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Story

       Story


The most important piece of any movie is the story. There are many steps to creating a story, and I'll explain some of them here.

Story Spine


 The part of the human body that is connected to everything and impacts everything else when changed or damaged is the spine. The same is true for story spine. It holds all of the story together and links one part to another in a way that makes sense. Traditional story spines look like this:


1. Once upon a time...
2. Everyday...
3. Until one day...
4. Because of that...
5. Because of that...
6. Because of that...
7. Until finally...
8. And ever since then...
And the moral of the story is...

To explain how this works I will fit a film into the story spine. 


Wonder

1. Once upon a time, there lived a little boy named Auggie with facial deformities.

2. Everyday, he lived at home while his mom home schooled him.

3. Until one day, his parents decided it was time for him to go to a real school, so he was sent to Beecher Prep. 

4. Because of that, Auggie was teased and bullied.

5. Because of that, two kids became his friends.

6. Because of that, the whole 6th grade was divided.

7. Until finally, everyone was nice to him and he had lots of friends.

8. And ever since then, Auggie has lived happily, enjoying school and life.


And the moral of the story is be kind, everyone is different. 


Of course there is more depth and more plot lines in the actual movie, but the spine is just an outline. Now, you might be wondering what the difference between plot and the story spine is, as the concept behind them is are very similar. A story spine is a very basic outline that doesn't go into to too much detail. The plot is usually a little more detailed, and it tells the basic idea of the story, not necessarily in order. In my next post, I will talk about beats: what they are, how they are used in movies, and their importance. 


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