Andrew Stanton: The clues to a great story

I've recently come across 'TED' - ideas worth spreading. Starting back in 1984 they are conferences that bring people together from 3 different disciplines (Technology, Entertainment and Design, but now with a much broader scope) and get posted online on their website. There are many different topics you can choose from and they can be short videos to longer 20 minute talks or you can even read up on some articles. The one I just watched is from Andrew Stanton and his clues to what creates a great story.

He gave a real insight to what he abides by when creating his stories, his tips and tricks which he has picked up along the way. With storytelling you want something that makes you care. Something that draws you in even if it's half way through the actual story. Each story should give you a promise and that it will lead you somewhere that is worth your time.

Storytelling is crucial to any media, without a good story what will drive that media? The characters may be engaging but at the end of the day it is the story which drives the character. All characters have their own certain goal that they strive for. Wall-e was to always find the beauty, whereas Marlin from Finding Nemo was to always prevent harm.

The video I found really useful and it makes me to want to strive even more to become an animator. Andrew Stanton started off as an animator and moved on to storytelling and now directing, he has all this knowledge and understanding under his belt and it's really inspiring to see how far he has come. When coming up with new stories for any animation, film or game I create I will refer back to the notes I made from this video and interpret them in my own way. These aren't rules, they are guidelines, storytelling doesn't have hard fast rules.

"The best stories infuse wonder...use what you know, draw from it."