Storytelling with Stop Motion
Stop Motion Basics #1
This article covers some ways to tell a convincing story. A strong narrative does not have to be complicated. In fact, simple episodes often leave the best impressions in our memory.
Let’s look a short vignette below.
Did you notice that there were a few parts to the story?
- Luxo Jr. (the lamp) hopping in to replace the “I”. [PREMISE]
- His bulb blacks out and he becomes anxious. [CONFLICT1]
- Wall-E arrives to help replace the bulb. [SOLUTION 1]
- Wall-E knocks over the “R” on his way out. [CONFLICT 2]
- Wall-E changes his form to become the “R”. [SOLUTION 2]
As short as that vignette was (40 seconds), there was in fact a very clear story structure. That makes a story believable and easy for the viewer to understand and follow.
This infographic acts as a convenient summary for the story creation process, making use of Brett Dillingham’s Visual Portrait of the Story (VPS) as a framework to help in planning a story. Treat the story like a hero’s adventure.
01. ELEMENTS OF A GOOD STORY
- suspense
- details
- character development
- organization
SUSPENSE
Drop hints, do not reveal everything to the audience right at the beginning. Foreshadow what is to come, create unsuccessful attempts before something really happens. Make the audience want the character to succeed, to ride along with the character’s emotional journey.
DETAILS
Successful attention to detail refers to storytelling with as many of the five senses as possible. What do we see? What do we hear? What is the character thinking?
Stretch the right moments, vary the pace of the story to create an experience that the audience can absorb with their five senses.
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
A good story hooks the audience with carefully crafted characters. Even if it’s just 30 seconds of advertisement, we remember the Ribena Berry, Mr Muscle, the Sony Ericsson squirrel, Mrs Chong and Mr Kumar.
If the audience sees the story through the main characters point of view (POV), it is extremely important for he/she to be a believable character.
It is up to the animator to flesh out the character’s personality through the physical traits, behaviour and language that the character uses throughout the clip (eg. we associate Phua Chu Kang with the typical Singaporean contractor through his dressing, little ‘uncouth’ habits, and liberal use of Singlish throughout the show).
Your choice of supporting characters is also important. Do they help forward the story? Or confuse it? A good example is the bumbling LeFou in Beauty and the Beast. His silly antics pale in comparison to the mighty Gaston, helping to enhance Gaston’s image as the leading male.
ORGANIZATION
This refers to your Sequencing. Do you start the story at the Climax? Or the Ending? What is the best way to tell your story? Does the character go through a convincing change throughout the story? Is the audience hooked?
A good story also needs a clear story arc. The Orientation, the Problem, the Climax, the Resolution and the Conclusion should all be present regardless of the duration of the clip.
02. CREATING A STORY BOARD
Now that you have your story, how would you turn it into a stop-motion film? The storyboard is a good step in helping you and your team plan for production. It is also one of the deliverables that you need to submit for the project.
The diagram below details the elements of a storyboard.
Every change in camera angle requires a separate panel on the board. For example, you have scene in the same classroom, but from 3 different angles. Then there should be at least 3 panels on your storyboard for that scene.
03. USEFUL LINKS AND VIDEOS
Pssst…Did you know? This page can also be accessed by the URL http://is.gd/writing_stories
