THE ELEMENTS OF STORYTELLING

The Six Elements of Storytelling

Character Plot Conflict Resolution Setting Theme

Character
The story is about characters You cant tell a story without characters Background tells the past of your characters
Where they came from what events in their past are influencing their present actions

Character arcs make sure to have a map of how

character changes through the story Beyond the written word with multimedia projects, youre not just telling a good story, youre showing it
Sound, photos that illustrate their back stories Are they available for a film or audio interview?

Plot
How you tell what happens (or what

happened) in a story Its not simply what happened in a story, but the arrangement of how the story is presented A good plot has a great beginning- hook

Point of View
The perspective through which the story will

be told The typical points of view are

First person the story is told from the

perspective of the person experiencing the plot the events is limited to their own experiences Third person omniscient the story is told from the perspective of someone who is aware of everything, even what your characters are thinking

Plot
Third person limited perspective is one where an

imaginary character follows another character

Dividing your Projects Plot will help you break you projects down into scenes
Create an outline of your project Once the outline is complete- create storyboards,

comps and navigation

Nonlinear plots viewers should be able to choose how they want to experience the story
Navigation should be available for them to experience

different sections

Conflict
Conflict is what makes a plot interesting It drives your characters to action Its the problem the characters are trying to

solve in a story

Resolution
The resolution of your story is where you tell

how the issues panned out The resolution should tie up all the loose ends and bring the conflict to a successful close

Setting
It is simply where the story takes place It is where multimedia can have a serious

impact You can establish setting through the design of the project, audio, photographs, video and words you include in your copy

Typography
Choice of fonts can have a great impact and readability Focus on two types of fonts headline and body fonts Headline fonts sized bigger than about 18 points Serif fonts are more classical and traditional Script faces are more personal Body copy should be easy to read; dont make it so small

Typography
Avoid serif body copy serif faces have thin

finishing strokes- harder to read especially on TV screens Make sure you view your project in the environment in which it will be viewed

Design
The design of your project also helps

establish the setting Use props throughout your design fonts, colors Five rules of design

Contrast Alignment Proximity Repitition Subtraction

Five Rules of Design

Contrast means making things clear Alignment things should align to each other to establish

the flow of the viewers eye movement

usually left, center, or right justified Dont mix too many alignments Top left to the bottom right Bad alignment centering a long paragraph

Proximity things that belong together should be close

together

A headline should be close to its body copy Series of thumbnails should be close together if youre

highlighting them as a group

Repetition using the same elements of design throughout

the entire project Subtraction removing unnecessary parts

Audio and Voices

Narration take some time to audition

different people for the role Some people get nervous in front of a microphone Recording performances ask people to record things more than once

Music
Background music should be used to

reinforce setting Pick the appropriate audio

Video
File size is a factor in most online projects Video is much larger and takes longer to load

than any other media Keep your video short and relevant

Theme
The point youre trying to get across by

presenting the story The reason for the project : Why are you doing the project? It may involve moral imperative youre trying to teach the viewer It may simply the subject of your project

The Three Acts

Act I
A typical motion picture; lasts about 20 minutes

long Introduces the main characters, establishes the situation, begins to establish the setting The most important part of a television show It sets up the conflict he hero or main character has to overcome Set up your projects so that they begin with something interesting, and give them a reason to click through the rest of your project

The Three Acts

Act II
It is usually longer than the other acts It is where the most of the action takes place the

middle of the story It presents a series of obstacles that must be overcome

The Three Acts

Act III
It brings the story to an end It brings about the resolution to the conflict It emphasizes the theme of the movie