Day 6: Three Act Story: Development

Introduction to Story

Welcome back Smartphone Filmmakers!

Last week we were introduced to Montages and how to use images to give an emotional experience to the audience.

This week, we'll do a project called Three Act Story and learn the fundamentals of story.

What is story?

Story is essentially how people organize their life into meaningful narratives. When you think about aspects of your life, like your childhood or your relationship with your parents or with your friends. More often than not, you think of stories. These are meaningful events that you have been through that showed what was important about those people or those relationships or those aspects of your life. It usually isn't just this happened and this happened. But this happened because you did something to overcome some problem or failed to overcome a problem and that gave this event or person or relationship meaning.

Story Activity 1

So we'll ask you all to write a short story that has a lot of meaning for you. It could be from a film or a TV show or book or maybe from your life. This exercise will help you understand the power of story in your own life.

Write down the story on paper or on a document on your computer.

Then, I want to have one or two volunteers tell us the basics of story and why it was important to you.

Why is story important to film?

I think the key to a successful film typically is story. Let's look at one major example to demonstrate this point.

One of the most successful film studio in all of film history is Pixar Studios. Below is the top rated films (as determined by Rotten Tomatoes) of the last 18 years. Can you see how many of them are Pixar films?

The answer is 6 out of 18 is not bad. No other film studio in that time period had that kind of track record.

So why is Pixar so successful? When you study their process which is detailed in their many extras on their DVD's and in the book, Creative Inc by Ed Catmull. It's clear the number one thing they focus on is: Story. They have a saying, "Story is king." They spend about 5 plus years on every film and they spend about half of that on the story.

The other thing I would like to point out is that top film programs like NYU prioritize story as the main element they are looking for in applicant's films. We have had success with several Athenian students going to NYU because the story of the film was so strong.

Story is important.

Three Act Structure: Focus on Act I : The Set Up

So most film stories are broken down into what most filmmakers call the Three Act structure.

To put it simply, most stories have:

A beginning (Act 1: The Set Up)

A middle (Act 2: The Problem)

And an end. (Act 3: The Solution).

This week, we'll be making a simple Three Act one to two minute film that has one problem and one location. The reason it's one problem, one location is because I want you to make it simple. Making a film is complicated and if the story is simple, then you'll make it more possible to make an interesting and compelling film.

Now, let's take a look at Act I in more depth:

ACT 1: The Set Up has these SIX elements.

We introduce a MAIN CHARACTER with a PERSONALITY

who wants an OBJECTIVE that she has EMOTIONAL STAKES in.

And this all takes place in a WORLD which includes SETTING and GENRE.

Let's take a look at two simple but effective examples. The Trip is a short film that was done in my regular school year classes. Rock Paper Scissors by Andrew was done by one of my students at home and he shot it, acted in it with his brother.

Think about these questions while you watch it:

ACT I: The Set Up

1. Who is the Main Character(s) and what is their Personality like?

2. What is their Objective?

3. What are the Emotional Stakes?

4. What is the Setting of the story?

5. What is the Genre of the story?

Three Act Activity : Create Your Own Act I

Now, we are going to use the Three Act Structure to create your own Act I.

+But first, think about what your assets are: People, Locations, equipment, Props, Costumes.

+Think about your liabilities: What limitations do you have? No crew? Only you as cast member? Limited locations?

+Try to use your assets and liabilities as you brainstorm ideas.

+Write down at least 5 different ideas for an Act One.

+Pick one of them that feels very strong.

+In order to make the idea stronger, use these questions to flesh out the Three Act structure.

ACT I: The Set Up

1. Who is the Main Character and what is their Personality like?

2. What is their Objective?

3. What are the Emotional Stakes?

4. What is the Setting of the story?

5. What is the Genre of the story?

Three Act Structure: Focus on Act II : The Problem

ACT 2: The Problem

So in Act I, you set up all of the major elements of the story and in Act II, the problem kicks in and so does your Main Character who will try to solve the problem.

Let's take a look at the major elements of Act II:

The MAIN CHARACTER encounters an OBSTACLE

And so the MC must use TACTICS to deal with this OBSTACLE to win the OBJECTIVE.

Often, the OBSTACLE challenges the MAIN CHARACTER with MORE AND MORE DIFFICULTY.

I think the key here is that we have a rising conflict that the audience becomes more and more engaged in. Like a video or sports game, Act II pulls us in with the question, how is the Main Character going to solve this problem? And that questions becomes more and more intense with rising difficulty with the obstacles.

Let's take a look at the short films, Adrenaline and The Cupcake Dilemma. Let's see how they handle Act II.

ACT II:

1. What is the Obstacle that the Main Character faces?

2. What Tactics does the Main Character use to deal with the Obstacle?

3. How does the problem build in Difficulty?

Three Act Activity: Create Your Own Act II

Take the Act I you created in the last exercise and use that idea to build an Act II. Think of all of the problems that could happen to the Main Character. There are physical problems. There are interpersonal problems. There are psychological problems. There are problems that include all of the above.

Make sure you keep the following questions in mind:

1. What is the Obstacle that the Main Character faces?

2. What Tactics does the Main Character use to deal with the Obstacle?

3. How does the problem build in Difficulty?

Three Act Structure: Focus on Act III: The Solution

Finally, we get to Act III: The Solution. This is the moment the audience is waiting for. It's how the Main Character finds a solution (or fails to find a solution) to the problem introduced in Act II.

Let's look at this Act III in detail:

The MAIN CHARACTER finds a SOLUTION to dealing with the OBSTACLE.

Often, the SOLUTION is SURPRISING BUT BELIEVABLE.

OR the MAIN CHARACTER FAILS to find a SOLUTION but there's often SOME LESSON from this all.

So let's talk about Surprising but Believable first.

The reason that I think surprising but believable is important is because audiences like to be surprised. When a story has a predictable solution an audience will be disappointed because they will wonder why they listened to the story in the first place. If you know where it's going to end, why watch it? Also, there's emotional satisfaction in being surprised.

At the same time, it's important that the story's ending doesn't just surprise. I mean you can randomly end a story with a space crashing in and solving everything but an audience will typically respond to this kind of thing with disbelief. There was no space ship earlier in the film! They want an ending that's also grounded in the details of Act I and Act II. If you can do that at the same time as being surprising, you have a hit ending.

The last element that can be apart of the Act III is lessons and change. Sometimes, a story will have a lesson to impart to the audience. And the main character can also change at the ending. These are not requirements but a lot of stories have them and you should be aware of that.

Now's let's look at these films, Light It Up and Chocoliques. This is his film that has a strong Third Act. See if it fits these questions:

ACT III:

1. How does the Main Character deal with the Obstacles in the end?

2. Is it solved in a Surprising but Believable way?

3. Is there a lesson learned? Does the main character change?

Also, if we have time, we'll take a look at another two films. Max's Chocoliques and Louisa and Grace's The Cupcake Dilemma which uses the three act structure well.

Three Act Activity: Create your Act III

So now take the work you did for Act I and Act II and figure out what your act III is. Using all of the elements in Act I and II, how can the MC solve the problem in a surprising but believable way? I think again, brain storming is a good way because it allows you to give permission to make mistakes. You are going to come up with a lot of bad ideas but from those bad ideas, there will be something that triggers a great idea.

Use the following questions to help you with the Act III:

ACT III:

1. How does the Main Character deal with the Obstacles in the end?

2. Is it solved in a Surprising but Believable way?

Pitch it to someone you trust. And ask them what works about the idea. What could use improvement.

Bonus Content:

So if you want to learn more about Pixar, here's a short video that shows you their history.