Note to students:
Below are some like to short films to use for your research. I highly recommend watching Disney’s new Short Circuit series on Disney+ as the story format is perfect. I was hoping to have former student Trent Correy join us to talk about the story structure for his short Drop, but he is back to work at Disney. You DO NOT NEED TO WATCH THE DISNEY+ Series!
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THEORY:
Story Spine: The story spine is a technique from improvisational theater created by Kenn Adams, author of How to Improvise a Full Length Play.
Ken Adams created the Story Spine in 1991 and, over the years, I’ve been thrilled to watch more and more people use it, teach it, discuss it, and even modify it in order to make it their own. One of my favorite modifications is the addition of “And, the moral of the story is…” at the very end. Over time, however, some of its permutations have become less powerful, I think, than the original due to a missing link here or a different word there. So, I’m happy to present it here in its original 8-line format along with a brief analysis, a couple of interesting examples, and some tips on how to best make use of it. (see attached image)
TASK:
PART ! – NOTE TAKING & RESEARCH
A) Take notes on the exploration of different Story Structures.
– The Pixar approach
– 3 Acts
– Hero’s Journey
– Story Circles
– Writing a Short Story structure (PDF attached)
Part 1 – Film Grammar Class Activity (attached slideshow). (15 marks)
• Complete the (in slideshow):
• Reflection Activity,
• the Sketchbook Activity
• the Beat-board Activity
• Post to your Story and World Building Behance Portfolio
B) Breakdown the story structure of a short animation.
The recommended short length is 2:00 minutes.
– Select a short animation of your choice or use one of the provided links to Geri’s Game or One Small Step
– Have your sketchbook ready to sketch panels and breakdown the short animation.
– Use the Short Story Structure to breakdown the animated short (PDF)
– Jot down the Short’s Title and Director’s name
– Jot down the structure points from today’s class (PDF) and answer each element in relation to the short you selected. Provide a written analysis/anwser with a quick sketch to support the story element.
– Post your notes in your Behance Story and World Building portfolio
– Complete the attached form to submit your assignment
PART 2 – DEVELOP A STORY
A) With 1-2 other students in the class, develop a short story to be animated
• Brainstorm a story based on the theme of:
“some everyday happening becomes out of this world”
• Develop a story plan on the provided theme, meeting the criteria presented in class last week (see below).
• Sketch out preliminary/quick visual plans for each beat of the story
• Pitch quick sketches to friends and get feedback
Jamboard Structure (JB = board in Jam board)
• JB1 – Name of story, name of Group, students’ names
• JB2 – Logline
• JB3 – Story – must be connected to you and 2 sentences
• JB4 & JB5 – characters: one JB per character. Include character’s name, a paragraph about the character. Character’s wants and needs. Relationship of Characters. Rough sketches.
• JB6 – Journey. Obstacles, resolution.
• JB7 & JB8 – World Building – paragraph and rough sketches
PART 3 – PITCH A STORY TO THE CLASS
Presentations on Feb 25, 2021
Embed Jamboard to Behance portfolio (each student must do this)
Export Jamboard as a PDF and submit.
Present Jamboard in class – BE THE STORY!
– 2-3 minutes
– presented in class google meeting
– share with jleduc@wsd1.org
– Practice (sharing your screen and your pitch)
– Students must introduce themselves
Resources:
