It's Such a Beautiful Day is an animated film by Don Hertzfeldt. Originally three separate short films that followed the journey of stick figure Bill as he grapples with his mental illness and how such illnesses have impacted his entire family, the combination of the three runs only an hour and two minutes. It is animated almost entirely in black and white (with occasional flashes of color and live-action splices), contains no actual dialogue other than a third-person narration by Hertzfeldt himself intended to be Bill's inner-monologue, and is one of the best-structured and moving stories I've seen in years.
The story itself is not convoluted at all. It is an episodic glimpse into Bill's life, which weaves in aspects of mundane working life and Bill's horrific hallucinations as his mental state deteriorates. The beautiful story comes from these very things: the incorporation of Bill's fears (he, like most humans, fears death and speculates often about what he will become after meeting his maker), his reflections on his mother's own mental issues, and a final scene that is doubtlessly the most poignant, gorgeous mediation on death and what lays ahead for humanity ever expressed by something as simple as a hat-clad stick figure.
It is this simple story--wonderfully animated and bolstered by a fantastic script--that moved me to pick up where we left off last week. I feel I only scratched the surface on the concept of storytelling and I want to explore the vast territory of it with you so you can better understand why something as simple as a sick stick figure can eke tears out of even the most jaded souls.
Let's begin by considering the stories that have been a part of our lives for so many years. There is, of course, the odyssey, which is best defined as Homer's epic poem of the same name. It generally consists of a hero (we'll discuss the concept of a hero in a later post about characters and the tropes that can either make or break them) engaging on a quest. While this story has probably been exploited more than any other storyline ever conceived, it is the types of quests and what they entail that provide us with such a diverse range of stories to choose from.
In Odyssey, the titular hero sets off on a ten-year journey in order to reach the island of Ithaca so he can reunite with his wife and son in the wake of the Trojan War. He encounters a variety of obstacles that are the building blocks of the story itself. Nobody wants to pick up a book and read about an easy journey: conflict is the lifeblood to any decent story. Odysseus was challenged by monsters, legends, even mortal man himself, which is what kept the reader engaged (or, rather, I imagine it kept them engaged: my thirteen-year-old self found it a little wordy and tedious).
The odyssey is a framework that has been duplicated in literature, artwork, and media for centuries. It combines the three conflicts we have come to define the story by: man versus nature, man versus self, man versus man (three more conflicts have since been devised: man versus society, man versus God, man versus technology). While no one wants to read a book deluged with plotline after plotline where the poor protagonists can't catch a break, it is these conflicts that shape the stories we love. Harry Potter is destined to defeat Voldemort, but he also grapples with feelings of loneliness and rage that make the middle passage of the series a fascinating character study. Forrest Gump, unknowingly, went on an odyssey for Jenny and love, and dealt with conflicts of every shape and form along the way. Woody and Buzz desperately tried to return to Andy and had to cope with the feud between themselves in order to reach their desired destination (only to go on two more odysseys before Pixar finally-- oh, wait, John Lasseter isn't satisfied yet).
My point is: the story is already there. It may just be bare bones, but you can't build a house without first laying the foundation. Have an idea for a character? Put them on an odyssey. They don't have to battle monsters or fight in battle: in fact, they can do something as simple as drive to the grocery store for some bread. Put obstacles in their path and see how they react. A character is defined less by what they say or how their feelings are "written" and more by how they react to conflict.
Here is the basic skeleton for storytelling. I'm sure your high school English teachers made frequent reference to it and preached its necessity, but I'm here to tell you it's one of the few tools that is truly imperative.
Here is another graphic that clearly demonstrates how an odyssey progresses.
This still only wades out into the shallow end of the ocean we call storytelling. However, I hope this at least provides you with the concrete to stabilize your foundation and start climbing the mountain of your story. In the mean time, experiment. Don't like the way your favorite book or movie ended? Rewrite it to your liking. Another wonderful writing exercise is fanfiction. It may be anathema to some (I know I certainly tire of the rabid fan culture that has recently been advocated as "the new normal"), but taking an already established character and placing them in a new story will stretch your creative muscles. There are countless online forums where you can publish your fanwork and have it reviewed by other writers. It is, in my personal opinion, the most efficient way to receive criticism for your published work. So if you've been tentative about engaging in this particular vein of writing, test the waters and see what kind of feedback comes your way. You might be surprised by the constructive comments waiting in your inbox.
0 comments:
Post a Comment