Andrew Stanton on Story

I came across this TED talk by writer/director Andrew Stanton, whose credits include Toy Story 1-3, Finding Nemo, Wall-E and the upcoming John Carter. He’s got some really interesting things to say about the emotional connection between screenwriter (storyteller) and audience (listener), touching on WHY we love a great story, what we expect and how the storyteller should meet these expectations.

Make the audience put things together. Don’t give them 4. Give them 2 + 2.

For Toy Story lovers and Pixar historians, there’s a clip from the original animatic of Toy Story when Woody was written as a selfish jerk because they believed the audience would be more satisfied with his arc into a selfless character at the end. (It’s interesting to note that this process of development of the tone of Toy Story is also detailed in the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson.)

Check it out…

Good luck and Happy Writing,

Dan

Click to read excerpts and purchase Story Maps

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