Inspired 3D Short Film Production: Story — Part 1
Exercise: Select a few of your favorite stories and see whether you can identify each of the central themes with a single word or a short phrase. For example, the central theme of The Wizard of Oz might be, "Home is where the heart is." The central themes of the short film Values might be "priorities" or perhaps "approval." Then again, the theme might very well be "values."
Balancing Realism with Imagination Plot is the flow of events contained in your story. Keep in mind that a single event doesn't quite qualify as a story. At least two are generally required, and they must be related somehow, usually by way of cause and effect. "I walked down the street" is not a plot, but "I walked down the street and…" will qualify as a plot once you complete the sentence with another event or a punch line that brings about some form of change.
Characters are the living beings who respond to or motivate the events of the story, and setting is the location and era where those events take place. Setting might also indicate specifics, such as season, time of day and weather conditions.
Any one of these three elements can be the catalyst for a story idea; however, a premise won't progress very far unless at least one of the other two ingredients is added.
Two out of Three Ain't Always Bad
Another important concept to keep in mind is that stories must be at least somewhat related to familiar reality to engage an audience, but abstract and creative enough to entertain. And striking this balance successfully is sometimes tricky. If your story is too close to normal reality, it runs the risk of being dull. On the other hand, if it is too bizarre you might not find an audience. Shorts like For the Birds, Bert and Early Bloomer achieve such a balance by mixing imaginative characters with familiar social themes (see Figure 2).
Effectively communicating a story generally requires three basic elements:
A plot and a setting without characters can occasionally qualify as a story; however, unless the action is centered around a major event like the creation of the universe, it is unlikely that such a tale will be especially memorable or interesting. Audiences yearn to relate, and a film with no characters will have an extremely difficult time establishing such a connection.
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