Home Animation AVATAR MOVIE STORY STRUCTURE

AVATAR MOVIE STORY STRUCTURE

December 28, 2009

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Hey guys, I guess you must have watched “Avatar” and if you haven’t then first go watch the movie and comeback to this article.. 🙂 I’m just kidding, because if you have watched it then while reading this article, You will say , “Oh that’s why they did this? Or oh that makes perfect sense or Boy now all the story writing articles i read make even more sense”

And for all those guys who haven’t seen AVATAR , you will get even awesome practical application of all the stuff we have studied until now regarding story ..I promise that I won’t tell you the story of AVATAR at all ..

Now it sounds strange that how can i discuss the Story Structure then .. just stay with me .. okay

Here is link where you can read about the terms i’m going to use ,so that you will get even more understanding of structure

https://bramhaa.com/animation-storywriting/

AVATAR is an Incredible movie , everybody must watch it because what one can imagine and create , is something beyond our expectations and where we can feel actually that imagination , and we don’t want to come back to real world ..

It will win many awards about different things (sfx,animation ….), and IF THERE IS AWARD CALLED “THE PERFECT SET-UP AWARD”, its totally for AVATAR.. !

This movie is Case study for all of us , where it shows the importance of “SET-UP” in story .. there are so many reasons to see it but to all of you guys who want to study the STORY first .. this would be one of the good reasons to watch

The first half of movie is SET-UP!!

And the director knew the importance of SET-UP .. he have taken as much as time he would need that’s why its slight long than usual movies . Its like test cricket , take as much as time to set on pitch , then go like rocket launchers 🙂

See if in AVATAR they didn’t have take time for SET-UP , then we the audience would not have felt deeply about the new World and Characters ..

AVATAR is one of the best examples for SET-UP

We have seen that SET-UP has following elements whose seeds are planted in SET-UP and they grow during the STORY ..

World
Rules
Character
Character Relationships
Motivation and Goal

See one of the important thing is to know that WHAT’S THE OUTCOME OF SET-UP?

For AVATAR ..

At the end of SET-UP audience must be emotionally got attached to the new world (Pandora)
They must understand the Character, character Relationships
THE AUDIENCE MUST FALL IN LOVE WITH NEW BEAUTIFUL PLACE
They must care about the new world and the good Characters and their relationships
They must learn about the strength of NEW caricatures , there strength and Weakness (the Rhino type animal, the flying dragon type characters, the wild wolf type characters)
What are the Rules of new world?
What is their energy source ?
What is their idea of LIFE?
What is their culture?

See motivation and Goal of Story , Motivation and Goal of each Character is clearly shown . (of Protagonists (Heroes), Antagonists(Villains),Allies.)

The biggest challenge is IF YOU ARE CREATING NEW WORLD LIKE PANDORA , that is totally different that has each small insect different than normal ,

You will have to teach the Audience everything, every little detail about the world and also tell the story , so that they don’t feel like a new world documentary.

Do you remember i have discussed before , that its ALWAYS GOOD IF THE HERO Learns about the new world , and along with him audience also learns about the new world. Like Lion King, Bambi, Spirit .. in all these movies They all were just starting to learn ..

That’s what we see in AVATAR .. THE SET-UP is totally dedicated to that because their must outcome is that WE MUST FEEL THAT IT is BEAUTIFUL and PEACEFUL place ..

Only because IN CONFLICT WE MUST FEEL BAD ..

All the things planted skilfully in SET-UP , so that it can be used in CONFLICT and RESOLUTION effectively ..

The yellow unique dragon, the wild Rhino and wolf sequences, the video personal diary, every small detail .

These masters planted every little details skill fully in SET-UP and used all the things awesomely.

See only masters can do all these things smartly in basic structure.

Another thing is,Showing beautiful doesn’t mean audience will associate the same feeling.

Its only happens through “SITUATION”, that’s why “Situation Tool” we studied is so much important ..

Seeing somebody crying don’t bring tears in audience’s eyes .. its the “situation” that matters..

That’s why there are tears only once in movie..it strengthens the situation.

But even without crying characters, there are situations where we feel deeply touched only because of PERFECT SET-UP.

And another important thing,

AVATAR is good example of how can you take cliche’ or simple concept and give it totally new look that audience doesn’t even feel that they have seen the story before.. I’m not saying that its copied from any movie or story but the basic plot is no special but the WORLD, THE CHARACTERS are SPECIAL, PRECIOUS .. it holds you such that you don’t want to come back from the world ..

Its world that’s special . Its World that’s new and that’s why they needed the PERFECT SET-UP ..

So I’m signing off.. i don’t want to make article big .. i have just explained some stuff … and have so much to tell about every small detail .. But i know you are smart enough to figure the structure even more clearly ..

Use the following articles, read them you will learn a lot of things and you can figure out how to create an AWESOME STORY.. its my promise .. Because i notice a very very tiny detail in Story that how are they using it and how can i use it ..:)

https://bramhaa.com/animation-storywriting/

Don’t forget to share your views.. Specially regarding concepts we have learned so far in Animation Story Writing articles..

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