Coming up with an idea for your interactive film, including a recap or intro to story concepting and plot points

1. INTERACTIVE
FILM

2. LAST WEEK
WHAT WERE WE LOOKING AT LAST WEEK?

3. THIS WEEK
WE’RE GOING TO LOOK AT
NARRATIVE STRUCTURE.

4. BY THE END OF TODAY, YOU
❑MUST UNDERSTAND WHAT FILM
NARRATIVE ARE
❑SHOULD CREATE A CONCEPT FOR AN
INTERACTIVE FILM
❑COULD DEVELOP YOUR NARRATIVE WITH
PLOT POINTS

5. WHAT IS A NARRATIVE?

6. NARRATIVE IS JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR
STORY.

7. STORYTELLING IS A TRADITION THAT
STRETCHES BACK THOUSANDS OF YEARS…

8. ARE FILM-MAKERS STORYTELLERS?

9. A NARRATIVE IS A STORY
STORIES ARE THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND A
GOOD SINGLE CAMERA PRODUCTION.
BUT WHAT DO WE EXPECT A STORY TO HAVE?

10. GOOD NARRATIVES HAVE….
• INTERESTING & BELIEVABLE CHARACTERS
• A GOOD CONCEPT (THE IDEA)
• DRAMA!
• ACTION!
• A BEGINNING, MIDDLE & END
• EXCITING PLOT POINTS

11. NARRATIVE CONCEPTS
•ANY STORY CAN BE BROKEN DOWN
INTO ITS MOST BASIC PARTS

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

13. 1. ITS ABOUT A PERSON

14. 2. IN A PLACE

15. 3. DOING ‘THEIR THING’
(IE. TRYING TO ACHIEVE SOMETHING)

16. ALL FILM NARRATIVES CAN BE BROKEN
DOWN INTO THIS SIMPLE CONCEPT.

17. STORY CONCEPTS
A PERSON
A GEEKY HIGH SCHOOL LOSER

18. STORY CONCEPTS
IN A PLACE
NEW YORK CITY

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

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

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

23. UP

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

28. AFTER WE HAVE A GOOD STORY CONCEPT,
WE NEED TO DEVELOP THE NARRATIVE.

29. AFTER WE UNDERSTAND OUR FILM STORIES
CONCEPT, WE NEED TO STRUCTURE THE
NARRATIVE.

30. FILM NARRATIVES ARE LIKE A GOOD BURGER
THEY’RE SPLIT INTO 3 DIFFERENT PARTS.
WE CALL EACH OF THESE PARTS “ACTS”

31. FILM NARRATIVES ARE LIKE A 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. FILM NARRATIVES ARE LIKE A 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. FILM NARRATIVES ARE LIKE A 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 POINTS
AT THE END OF ACT 1 & ACT 2
IS A PLOT POINT.
A PLOT POINT IS AN EVENT IN
THE STORY WHICH MOVES THE
STORY FORWARD IN A NEW &
INTERESTING WAY.
IN FILM REVIEWS THEY ARE
OFTEN REFERRED TO AS
TWISTS.

35. LETS LOOK AT THE CONCEPT &
NARRATIVE OF BATMAN BEGINS
• PERSON
• PLACE
• DOING THEIR
THING
(TRYING TO
ACHIEVE A
GOAL)
• AN ANGRY, SUPER-RICH ORPHAN
• IN A LAWLESS AMERICAN CITY
• TRYING TO FIND A WAY TO FIGHT
CRIME AS THE MASKED VIGILANTE
‘BATMAN’

36. NARRATIVE
•ACT 1: SETUP
• BRUCE’S PARENTS KILLED, BECOMES ANGRY,
TRIES TO KILL HIS PARENTS MURDERER, FLEES
GOTHAM & TRAVELS WORLD, TRAINS AS A
VIOLENT VIGILANTE, UNDER MENTOR RA’S AL
GHUL.

37. NARRATIVE
•PLOT POINT 1:
•BRUCE WAYNE RETURNS HOME AND
BECOMES BATMAN

38. NARRATIVE
•ACT 2: CONFLICT
• BATMAN TRIES TO USE HIS NEW SKILLS
FROM RA’S TO RID GOTHAM OF CRIMINALS

39. NARRATIVE
•PLOT POINT 2: TWIST!
• BRUCES ‘DEAD’ MENTOR RETURNS TO DESTROY
GOTHAM & KILL ALL ITS CITIZENS, HE BURNS
DOWN BRUCE’S HOUSE, LEAVES BRUCE FOR
DEAD.

40. NARRATIVE
•ACT 3
• BATMAN FIGHTS TO SAVE THE CITY FROM HIS OLD MENTOR
RA’S. HE DEFEATS RA’S BUT REFUSES TO KILL HIM.
• HE HAS FOUND A WAY TO SOLVE HIS PROBLEM: MURDER IS
ETHICALLY WRONG, AND LEADS TO CORRUPTION, CRIME &
LAWLESSNESS. BRUCE’S PRINCIPLES WILL DICTATE
BATMANS ACTIONS.

41. PLOT POINTS
INTERACTIVE FILMS ARE
DIFFERENT FROM NORMAL
FILMS.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN AT THE
PLOT POINTS IN YOUR
INTERACTIVE FILM?

42. WHAT DO I NEED TO DO FOR THIS
PROJECT?
• IN GROUPS OF 3 YOU WILL NEED TO COME UP WITH A
CONCEPT FOR A 5 MINUTE INTERACTIVE FILM.
• YOUR FILMS WILL NEED TO HAVE AT LEAST 2 INTERACTIVE
MOMENTS, WHERE THE VIEWER CAN CHOOSE HOW THE
STORY PROGRESSES.
• YOUR FILMS STORY WILL NEED TO BE BASED AROUND A
THEME. YOU WILL NEED TO BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN HOW
YOUR IDEA MEETS THE THEME.

43. METAMORPHOSIS
YOUR THEME IS

44. TASK 1: CONCERTING
• IN YOUR GROUPS, BEGIN TO COME UP WITH
DIFFERENT FILM CONCEPTS THAT MEET THE THEME.
• DO NOT JUST GO WITH YOUR 1ST IDEA. YOUR 1ST
IDEA IS YOUR WORST IDEA.
• LISTEN TO EACH OTHER AND VALUE EACH OTHERS
IDEAS. MIX IDEAS TOGETHER.

45. TASK 2: PITCHES
• EVERYONE PITCH ONE OF YOUR IDEAS TO THE
GROUP USING SYD FIELDS THEORY OF STORY
CONCEPTING.

46. TASK 3: PLOT POINTS
• YOUR INTERACTIVE FILM WILL INCLUDE MOMENTS WHERE
THE VIEWER CAN CHANGE THE FILMS STORY.
• WHAT WILL THESE BE?
• WHAT CHOICES WILL YOU PRESENT THE VIEWER WITH?
• WHAT WILL THE CONSEQUENCE OF EACH CHOICE BE?

47. FEEDBACK
WHAT DID WE LEARN ABOUT YOUR INTERACTIVE FILMS NARRATIVE
STRUCTURE?
• WHAT IS YOUR FILMS CONCEPT?
• WHAT ARE THE PLOT POINTS?