Audiences want stories that meet their expectations… just not in the way they expect it. That is the fine line a storyteller must walk, and it is one of the biggest challenges in media today. To do this effectively, directors and producers are relying more and more on animators, VFX artists, and interactive designers.

Story has evolved over thousands of years and the expected structures (formulas) have been codified (i.e., Hero's Journey, Save the Cat, and Story Circle/Embryo). In this session we will look at how filmmakers have subverted such 'formulas' using recognized story 'forms' to break from expectations. This includes 'forms' such as Time (Christopher Nolan), Setting (Cohen Brothers), Psychology, and Endings (Michael Arndt).

We will also examine Genres (i.e., Comedy, Action, Hybrid Genres) and how their Tropes can easily become the formula. Animation tropes have included fairytale stories, funny sidekicks, breaking out into song, 'I want', and clear villains.

What impact do cultural differences have on story expectations (i.e., Eastern versus Western storytelling [Do we read images differently? Do all stories have conflict?]) When breaking from norms, is it a Story's Structure or its Storytelling (narrative) that provide the greatest latitude? Where do Unreliable Narrators, Clichés, Subtext, Cause-and-Effect, Choices, Arcs… come into play?

This session reveals an audience's story expectations, which, if you are going to break from expectations, it is very useful to know before you break them. This session is for those who want an understanding of how story norms have been broken in creating content for animated films, VFX, video games, interactive media. This presentation contains many visuals to illustrate the concepts.