Thursday, June 26, 2003
The Illustrated Vogler
Here in precis form are the basic steps for Vogler's work.
1. Ordinary World
2. Call to Adventure
3. Refusal of the Call
4. Meeting with the Mentor
5. Crossing the First Threshold
6. Tests, Allies, Enemies
7. Approach to the Innermost Cave
8. Ordeal
9. Reward (seizing the sword)
10. The Road Back
11. Resurrection
12. Return with the Elixir
Here in precis form are the basic steps for Vogler's work.
1. Ordinary World
2. Call to Adventure
3. Refusal of the Call
4. Meeting with the Mentor
5. Crossing the First Threshold
6. Tests, Allies, Enemies
7. Approach to the Innermost Cave
8. Ordeal
9. Reward (seizing the sword)
10. The Road Back
11. Resurrection
12. Return with the Elixir
Thursday, June 12, 2003
Week 1: The Basics of Three Act Structure
Dating back to Artstotle’s Poetics, the fundamentals of three-act structure have driven the Western style of visual storytelling in all its forms. Mastering this form is an essential tool for unpacking the visual storyteller’s style and exploring the deeper themes and intentions behind the work. As a jumping off point, the three act structure will form the foundation of all later work.
Selected Scenes from: The Matrix, My Dinner with Andre
Week 2: The Illustrated Vogler
Based on Joseph Campbell’s mono-myth cycle, Christopher Vogler’s theory of story telling structure has become pivotal in contemporary screenwriting circles. Inspiring such films as Star Wars, Vogler’s work has application to more than just the film world – his discussion of how character drives story has relevance to emerging interactive forms.
Selected Scenes from: Gladiator, Star Wars, LA Confidential
Week 3: Genre I - Film Noir
The Grand Theft Auto franchise has been one of the most successful video game properties in recent years. Artistically, its influences are drawn from the gritty urban dramas of noir. Exploring themes of alienation, duplicity and skewed reality through a compelling visual style, this genre has had a profound impact on the storytelling style of the late twentieth century and has led to an increasing number of compelling hybrid films.
Selected Scenes from: Dark City, Touch of Evil, Miller’s Crossing, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Sunset Boulevard
Week 4: Genre II - Action / Adventure
Ripping tales of adventure and derring-do have formed a part of Western literature for countless years and the development of cinema have given them full voice. With stunning visuals, sweeping vistas and exotic locations, such films have swept audiences away and left us with our blood pounding. How – and how successfully – has this genre been transposed to the interactive medium? And how might we take it still further?
Selected Scenes from: Le Professional, Braveheart, Das Boot, Fellowship of the Ring
Week 5: Genre III - Silent
At its heart, dramatic storytelling is a visual medium: one that relies on the rapid juxtaposition of imagery, sound and motion to tell story. Dialogue, in some ways, is secondary. Simple and compelling, the art of the silent feature – in either its early forms or more contemporary renditions – has an important lesson for future storytellers.
Selected Scenes from: Charlie Chaplin, Metropolis, Fantastia, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Kowanaquitisi
Week 6: Genre IV - Fights
Action sequences are increasingly the stock in trade of the modern blockbuster. Audiences of both cinema and video-games have come to expect gripping special effects combined with imaginative fight choreography. This session will examine how this segment of cinematic storytelling has exploded in recent years and outline cautionary tales for the game designer.
Selected Scenes from: Crouching Tiger, Rush hour 2, Drunken Master, Hard Boiled
Week 7: Genre V – Shakespeare
The roots of great drama extend back to the Renaissance period but all too often the valuable lessons for the storyteller have been strangled through high school English classes. But examples of great characters, deep themes and heightened conflict are there for the taking from the works of the Bard and have been made all the more accessible thanks to a recent frenzy of film-making in this area.
Selected Scenes from Shakespeare in Love, Henry V, Polanski’s Macbeth, McKellen’s Richard III, Othello, Chimes at Midnight
Week 8: Story Variation I – Narrative Ambiguity
In recent years, many of us have felt a rising cynicism as we consider our world: increasingly, we’re questioning authority and doubting surface explanations. Did we just see what we thought we saw? This zeitgeist has been reflected in the popularity of certain contemporary films and has led to a number of striking new concepts. Or are they, as Robert McKee might say, simply cheap tricks?
Selected Scenes from: Fight Club, Sixth Sense, The Usual Suspects
Week 9: Story Variation II – Episodic Narrative
The episodic narrative is a thematically driven method that allows the writer/director to highlight the characters making up a larger ensemble cast. By stacking stories into a series of related plots and points of view, the author allows the audience to participate in the storytelling experience in a more profound way. This session will explore the use of episodic structure to set pace and raise the stakes as well as a mechanism for developing characters. Particular attention will be paid to the development of the portmanteau plot used in Pulp Fiction.
Selected Scenes from: Pulp Fiction, Being Human, A Night in the World
Week 10: Story Variation III – Looped Time
Moving up a step in the order of complexity is the looped time storyline, in which the main character(s) relives crucial life experiences again. Much more existential than other topics explored in this course, this form explores the theory of second chances by allowing us – through the story to fantasize about “what ifs.” As well as being an effective instrument to develop themes by repeated retellings, the variety of options that can be explored in this form can give valuable insight into the human condition
Selected Scenes from: Groundhog Day, Run Lola Run
Week 11: Story Variation IV – Parallel Streaming
Stories with parallel streams are those that allow the audience to experience several possible narrative realities, all of which are woven into a consistent story thread. This requires painstaking work on the part of the writer, but careful plotting and story closure permits much deeper thematic connections. And, for the more quantum-mechanically inclined, such stories allow the audience to consider how simply missing a bus might have changed their own destinies.
Selected Scenes from: Sliding Doors, The Sweet Hereafter, All Good Things, Go
Week 12: Story Variation V - Non-Linearity
Non-linear story structure can be the most challenging form for the writer/director to master, as it requires both a strong vision and a firm grounding in the principles of classical story design. When wielded effectively, this form is an excellent tool for creating atmosphere, building empathy or antipathy with characters, and unwinding crucial plot details. In recent years a slew of such films have been made, many of which would be characterized as neo-noirs. Is this form a natural for that genre?
Selected Scenes from: Memento, Following, Time Code, New Rose Hotel
Week 13: Story Variation Genre VI – Beginnings/Endings
As storytellers, we want to hook our audiences the second they sit down and leave them wanting more when the lights finally come up. The same is true for game designers – who hasn’t found themselves staring bleary-eyed at another sunrise after spending a night locked in a virtual world. Finding a great beginning and closing on a great ending are tricks of the trade for storytellers – this class will unpack some of the best… and worst.
Selected Scenes from: 2001, Fight Club, Sunset Blvd, The Seventh Seal, The Hidden
Week 14: Presentations and Summing Up
Dating back to Artstotle’s Poetics, the fundamentals of three-act structure have driven the Western style of visual storytelling in all its forms. Mastering this form is an essential tool for unpacking the visual storyteller’s style and exploring the deeper themes and intentions behind the work. As a jumping off point, the three act structure will form the foundation of all later work.
Selected Scenes from: The Matrix, My Dinner with Andre
Week 2: The Illustrated Vogler
Based on Joseph Campbell’s mono-myth cycle, Christopher Vogler’s theory of story telling structure has become pivotal in contemporary screenwriting circles. Inspiring such films as Star Wars, Vogler’s work has application to more than just the film world – his discussion of how character drives story has relevance to emerging interactive forms.
Selected Scenes from: Gladiator, Star Wars, LA Confidential
Week 3: Genre I - Film Noir
The Grand Theft Auto franchise has been one of the most successful video game properties in recent years. Artistically, its influences are drawn from the gritty urban dramas of noir. Exploring themes of alienation, duplicity and skewed reality through a compelling visual style, this genre has had a profound impact on the storytelling style of the late twentieth century and has led to an increasing number of compelling hybrid films.
Selected Scenes from: Dark City, Touch of Evil, Miller’s Crossing, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Sunset Boulevard
Week 4: Genre II - Action / Adventure
Ripping tales of adventure and derring-do have formed a part of Western literature for countless years and the development of cinema have given them full voice. With stunning visuals, sweeping vistas and exotic locations, such films have swept audiences away and left us with our blood pounding. How – and how successfully – has this genre been transposed to the interactive medium? And how might we take it still further?
Selected Scenes from: Le Professional, Braveheart, Das Boot, Fellowship of the Ring
Week 5: Genre III - Silent
At its heart, dramatic storytelling is a visual medium: one that relies on the rapid juxtaposition of imagery, sound and motion to tell story. Dialogue, in some ways, is secondary. Simple and compelling, the art of the silent feature – in either its early forms or more contemporary renditions – has an important lesson for future storytellers.
Selected Scenes from: Charlie Chaplin, Metropolis, Fantastia, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Kowanaquitisi
Week 6: Genre IV - Fights
Action sequences are increasingly the stock in trade of the modern blockbuster. Audiences of both cinema and video-games have come to expect gripping special effects combined with imaginative fight choreography. This session will examine how this segment of cinematic storytelling has exploded in recent years and outline cautionary tales for the game designer.
Selected Scenes from: Crouching Tiger, Rush hour 2, Drunken Master, Hard Boiled
Week 7: Genre V – Shakespeare
The roots of great drama extend back to the Renaissance period but all too often the valuable lessons for the storyteller have been strangled through high school English classes. But examples of great characters, deep themes and heightened conflict are there for the taking from the works of the Bard and have been made all the more accessible thanks to a recent frenzy of film-making in this area.
Selected Scenes from Shakespeare in Love, Henry V, Polanski’s Macbeth, McKellen’s Richard III, Othello, Chimes at Midnight
Week 8: Story Variation I – Narrative Ambiguity
In recent years, many of us have felt a rising cynicism as we consider our world: increasingly, we’re questioning authority and doubting surface explanations. Did we just see what we thought we saw? This zeitgeist has been reflected in the popularity of certain contemporary films and has led to a number of striking new concepts. Or are they, as Robert McKee might say, simply cheap tricks?
Selected Scenes from: Fight Club, Sixth Sense, The Usual Suspects
Week 9: Story Variation II – Episodic Narrative
The episodic narrative is a thematically driven method that allows the writer/director to highlight the characters making up a larger ensemble cast. By stacking stories into a series of related plots and points of view, the author allows the audience to participate in the storytelling experience in a more profound way. This session will explore the use of episodic structure to set pace and raise the stakes as well as a mechanism for developing characters. Particular attention will be paid to the development of the portmanteau plot used in Pulp Fiction.
Selected Scenes from: Pulp Fiction, Being Human, A Night in the World
Week 10: Story Variation III – Looped Time
Moving up a step in the order of complexity is the looped time storyline, in which the main character(s) relives crucial life experiences again. Much more existential than other topics explored in this course, this form explores the theory of second chances by allowing us – through the story to fantasize about “what ifs.” As well as being an effective instrument to develop themes by repeated retellings, the variety of options that can be explored in this form can give valuable insight into the human condition
Selected Scenes from: Groundhog Day, Run Lola Run
Week 11: Story Variation IV – Parallel Streaming
Stories with parallel streams are those that allow the audience to experience several possible narrative realities, all of which are woven into a consistent story thread. This requires painstaking work on the part of the writer, but careful plotting and story closure permits much deeper thematic connections. And, for the more quantum-mechanically inclined, such stories allow the audience to consider how simply missing a bus might have changed their own destinies.
Selected Scenes from: Sliding Doors, The Sweet Hereafter, All Good Things, Go
Week 12: Story Variation V - Non-Linearity
Non-linear story structure can be the most challenging form for the writer/director to master, as it requires both a strong vision and a firm grounding in the principles of classical story design. When wielded effectively, this form is an excellent tool for creating atmosphere, building empathy or antipathy with characters, and unwinding crucial plot details. In recent years a slew of such films have been made, many of which would be characterized as neo-noirs. Is this form a natural for that genre?
Selected Scenes from: Memento, Following, Time Code, New Rose Hotel
Week 13: Story Variation Genre VI – Beginnings/Endings
As storytellers, we want to hook our audiences the second they sit down and leave them wanting more when the lights finally come up. The same is true for game designers – who hasn’t found themselves staring bleary-eyed at another sunrise after spending a night locked in a virtual world. Finding a great beginning and closing on a great ending are tricks of the trade for storytellers – this class will unpack some of the best… and worst.
Selected Scenes from: 2001, Fight Club, Sunset Blvd, The Seventh Seal, The Hidden
Week 14: Presentations and Summing Up
