2nd Edition
Story Structure and Development A Guide for Animators, VFX Artists, Game Designers, and XR Creators
Part 1 – Story Structure (Plot)
Chapter 1 Plot: The Structure
What Is a Dramatic Story?
Plot: What Is It?
3 Act Structure
Multiple Acts
Plot Shapes
Plot Structures – The Short
Structural Comparisons
What Do All Plots Have in Common?
Endnotes
Chapter 2 Setup - Act I (Beginning)
Types of Setup
The Opening Image
Exposition (Background Information)
Show Don’t Tell Rule
Inciting Incident (Starting the Story)
What’s at Stake?
Story Questions
End of Act I – New Story World
Endnotes
Chapter 3 Conflict Act II (The Middle)
What Happens in the Middle?
Increasing Conflict
Types of Conflict
Turning Points/Reversals
Cause and Effect
End of Act II – Crisis
Endnotes
Chapter 4 Resolution Act III (End)
Endings
Climax
Resolution
Meaning
Endnotes
Chapter 5 Plot-Driven Stories
Story Genres
Story Types
Only a Few Basic Plots
References
Part 2 – Story Principles
Chapter 6 Story Components
Is Conflict Necessary?
Premise – What Is the Story About?
Theme – What Does It Mean?
Emotion – Purpose of Dramatic Story
The Setting (Situation)
Endnotes
Chapter 7 Story Techniques
Narrative Questions
Surprise
Suspense
Comedy
Foreshadowing – Creating Anticipation
Endnotes
Chapter 8 Interactive Narratives
Why Story in Games/XR?
Story versus Narrative
World Storytelling
Immersive Story(telling)?
AI and Human Storytelling?
Endnotes
Part 3 – Bringing Characters to Life
Chapter 9 Character
Character - Why Do We Watch?
Archetypes versus Stereotypes
Finding Your Characters
Backstory versus Character Profile
Identification/Empathy
Love Your Characters
Villains
Endnotes
Chapter 10 Character Motivations
What Does a Character Want?
Need - What a Character Really, Really Wants
Conflict Reveals Character
Character Flaws (Fatal)
Setting as Character
Endnotes
Chapter 11 Character-Driven Stories
Character Stories
Fear - The Inner Journey
Choices – It Is Why We Watch
Types of Change
Character Arc
Unity of Opposites
Endnotes
Part 4 – Storytelling (The Development)
Chapter 12 Generating Ideas
Brainstorming Ideas
Three Types of Research
Asking, What If?
Clichés – Good or Bad?
Point of View – Whose Story Is It?
Endnotes
Chapter 13 Development
The Development Process
Borrow, Adapt, Steal
Problems Are at the Beginning
Know Your Ending
Dialogue – Its Functions
Making the Story… Short
Endnotes
Chapter 14 Viewer (Audience/Player)
Meeting Viewer’s Expectations
Who Knows What? When?
Gaps – The Unexpected
Believability
Are Coincidences OK?
Endnotes
Chapter 15 Subverting the Story Formula
Disrupting Story Expectations
Breaking Genre Tropes and Plots
Hybrid Genres
Eastern versus Western Storytelling
References
Biography
Craig Caldwell is USTAR (Utah Science Technology and Research) professor in digital media at the University of Utah. Having worked for Walt Disney Feature Animation and Electronic Arts games he has extensive experience in the industry approach to creating animation and games. Caldwell has been a co-founder and arts director for one of the top-ranked interactive games programs, Entertainment Arts and Engineering (EAE – University of Utah) with its numerous award-winning games. He has served as head of the largest film school in Australia—Griffith Film School, Griffith University, as well as chair of the Media Arts Department and associate director of the New Media Center at University of Arizona; as well as having been selected as a DeTao Master, Institute of Animation and Creative Content on the SIVA campus, Shanghai, China. Caldwell speaks frequently on story at major conferences such as SIGGRAPH, FMX, Mundos Digitales, industry, and universities. He earned his PhD from the Advanced Computing Center for Art and Design, Ohio State University.
