Class 7 - Story Telling

Guest Lecturer: Alex Seiden (Pixar by way of ILM)

Topics:
	Story Structure
	Shot Selection

Motivation:
	Fascination with situation when a story "touches" you
	When you achieve "empathy" and not merely "sympathy"

Ground Rules
	We are talking about film (video, cartoons).
	We are not going to talk about interactive video.
	What are the rules of Film?
	What are the story telling tools?
	What makes a film effective?  Or good?

Question:
	Q: Is McKee the same guy mentioned in "Adaptation"?
	A: Yes.  And "Story" is a great book.

Elements of Story
	Protagonist
		Goals/Desires
			It is the engine that drives the drama.
			Many bad stories have protagonists w/o goals and desires... boring!
	Conflict 
		w/ an antagonist
		w/ obstacles
	Progression
		Increase in tension, conflict, progress toward climatic moment
	Reversal
		Bambi vs. Godzilla
		Play against expectation

Layers of Story
	Center - Layer 0
		Protagonist (internal)
		often the provenance of the novel (internal dialogue)
	Layer 1
		Conflict between protagonist and the Group
		sometimes the focus of film
	Layer 2
		Conflict between protagonist and Society
		often the focus of film

Creating a Story
	Time Lock vs. Option Lock
		Time Lock refers to the limit of how long they have succeed or fail
			Examples: High Noon, Ransom
		Option Lock refers to the limit of how many options they have left
			Examples: Detective Thrillers, Usual Suspect (n suspects)

Formats
	Short Shorts (or Ultra shorts)
		Tend to be 15,30,60 seconds long (exactly)
		900 frames in 30 second short
	Types of Shorts
		Mini Movie
			Protagonist, conflict, climax, resolution
		Visual Story Telling
			Pretty stuff happens on screen, feel good moments
		Big Gag
			Generally a visual joke
Atomic Unit of Film
	Shot - Between cuts
	Continuity Style - 
 		Shot, reverse shot, with no time break.
		Jump Cuts - breaks of time
	Scene
		Sequence of shots, in the same continuous time and space
	Parallel Action
		The Phone Conversation (different space, same time)

Line of Action
	Shot selection should not violate the 180 degree rule.
	Dialogue has convention of one face facing the other from shot to
	shot

Screenings
	Snapple
		Protagonist - the bottle of snapple as skate boarder
		Story - Wipes out skate boarding
	Apple 1984 Ad