{"id":5843,"date":"2022-01-19T12:13:08","date_gmt":"2022-01-19T11:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vision.wettintv.de\/?page_id=5843"},"modified":"2023-10-25T13:25:10","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T12:25:10","slug":"storytelling","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/vision-videoschool.eu\/?page_id=5843","title":{"rendered":"Storytelling"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Introduction\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

A good story is a good foundation for a film to be understandable and make sense to the viewer<\/strong>. Even if the film looks good or has incredible special effects, a poorly-written story will not engage the viewers. Creating a story is an independent process from a film genre or technique that you will be using.<\/strong> Making an animation<\/strong> movie, however, offers some possibilities that are hard to execute in feature or documentary movies (like transformation\u2026) and therefore offers a bit more space for story development on a very imaginative level or on topics that are hard to deal with<\/strong>. To be able to tell a good story you should know the storytelling principles on one hand and understand the film language<\/strong> as expressive means on the other. In this chapter we will explain some basics of developing an interesting story and translating it into film language.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
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AnimaVision in action<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/td>\n

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  • Look for the story ideas<\/strong> in your neighborhood and in your own feelings and thoughts.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Write down your story<\/strong> and\/or discuss it with others.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Use principles like a drama structure, character development<\/strong> etc. to make your story understandable and appealing.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Translate your story into the film language<\/strong> with pictures, words and sounds by making a storyboard.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
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Equipment and tools<\/span><\/h2>\n

In order to develop a story you will need some pencils and paper,<\/strong> a board if you want to make it more visual. If you are more fond of working in digital environment, a computer and access to the internet<\/strong> will be needed. To make a storyboard you can print a storyboard template (find the link at the end of this chapter), you can create a storyboard also in digital environment (for example in Padlet).<\/span><\/p>\n

Main section<\/span><\/h2>\n

Storytelling has an extremely long history<\/strong> ranging from cave paintings to unwritten and written myths, legends, fairy tales, to novels, newspapers, photos, TV and movies. Nowadays we also have access to social media, where each and every individual can share their story with the whole world in very short time and with almost no cost. Telling stories can help you deal with your personal experiences or situations you face in the outside world and is a good means to express your imagination and opinions.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

We need stories to explain ourselves to each other.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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\u00a0An inspirational quote about storytelling created during the Animavision project saying: Stories are our signposts. First you feed and dress a child, after that you tell him a story.<\/em><\/p>\n

It is often recommended that stories should be based on what moves someone inside or what is happening in their immediate surroundings. Although this may seem uninteresting at first glance, stories created in this way can feel really authentic and touch the viewer on a personal level. Every small event in your life can be transformed into a story that someone will be able to relate to.<\/strong> There are no good or bad environments to find a story, and even if you can’t find a story after looking really hard, you can use that as your story material that many will be able to associate with<\/b>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Story ideas are usually very chaotic an the beginning, sometimes your mind could be completely blank when you face a task of making up a story. We are very different in articulating them, but they are hidden inside everyone.<\/strong> For some it is very easy to see situations that happen to them or in the outside world that they can turn into stories. Others, however, struggle with this part a lot, they feel there is something to tell but are unable to express it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The initial idea for a story can be anything: a character, a sentence, a philosophical concept, an image<\/strong> \u2026\u00a0 A philosophical, ethical or moral dilemma<\/strong> can also be very appealing to the viewers.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How to find a story?<\/span><\/h3>\n

There are a lot of methods that can boost your creativity and help translate your thoughts and feelings into a story, especially a film story.<\/strong> In this chapter, we will present several that have proven useful to us, but we encourage you to look for more yourself in the internet, your book store, library or from people in your environment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Story cubes<\/span><\/h4>\n

Story cubes are sets of several dice with pictures on all sides that can be used as an inspiration or skeleton for a story. There are many story cubes sets that you can find on the market, you can also use a story cube application, print out the templates from the internet for free or create story cubes completely on your own.<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

For the beginning, you can print empty cube templates and create three different story cubes out of them<\/strong>. On the first, draw or write examples of different characters (a girl, a dwarf, a football player, a hairdresser, a teacher, a firefighter \u2026), on the second, draw or write examples of different locations (at home, in the shop, at school \u2026), and on the third draw or write different situations (a wedding, a picnic, a running competition\u2026).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You can start creating your story with a popular fairy tail sentence Once upon a time\u2026<\/strong>. And then take a lead into the direction that the cubes are sending you to.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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You can easily create story cubes yourself by using a cube template.<\/em><\/p>\n

Find a link for free cube templates at the end of this chapter. You can create even more story cubes by adding objects, antagonists, more locations …<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Cans with ideas<\/span><\/h4>\n

Another method proved useful is to use cans with ideas.<\/strong> In one can you put small pieces of paper with different characters, <\/strong>in the other can put pieces of paper with different locations, <\/strong>in the third can put pieces of paper with different objects,<\/strong>\u00a0and in the fourth can put pieces of paper with different situations<\/strong>. Look for examples described in the story cubes part. \u00a0Try to add some unusual ideas;<\/strong> for example an alien for a character, a spaceship, or maybe toilet for a location \u2026 Then pick one paper from each can and develop a story out of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

You don’t have to stick strictly to the ideas you picked out, you can use them only to boost your creativity and then develop a story in a different direction or with different characters and location..<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Create your own cans and fill them with your proposals for all four categories. Then you can use them as a story making tool.<\/em><\/p>\n

Complemented sentences<\/span><\/h4>\n

If you work in a group, you can develop a story in the way that each participant tells a sentence that continues the topic of a previous one.<\/strong> Pay attention to the order: the first participant should start<\/strong>. A sentence can be something like: One morning on a bus station there was a boy reading a book.<\/em> The second participant should create the final sentence.<\/strong> This is very important to direct the storytelling process towards a certain ending. The end can be something like: And they remained friends forever , <\/em>or: At the end of the day they were all satisfied with what they had accomplished<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

After you have defined the first and last sentences, the third participant can continue with sentence number two,<\/strong> the fourth participant with sentence number three,\u00a0 etc. Depending on the number of participants involved, the story has to develop in a way that leads to the last sentence.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

An example of a story from one of our film workshops:<\/span><\/p>\n

Participant 1 (the beginning):It was an early morning when the train left the station.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Participant 2 (the end): At the end of the day they have all fallen asleep peacefully.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This was the frame of our story. The next participants filled in the story in a way which lead from the beginning to the conclusion, and at the end the story was the following:<\/span><\/p>\n

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Film competitions and call for entries<\/span><\/h4>\n

Many times your main topic can be determined by some film competitions or call for entries<\/strong> for art works that you can find in your local, regional, national or even international environment and you or your group decide to join. The topics that we stumbled upon were: environmental protection, climate change, women stories, fighting against violence, promoting equality \u2026<\/strong> The call, the topic and a deadline (sometimes even a prize) can help enormously to be able to focus and finish a film at a certain time and we recommend it as a relevant source of motivation.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you are new in stop motion you can start your film with something simple, animated in one location with not many shots and characters . But if you are more ambitious or you are a group, then you can afford to develop a film with more shots, more characters and more different character features.<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What are the elements that each story should consist of?<\/h3>\n

We covered how to access the story, now we will go through some of the elements of the story that will help you form it.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A comprehensible story should answer the following questions:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n