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Lesson 4

We will continue to think about the concepts of a character’s arc and backstory. We will also think about how a central character we’ve created might change during our movie, and we will integrate our ideas within our movie’s overall concept, plot, story, and theme. We will then develop a draft story spine for our movie that is built around our central character’s arc.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I create beats and story spine for my own, original movie?

  • Can I distinguish between external plot points and the internal story that’s driving the movie I create?

Texts

Core

  • Digital Access
    • “Story Spine” from “Pixar in a Box: The Art of Storytelling,” Pixar Animation Studios, Khan Academy, 2017

Optional

  • Digital Access
    • “Act 1” from “Pixar in a Box: The Art of Storytelling,” Pixar Animation Studios, Khan Academy, 2017
    • “Act 2” from “Pixar in a Box: The Art of Storytelling,” Pixar Animation Studios, Khan Academy, 2017
    • “Act 3” from “Pixar in a Box: The Art of Storytelling,” Pixar Animation Studios, Khan Academy, 2017

Materials

Tools

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read – Discuss

We will read more about the concepts of character arc and backstory in our Filmmaking Glossary and will discuss the character arcs in movies we’ve seen.

Step 1

Access Part 3, "Character Development in Movies," of the Filmmaking Glossary, and specifically the entry for character arc.

Read, annotate, and discuss key ideas from this entry in relation to what you learned from the Pixar video.

Make an entry in your Vocabulary Journal that defines the term character arc.

As a class, discuss example characters from movies you have seen and what makes their character arcs interesting and important in those movies.

Step 2

Access the entry for backstory in Part 2B, "Concepts Related to Screenwriting," in the Filmmaking Glossary. Read, annotate, and discuss key ideas from this entry in relation to what you have learned about character development in movies.

Make an entry in your Vocabulary Journal that defines the term backstory.

As a class, discuss example characters from movies you have seen, what you know about their backstories, how you have come to know them (through references, flashbacks, etc.), and how the backstories are important to the development of the character and the movie’s story.

Activity 2: Read – Discuss

We will review the concepts of a movie’s story spine and beats.

With a partner, review the entries in your Vocabulary Journal and Filmmaking Glossary for story spine and beats. (Note: You might also rewatch the Pixar "Story Spine" video.)

Use the notes you made about your central character’s arc and backstory to discuss a possible sequence of events and experiences that might drive your movie’s plot and give shape to its story spine. Provide your partner with constructive feedback in a peer review process.

Now review the tools you have developed so far for your proposed movie: the Movie Concept Tool and Movie Character Tool.

First in pairs, and then as a class, discuss how a movie’s concept, setting, style, and theme are developed through its characters’ arcs, and the story spine, which develops its plot in three acts and a series of beats.

Individually, examine what you have written on your tools and in the Movie Planning section of your Learning Log. Consider how you might bring all of your ideas together in an original movie.

Activity 3: Read – Write – Discuss

We will begin to organize our ideas about what might happen to the central character in our proposed movie as part of a three-act story spine.

Step 1

Read and annotate the entries in the Filmmaking Glossary that relate to a movie’s story spine: beats, scene, sequence, and act.

Make entries in your Vocabulary Journal for any concepts that are new to you.

Think about how you might organize the sequence of events you are considering for your movie (that also make up your central character’s arc) into a plan that has three acts and a sequence of related scenes or beats within those acts. Use the following framework to think about the acts in your movie’s story spine:

Act 1: The beginning of the story, or its exposition, in which its setting, main characters, and major conflicts are introduced.

Act 2: The middle of the story, or complication, in which the character faces (and overcomes?) major obstacles and begins to change.

Act 3: The end of the story, including its climax (or turning point) and resolution (or denouement) of the character’s story.

Step 2

In either an outline or storyboard format, plan a three-act story spine for your proposed movie. Consider what you have decided about your central character’s arc, the concept you have for the movie, and how to divide the events of the plot into beats or scenes.

For each beat or scene you identify, briefly describe the plot events (what happens) and also the storyline (how your character feels about and reacts to what happens).

Step 3

If time permits, review your three-act story spine with a partner, using your outline or storyboard to tell the story your movie will present.

If not, complete your story spine outline as homework and then tell the story your movie will present to a family member or friend.

In either case, get feedback from your reviewer using the following questions:

  1. Do my character’s arc, story sequence, and structure of acts make sense? Can you follow the story I am trying to tell?

  2. Is there a good balance among the three acts: the exposition, complication, and resolution of the story?

  3. What seems to be the central concept, theme, and message inherent in the story I am trying to tell?