The Secret To Mastering Blender Isn't What You Want To Hear.

I just spent 2 hours writing this blog post. And then it all got deleted. I want to cry. But I don’t have time for that.

So Here Is Something Better.

Five tips on making a great story. That’s right - the secret to Blender isn’t what you wanted to hear but if you take what I’m about to tell you seriously, Pixar will need to scoot on over! And, if you’d prefer to just watch a video on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCJYJhm4rtg

But this is what I wish I had 5 years ago when I first started making animated movies.

1. Use Backstory

Most people will write backstory off as something obvious.

Don’t ask how I know that.

Next time you're constructing a Blender scene think about your characters and the world in which they live.

Everything should tell a story:

• What sort of society do they live in?
• Are they well-to-do or impoverished slaves?
• Has the settlement been long abandoned, or is it suspiciously tidy?

All that is good and dandy, but you can go further!

Say you're making a render of the Grand Prince’s Coronation. It's set in a dark, dank forest under an ancient tree.

This is where visual backstory can shine.

Let’s imagine this tree has seen kings rise, and nations fall. On its well-worn bark are the names of the men who ruled under its canopy.

Think about who did what, when, where, how… and why.

2. Motivated Emotion

Welcome to the second realm.

Nothing is worse than bad acting on a lame soap opera and like it or not, many renders face their version of the soap opera syndrome. I’m going to call it Unmotivated Emotion.

While crafting a true masterpiece, you should leave absolutely nothing to chance. And when it comes to what you want people to come away with after seeing your work your goal should be clear. Ask yourself - should someone feel happy or sad after seeing my animation; should they feel frightened or hopeful after seeing my render?

A CLEAR why is critical.

In fact, the next time you open Blender, take a sticky note and write what you want to viewer to feel. Then stick it on your screen as a constant reminder.

• Don’t just make your scenes sad because it's easy to add some grunge to the walls and some fog to the air.
• Don’t make them happy because you found a fun shader pack.
• Think deeper!

Knowing what you want your audience to feel is freeing.

You suddenly can make decisions with purpose - always with the message you want to convey at the forefront of your mind. On the technical side, you can start to dabble with moody lighting, artistic angles, and unique composition. Color theory is even simplified when you know what you want to say!

3. Contrasted Emotion

While it can easily be overused the art of showing the happy and seemingly sad at the same time is especially powerful.

Imagine this… a sad score slowly weaves its way across the keys on a piano. Part of you wants to cry. But something bigger is happening but you can’t tell exactly what it is. On-screen, a is a seemingly happy montage while the music is full of mixed emotions.

Though hypothetical, this creates emotional contrast. You can do the same thing visually.

Let’s say you have a sad character crying… yes, you could put them in a gloomy room, but what if you placed them in a surreally beautiful scene?

A field of blooming flowers, a blue sky, bright sun - birds singing.

Now you have visually created contrast - all in the same frame you have shown the good, the bad, and the ugly.

A true juxtaposition.

4. Change

Take a moment to picture a TV show where absolutely nothing changes.

Yeah… good luck.

Every movie that’s any good had a change or transformation of some sort that takes place, and so should your renders.

Find a way to tell a story.

Find a way to show change.

Just because your animation is of a spinning donut, doesn’t mean you can go above and beyond and add… a story.

• How did the donut get there?
• Why is it there?
• WHO PUT IT THERE!? 
• Why not give the donut character?
• Is it fearful or confident?

If you want an excellent example of how to bring inanimate objects to life look at Pixar… many believe that it’s their secret ingredient. They're close to being right… but not quite there.

The secret Pixar sauce of Pixar is simple - write a great story… then make it even better.

5. Story Structure

This is where I started to get excited. I have a legitimate soft spot for story structure.

It comes in handy.

Let’s start with the basics.

There are 3 parts to every story. Many people call them acts, or in other words, there is a beginning, middle, and end.

Your render or animation takes place somewhere between the beginning and end and the more you can help the viewer grasp what those plot points are, the more effective your story can be.

There are countless resources on storytelling out there - my favorite would be the book Save The Cat and Dan Harmon’s Story Circle.

In short, the story circle goes like this: You… need something… you GO and Search for it. You then FIND it and TAKE IT paying a price for it. You RETURN - somehow CHANGED.

Once again, change is key.

Remember you have great power… you know Pixar’s secret… you know that the secret key mastering to Blender isn’t a technical skill… it is storytelling.

Stories can change the world.

Yours can be one of them.