Dramatic Stories in Short Films

1
Dramatic Stories in Short Films
2
Differences and Similarities between short and
feature films

• Similarities
• - have beginnings, middles, and ends (three act
  structure)
• - Drama is Conflict
• - A visual story told in pictures, in dialogue
  and description, and placed within the context of
  dramatic structure.
• - about a person or persons, in a place or
  places, doing his or her thing.
• - a protagonist who is forced through a crisis
  by an antagonist and undergoes a change in
  character as a result.

3
Differences and Similarities between short and
feature films

• Differences
• -short films are usually 10-30 minutes long
• - usually 2-3 characters
• - not so complex characters in very simple
  situations

4
Archetypal structures in short films

• Archetypes search for love, story of revenge,
  quest for freedom, etc.

The Journey Structure -a characters simple
journey (to work, to school, to the fridge, etc.)
becomes an archetypal struggle or search
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Archetypal structures in short films
The Ritual Occasion Structure -adventure , in
the guise of an archetypal stranger or event
(knight in shining armor, death of a loved one)
finds a character in his or her situation often
is a coming of age story.
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Adaptation of myth or fairy tales
Protagonist the main character or main
struggler in the story
Antagonist the force, character, or obstacle
with which the protagonist must contend
Main conflict the struggle between the
protagonist and antagonist
Dramatic action a protagonists or antagonists
main force or need that motivates them in the
context of the conflict
Catalyst the occasion or character that sets
events in motion, precipitating the dramatic
action of the protagonist (moves the character
into action)
Climax the moment of greatest intensity for the
protagonist and the major turning point in his or
her dramatic action the culmination of a series
of lesser crises