The 5th step The goal changes Storyteller's Log 1-15-2013

If you know anything about physics or animation timing of a bouncing ball, or if you've ever thrown a ball up into the air you know what happens to it. It comes back down. Our character thinks they've achieved their goal. Let them think that. Let them bask in the glory for a while.

...

Ok, that's enough. But then the story needs to start moving again. A story is like a shark it needs to keep moving or it dies. That sounds familiar, didn't Woody Allen say that in Annie Hall? Oh, he said it about relationships. But it applies equally to stories.

So something has to happen to allow the character to see that what they thought was the goal is actually empty and not fulfilling. It might be an event or another character who shows them where they really are. Remember, they took the wrong path to get there so, of course, they've arrived in the wrong place. Their goal was like a "hot air" balloon and now the air is cooling and they're sinking fast. Hence, the metaphor, "You're full of hot air."

How could they have achieved their goal if they didn't learn the lesson? I told you the lesson would return. This is one of the weaving threads of the story.

So a ball going up will lose energy and come to a stop along the Y axis. Succumbing to gravity it will begin to fall.

A ball going up is a simple case. Characters are more complex. Yes, gravity affects them too, but they'll try and do something about it. Remember those cartoons where the character runs off a cliff. Not until they realize it do they begin to fall. What do they do? They try to fight it by scrambling.

Our character now realizes that what they thought was the goal was actually walking off a cliff. So what do they do? They scramble to try and stop their fall.

Going back to our physics metaphor, when an object falls, it's falls at the speed of gravity.

As we continue to map our character's ups and downs we see they're in trouble now...

The Animator's Eye frames

We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog, The Storyteller's Log: Storyweaving, The New Way to See Your Story Structure, to bring you this important message. In a couple of months, I'll be finishing up storyboarding on Dreamwork's The Dragons of Berk TV series. 

I had a professor of film audio at Pratt and he gave us some very important advice. He told us that if you're not working, your job for 40 hours a week is to look for work. The other thing that he told us is to ALWAYS KEEP YOUR PORTFOLIO UP TO DATE. This is especially true when you still are working. Be prepared.

So following his advice, I'm presenting frames from my animated short. They're from my book, The Animator's Eye: Adding Life to Animation with Timing, Layout, Design, Color and Sound. It's published by Focal Press. It's a silent film in the sense that there's no dialogue. It has a wonderful music score by film composer Hans Karl. J.D. Stewart provided audio production services. Bryan Cox and Chris Siemasko added the special effects for the transformation and the ending shot. My son Ryan did the film editing. 

This film was completed using TVPaint software on a 21inch Wacom Cintiq tablet. Final assembly was completed in Final Cut Pro 7. The storyboards were completed on sticky notes and scanned. ArtRage Studio Pro was used to paint the color scripts based on the storyboard images.

 Need to score? Hans Karl Music

The idea for the film evolved over many versions. The idea was to make a story that was a metaphor of the process of capturing an idea and bringing it to life. This is probably one of the most inventive uses of the classic animation exercises bring a flour sack to life. I used two of my characters that I had already created- Iggy, the impulsive pig and Scared Bunny.

Enjoy (Click to Enlarge)

Double O Iggy, Storyteller's Log 12-10-2012

In addition to Aristotle, the plot point theories and the hero's journey there are other approaches to try to understand how stories are put together. The structuralist school is once such approach. Today we're going to look at Umberto Eco's analysis of the James Bond movies.

Eco proposed that the characters basically serve functions in the plot, which he likened to a chess game.

Here are the chess moves of a typical James Bond movie according to Eco.

A. M moves and gives Bond his mission.

B. Villain moves and appears to Bond. Often very charming at first.

C. Bond "checks" villain. Or Villain checks Bond.

D. Woman moves and appears to Bond.

E. Bond moves to Woman.

F. Villain captures Bond. Sometimes Woman too.

G. Villain tortures Bond. This is usually frowned upon in chess.

H. Bond checkmates Villain. 

I. Bond recovers with Woman. (He will lose the woman in time for the next installment.)

Simple. 

Eco goes on to show that by sometimes repeating elements this adds variety. Thus in one Bond movie Bond might be tortured twice or maybe get two women. The character of the villain, their sidekicks, their plan for world domination, Bond's gadgets and the method of torturing Bond also help to distinguish each Bond film from another. The Austin Powers series plays with these ideas.

The other thing to note in his approach is that the elements are arranged into binary pairs such as Bond/M, Bond/Villain, Bond/Woman, Free world/Bad guys, Love/Death, Loyalty/disloyalty. A very important theme explored in the Bond films is that of domination between dominators and dominated. This is expressed in relationships between Bond and his boss, the villain, the woman, the free world and the bad guys de jour. Originally the Bond series emerged during the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union. 

If you wish to read more on Eco's approach check out: The Law of Bond Richard Taulke-Johnson

The Bond films are about spying. This is perfect for cinema because it's two primitive conflict structures are peeping and chases. Can't get more fun than that. 

This is great if you ever find yourself being asked to write the next 007 movie. Is it helpful for the rest of us mere mortals? Before we answer,  next time we'll explore another structuralist  thinker and examine the pros and cons of this approach. (I'm still finishing the artwork for that blog post. Shaken but not stirred...)

Why didn't you ask for directions? The hero's journey Storyteller's Log 12-6-2012

DISCLAIMER: I am presenting parody of Joseph Campbell's Hero's journey to make a point. While it's meant in good fun, I don't want to diminish his valuable work. It has informed my owning thinking on the subject.

The Hero with a Thousand Faces written by Joseph Campbell describes an archetypal pattern that he discovered which underlies all stories across all cultures and time periods. The most famous application of this theory is, of course, Star Wars.

Hollywood has been in a continual quest to find ways to make creating good stories easier. At one time there were two story paradigms in Hollywood. One was a fish out of water and the other was an unholy alliance. Beverly Hills Cop would be an example of a fish out of water and 48 Hours would be an example of an unholy alliance. From what I heard, if your script didn't fit either of these moulds then it would be deep-sixed.

It was Chris Volger who brought the hero's journey to the attention of Hollywood with a memo he wrote. I was fortunate to take a class at UCLA with Chris right before he published the Writer's Journey. I think that his key insight was that the writer, him or herself actually goes on the hero's journey when they write a story. I experientially believe this to be true.

I recommend his book. The Writers Journey

Now, I believe that any story structure theory should be easy to apply and easy to remember. So I am going to go off my memory of the hero's journey trusting that I remembered the important points. The hero's journey is setup like a counter clockwise journey. It maps time around a circle. Why it's counter clockwise I have no idea.
The hero starts in their ordinary world and is awakened to a call to adventure. They refuse the call only to go on the journey after all. If they didn't go there wouldn't be any story, would there? Next they meet a mentor.

The next step is they have to cross a threshold into an underworld. So they have to deal with the threshold guardians. From the beginning until they cross the threshold is ACT 1. The underworld is ACT 2. The return is ACT 3.

So far, so good. This is helpful. Let's look at the rest of the journey with the help of some visual aids.

Here is our here awakened by a call to adventure, or maybe the neighbor's dog was barking all night.

The first thing they do is to refuse the call.

Next they meet the mentor, who archetypically looks kind of like Mr. Natural. 

Next up, they cross the threshold into the hellish underworld and the tests begin. It's not multiple choice.

Anybody got a flashlight. This is where I get lost. Are we in the belly of the whale? Maybe it's the belly of a dragon? Oh, we're in the trash compactor.

In the underworld, the hero meets the goddess. If it's the heroine's journey, do they meet God???

Then they have a supreme ordeal, which is really scary as the name implies.

Finally, they cross the threshold, only after seizing the sword and return to the ordinary world.

They return with the elixir and the world is transformed.

The end.

The setup and end parts are helpful but what goes on in the middle? This was about as much as I can remember about the hero's journey and I've actively tried to use it on many stories. Obviously a lot of it didn't take in my memory. 

I think there is a difference between post analysis and prescription. The hero's journey is a great tool to analyze movies. For Chris's class, I analyzed the hero's journey for the Fisher King. It yielded interesting insights. For example, the underworld for that film was metaphorically represented by a video store- a world of celluoid dreams. All four main characters went on their own heroes' journeys.

Could I have written the Fisher King using the hero's journey as my guide? Did the writer's of the Fisher King actively write their script using the hero's journey? I don't think the hero's journey is as useful for prescription in the sense of guiding you as to what to write. This is what I want help with and many struggling writers that I know want help with. How do I not get lost in the underworld?

When I get lost, I'm not afraid to buy a map, get a GPS or ask for directions. Or explore and map my own territory. Now, I'm ready to explore, can someone point me towards north?

Iggy's Incredibly Easy Way to Write a Story

Well, the  CTN Animation Expo was amazing. I finally got to meet my Focal Press publishers of the Animator's Eye and Directing the Story. They were wonderful. I hope you checked out some of their awesome animation titles.

This is why I've be swamped. I presented my new revolutionary VISUAL approach to story structure at CTN. 340 image slides told the story, explained film examples and showed the audience how they can do it. There was consensus that everyone would like to see the development of the theory posted here in my blog as I create it. 

I self-published a book on Amazon.com to present with the workshop. It stars Iggy, the impulsive pig and Scared Bunny, two characters from my Focal Press book the Animator's Eye. It's an introduction to the story process in three parts. First, is the story of Iggy, the impulsive pig, who tries to make it big in Hollywood leaving behind his best friend, Scared Bunny. See what Iggy learns and then read an overview of the process and finally learn how to do it yourself in a step by step demonstration.

It's called- Iggy's Incredibly Easy Way to Write a Story.
Amazon link: Iggy's Incredibly Easy Way to Write a Story

CTN presentation!

Sorry that I haven't added many posts lately but BIG things have been in the works. I'm presenting my new theory of story at CTN animation expo in Burbank CA on Sunday Nov. 18 at 2 pm. And I've been self publishing a book which demonstrates how to use the new theory. A bigger more comprehensive book in also in the works, but one step at a time.

I'm really excited about it. After researching and studying story for over 20 years, stories are coming to me fully formed! Of course there is still a lot of work to writing a story but this method helps you not to get lost along the way.

I hope to see you there.

Don't forget about The Animator's Eye contest at Focal Press! Win free books.
Check it out at: http://www.focalpress.com/character_mentor_contest/

Sharpen your stylus' ! Announcing Iggy and Scared Bunny's New Contest from Focal Press

ARE YOU ANIMATED?

(click to enlarge)

Enter Focal Press' The Animator's Eye Character Mentor Contest and win free books from Focal Press, a signed copy of The Animator's Eye: Adding Life to Animation with Timing, Layout, Design, Color and Sound and a drawing by Iggy.

Check it out at: http://www.focalpress.com/character_mentor_contest/

The Animator's Eye can see the light of day...

The Animator's Eye is scheduled to be published September 21, 2012. Here's a sample page. The five images on the right are flip books which run throughout the book. (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

Focal Press has posted the animated short with animatic insert on their web site- 

http://bestanimationbooks.com/

Music Score by Hans Karl-

http://www.hanskarlmusic.com/

And a very special thanks to Bryan Cox and Chris Siemasko ( http://www.chrissiemasko.com/) for adding some spicy special effects. And Audio Production Services by J. D. Stewart. And film editing by Ryan Glebas.

Yes, it's true.

You can see Iggy on YouTube. It's an 18 minute drawing lesson taken from the upcoming Focal Press book, The Animator's Eye. The book contains the making of an animated short starring Iggy and Scared Bunny as they learn the secrets of animated life. I can't wait to hold the book in my hands and flip the flip books.

Drawing tips and tricks- learn to draw Iggy

Yes, Bunny it is true, you are drawn on a sticky note. This is one of my favorite ways to work. I wrote my first book on sticky notes and storyboarded sequences on sticky notes while sitting in airports. They cheap available and easy to rearrange. I like drawing with Ticonderoga Redisharp + markers. They create an expressive black line, they're permanent, and no smell.

I'd actually love to have software where I could type and draw onscreen in the same program. So far I haven't found it. This blog was written in Literature and Latte's Scrivener. I drew the cartoons on sticky notes, then photographed them with a digital camera and imported them into the computer.

It's almost time...

The clocks ticking on my new book, The Animator's Eye. Finally, everything is off to the publisher. Over 6000 drawings and 100,000 words. Hmm, let's see, if a drawing is worth a thousand words then that's 700,000 words. Focal Press looks like they're on schedule for an August 2012 publication date. I've seen the proofs and they're doing an awesome job. The flip books along the side of the page look great. You get to see animation in action in a book.

This book was a killer. For my last book, Directing the Story, I created about 1900 drawings but since it was on storyboarding most of them were rough. For The Animator's Eye I completed a three and a half minute animated short to demonstrate the whole process of making an animated film. Scared Bunny, my co-author, keeps asking me why I didn't just make a 15 second film. I guess I'm too impulsive like Iggy. 

Wait till you hear the incredible score by film composer, Hans Karl. You can check out his music on his website- http://www.hanskarlmusic.com/

It's funny how characters take on a life of their own. I created these two- Iggy and Scared Bunny to star in this short storyboard. During the evolution of The Animator's Eye coming out this August, they took over. When characters really come alive they tell you how they'll act and what they'll say. They might even surprise you.

The story so far Iggy and Bunny have been captured by aliens and taken to court. Iggy demands a jury of his peers and he gets it. They still find him guilty. (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

The story starts on a classic dart and stormy night when Iggy visits Scared Bunny in the middle of the night. The bright green was so I could green screen in rain effects in the animatic.