Anatomy of a scenario according to pixar
Storytelling pixar Rules 14 and 15
Once again I deliver to you this week two new rules to help you write your story, you get out of an impasse or the end of his scenario that lingered for months…
Once again, these articles are the work of Stephan Vladimir Budaj, I do, in fact, what translation by adding a few clarifications for the text to be more clear ;o) I which is sometimes in the text symbolizes Stephan Budaj
Structure scenario pixar following :
14) Why write this story and not another ? what is your motivation ? your intention ?!
What this question means is : What is your theme ? Sam Goldwyn thought (finally, if it is true ? ” If you have a message to pass, go see Western Union (mail) “. It is the theme or the message, if you prefer, that gives your story meaning and a unification at all, and that means. As Sam Goldwyn tried may be telling us is that by dint of wanting to put a message, it looked like, at the end, more at a sermon, a morality, than anything else. In fact, the task of the writer is to succeed in keeping the sub-text out of the text and let the character pass the message in a natural way, a way of his own.
The reason you want to tell the story that you are writing, that is to say : its theme, his message, his heart brings together all the other elements around a single question : ” the convictions of The hero are true or false ? “. And then when you invent the other characters in the story that will interact with your hero, they must have different opinions on this question, that these characters are : dreamers, cynical, realistic, and all the characterizations possible. The drama of your story is built, is based on this question, leaving the viewer to make up his own opinion on the subject during the movie, and then you make the answer to this question, at the end.
All of your choices are : the Characters, their motivations, their bow transformational, their relationships are related to this question, which lies at the centre of it all. This is why the motivation of the characters is important. It is thanks to her that they are going to be able to solve the problems posed in the story and this resolution will appear natural to the viewer. So, if you have properly done your job as a writer and you’ve created characters and situations that are in direct relation with the central question, then the solutions that your characters will find will necessarily be in connection with your theme (message).
Let’s take an example. If your message is : ” love conquers all “, the central question may be : “love will overcome all obstacles ? “And the answer at the end of your film will be : yes. Your hero will be able to look for the bad ” love “ or the wrong way we love. He will need to find the right way ! Your hero can also think that love does not exist or means nothing. In this case, his path will lead him on the paths that will convince them that he is alive and well. It is basic but it is an example ;o)
In love stories, there are always two characters that are opposed : the one who believes in love and the realistic helpless, that is to say, the one who has suffered because of love (even if these two people can have opposite feelings sometimes in the course of the story). These two characters can play the role of the angel and the devil sitting on the shoulders of the hero. At the end of the story, the hero chooses the camp of one or the other. Necessarily this situation and this example seems simplistic, and you’re right, but it had to be while I give you an example ;o)
It is necessary, at the beginning, go more simple with your story because it is always difficult to succeed a complicated structure in place from the beginning. Simply because one quickly realizes that nothing has, or that you’re lost or that you have lost the thread. It is best to start on a simple base and solid, and then as you know better your story, add new elements that complicate the story. Want to complexify at any price is not a good thing, it will not make you smarter, a better writer, or unique. Start slowly, humbly, and you will see that your characters are épaissiront and enrich themselves, what you want to say thanks to their characterization and motivation.
At the university of Los-Angeles (UCLA), we were told : “a simple story and complex characters “. If your scenario is complex and that the plot is just as much, that it just flows to perfection, you need a theme that will unify your characters and the elements of your story so that they are all turned towards the ” why ” of the story, that is to say the deep meaning of your story and not turned to the ” how ” which is not that of the powder in the eyes and added nothing (even if this powder eyes is cleverly created and brings a lot of fun). Even in work so long that “Ulysses” by James Joyce, there has always been a question, a theme which runs over the events, topics discussed. Often, the theme in different forms is : “What is the meaning of life ? “For often getting to the end of the story and discover that the answer (trivial) it is” you must live in the present moment as best as we can “
Are you saying that all of the questions, even the simplest, can be treated in a multitude of ways thanks to the characters, because they are, in their differences, in the ways in which they address the problem, which make the infinity of nuances that one can find in the stories. It is from there that comes the depth of a story.
You must have a very clear answer to the question : “Why do I want to tell this story “. Once this is done, you’ll be able to transform it in the form of a theme. In this way you will be able to always seek solutions to your stories while remaining on the right track. You will be able to stay the course by being able to make the distinction between things that are interesting for your story and your audience, and what is not.
15) The reactions of your characters must be believable even if the situation is incredible. Put yourself in their place.
If you were your character, in this particular situation, how would you feel ? Honesty gives credibility to the situations incredible.
It is a rule that seems obvious, but like everyone else, some writers pros forget this and live to their character moments or situations that are inconsistent with their characterisation or verisimilitude of the story, either in the dialogues or their actions. These gaps are not there for the good of the viewer and the story. Why this happens ? Simply because the writers, at one time, forget to keep the cap of the personality of the character that they have created.
The other important thing in this rule is ” honesty gives credibility to the situations incredible.” Because it expresses the idea that we can be forgiven a few differences from internal logic by the public if the emotions of the character remained honest. It is absolutely necessary to enforce it because too many inconsistencies in the actions, the story etc…it is very risky. The public will follow you if the situations or non-sense strung together and despite the honesty of the character and the attachment that the viewer has for him. I am here referring to what is impossible to happen in the world that you have built. I’m talking about violation of the rules that you’ve put in place since the beginning. Necessarily you can afford things that could not exist in real life provided that it remains emotionally attractive. It is the emotion that gives the character which will enable the spectator to believe in the unbelievable. It is thanks to this that a lot of stories that come out of the realism (science fiction, fantasy etc..) work and provide, in turn, to the viewer to join the story and a universe impossible.
Feel the emotions of the characters and recognize in them allows us to believe the possibility that this world exists and that all actions and situations which arise are. If you think about it, the stories that the writers offer us are merely artificial constructions. As a writer it is you who leads the game and invent the context, the world surrounding your story, but basically, this context is not enough to be credible beyond what we know and accept as the situation credible. It is only through the actions and reactions of your characters that you make it believable.
Ditto, if the viewer knows the world in which your story. It is necessary that this world be attached to the context (the plot) and that this plot is linked to the characters for the viewer to be taken away. It may not just be with the universe as you turn around. If you write/ tell a true story, the audience expect the errors or you embellissiez. Your job as a writer will be to convince the audience with the emotions and actions of your characters, that what you’re saying is true. And this is where it is strong ! Because succeeding in this tour de force, you can very easily change/ lie about historical facts or having existed. What you feel as true becomes ;o)
In general, the context is transmitted culturally. But deep down, there is nothing impossible, you can believe it. You just have to make sure that the details that you add to the context sound right, and to do this you must use the emotions that your characters pass to get there. From the moment the audience sympathetic to the characters of the story are truly part of their world, they will begin to believe what is impossible. But attention, this means that the situations in which you put your characters must also be honest, that is to say, honest from the point of view of the themes developed in the story. Not from what we know but what the writer has portrayed the world as he built it.). If all this is natural, that the characters will feel like emotions have meaning.
It also requires that you put in place of your characters. This is what this rule seems to say to us in the first place. This seems to be the board a perfect. We’re often told that in order to better understand a situation or to see possibilities, you just have to put in its place. Except that to create a character, this is not quite the same thing as creating a character that does not exist, it attempts to represent the manner in which he would react by putting themselves in his place. By doing this, it is a mirror effect which is put in place, based on empathy, trying to imagine how another might react when it is we ourselves who are building it…
If you want diversity in your characters, it is not necessary that they all look the same and so they react as you would. Of course, your characters will have, at the bottom of them, traits that you like, of the values, but your characters should not represent a part of your personality. As I said above, create a character, it is about creating a personality, a person who does not exist. It is better, in this context, that you do react to your character in a way which is clean for him, even if it should be the opposite of what you would have done and even if his reactions are counter to empathy.
As an example is always better than a thousand speeches, here’s one : If your hero is a soldier in enemy territory, that you, the writer, like many animals. It will not prevent your hero to break the neck of a guard dog who sniffed out his trail. If you stick to the place of your hero, you would have looked surely a way not to kill the dog, to avoid it or simply knock him out. But this is not what would make a professional soldier ! It is all the difference. You have to imagine what it feels like to your character based only on the hearts of his personality traits and goals that you have given it and not to find actions or reactions to create or feel empathy with him. Unless you want to have a relationship of empathy with this character in particular).
What we need to remember this rule is that it is there for you to do it so that the story moves forward through the characters ‘ reactions in relation to the situations. These reactions are, therefore, of the heroes, protagonists, characters with emotions consistent. That is to say that it is not necessary to put yourself in their place and remove any spontaneity about the reactions they might have to face the situations in which you put them, otherwise you only write scenes that work ” mechanically “. Characters without emotions honest are not relevant for the audience and they shall turn away their plot, as clever or gripping as it is.
That’s it for this article on “The rules of writing for pixar 14 ” to 15”.
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Has next Sunday.
Tom Weil
Here are other articles to help you create your characters and write your scenarios
(Just click on the link below to go directly to pages)
Anatomy of the timeline Pixar rules 1 to 5
Rules of writing the screenplay Pixar rules 6 to 7
Rules of writing, anatomy of a screenplay Pixar rules 8 to 11
Rules for writing anatomy of a screenplay pixar 12 and 13
How to find a name for your characters
How to give emotion to your characters
Here’s how to create your main and secondary characters
How to master the identification with the characters
How to create your sheets of characters
Introduction to the adaptation of a book Parts 1 and 2
The importance of the sequences of the daily life in your scenario
The point-of-view narrative
How long is a short film !
10 steps to write a film