Animation Scriptwriting
Stories - Part One: Creating Stories
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Story Analysis

Here is a short story.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the Kings horses and all the Kings men
couldn't put Humpty together again.

It has all the basic elements of a story. These can be broken down into six
Categories:

OBJECT:

The person/group/thing that the story is about.

EVENT:

What happens to the Object.

PLACE:

Where it happens.

PERIOD:

The time in history it happened.

TIMESPAN:

The duration of the events that makes the story.

OBJECTIVE:

What the story is about.

OBJECT:

Humpty Dumpty.

EVENT:

His falling off a wall.

PLACE:

Somewhere in England.

PERIOD:

Probably the 18th century.

TIMESPAN:

From the moment of sitting on the wall to the point of the soldiers failing in their task of putting him together again.

OBJECTIVE:

To put Humpty Dumpty together again.

This is a single-thread story. It is typical of children's stories, myths, legends, parables, and the like. Most stories have inter-weaving threads to add interest. Though even simple stories pose interesting questions. Why did Humpty Dumpty sit on a wall when it posed a risk? Why should all the Kings horses and men be concerned with his survival?

The more complex story of Moby Dick also breaks down in this way:

OBJECT:

Captain Ahab.

EVENT:

Hunting Moby Dick.

PLACE:

Various between ports and whaling grounds.

PERIOD:

Mid 19th century.

TIMESPAN:

The duration of the voyage.

OBJECTIVE:

To find and kill Moby Dick.

Exercise


Analyse the following stories using the above method:

Red Riding Hood - Beauty and the Beast - Cinderella - Bambi
 
 

Story Analysis 2

Another way of analysing stories is to break them down into levels in this way:

SETTING:

The background of the story.

THEME:

The basic concept of the story.

PLOT:

The specific storyline.

STRUCTURE:

The type of formula used for the development.

CHARACTERS:

The people in the story.

Here is an analysis of Red Riding Hood using this approach:

SETTING:

Somewhere in rural Europe 18th century.

THEME:

A moral tale about trusting strangers.

PLOT:

A young girl meets a wolf. He uses his cunning to exploit her innocence for evil purposes.

STRUCTURE:

Linear. The sequences follow chronologically on a single line of ideas.

CHARACTERS:

Red Riding Hood, Wolf, Granny, Woodsman.

Here's another example using Robin Hood:

SETTING:

City of Nottingham and Sherwood Forest in the 14th century.

THEME:

Rebel leader fights evil king.

PLOT:

Robin Hood is local rebel hero whose band of followers is the scourge of the reigning evil king. They become instrumental in overthrowing him.
In parallel to this is the love affair between Robin and aristocratic girlfriend Maid Marion.

CHARACTERS:

Robin Hood and his merry Men, Maid Marion, and the Sheriff of
Nottingham.

Exercise


Analyse the following stories using the above method:

The Three Little Pigs - Snow White - Rumplestiltskin
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
 
 
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