CHAPTER 3
Basic Animation Writing Structure

Jean Ann Wright

DIFFERENCES IN STORY STRUCTURE

Structure exists to help you write a better story, but differences in the length of your story make a difference in the complexity of your structure. Differences in type (feature, kid’s cartoon, Internet short) or genre (action/adventure, comedy, preschool) can also make a difference in complexity and style. A feature script is longer and requires more structure to hold our interest. An Internet short or one-minute TV cartoon requires very little plot. In fact, structure may get in the way of the gags. Generally, action/adventure shows require more plot than gag-driven comedy shows. Primetime animated shows generally use a sitcom structure with more clever dialogue and less action.

BASIC STRUCTURE

All stories must have a beginning, middle, and end. A short series script (for TV or the Internet) must be about the stars of that series and be centered on them. The star or hero of each episode must have a goal or motive, and someone or something must oppose that goal. These are the basic story musts, and the same applies to a film. Of course, there are also independent animated films that are more abstract and make no attempt at telling a tale.

Normally scripts use a three-act structure:

• Act I This ends after the problem has been set up. (The girl is on top of a flagpole.)
• Act II This ends before the climax. (Someone is pelting her with squishy tomatoes and rotten oranges.)
• Act III Resolution. (She finds a way to get down.) Wrap up with a tag.

© 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-240-81343-1.00001-7

Occasionally a TV animation script will be written in just two acts, but even with only two acts, the basic three-act structure will be spread out over the length of those two acts. The three acts of a typical television script may be about the same length, although the last act will probably be the shortest. Sometimes the first act is shorter. Television act breaks normally come at commercial breaks, so suspense should be built up to help keep the audience in their seats through the commercials. There may be an opening teaser.

A three-act feature script will probably have acts that are apportioned: 25 percent for Act I, 50 percent for Act II, and 25 percent for Act III. The rules are not carved in stone.

CREATING THE STORY

First Method

This is a simple step-by-step method for creating a story for an established series or for your own characters. Here you’re writing a story for characters you know.

• Who is your protagonist, star, or hero for this episode? We will use the terms protagonist, star, and hero/heroine interchangeably in this book because the protagonist, or the person who drives the story, is normally the star or the hero/heroine in an animation story. What is the star’s character flaw, fault, or weakness? How does this flaw hurt or annoy others?
• Go to the end of your story. What does this character learn about himself and how to tteat others by the end of this episode? What was the lesson that the story taught him—the theme of your story? A series star may have to repeat some of these same lessons time after time, since series characters don’t undergo much change. For instance, Scooby-Doo remains a coward.
• Back to the beginning. What does your protagonist want? This goal should start low and snowball throughout the story until it’s almost an obsession by the end.
• Who (what villain or opponent) can best attack the star’s character flaw, oppose his values, and try to stop him from reaching his goal? This villain should ideally want the same thing as the star. (It could be something specific like a treasure chest of gold, or the characters might be fighting over something general like control or a way of life.)
• What’s the catalyst or inciting incident, the person or thing from the outside that causes the protagonist to come up with his goal and start the story moving? It may be the villain that puts the story into action, especially in a mystery. (The villain appears as a ghost at the old house.)
• Make sure that all story points are related and tied together so that you’re telling only one story.
• The star or hero develops a game plan to reach his goal. The villain attacks over and over. There is usually a major reversal or turning point in the way that the action is going at the end of Act I, spinning the action around in another direction. Now there’s no turning back for the hero.
• In Act II new information is coming out. Our hero keeps revising his plan because it’s not working. A high point is likely about halfway through the script. Everything looks good for the hero, and it appears that he’ll attain his goal. But the hero has a defeat or apparent defeat, giving the villain or antagonist an advantage. This starts the downward slide for the hero.
• There’s another turning point toward the end of Act II, spinning the action around again.
• The major crisis is the lowest point in the story for the hero. It’s the reverse of what the hero wants. Often it’s here that he’s faced with his critical choice (whether to go after the gold in the chest that’s nearing the edge of the falls or to save his best friend). This crisis might be the turning point at the end of Act II (more likely in a feature), but it can’t come too soon or the third act will drag. If the major crisis is at the end of Act II, it requires a short third act.
• In Act III the hero comes back and tries harder. This is the biggest battle. It’s best when it’s a physical battle and a battle of values. The hero wins! This is the climax! Everything must build to this point.
• Resolution. Wrap up quickly.

This method works best for longer material: a feature, or an hour, or at least a half-hour story. It works best when you want more character, more plot, and less belly laughs. The steps are general, a structure to work toward. Your story may be slightly different.

Second Method

This method is the same as the first method, but if you don’t yet know your characters, the steps will be in a different order. Here you may want to start with the theme or lesson that your protagonist is going to learn—what the story is really about, the second bullet in the first method. Then go to back to the first bullet: Create a protagonist or hero that can best benefit and learn from that theme and an antagonist that is best suited to fight or oppose that theme and that hero.

Third Method

Some longer stories have all the elements of the previous methods, but they have more than one plot: an A-plot and a B-plot, and sometimes even a C-plot. The B-plot is a subplot that complicates the main plot or places an obstacle in its way. One plot may be an action plot and the other a character-driven plot. The character plot may revolve around the hero, and the action plot may revolve around the villain. Both plots must advance the story. The subplot must add to the story giving it more dimensions. The subplot should start after the main plot, interweave, and wrap up close to the main plot. It should remain less important. Getting the two plots to come together into only one story with nothing extraneous can be the hard part. Stories with A- and B-plots are too complicated for shorter stories under the half-hour length. Even some half-hour stories do not deal with subplots. If you’re working with a story editor on a series, ask if he wants a subplot.

Fourth Method

Primetime animated shows are written like sitcoms. A sitcom is a comedy based around a situation. A protagonist still has a goal, develops a game plan that’s opposed, and battles someone or something for the outcome. But sitcoms have less action. They’re not as visual and lend themselves less to classic animation techniques. The comedy is centered on the characters, who may be more realistic. Sitcoms stand out for their clever dialogue and multitude of jokes, one or more on each page. One or two writers may write an initial script, but somewhere in the process, a whole group of staff writers sits around a table and works together, punching up the humor and polishing the script. These scripts usually have a subplot.

Fifth Method

A few animation writers work very differently. They feel that plot tends to get in the way of the gags and the laughs. Preferring to keep it simple, they work with a basic idea for the star’s goal and opposition (Coyote wants to catch the Roadrunner, but Roadrunner doesn’t want to be caught). They add an arena, the necessary characters, and some props. Then they build the gags toward a big climax, placing the best, wildest, and funniest gag there. The story is simple with a beginning, middle, and end. Create one escalating conflict with at least one reversal. Stories over five minutes need multiple obstacles or complications. But funny is what it’s all about! This style tends to work best in shorter cartoons: thirty seconds to twelve minutes max. The classic animators worked this way. They worked together often in one room, developing stories by topping each other with gags. They developed ideas and animated the stories themselves. Characters developed gradually through gags, dialogue, and bits over a period of time. They knew and loved their characters, sometimes becoming their characters as they worked. Imagination, surprise, and exaggeration are very important in this style. There is not enough plot here to keep the audience’s interest for a longer story or feature film.

And More!

There are many variations and combinations of these styles. Each feature, each series, and each story editor is different. One other suggested structure method leapfrogs a plot-developing or story scene with a gag scene throughout. So you have story scene, gag scene, story, gag, story”¦ until the end!

STORY THEME

The theme is the lesson that the protagonist learns, the central message or values of the story. We just touched briefly on theme when we talked about what the main character learns about himself. Not all animation stories have themes, but many of the best stories do. A theme is something for the audience to think about later. It gives the story some substance. It helps us understand each other and the world around us. It’s an observation about life and the people in our world. It helps us to identify with the characters. We recognize our own problems and root for the character to work through those problems, flaws, and needs in order to survive and grow.

Think of a theme as one value coming into conflict with another and winning out. Forgiveness is better than revenge. Living for the present can make life fuller than constantly worrying about the future. Pestering your older brother is more fun than playing by yourself”¦ at least until you get caught. These are the basic everyday values of life, and they have been the subjects of stories from the beginnings of time. Oral tales of old; myths; legends; the Bible; Greek, Roman, and Shakespearean plays; novels; films; and even games have all been centered on these conflicts in values.

Remember your audience. Because male teens are the biggest ticket buyers, many films center on the theme of childishness losing out to adulthood (coming of age or identity). If your audience is primarily children, then you may want to consider what is appropriate. Universal and timeless themes that touch us all are usually the best themes for films.

Character, plot, and theme are all connected. Your hero may have a character flaw that is getting in the way of his happiness. What he goes through during the course of the story changes the way he looks at life and alters the way he’ll live in the future. That’s his character arc. Ideally, he will become a better person, or at least come to know himself and the world a little better. Will reaching his goal make life better for your hero and for others? Will the values of the hero or the values of the villain win out, and why? It’s possible to have more than one theme, but if this is the case, the themes must be interrelated.

A theme is felt, not indoctrinated or preached. No one wants a sermon. Instead we want characters that by their actions show what they value in life and fight for what is good in the world. Values are expressed mostly through action, but they might come out briefly during the course of a verbal conflict as well. Conflict and opposing values are at the heart of any story.

EXERCISES

1. Make a diagram of basic animation structure so that you can see it and better understand it. Be sure your diagram shows how it’s all interconnected.
2. Copy one of the structure diagrams on the board and discuss it in class.
3. What was your favorite gag-based cartoon of all time? Why? Discuss the structure of one of the classics.
4. Watch Shrek. List and discuss the basic structure points (hero and goal, villain, catalyst, game plan, turning points, major crisis, critical choice, battle, climax, and theme).
5. Discuss the subplot of Shrek. How does it weave in and out of the main plot and make the story richer?
6. List 10 possible themes for an animated feature.
7. If a short cartoon has less structure, what keeps our interest? Discuss.
8. What keeps our interest in a short film with no story? Discuss in class.
9. How much structure will your project need? Which structure method will you use, or do you plan to use another kind of framework? If you’re using a structure that was not discussed, how will it hold your story together and make it interesting for the audience? Explain.
10. Who is your protagonist in your project? What’s his problem or goal? What terrible thing will happen if he doesn’t get what he wants? Who or what opposes him? Does your protagonist learn something by the end of the story and if so what?