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Pixar's Rules of Storytelling (2013)

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Re: Pixar's Rules of Storytelling (2013)

#51

Post by aequitas »

apo wrote: post #43
aequitas wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A good example of the rearranging is from Nerdwriters YouTube https://youtu.be/Gksxu-yeWcU Just a minor change in order of the same scenes completely changed a movie.

That was one of the best film critiques I've ever seen. I especially like the fact that: - the original movie was explained because I had never heard of it; and - a short version of the re-edited movie was spliced together so that you could see what the author had in mind. Overall, this is a compelling demonstration of how simply changing the order in which the viewer gets information can make a so-so story great. Al…

Same, I hadn't seen the movie either. I've picked up a lot of good movies lately via similar film analysing youtubers. Even though it sometimes spoils some movies, it makes others great to watch because you can appreciate the 'science behind the rainbow' even if the rainbow is not to great to look at nowadays.

Re: Pixar's Rules of Storytelling (2013)

#52

Post by mitchdoogle »

arethuza wrote: post #28
dahart wrote: post #6

> 4. Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___. This one reminds me of writing advice from South Park's Trey Parker: write better stories by figuring out how to replace all your "ands" and "buts" with "therefore". http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2015/05/the-k... > 20. Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you disli…

"How d’you rearrange them into what you DO like?" Are you allowed to combine multiple movies? If so them I'm off to combine "Howards End" and "The Hurt Locker" into something more to my taste....

combining movies was an exercise in a creative writing class I took

Re: Pixar's Rules of Storytelling (2013)

#53

Post by coldtea »

arethuza wrote: post #28
dahart wrote: post #6

> 4. Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___. This one reminds me of writing advice from South Park's Trey Parker: write better stories by figuring out how to replace all your "ands" and "buts" with "therefore". http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2015/05/the-k... > 20. Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you disli…

"How d’you rearrange them into what you DO like?" Are you allowed to combine multiple movies? If so them I'm off to combine "Howards End" and "The Hurt Locker" into something more to my taste....

>Are you allowed to combine multiple movies? If so them I'm off to combine "Howards End" and "The Hurt Locker" into something more to my taste....

That's a lot of what someone like Tarantino does.

Re: Pixar's Rules of Storytelling (2013)

#54

Post by luord »

Erlangolem wrote: post #5

I violently disagree with 19. The overuse of contrived means of creating tension is lazy, predictable, and frustrating. More unpleasant is the tendency of characters to become inexplicably stupid, inexperienced, and illogical under those circumstances. I’m not asking for purely rationalist fiction, but if the tension is utterly contrived, I check out. Contrived tension is no more useful than contrived resolution of t…

This is one of the rules I have a problem with. It's weird that so many people defended it with the interpretation they inserted into it while you rightfully critiqued it because you took it at face value.

Coincidences are rarely great. At best, they're a necessary annoyance.

Re: Pixar's Rules of Storytelling (2013)

#55

Post by luord »

Someone already critiqued 19 so I'll speak against 16: Sure, stack the odds against the characters' success... But don't go overboard unless you're writing a tragedy.

If the odds are too against the characters, the resolution is going to feel contrived, even if it makes sense and it's not really a Deus ex Machina.

Re: Pixar's Rules of Storytelling (2013)

#56

Post by amptorn »

runevault wrote: post #44
denzil_correa wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the point is to build on the first intuition rather than consider it "well done". It is to actively accept that may be you are missing something that can help convert the first intuition into an even better idea. Therefore, I wouldn't say you need to discard the first idea/intuition but rather to not think of it as the final product.

Not necessarily. For example: I need a chase scene in my story here. If you're telling a modern story, your first inclination is either a car chase or a foot chase. You certainly CAN just spice these up (put them in a surprising location being the easiest) but there is value in trying to find a different way (chase on Segways, or maybe on animals stolen from the zoo, etc).

> For example: I need a chase scene in my story here.

This is not the greatest example because it's very rare that a story needs a chase scene to drive it forward. The end result will boil down to "they get away" or "they get caught" and both of these can be accomplished instantly, no full chase sequence required. Chase scenes are things you add to visual media because they're exciting. You never get them in books!

A better example might be "I need to establish that this character is not very smart" or "I need a reason for this character's parents to be dead" or, heh, "I need a way to make it so that this chase scene also develops the plot and/or characters".

And for good solutions to the last problem, you can look at e.g. The Terminator or the entirety of Mad Max: Fury Road...

Re: Pixar's Rules of Storytelling (2013)

#58

Post by icebraining »

runevault wrote: post #47
stordoff wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO you need to be careful about going too far the other way though - if you start going with the non-conventional choice too often, or where there isn't justification for doing so, it can start to feel forced/different just for the sake of being different.

You can't go so over the top that it doesn't fit your story. Like a space shuttle chase scene in a low key romance is not going to play unless you've done a LOT of work to pay it off. Everything needs internal consistency, but you still need to add layers to keep it from being dull. So long as the core trope is there (chase scene with the reversals etc) your audience will be able to follow what is going on and be in…

Like a space shuttle chase scene in a low key romance

Or a space chase scene in ancient Jerusalem? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il26svFhWM8

Re: Pixar's Rules of Storytelling (2013)

#60

Post by hammock »

Animats wrote: post #35
dahart wrote: post #6

> 4. Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___. This one reminds me of writing advice from South Park's Trey Parker: write better stories by figuring out how to replace all your "ands" and "buts" with "therefore". http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2015/05/the-k... > 20. Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you disli…

Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___. That leads to a cliche - the nobody who becomes a hero. That's so Pixar. Biography movies of real people aren't like that, because real life usually isn't.

It's just exposition, conflict, rising action/climax, resolution
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