-
- In the last few videos we thought
-
about obstacles a character can face
-
leading to choices they have to make
-
and the arc they follow.
-
Each choice a character
makes has potential risks,
-
impacts, and rewards involved with it.
-
Those can be called the stakes.
-
- The stakes of a story are summed up
-
on one question, why do we care?
-
Why do I care if Nemo and
his dad aren't reunited?
-
- You have what's at risk
if the characters fail.
-
If the stakes are low,
-
usually it's not a very entertaining film.
-
But the higher the stakes
are, the more tension you get,
-
the more enjoyable it is.
-
My favorite film of all
time is Jurassic Park
-
and the stakes are pretty high.
-
If you fail the dinosaurs will eat you,
-
that's pretty clear.
-
- You have to be as the audience,
-
gripped by those stakes.
-
"I don't know what's going to happen."
-
- Early on in the arc,
I'd say that the stakes
-
wouldn't seem as extreme, maybe.
-
As the story progresses the stakes raise.
-
- We have a lot of
conversations about how big
-
our stakes need to be.
-
Does it need to be life and death?
-
Or is it better if it's just, you know,
-
for a comedy sometimes you want it
-
just to be about the
character's reputation
-
or something smaller so
that you're not bringing
-
too much gravity to a situation.
-
The important thing is, to the character,
-
it should feel like the world to them.
-
Even if it's just a talent show,
-
you want to show to the audience
-
that that talent show is
everything to this character.
-
I think by the end of Napoleon Dynamite,
-
we all want Napoleon
Dynamite to win that show
-
and to be accepted by everybody.
-
- Anything that is happening
with your character
-
I think it's really important
-
to feel the emotional connection of that.
-
If I don't feel it, they're not there.
-
- Stakes add drama and
weight to any choice
-
and can be divided into three categories,
-
internal stakes, external
stakes, and philosophical stakes.
-
Let's hear more about this
from our story artists.
-
- The external stakes are, literally,
-
what's going on in the world.
-
Are they lost?
-
Are they being chased by burglars?
-
Physically, what will happen to them
-
or to the world if they fail?
-
- A great example of external
stakes is from Brave.
-
By giving her mom the
cake that the witch made,
-
Merida turns her mother into a bear.
-
That is an immediate, physical
consequence of her choice
-
that impacts both them as
well as the story itself.
-
Then, if Merida doesn't decipher
-
and solve the witch's riddle,
-
her mom will become a full
bear and be lost forever.
-
- Internal stakes usually
are psychological.
-
What's going on for the character
emotionally or mentally?
-
What are they potentially going to lose?
-
What will they potentially gain?
-
Why is it important that
they gain that thing?
-
Why is it sad or difficult
if they lose that thing?
-
Asking those questions
will help you figure out
-
what those stakes really are.
-
- A good example of internal stakes
-
is from the original Toy Story.
-
Throughout the film, Woody
is forced to confront
-
his own insecurity and pride,
embrace Buzz as a friend,
-
and learn to share Andy's attention.
-
What's at stake for
him, internally, is all
-
of his relationships with the other toys
-
and his very sense of self.
-
- Philosophical stakes are
what is impacting the world.
-
What is making the values
or the belief system
-
of this world change?
-
Or not change.
-
And what does it mean if
it does or doesn't change?
-
For philosophical stakes,
I think Lord of the Rings
-
is a great example.
-
If Frodo doesn't throw
the ring into the fire,
-
then Middle Earth is gonna
be ruled under evil forever.
-
- When you watch movies
that have this pitch battle
-
between ideas,
-
concepts, good versus evil,
-
those kinds of things are philosophical.
-
- Okay, let's summarize.
-
External stakes, the
possible physical impacts
-
of a choice or action.
-
Internal stakes, the mental
or emotional consequences
-
of a choice, and philosophical stakes.
-
What are the underlying ideas
or values in your story?
-
The distinction between
internal, external,
-
and philosophical stakes is tricky.
-
So, in this last exercise
let's get some practice
-
thinking about this
using the films you love.