The Narrative Arc

 This is perhaps a topic that most animators myself included do not want to involve ourselves in. Most of the time we consider our work to be technical and want to leave issues about the story in itself to others. But in the recent weeks and especially on some of the work I've been required to do, thinking about the narrative has become more important. Even in very short stories such as the ones I have been involved in, thinking about how stories start and how they end and how these two parts links have become critical.

The basic narrative arc can be depicted with a pyramid shaped linear path drawn on a graph. The bottom line represents the chronological progression of a story while the vertical plane represent the rising height of complexity in a story. The rising part of the pyramid describes the initial crisis that characters are introduced to in establishing the story. This represents the Exposition stage. The complexity in the story must then rise until an apex is reached. In terms of complexity, early literature involved Man vs. Man, Man vs. Nature, and Man vs. Self . In more recent times however, the kinds of complexity and conflicts possible have increased to include Man vs. Society, Man vs. Technology,and Man vs. Alter Ego, Man vs. Alien Society, Man vs. Biotechnology, and Man vs. Cloned Self.

The final descending slope on the pyramid describes the stage of resolution, as the answers that have been asked are answered. A few types have been culled from a fairly descriptive article at the Sandhill.edu website here linked. They are:

1. Comic resolution: The conflict is resolved favorably for the protagonist; he or she is better off than when the tale began.  
2. Tragic resolution: The conflict is one in which the protagonist loses ground. He or she is worse off than when the tale began. 
3. Linear resolution: Despite the ensuing complications and conflicts, the protagonist is largely unchanged by the events of the story. 
4. Dénouement: In some tales, a portion of the story at the end is devoted to tying up the loose ends. Think of Murder, She Wrote, in which each episode includes a segment at the end during which Jessica Fletcher fills in her audience on how she figured out the identity of the real killer.[1]

For me, paying a bit more attention to these details have become essential especially as I realize that there is a more aware audience who will judge the quality of a film however short, based among other things, on the plot and cohesive links in a story.


References

Sandhills.edu, 2009. Plot, Theme, the Narrative Arc, and Narrative Patterns. [online] Available at: <http://www.sandhills.edu/academic-departments/english/film/narrativearc.html> [Accessed 28 December 2011 ].

Animated Shorts Inspiration

Of late, I've been posting a lot on this blog about inspiration. where and how I get them. I decided to post some of my most favorite short animated feature. The choices however cannot be exhaustive because new things come out almost everyday and to cover all the possible pieces that might have made it onto this list would take forever. My selections however, are governed by those same aesthetic principles of good animation namely use of great narrative arcs, stylistic lighting or color grading techniques like cell shading and creative animation techniques be it in stop-motion or full CG animation.

Big Bucks Bunny by The Blender Foundation
A funny story of a giant rabbit with a heart bigger than himself and how the crafty tricks of three rodents make something snaps inside him and the rabbit isn't a bunny anymore! I really liked the way the story unfolds and the general animation of the environment.



Big Buck Bunny from Blender Foundation on Vimeo.

Mac 'N' Cheese by Colorbleed
A crazy and energetic chase by two guys that spills into desert territory leaving a huge trail of destruction in its wake until they are out of places to run all over a game of tag. There use of cell shading has inspired me to want to use this technique in my work as it gives that stylistic feel to it that makes colors richer and more vibrant.



Mac 'n' Cheese from Mac 'N' Cheese on Vimeo.


The Tale of Three brothers by Stateless Films
First seen in the Harry Porter Movie, the tale of the three brothers highlights the story of three brothers and the decisions they made to acquire and use power and the repercussions of their actions.
The overall contrasted color style really worked and helped serve the mood and animatics of the story.



Harry Potter - The Deathly Hallows from Michael Blackshore on Vimeo.

Bridge by Ting Chian Tey
The story of four animal characters trying to cross a bridge, but ending up as obstacles to one another and the decisions they make. For me the most interesting thing was the way the animator uses a cartoon-like animation to communicate some life lessons about the many disagreements or competing paths in life people face, and the possible results of pride, obstination, and compromise.



Bridge from Ting on Vimeo.

Swing of Change by Harmony Bouchard, Andy Le Cocq, Joakim Riedinger, Raphael Cenzi for ESMA (Ecole Supérieure des Métiers Artistiques) in France
The story about how Harry, a racist barber changes his mind at the arrival of a magical trumpet in his barber shop! I loved the animation in itself and the brilliant balance of weight and detail. Finally, the ability to use animation to challenge a moral issue is also well displayed again in this piece.


Swing of Change from Swing of Change on Vimeo

Oktapodi by Gobelin

The struggle of two octopus to free themselves from their persistent owner. The detail in the animation is astounding and the overall humor in the piece was balanced by the narrative path it employed. Very good work.

Oktapodi from Mauro Flamig on Vimeo.

Finding Ideas: Animation Inspiration

The concept of finding and using inspiration is one that is common to every facet of creative practice. From fashion to interior design, architecture to web design; the ability to look around at the world around us or the work of others who we admire and receive impetus for our own work is critical. But i have been pondering about what it means to find inspiration as an animator. One might watch an animated feature or a short but how does that translate to inspiration for me on my next piece. I'm going to try and share some of the things I have learned over the past few weeks.

Always Start Here 
If ever I need to look for a place to start looking for what would be called acceptable 3d animation here is where I start.

PIXAR ANIMATION STUDIO . Their blockbuster movies are the Incredibles, WALL-E,Ratatouille,Toy Story 1 & 2,Cars,Finding Nemo,Monsters Inc.,The Incredibles,A Bug's Life etc.

DREAMWORKS ANIMATION owned by Steven Spielberg and his other two partners
Their blockbuster movies are Shrek 1,2&3, Kung fu Panda, Over the hedge, Bee Movie


Ask Why Not How!
Because the field of animation is mostly technical and requires a skilled use of techniques, the error is usually to look at someone else's work and wonder "how did they do that?". I have learned to not just ask how they did something but also why they did it. In understanding why they have used a particular lightening scheme, i have found out about how lighting can affect the mood of a scene and how audiences respond to the characters or the narrative presented. A bluish scheme suggests a horror or sci-fi theme to the scene and bright yellow or orange scheme suggests a happy and fun theme to the scene. Asking why can also give more insight to how and when I should use certain elements in  my animation. From adding more anticipation, to exaggerating weight etc. finding out why, can go a long way to answering how this actions help communicate greater believability in a character and the overall animation.


Observe The Details
I also have learned to look at what additional actions, movements in the shorts or animated features I see help to make the characters more believable. I look at the timing of eye winks, the follow through on limbs and cloth, facial expressions, amount of depth of field in a scene. Applying all these things in my own animation help to improve it. I simply look at something I've seen and liked, comparing whether it would make my own animation look even better and then add it.

This is just a few of the many things that I watch for as i look at other people's work. The aim isn't to copy them or use the same narrative or style they used in hope of achieving the same level of success on a piece. In the end, originality of content while keeping those elements of animation that communicate believability will always produce the best results. In my current piece, I have found inspiration for the character I am working with, in the "Scrat" character from the Ice-Age animated feature movies (Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha, 2002). 

References

Ice Age, 2002. [Film]. Directed by Chris Wedge, Carlos Saldanha. USA: Blue Sky Studios

What's In a Story: The Humor Factor

 work in progress - 

Exploring humor and adding a slight twist to something 

we all do each morning can bring smiles

to faces in an audience

In an article by Matthew Butler & Lucie Joschko, called Final Fantasy or The Incredibles: Ultra-realistic animation, aesthetic engagement and the uncanny valley, the notion of the importance of the narrative to the success of an animation and any film for that matter was explored through a comparison of two feature length animated films in Final Fantasy: The Spirit Within (Hironobu Sakaguchi, 2001) and The Incredibles (Brad Bird, 2005). Although the article sought to relate the success of The Incredibles produced by Pixar Animation Studios over Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within produced by Square Studios to the effects of the uncanny valley, there were strong allusions to the fact that the lack of a clear narrative arc in the Final Fantasy contributed to its poor receiving among audiences. This article is however not interested in the robust topic of the uncanny valley but in how narratives make or mare an animated feature and most especially how i have been learning to harness the power of the good narrative to create work that audiences can relate to.

Pixar is a studio that has been known to focus first on the narrative aspect of each animated feature, perfecting it in the Toy Story Franchise, Cars, The Incredibles and others. It was said that it took close to 36 months to write the first Toy Story (John Lasseter, 2005). This incredible attention to getting the story right is what I have found inspirational in the creative process. The ability to know where and how a story should start, taking the audience through a well formed arc of narrative and dialogue where appropriate and leaving them with a sense of fulfillment at the end while picking the right punchlines across the story is what differentiates one film from another and consequently influences the way audiences receive it.

In some work that I've been doing, I've learned that showing the audience how we come to be where we are at the beginning of a story is as important as the story itself. I am realizing that audiences will instinctively search for a reason why the things that are happening are happening. As the creator of the story we must have envisaged this and through the most subtle of story-telling techniques embedded the synopsis of the narrative within it. The phase "Show don't tell" is one which the script writers at Pixar use often to describe the art of embedding the narrative synopsis and other sub-plots etc., within the main story in an unobtrusive way that make the audience feel there way through the story, uncovering facts they can piece together to fill in the holes the story intentionally left untold at the beginning. I find that this is a great way to involve the audience in the story as they become not just spectators but characters albeit passive, putting together pieces of the puzzle that eventually tell the whole story. This gives audiences a better and more fulfilling emotional experience altogether.

Ending well is just as important as starting well, even though it is at the mercy of the creator to either decide to leave the narrative open ended or closed, it is common knowledge that each narrative must have a resolution. The concept of " The Happily Ever After" may not be true in real life but it must carry on as an idea that  has always worked in the stories we tell. The emotional rise and falls we have taken the audience through must come to an end somewhere, else they are left feeling unfulfilled and dissatisfied. What kind of resolution in itself is left to the creativity of story teller but it must be there all the same. It is here that I think the importance of Humor cannot be understated, you want to leave your audience laughing or at the very least with a smile on their face at the end of a film. Animation itself has always been seen as an artificial medium and those who are able to understand that people don't expect to see something real and therefore approach an animated film with more open minds can make the most of it. Unexpected twists and turns in the tale, mixed in with a reasonable dose of gags and wise cracks help an animation to look less serious and entertaining. Salient life lessons can be passed along in this way without appearing to lean too heavily to one side or another in a debate or issue. This has been shown in animated cartoon series such as The Simpsons (Matt Groening, 1989 -2011) and Family Guy (Seth MacFarlane, 1999 - 2011) etc.

Pushing the narrative to that next level, is a task that I am taking seriously and hopefully audiences will respond to it.

References

Matthew Butler & Lucie Joschko (2009) Final Fantasy or The Incredibles - Ultra-realistic animation, aesthetic engagement and the uncanny valley, Available at <http://journal.animationstudies.org/2009/07/16/matthew-butler-lucie-joschko-final-fantasy-or-the-incredibles/#more-70>, Accessed 8 November, 2011

 

The Incredibles, 2004. [Film]. Directed by Brad Bird. USA: Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios

Final Fantasy: The Spirit Within, 2001. [Film]. Directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi. USA, Japan: Square Company

Toy Story, 1995. [Film]. Directed by John Lasseter. USA: Pixar Animation Studios

The Simpsons, 1989 till date. [Animated TV Series]. Created by Matt Groening. USA: Gracie Films, 20th Century Fox Television

Family Guy, 1999 till date. [Animated TV Series]. Created by Seth MacFarlane,   USA: 20th Century Fox Television, Film Roman Productions