Thursday’s lecture shifted the focus from cinematography to story structure. Ting spent a lot of time introducing the SWBST framework (Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then) and explaining how it can be used to build stories around conflict and consequence rather than simply listing events. One idea she repeatedly emphasized was that stories should be connected by “therefore” and “but” rather than “and then”, allowing character choices and obstacles to naturally drive the narrative. Throughout the class we practiced this by taking simple scenarios and building them into short stories using the SWBST structure. I found this approach useful because it reduced storytelling to a clear framework and made me think more critically about motivation and cause-and-effect rather than isolated scenes.
Towards the end of the session, Ting assigned us a cinematic analysis exercise where we had to choose a scene from a film we liked and explain why its shots and camera angles worked. I chose the Peter Parker versus Flash Thompson scene from Spider-Man because I thought it was a good example of how cinematography can establish power dynamics between characters. Looking at the scene frame by frame made me appreciate how subtle camera choices influence the audience’s perception. Low angles, framing, and shot size all contributed to establishing Flash as the dominant character initially before gradually shifting the balance of power. This exercise also reinforced the connection between the previous week’s focus on camera language and this week’s emphasis on storytelling.
On Friday, we were introduced to a new previs exercise called “Hunter to Prey”. Working in pairs, we had to create a short story that established one character as the hunter and another as the prey before reversing their roles. My partner and I came up with the story of a young man disturbing his elderly neighbour by playing loud music, only for the tables to turn when a stray ball unexpectedly knocks him down. Rather than jumping straight into animation, we spent the session focusing on the narrative and visual beats. Over the weekend, we developed the idea further, creating rough visualisations before constructing a shot list and dividing the work between us.
Since our story involved dancing and exaggerated movement, I also spent some time watching YouTube videos of simple dance routines and using them as reference. This helped me think about posing and timing, and gave us a clearer idea of how the character’s movements could communicate his carefree and somewhat obnoxious personality before the reversal.
What I found interesting about this assignment was how naturally the SWBST structure fit into our story. Somebody: an inconsiderate young man. Wanted: to enjoy himself and annoy his neighbour. But: his actions eventually lead to consequences. So: the situation reverses. Then: the power dynamic shifts and he becomes the victim. Although simple, this exercise helped me understand that story structure and cinematography are closely linked. Camera angles and shot choices become much more meaningful when they are supporting changes in character relationships and dramatic tension rather than existing purely for style. This made me realize that effective visual storytelling starts long before animation it begins with understanding the story’s underlying structure.