more intelligent and more difficult to defeat. Thus, the head doctor takes the longest to defeat. The story made good use of escalation.
In the end the protagonist escapes momentarily but is knocked unconscious and is taken back to the hospital. Since the protagonist put so much work into escaping the hospital, only to be brought back, we concluded that, structurally, "Ward 13" is a comedy. One of the hallmarks of comedy is that the character doesn't get anywhere after all the the conflict.
Some of us were emotionally unsatisfied with this ending. The reason was because we became invested in the protagonist more deeply than a comedy normally lets us. Comedy only works when we don't believe any real suffering is going on. As long as the coyote is able to pull himself back into shape after being crushed by a boulder, it's comedy.
However, at the beginning of the movie we see the protagonist weep when he comprehends his plight. Watching a character suffer usually makes us sympathize with that character and invest in him or her. We believe that what happens to that character matters.
Thus, when the protagonist fails to escape, someone who has invested in the character may feel a sense of loss rather than a sense of irony.
The protagonist (main character) starts low on the graph as he has just been hit by a car and taken to a hospital. However, things get worse when he wakes to find that his nurse seems a little demented.
The next time he wakes up he tries to ring the nurse, but discovers that the cord has been cut. This starts him into
Goal #1: to find out what is going on. He reaches his goal when he finds a man who has been turned into slime monster. As he runs away, the protagonist realizes that his fate will be the same. Which leads him to
Goal #2: to get out of the hospital alive. He finds a bottle of strength pills and a cane which gives us some hope that he'll be able to accomplish his goal.
But he is immediately apprehended and brought to a surgery theater (down on the story graph). Though he is able to escape (up), he runs into the slime monster (down). He defeats the slime monster (up) but runs next into the Jason Nurse (down). However, he is able to defeat the Jason Nurse (up), only to run into the crazy guy where he has a battle on a speeding gurney (down). After this victory (up) the protagonist must fight three people, including the head doctor (down).
The head doctor is, of course, the most imposing foe. In fact, as we look back over the line of opponents, we realize that they have become more intelligent and more difficult to defeat. Thus, the head doctor takes the longest to defeat. The story made good use of escalation.
In the end the protagonist escapes momentarily but is knocked unconscious and is taken back to the hospital. Since the protagonist put so much work into escaping the hospital, only to be brought back, we concluded that, structurally, "Ward 13" is a comedy. One of the hallmarks of comedy is that the character doesn't get anywhere after all the the conflict.
Some of us were emotionally unsatisfied with this ending. The reason was because we became invested in the protagonist more deeply than a comedy normally lets us. Comedy only works when we don't believe any real suffering is going on. As long as the coyote is able to pull himself back into shape after being crushed by a boulder, it's comedy.
However, at the beginning of the movie we see the protagonist weep when he comprehends his plight. Watching a character suffer usually makes us sympathize with that character and invest in him or her. We believe that what happens to that character matters.
Thus, when the protagonist fails to escape, someone who has invested in the character may feel a sense of loss rather than a sense of irony.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Drawing a plot from a character
Today we started to work on putting together stories from the character sheets we drew up.
We noticed from the stories we put together that it was very simple to make a story. All we had to do was find a character with a goal and give him/her an antagonist who works against the goal.
One story we put together was about Lola, whose goal is to get a rainbow lollipop from a baby.
This is a great comedic setup because the antagonist (the baby) seems weak in comparison to Lola, but will turn out to be stronger.
Lola makes three attempts to get the lollipop from the baby but is thwarted each time by the baby's intelligence or strength. Lola gets meaner and meaner until she kicks the baby and takes the lollipop.
Of course, the baby cries drawing the attention of passersby and Lola has to give the lollipop back. As Lola walks away, sad and defeated, the baby offers her a lick of its lollipop. Lola sits down and they share the lollipop.
This is a great comedic ending because it goes against Lola's meanness, her defining characteristic. She couldn't get the lollipop with meanness; she could only get it when the baby kindly offered it. This is a basic form of comedy: "character gets something she wants, but in an entirely unexpected way."
We noticed from the stories we put together that it was very simple to make a story. All we had to do was find a character with a goal and give him/her an antagonist who works against the goal.
One story we put together was about Lola, whose goal is to get a rainbow lollipop from a baby.
This is a great comedic setup because the antagonist (the baby) seems weak in comparison to Lola, but will turn out to be stronger.
Lola makes three attempts to get the lollipop from the baby but is thwarted each time by the baby's intelligence or strength. Lola gets meaner and meaner until she kicks the baby and takes the lollipop.
Of course, the baby cries drawing the attention of passersby and Lola has to give the lollipop back. As Lola walks away, sad and defeated, the baby offers her a lick of its lollipop. Lola sits down and they share the lollipop.
This is a great comedic ending because it goes against Lola's meanness, her defining characteristic. She couldn't get the lollipop with meanness; she could only get it when the baby kindly offered it. This is a basic form of comedy: "character gets something she wants, but in an entirely unexpected way."
Monday, September 10, 2007
Character-driven plot
Today we watched two animations that epitomized the character-driven plot.
First we watched "Guard Dog" by Bill Plympton. We saw in this animation a character whose defining quality was an overactive imagination. His goal was to protect his owner from the dangers he imagined might come from harmless animals.
Since protecting his owner was the dog's overriding goal, and since the plot was structured as a comedy, we knew that the dog had to be the one to kill the owner. Remember, in a comedy the character either doesn't get what he wants, or gets the thing he wants but is no better off for it, or gets what he wants in an unexpected way.
The second animation we watched was "Fallen Art" by Tomek Baginski. This animation also showed how an extreme character can propel a plot. The main character was a man who made a dance animation using fallen bodies. Without his particular psychosis, the plot would never have happened.
Creating extreme characters like these is an easy way to make a plot. Oddities are fun to play with and provide all kinds of possibilities.
In the 8th hour class we put together a story as a class. It only took a few elements to help us create a plot.
Our protagonist is a skater. The skater has a very long deathhawk. His goal is to impress a girl with his skating tricks, but the antagonist, another boy who also wants the girl's affections, mocks him the whole time.
The escalating events proceeded thus:
First, the protagonist's hair gets in his eyes and he rams into a tree.
Next, his hair gets caught in his wheels and his head is sucked to the pavement where his skateboard runs over it.
Finally his rival steps on his hair as he goes by, causing the biggest injury of all.
The antagonist thinks he's won, but it turns out that the girl doesn't like mean boys and she rushes to the injured skater's side.
It's a good story that uses the essentials of comedy. And it only took us ten minutes to make.
That's how easy it is to throw a story together. A character, a goal and an antagonist.
First we watched "Guard Dog" by Bill Plympton. We saw in this animation a character whose defining quality was an overactive imagination. His goal was to protect his owner from the dangers he imagined might come from harmless animals.
Since protecting his owner was the dog's overriding goal, and since the plot was structured as a comedy, we knew that the dog had to be the one to kill the owner. Remember, in a comedy the character either doesn't get what he wants, or gets the thing he wants but is no better off for it, or gets what he wants in an unexpected way.
The second animation we watched was "Fallen Art" by Tomek Baginski. This animation also showed how an extreme character can propel a plot. The main character was a man who made a dance animation using fallen bodies. Without his particular psychosis, the plot would never have happened.
Creating extreme characters like these is an easy way to make a plot. Oddities are fun to play with and provide all kinds of possibilities.
In the 8th hour class we put together a story as a class. It only took a few elements to help us create a plot.
Our protagonist is a skater. The skater has a very long deathhawk. His goal is to impress a girl with his skating tricks, but the antagonist, another boy who also wants the girl's affections, mocks him the whole time.
The escalating events proceeded thus:
First, the protagonist's hair gets in his eyes and he rams into a tree.
Next, his hair gets caught in his wheels and his head is sucked to the pavement where his skateboard runs over it.
Finally his rival steps on his hair as he goes by, causing the biggest injury of all.
The antagonist thinks he's won, but it turns out that the girl doesn't like mean boys and she rushes to the injured skater's side.
It's a good story that uses the essentials of comedy. And it only took us ten minutes to make.
That's how easy it is to throw a story together. A character, a goal and an antagonist.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Two escalation analyses
Today we analyzed two animations.
In the first, "The Bombing of Candytown" we had a hard time nailing down a main character (probably because there wasn't one). However, we did a good job noticing that the airplanes were the most active characters and had an obvious goal: to bomb Candytown. They also made value shifts on the graph: being in the middle of the graph as they entered, going up when they killed Darth Vadar, going down when one of the planes is shot down, and finally going up when the last plane succeeds in destroying Candytown.
The other two candidates for main character were Chewbaca and Hello Kitty, who fall in love at the beginning, and Candytown itself. However, neither of these choices had a goal. So we discarded them.
In the second animation, "For Whom the Lunch Bell Tolls" we identified the students collectively as being the main character and the lunch ladies and the food they handed out as the antagonist. The students overcame the gross food by trading trays to get what they wanted.
However, we called the escalation into question. We decided that since the movie was trying to gross us out, the food placed on the trays should get progressively grosser. But we decided that grass is not grosser than a shoe, and that Barbie parts certainly aren't grosser than underwear. Thus, the progression of grossness was flawed.
But then we saw that the students ate their food in an escalating order of grossness that we felt was effective.
In the first, "The Bombing of Candytown" we had a hard time nailing down a main character (probably because there wasn't one). However, we did a good job noticing that the airplanes were the most active characters and had an obvious goal: to bomb Candytown. They also made value shifts on the graph: being in the middle of the graph as they entered, going up when they killed Darth Vadar, going down when one of the planes is shot down, and finally going up when the last plane succeeds in destroying Candytown.
The other two candidates for main character were Chewbaca and Hello Kitty, who fall in love at the beginning, and Candytown itself. However, neither of these choices had a goal. So we discarded them.
In the second animation, "For Whom the Lunch Bell Tolls" we identified the students collectively as being the main character and the lunch ladies and the food they handed out as the antagonist. The students overcame the gross food by trading trays to get what they wanted.
However, we called the escalation into question. We decided that since the movie was trying to gross us out, the food placed on the trays should get progressively grosser. But we decided that grass is not grosser than a shoe, and that Barbie parts certainly aren't grosser than underwear. Thus, the progression of grossness was flawed.
But then we saw that the students ate their food in an escalating order of grossness that we felt was effective.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Story Starters
Today we started putting together conflicts from story starters.
The main story we dealt with was Roger's story. Remember that Roger has cleaned up his life, has a job, a family and a bright future. But then an old girlfriend calls. She says she's waiting in her car down the street.
What does she have to tell him? How will it change his life?
We came up with some interesting ideas like:
1. Roger's old girlfriend is finally telling him about a child he didn't know he had fathered.
2. She says she's going to kidnap one of his children.
These were excellent ideas because they take Roger's life and turn it upside down. They take him from being on the positive end of the graph to the negative end.
Then we wanted to know how to ratchet up the conflict further. Some of our ideas were
1. Roger's old girlfriend is finally telling him about a child he didn't know he had fathered AND he's sworn to kill the father that didn't raise him (Roger, that is).
2. She says she's going to kidnap one of his children. As hard as he tries to stop her, he fails, because Roger's WIFE is in on the plot.
In number 1 we take away Roger's familial stability, but at least he still has his life; so we try to take that away as well.
In number 2 there's a threat against Roger's family, but at least he has a family he can count on. But then his wife betrays him, thus he no longer has his family.
This is the essence of conflict escalation: find things that matter to the protagonist, and then threaten them. As the story goes on threaten things that are more and more important to the protagonist.
The main story we dealt with was Roger's story. Remember that Roger has cleaned up his life, has a job, a family and a bright future. But then an old girlfriend calls. She says she's waiting in her car down the street.
What does she have to tell him? How will it change his life?
We came up with some interesting ideas like:
1. Roger's old girlfriend is finally telling him about a child he didn't know he had fathered.
2. She says she's going to kidnap one of his children.
These were excellent ideas because they take Roger's life and turn it upside down. They take him from being on the positive end of the graph to the negative end.
Then we wanted to know how to ratchet up the conflict further. Some of our ideas were
1. Roger's old girlfriend is finally telling him about a child he didn't know he had fathered AND he's sworn to kill the father that didn't raise him (Roger, that is).
2. She says she's going to kidnap one of his children. As hard as he tries to stop her, he fails, because Roger's WIFE is in on the plot.
In number 1 we take away Roger's familial stability, but at least he still has his life; so we try to take that away as well.
In number 2 there's a threat against Roger's family, but at least he has a family he can count on. But then his wife betrays him, thus he no longer has his family.
This is the essence of conflict escalation: find things that matter to the protagonist, and then threaten them. As the story goes on threaten things that are more and more important to the protagonist.
On Grading
Grade Recording Procedure
I record bell work at the end of each week, not each day. It would take waaaaay too long to record your work daily. So each week you'll be able to see how you're doing on bellwork and preparedness.
Early Term Grades
Some of you were concerned about having a low grade, and I think it's great that you want to get a good grade. Right now the only graded work we have done is bellwork and preparedness. So if you have missed any of these small assignments it will look like it impacts your grade significantly.
But that's not the case. Bellwork and preparedness is only 30 percent of your grade. Actual class assignments are work 70 percent of your grade. So when we start grading the class assignments you'll be able to have a better idea of how you are doing.
Making Up Bellwork
I know that many of you have excused absences for games and trips, but bellwork isn't available for makeup. Bellwork is an integral part of the curriculum as it frames our early class discussion and engages the class in thinking exercises that cannot be performed alone. If you aren't in class, you miss that discussion and exercise. It's much like missing football practice.
This will be my policy unless the students are able to present persuasive evidence that it is unsound academically.
I record bell work at the end of each week, not each day. It would take waaaaay too long to record your work daily. So each week you'll be able to see how you're doing on bellwork and preparedness.
Early Term Grades
Some of you were concerned about having a low grade, and I think it's great that you want to get a good grade. Right now the only graded work we have done is bellwork and preparedness. So if you have missed any of these small assignments it will look like it impacts your grade significantly.
But that's not the case. Bellwork and preparedness is only 30 percent of your grade. Actual class assignments are work 70 percent of your grade. So when we start grading the class assignments you'll be able to have a better idea of how you are doing.
Making Up Bellwork
I know that many of you have excused absences for games and trips, but bellwork isn't available for makeup. Bellwork is an integral part of the curriculum as it frames our early class discussion and engages the class in thinking exercises that cannot be performed alone. If you aren't in class, you miss that discussion and exercise. It's much like missing football practice.
This will be my policy unless the students are able to present persuasive evidence that it is unsound academically.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Escalating conflict
Today we introduced the idea of escalating conflict.
Conflict occurs because we have a character with a goal and something gets in the way of that goal.
In order to keep the audience's attention, we need to start the conflict out small and make it larger as the story progresses. We need to escalate it. I gave the example of Die Hard where Bruce Willis destroys a helicopter at the beginning of the movie and destroys an F-16 fighter jet at the end. The jet is a bigger menace than a helicopter, therefore, Bruce needs to face it after he faces the helicopter.
We watched "Billy's Balloon" to see how Don Hertzfeldt escalated the conflict. He started with one kid being beaten up by a balloon, escalated it to the kid being dragged up into the sky and dropped, and then to seeing another kid being dragged up by a balloon to be hit by a passing jetliner. Then we saw more balloons attacking more kids until the entire screen was filled with the mayhem.
The conflict escalated. However, the conflict was limited because there was only one active character: the balloon.
To see what happens when two active characters come into conflict, we watched "Parking," by Bill Plimpton, where a plant tries to destroy a parking lot while the parking lot's owner tries to stop it.
The parking lot owner begins by merely pulling the plant out of the ground. But then he uses a mower, then a jackhammer and metal plate, then a cannon, then dynamite. He starts small and gets bigger. The plant reacts in the same way, each time sending back larger counter attacks: first in bug poop, then flying screws, then the cannon ball, then the dynamite.
The conflict HAS to escalate, otherwise, the audience loses interest.
The schema above shows how the basic story structure goes. The protagonist makes an attempt at reaching the goal, but the antagonist stops him/her. So the protagonist makes an even larger attempt at reaching the goal, thus, the conflict between the protagonist and antagonist is larger. Finally the protagonist puts his/her absolute all into achieving the goal, resulting in the largest conflict with the antagonist. In the last event we see whether the protagonist is successful at overcoming the antagonist and reaching the goal.
We also saw in "Parking," that the two contesting characters must reach a "point of no return" in order to really invest the audience in their conflict. It has to be an all or nothing affair, win or lose, no backing out. Otherwise we've limited the effect of the conflict.
Conflict occurs because we have a character with a goal and something gets in the way of that goal.
In order to keep the audience's attention, we need to start the conflict out small and make it larger as the story progresses. We need to escalate it. I gave the example of Die Hard where Bruce Willis destroys a helicopter at the beginning of the movie and destroys an F-16 fighter jet at the end. The jet is a bigger menace than a helicopter, therefore, Bruce needs to face it after he faces the helicopter.
We watched "Billy's Balloon" to see how Don Hertzfeldt escalated the conflict. He started with one kid being beaten up by a balloon, escalated it to the kid being dragged up into the sky and dropped, and then to seeing another kid being dragged up by a balloon to be hit by a passing jetliner. Then we saw more balloons attacking more kids until the entire screen was filled with the mayhem.
The conflict escalated. However, the conflict was limited because there was only one active character: the balloon.
To see what happens when two active characters come into conflict, we watched "Parking," by Bill Plimpton, where a plant tries to destroy a parking lot while the parking lot's owner tries to stop it.
The parking lot owner begins by merely pulling the plant out of the ground. But then he uses a mower, then a jackhammer and metal plate, then a cannon, then dynamite. He starts small and gets bigger. The plant reacts in the same way, each time sending back larger counter attacks: first in bug poop, then flying screws, then the cannon ball, then the dynamite.
The conflict HAS to escalate, otherwise, the audience loses interest.
The schema above shows how the basic story structure goes. The protagonist makes an attempt at reaching the goal, but the antagonist stops him/her. So the protagonist makes an even larger attempt at reaching the goal, thus, the conflict between the protagonist and antagonist is larger. Finally the protagonist puts his/her absolute all into achieving the goal, resulting in the largest conflict with the antagonist. In the last event we see whether the protagonist is successful at overcoming the antagonist and reaching the goal.
We also saw in "Parking," that the two contesting characters must reach a "point of no return" in order to really invest the audience in their conflict. It has to be an all or nothing affair, win or lose, no backing out. Otherwise we've limited the effect of the conflict.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
The story graph
When a character has a goal we can plot her progress toward that goal on a graph. When things are going well for the character, we place a dot high on the graph, representing a positive value. When things are going badly, we place it low on the graph, representing a negative value.
For example, in the clip we watched from "Thank You For Smoking" Nick started low on the graph. Everyone in the television studio hated him. Thus, his goal was to get the audience on his side. By the end of the scene, through some fast talking by Nick, everyone in the studio is applauding him. He has achieved his goal, putting him high on the graph.
This is the basic building block of a story: A character starts either high on the graph or low on the graph. But in either case, she will be on the opposite side of the graph by the time the scene ends. If we start high, we end low. If we start low, we end high.
Up and down.
Thus, when you are writing a story, look at what your character's values are. What does she want? Then look at where she is on the graph. Is she high or is she low? If she's high, use the things she values to bring her down. If she's down, help her use her values to bring herself up.
For example, in the clip we watched from "Thank You For Smoking" Nick started low on the graph. Everyone in the television studio hated him. Thus, his goal was to get the audience on his side. By the end of the scene, through some fast talking by Nick, everyone in the studio is applauding him. He has achieved his goal, putting him high on the graph.
This is the basic building block of a story: A character starts either high on the graph or low on the graph. But in either case, she will be on the opposite side of the graph by the time the scene ends. If we start high, we end low. If we start low, we end high.
Up and down.
Thus, when you are writing a story, look at what your character's values are. What does she want? Then look at where she is on the graph. Is she high or is she low? If she's high, use the things she values to bring her down. If she's down, help her use her values to bring herself up.
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