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1. NARRATIVE 101
SHORT FILM

3. NARRATIVE STRUCTURE

4. MUST UNDERSTAND NARRATIVE
SHOULD EXPLAIN
LINEAR AND NON LINEAR NARRATIVES
COULD EXPLAIN PLOT POINTS

6. STORY

7. STORYTELLING

9. STORY
DRIVING FORCE

10. • CHARACTERS
• CONCEPT
•
•
• BEGINNING, MIDDLE END
• PLOT POINTS

11. •

12. Famous American screenwriter Syd Field came
up with a way to describe a film stories
concept in its simplest form.

13. PERSON

14. PLACE

15. DOING ‘THEIR THING’

17. A PERSON
A GEEKY HIGH SCHOOL LOSER

18. IN A PLACE
NEW YORK CITY

19. DOING HIS OR HER THING
FIGHTING CRIME AS A MASKED VIGILANTE

21. STORY CONCEPTING
1. A PERSON
2. IN A PLACE
3. DOING HIS OR HER THING

22. A RECENTLY WIDOWED OAP
IN AMERICA
FLYING HIS HOUSE OFF ON THE
ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME

24. A WEALTHY INDUSTRIALIST
IN AMERICA
USING HIS SUPER ARMOUR TO FIGHT
TERRORISM

26. A YOUNG FARM HAND
ON TATTOINE
TRYING TO RESCUE A PRINCESS FROM AN EVIL
EMPIRE

29. NARRATIVE

30. GOOD BURGER
3 DIFFERENT PARTS.
WE CALL EACH OF THESE PARTS “ACTS”

31. GOOD BURGER
THEY’RE SPLIT INTO 3 DIFFERENT PARTS
The first 3rd of the
film is the setup:
Its where we meet
the characters and
find out what the
basic stories
premise is ….
30 minutes

32. GOOD BURGER
THEY’RE SPLIT INTO 3 DIFFERENT PARTS
The second 3rd of
the film is the
conflict:
Its where the main
character has to
fight against
increasing odds to
get what they
want….
30 - 60
minutes

33. GOOD BURGER
THEY’RE SPLIT INTO 3 DIFFERENT PARTS
The final 3rd of the
film is the resolution:
Its where the story
wraps up, and our
characters get to the
end of their journey
30 minutes

34. PLOT POINT
EVENT
MOVES THE
STORY FORWARD IN A NEW &
INTERESTING WAY

35. •
DILEMMA
• MORAL OF THE
STORY

37. •
•
•
•

38. •
•

39. • HIDE AWAY
• TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
TAKE ACTION

40. •
•
•
•
•
•

41. •
•
VIGILANTE

42. •
•
BECOMES BATMAN

43. •
•

44. •
•

45. •
•
• MURDER IS
ETHICALLY WRONG, AND LEADS TO CORRUPTION, CRIME &
LAWLESSNESS. BRUCE’S PRINCIPLES WILL DICTATE BATMANS
ACTIONS.

46. • QUESTION
• WANT
• NEED

47. TIMELINE
As film-makers, do we need to tell the story in the
order in which it happens?

48. THE ORDER WE WANT

49. LINEAR NARRATIVE

50. NON-LINEAR
NARRATIVE

51. ARRIVAL
•
•
•

53. WHAT DID WE LEARN ABOUT THE NARRATIVE STRUCTURE?
• IS IT LINEAR, OR NON-LINEAR?
• HOW WERE THE BEGINNING & END RELATED?
• WHAT WERE THE PLOT POINTS?