Decoding the importance of ‘Storytelling’ in animation

Animation possesses a wonderful blend of creative expression that combines discipline and freshness of ideas and narratives. It can be used to smoothly transitions between plot lines and difficult scenes and propels a tale ahead by increasing viewers’ emotional involvement, making it the backbone of a story. Of course, the plot is the plot, and nothing can change that. However, animation, with its vibrant colours, styles, and distinct and limitlesscreative potential, can bring life to the story and its characters, ultimately creating magic!

A story is described as a collection of events that are relatable and narrated in an exciting manner -be it thriller, suspense, romance, wit and humour or just documentary. Because of these elements, stories must have a plot and a specific style of storytelling. The stories are given from the movement and acting in the animation itself when we explain them through visual narrating or visual storytelling in animation. A good storyline is essential to making an animated movie; otherwise, animation is just worthless filler. Therefore, presenting a strong tale is crucial to making an animation that will have an impression on the spectator and stick in their minds. A viewer’s attention must be the primary focus while conveying a story. Excellent animation is built on strong stories, not on technology that obstructs the creation of compelling narratives. When discussing Toy Story, audiences evaluate or criticise the plot more so than the computer visuals.

We need to focus on a single unifying principle: an engrossing story—in order to maintain the audience’s attention. To tell excellent stories, we must comprehend human emotion, motivation, and psychology since storytelling is intertwined with human existence. While excellent animation has great storytelling, decent animation has good storytelling as well. The goal of great storytelling is to help the audience comprehend the plot and why it is important for them to be aware of it. Amazing storytelling incorporates the unexpected and the element of surprise. This component is crucial to making sure the tale is not soulless. Finally, effective storytelling is straightforward and geared on grabbing the attention of the listener. A few components are crucial for having an excellent narrative.

Every excellent story comprises three core elements:

A compelling narrative, building unique and appealing characters, and a convincing universe. Because there are stories to tell and visuals to present, film and animation exist. But creating a compelling tale is not simple. One excellent narrative could take months or even years to develop. All of the necessary components, including setting, topic, character, narrative, and conflict, must be present in a great story. You can create a tale with value and wow qualities by fusing all of its components.

Animation can communicate a narrative in a variety of ways:

A video can be made more or less detailed by using a variety of animation styles, including characters. Each of them is an example of storytelling. In reality, if we look at animation as a sphere, we can see one thing clearly: animation is made up of storytelling instruments. 2D or motion graphics has its own method of telling a tale. It all depends on what you have available. Finally, it obtains a great shape of the plot that is supported by animation.

Emotion is a brand-new catch:

Animation now strives to elicit emotions. Something that would spark people’s memories and cause them to reflect. Storytelling has the ability to persuade others of anything, to demonstrate a concept step by step and gradually. In this regard, animation is absolutely unrivalled.

Animation gives others the amazing sensation of immersing themselves in the story. It is commonly recognised that animation is one of the world’s fastest growing industries. It is claimed that its potential is expanding and growing with each passing year. Furthermore, once VR got as popular as it is now, animation moved into a new niche. And the number will continue to change at an exponential rate.

(Hansa Mondal, COO, Ssoftoons)