From the course: Creating a Short Film: 02 Writing

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Plot vs. character-driven stories

Plot vs. character-driven stories

- In this chapter, we're going to learn about the basics of storytelling. Actually, I should say the basics of classical storytelling. These concepts have been around for thousands of years back in the days of Aristotle and the old Greek playwrights. And we'll explain why they've stuck around for as long as they have as we go through this chapter. But I should point out that not all films follow the concepts of classical storytelling. As a matter of fact, a lot of independent films intentionally stray from these principles instead of having a traditional story with a plot. These movies focus on how a character reacts to life events. Movies like Taxi Driver and There Will Be Blood probably fall into this category. I should also point out that a lot of short films don't necessarily need to follow traditional story concepts either. Short films can be nothing more than a quick joke. One of the most famous short films of all time, Bambi Meets Godzilla, is just a few seconds long, if you…

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