Story Arc
Each story, whether fiction or non-fiction, must have a beginning, middle, and end. The characters in a story need to be tested. As your main character struggles, endures, and overcomes, they naturally change as a character by the end of the story.
Set-up / Plot
Set up the story by giving a snapshot of the setting.
Only give what's absolutely necessary to make the next scene clear.
The beginning is the place the audience will decide whether to invest any more time in the story.
Inciting incident
An event that sets the main character on a journey
Typically upsets the balance within the character's world
Rising Action
A series of events that enhances conflict and leads up to the most exciting part.
Creates tension or suspense and keeps the audience invested.
Get to know the main characters better.
You’ll see characters making difficult decisions, and you’ll see their flaws, which helps you relate to them.
Climax
The most important part, the moment of greatest tension.
The height and peak tension of the story.
The outcome is still in doubt.
Falling Action
Tension decreases and the story moves toward its conclusion.
It's common to see the characters themselves relax a little.
The falling action sometimes introduces a new conflict.
Resolution
The end of the story and/or the conclusion of the story's plot.
Resolutions depend on what the main conflict of the story was: in a mystery, the criminal might be thrown in jail, while in a romance, the lovers might get married.
Resolutions aren't always happy, and sometimes they don't give the audience a feeling of complete closure.
Always make it clear that the story is drawing to an end.
Example: The Present
“The Present,” directed by Jacob Frey, is a thesis short film from the Institute of Animation, Visual Effects and Digital Postproduction at the Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg in Ludwigsburg, Germany. It has been screened in over 180 film festivals and won more than 50 awards world wide.
