A story is defined as the transformation of an initial situation into a final situation through a series of events. This change of state manifests itself at all scales of the narrative, from major story arcs to individual scenes.
The Basic Structure of a Story
A story consists of:
- an original situation: meaning elements in a certain state of relationship with each other,
- a final situation: the same elements in different relationships with each other,
- as well as a number of chains of situations that will lead from the initial state to the final state.
Two examples:
- They are in love, he is Jewish and she is Muslim. Their love is impossible, they can never marry because of culture, religion, and families. And there will be a number of events that will make it so that in the end, finally, the situation will have changed, and they will be able to marry and live their love.
- The world will be destroyed in 24 hours by evil aliens wearing hats with red stars. So, the initial situation is that the world will be destroyed in 24 hours. Likeable American heroes will manage, against all odds, to kill all the evil aliens. And in the end, the world will be saved.
What characterizes a story is this change between beginning and end. This is, in my opinion, the main thing to keep in mind about the overall film: what is the initial state, what is the final state, regardless of the film’s duration.
The Story at its Different Levels of Granularity
This logic between initial situation, development, and final situation (different from the initial situation) is found at all scales of the film. If we divide the film into three acts, we will find this structure in each of the three acts. And in each of the sequences (action units) that make up the acts, we will find this functioning. Even in a shot, we will find it. For example: someone enters a room and discovers information they didn’t know before. There is an initial situation (they don’t know this information) and a final situation (they know the information).
Therefore, we must think “story” at all levels. We can even apply this concept in parallel to each character. We can trace each character’s journey, from general to more and more particular, on this principle. We can even trace the journey of the set, the location, props, weather... For example: the house is in ruins at the beginning, it will be repaired at the end. So, we can tell the story of this house, that is, its beginning, its development, until its end.
This flexible but demanding perspective — an origin, a transformation, and an arrival — seems very functional to me so that the viewer always feels caught up in a story that is unfolding. That is, in a change taking place toward a new state, whether desired or imposed.
Note on the Three-Act Structure
Some say that all works function with the three-act rule. This is not my case. I believe it’s mostly their way of looking at all works, explaining them through the three-act rule. But we could very well explain the same works with other rules than these. I find it rather restrictive and theoretical. It’s quite interesting. But to believe that authors, in their writing of the story, took into account the three-act rule to write and be inspired, I’d like to see that... Maybe it’s the case for some authors, yes, and maybe some authors not at all, even though we can analyze their films with this analytical grid, like with any other. I don’t find it very useful for inventing new stories.
