“Story: It’s Not Just for Writers… Anymore!” by Caldwell
Conference:
Type(s):
Entry Number: 04
Title:
- Story: It's Not Just for Writers... Anymore!
Course Organizer(s):
Presenter(s)/Author(s):
Abstract:
This course has been designed for technical directors, artists, animators, modelers, programmers, and designers whose work is essential in making “the story” come to life. This information can be particularly useful when communicating with screenwriters, directors, producers, and supervisors. This course answers the question “what is story?” (and you don’t even have to take a course in screenwriting). Entertaining with numerous clips to show how this has been used in animation and VFX.
The purpose is to take the mystery out of “what is story” for those programmers, artists, and game designers whose work is essential in making Animation, VFX, and Games successful. The attendees will know the basic elements of story, so the next time a producer or director talk about what they want for the story, they will know what specific story benchmarks the producer/director are trying to meet in connecting emotionally with an audience. This course will build from the knowledge that story “is a sequence of events (acts) that builds to a climax….” and then lays out the universal elements of story that make up plot, character development, and narrative structure.
This course emphasizes story elements in context (i.e. theme, character, setting, conflict etc.) and their relationship to classic story structure (i.e. setup, inciting incident, rising action, climax, resolution etc.). It analyzes conflict (i.e. internal, external, environmental), turning points, cause & effect, archetype vs stereotypes, inciting incident, and how choice defines character. In all stories there must be questions raised: What is at stake (i.e. survival, safety, love, esteem, etc.)? What is going to motivate (inciting incident) the main character (protagonist)? Will that be enough to move them from the ordinary (where they are comfortable) to go out into a different world (where the action takes place), and How will the character “change”(necessary for all dramatic stories)? These are just a few of the storytelling elements necessary to structure a solid story. This course is for all whose work makes the story better but their job isn’t creating the story.
Intended Audience
Our intended audience includes animators, VFX artists, technical directors, computer scientists, producers, game designers, and VR creators who want to learn more about how dramatic story is used in production.
Level
Beginner
Description
We present an introductory course on the elements of classic story structure and development, which is found in the top animations and VR today. This course is visually designed specifically for technical directors, animators, and VR creators whose work makes “the story” come to life.
