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A conversation with Mary Coleman, Head of Creative Development at Pixar Animation Studios.

Story Structure developped by Michael Arndt

Pixar story artist Michael Daley interview

I'm currently re-reading Alexander Mackendrick's book 'On Filmmaking' and it is packed with so much golden information that I know I will be coming back to it again and again. Alongside Brian McDonald's 'Invisible Ink', it is my favorite book about cinematic storytelling. I give it my absolute highest recommendation! P.S. I also recommend Paul Cronin's website (http://www.alexandermackendrick.com), where you can find a lot of additional info on Alexander Mackendrick's works.

Drama is anticipation mingled with uncertainty

The anticipation is our sense of expectancy about what has just happened and how it is likely to produce a new event we suspect is likely to follow. The uncertainty is our sense that even though we have an idea as to what will happen next, we cannot be sure of precisely how it will turn out. We anticipate but are still ready for surprises. - Alexander Mackendrick, 'On Filmmaking'

Emotionally-driven, character-driven movies that have humor

“We’re constantly reading scripts. We’re reading for the writer’s voice — not for the material. The directors are coming up with their own ideas; it’s not our job to find them ideas. So we get to read a much broader range of scripts than we would if we were just looking for material for Disney Animation.” “The writer might have a fresh voice or the kind of tone or humor that we’re looking for. The main things we’re looking for in writers are always humor and heart. You can’t make a Disney Animation movie and not have those two elements. So we tend to read a lot of character-driven indie-type stuff.” “The writer we hired to do Wreck-It Ralph we had read four years earlier. We have a list of people that we know we like – we like the writers, and we like the writing. If we like a script we generally will bring the writer in to do a general meeting with the director and the creative executives.” “We want emotionally-driven, character-driven movies that have humor. So that’s what we’re looking for.” - Jessica Julius, Creative Executive at Walt Disney Animation Studios

Clarity in setting up exposition

'A problem for many beginning writers is that they underestimate their story's need for expository background. Knowing the information himself, the writer tends to assume that it is all quite obvious, even though, all too often, it isn't. Why does the writer need to explain everything? Because if the audience needs expository information in order to appreciate and understand an important situation or a character, then the author's failure to prepare for this may disastrously weaken his audience's enjoyment of the story as a whole. Clarity is the communication of essentials and the exclusion of the non-essential. (...) Nobody ever got despised by the critics for being blazingly clear in terms of setting up exposition. (...) There is no danger in being obvious if what you are being obvious about is also exciting. Just as the virtues of good journalism are economy and clarity, telling the story as swiftly as possible with minimum waste and effort, the same can be said for scriptwriting and directing.' - Alexander Mackendrick, 'On Filmmaking'

Alexander Mackendrick on story and dramatic construction

The key elements of effective storytelling

The emotional core is the first key element of any story. You must identify the emotional core first and hook people emotionally up front. That was done very successfully in Finding Nemo and Toy Story 2. What we track in film stories is the emotional line of the story—and that is manifest in the characters’ growth and the obstacles they face. It’s also embodied in the theme of the story. In romantic comedies or love stories, for example, that is often seen as moving from isolation to community or partnership. This comes down to defining the character arc—how a character goes through change. That is what people respond to in any story—film or otherwise. Then it comes down to finding the universal. You see that in movies like Finding Nemo and Toy Story 2, for example. What does it feel like to be left behind? What does it feel like to be the favorite and then have someone come in and replace you? That could be a school or sports team situation. It could be the birth of a younger brother or sister. We all understand that—it’s universal. Mortality is another example: Which is better, to live forever in a case in a museum or to be fully alive and loved for a limited time? In Ratatouille, the universal is about being the outsider and the taboo desire—not being born into the right family and having the impossible dream. - Will Csaklos, former story consultant and senior creative executive for Pixar Animation Studios

The writer-directors of The Lego Movie, Cloudy with a Change of Meatballs and upcoming Batman Lego Movie and Star Wars spin-off unpick their collaborative writing process and offer in-depth screenwrit

Very funny and informative screenwriting lecture by Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, The Lego Movie) You can listen to other lectures on the BAFTA Soundcloud page : https://soundcloud.com/bafta/sets/screenwriters-lecture-series

STORY PITCH

A story pitch is the most economical telling of the essence of your story. A good pitch strips away the inessential details, no matter how great those details may be, and refines the entire story down to its compeeling essentials: • Ttile and genre • Who the story is about (the protagonist) • Where and when the story takes place (the setting) • Her want and how it isn't met (the core conflict) • The plot outcome if the protagonist fails (the external stakes) • Her need and what will happpen if it isn't realized (the internal stakes) • What about her character and philosophy is being tested (the thematic question or philosophical stakes) • The most crucial turning points in the story (inciting incident, midpoint, low point) • The final resolution (of the plot, character arc, and thematic question) And it does this in about three sentences. Example: story pitch for Blade Runner "Blade Runner is a future noir in which Deckard, an ex-cop once known for hunting rogue androids, is dragged out of retirement when a murderous group of military androids shows up in his city intent on forcing their designer to extend their short lifespans. But what Deckard least expected was to fall in love with an android, Rachel, and as she hunts the rogues Deckard begins to question his own humanity, and theirs. In his dogged pursuit Deckard drives away Rachel and is nearly killed by the dying rogue leader, Roy -- but a moment of mutual empathy between man and android earns Deckard a second chance at a life and love." - Stephan Vladimir Bugaj

Brian McDonald - Stories in their Natural Habitat

Meg LeFauve’s building blocks of a story

- Theme - Main character - Main relationship - World - Stakes - Basic structure - Tone - Genre 'In my own personal stories, I always start with some kind of inspiration. A character or world or emotional experience I can’t get out of my head. It dogs me. It keeps pushing in. Once I’ve decided, okay, lets see what’s here -then my goal is to get to a concept. I don’t mean that word in the way Hollywood can mean “high concept.” To me concept means having the basic building blocks of a story: theme, main character, main relationship, world, stakes, basic structure, tone and genre.' - Meg LeFauve, screenwriter of 'Inside Out' and 'The Good Dinosaur'

Meg LeFauve on writing

ACT ONE You set up a belief that the main character has. She believes the world works this way. Ex: in Finding Nemo, Marlin’s core belief: ‘the world is dangerous off this reef, and I can’t do anything to protect you once we go off of it, so we’re staying in here.’ And they set up Marlin’s belief system with the opening sequence and the barracuda attack. ACT TWO Act Two is litteraly saying to your main character: ‘Is your core belief true? Is that true? Is that true?’ Because look, you just hang out with sharks, and you did pretty good. Dory is kind of saying that the whole movie, because she has a very opposite belief system. She is Marlin’s teacher. Act Two is cracking your main character’s belief, ‘Is that true?’ Is that true?’ To change someone’s belief system is a gigantic psychological thing to do. So it could take an entire Act Two of multiple times of hitting them over the head. You can’t be nice to your main character. You’ve got to beat the crap out of them. You’re trying to break their psychology, you’re trying to bring something to their consciousness. There’s something in their unconsciousness that is trying to rise, and Act Two is ‘change the belief, change the belief’ until, at the end of Act Two, you’ve broken it. It’s the All is Lost moment, the Lowest Point. Right before the end of Act Two, your main character got tested to such a massive test that she defaulted into her old belief system. It was just too much. And it feels like a death, because something has died. What has died is that old belief system, so that something new can rise into the consciousness: a new idea, a new understanding. A new belief is born. ACT THREE Now here’s the trick: the new belief system has been born, but now you have to prove that you learned it by ACTING. You have to go do something to prove that you get it – you can’t just get it. NOW GO DO IT, GO PROVE IT. In the climax, it’s no longer about talking, it’s about what will you do that in behavior shows that you would never have done it in Act One. It’s almost polar opposite to what the old belief system would have had you do. Your main character proves that she has changed by doing something that is the polar opposite of what she would have done in Act One. Ex: Inside Out: during the entire movie, Joy is like ‘Don’t touch these memories, YOU cannot touch these’, and at the climax, she litteraly HANDS THE MEMORIES OVER to Sadness: ‘You are THE ONLY ONE who should be touching these.’ - Meg LeFauve, screenwriter of 'Inside Out' and 'The Good Dinosaur'

Brad Bird on Animation

Directors Rich Moore and Byron Howard, co-writer and co-director Jared Bush, and co-writer Phil Johnston talk about Zootopia.

Scott Pilgrim: Make Your Transitions Count

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