Story Structure, Acting & Technical Foundations
In Week 3, the focus expanded from basic storytelling into how story structure, acting decisions, and technical setup work together in animation. Key learning points include:
- Understanding story structure at different scales, from beats and shots to scenes, sequences, and full stories.
- Learning multiple narrative frameworks, including Three-Act Structure, Hero’s Journey, Five-Act Structure, Dan Harmon’s Story Circle, and Kishōtenketsu, and recognizing that different structures serve different storytelling goals.
- Realizing that story is driven by change, whether through conflict, consequence, or a shift in perspective.
- Applying story theory to animation through a 12-second acting and body mechanics shot, centered on a clear change of mind.
- Learning to express internal decisions through physical action, weight, timing, and body language, not dialogue or facial performance.
- Emphasizing clarity of intent, ensuring the audience can clearly read both the weight of an object and the exact moment the character’s intention changes.
- Developing technical skills through self-study, including parenting, constraints, locators, and parent switching, to manage object interactions cleanly and safely.
- Understanding that strong acting animation depends on both solid storytelling logic and reliable technical setups, supported by planning such as video reference and previs.
Heavy Object & Change of Mind (Planning)
https://syncsketch.com/sketch/4340DcPDFdzv
Feedback：
- A reason for her to give up resisting the stone is needed, such as her losing strength or a certain expression.
- References need to be taken to make the situation more realistic.
Previs – Hunter To Prey (Final)