Working on narrative ...

I have refined the storyline a lot today and decided to be a little more conventional with the narrative, giving it a proper resolute ending. This is because I've been reading the book "Ideas for the Animated Short". If your struggling to add structure to your narrative it's a great book to look at. Below are the notes I have been updating as I was reading the book.

Conflicts create problems, obstacles, and dilemmas that place the character in some form of danger or jeopardy, either physically, mentally or spiritually. This means that there will be something at stake for the character if they do not overcome the conflict.

The conflict is the hoarding and obsessive collecting of the foil etc. This creates the problem of the nest becoming full and introduces jeopardy when the magpie cannot leave or move in the nest due to the rubbish.

Inciting Moment. In every story, the world of the character is normal until something unexpected happens. This unexpected event begins the story.

It is thought that the magpie is collecting the shiny possessions for his partner, it is revealed early in the story that the partner is not alive.

Story Question. The inciting moment will set up questions in the mind of the audience that must be answered by the end of the story

A montage of cuts will show the magpie returning to the nest to drop of various trinkets. They may wonder were all the trinkets are going to go but before the reveal the camera cuts to the robin leaving the audience with questions.

Theme. Stories have meaning to the character and to the audience. The theme or concept is the underlying larger idea that the animation communicates. It is the deeper meaning of the story

The overall theme and message is to avoid consumerism and to realise that possessions don’t make you happy and can in fact own you.

Need. In order for the story to have meaning to the character, he or she needs to learn something to achieve the goal.

This is the main issue with the story currently; the character does not learn anything and dies as a result.

The magpie could observe the robins behaviour through a crack in the nest where he is trapped and learn from him, the robin could bring the magpie food and remove the rubbish that is keeping him trapped. The magpie would have learnt to be social and change his ways. The ending would show the magpie singing with the rest of the birds and the nest old, decaying and pointless. This would in-turn show the arc of the character and resolution of the story.

This raises the question should a formula be stuck to when writing a story or be deconstructed to provide a slightly different story.

In the first act, pity and empathy must be established for the hero so that the audience cares about the character and will engage in his pursuit. Then, the second act is the scene of suffering and challenge, creating fear and tension surrounding the hero and his challenges. In the final act, fear and tension are released by catharsis, the emotional release that allows for closure to end the story

In the opening scenes the magpie could be seen isolated from other birds.

Two perches could be seen in the nest as though a partner bird has recently been there

The magpie could have a limp or broken wing making it a struggle to move / fly

The act of the magpie looking at the other birds socialising could be enough to instil pity

The cathartic act could be the magpie pecking through the rubbish that has been collected and throwing it out of the nest.