COMM 2250STORY COMPONENTS – PART ONE

STORYROBERT MCKEE’S ELEMENTS OF STORY

STRUCTURE

A selection of events from the characters’ life stories that is composed into a strategic sequence to arouse specific emotions and

to express a specific view of life.

What is the purpose of the story? The story events chosen must be composed to

achieve a commentary on life.

STORYROBERT MCKEE’S ELEMENTS OF STORY

STORY EVENT

Creates meaningful (not trivial) change in the life situation of a character that is

expressed and experienced in terms of of a value and achieved through conflict.

The audience should react to, or feel this change along with the character.

STORYROBERT MCKEE’S ELEMENTS OF STORY

STORY VALUES

The universal qualities of human experience that may shift from positive to negative, or negative to positive, from one

moment to the next.Binary qualities of human experience that can reverse their charge at any moment.

Moral: good/evil, loyalty/betrayalEthical: right/wrong, truth/lie

Emotional: hope/despair, love/hateIntellectual: freedom/slavery, wisdom/stupidity

STORYROBERT MCKEE’S ELEMENTS OF STORY

SCENE

An action through conflict in more or less continuous time and space that turns the

value-charged condition of a characters’ life on at least one value with a degree of

perceptible difference. Ideally, every scene is a story event. If not, it may be ‘exposition’.By scene, ask, "What value is at stake in the

characters’ life at this moment?” Love? Truth? What?

STORYROBERT MCKEE’S ELEMENTS OF STORY

SEQUENCE

A series of scenes–generally two to five–that culminates with greater impact than any previous

scene.

Scenes cause relatively minor, yet significant change. The capping scene of a sequence,

however, delivers a more powerful, yet determinant change.