99 Ways to

Tell a Story
Exercises in style by Matt Madden
This is a series of cartoons drawn by Matt Madden to illustrate how there are
always many, many ways to tell and present a story. Animation is very visual, just
like cartooning, so what tends to work for cartoonists also tends to work for
animators. Use this as a guide and as inspiration for your own work. BTW – he
really did create 99 different ways to tell and present the identical sequence of
events. This is just a sampling of his work, used here as a teaching aid for your
reference.
This is the original – the series of events portrayed each and every time...
- 8 frames
- a basic telling of the events
- shown in a logical sequence / presentation, that is easy to follow and is very familiar to
us (a standard pattern of storytelling)
POINTS OF VIEW
The following show the story from various points of view (POV). This is storytelling at its most
basic, and very important for you to know.
The same events – told as a monologue by Matt
As seen from Matt’s POV (a very subjective point of view or frame of reference)
As seen from Jessica’s POV. Changing POV can open your insight into what is really happening
and can be a strong source of creativity. Don’t always use just the standard POV – potentially
boring.
As seen from the refrigerator’s POV.
As seen from a voyeur’s POV – a little funky, to say the least, but... isn’t this approach used in
every spy movie? It tells you what the other guys know about the situation in the story – a very
revealing and helpful storytelling tool.
The sequence of events shown as a How -To series of instructions. A twist on the idea of a
different POV.
The same story told in reverse. This is another twist on varying the POV using time. NOTE – this
is not the same as déjà vue nor is it the same as a flashback which are other twists of time.
Deja vue – ie; he has a strong sense that he has experienced this before.
Flashback – he recalls exactly what happened and we are now in his memory with him as he
experiences the events all over again.
GENRES
The term genres describes different families of film types. Typically this would include
- westerns
- action films
- horror films
- romance films
- documentary films
- science fiction
and many, many other types as well. What follows are examples of some of these to show you
how you can re-position any story into a whole new genre.
Done as a 60’s retro hippy era piece. Notice the style of drawing changes completely to
reinforce the sense of the genre.
This is the story told as a single frame political cartoon. A very clever interpretation of the
events. Examine this one very carefully. Notice – Jessica upstairs has now become The Boss! As I
said – very clever.
This is a events shown as a manga style story. Again, observe how the drawing style has
changed completely to reinforce the sense of the genre.
This is the story shown as a western. The style of drawing is not important but the characters
are very important. Each genre has key elements that must be followed if it is to be true to that
genre.
The events told as a drama or possibly as part of a romance. Again, drawing is less important
and characters are critically important.
LANGUAGE OF FILM
This series illustrates various uses of the language of film. Everything we do uses these tools.
The language of film includes
- camera angles
- camera movements
- camera shots
- pacing
- lighting
- audio effects
This just illustrates a few of these points, but they are a good intro into the ideas required.
Shown using three different camera angles.
Shown using extreme zoom (a common camera movement)
Shown using only one camera shot – extreme close-ups.
Shown using only one camera shot – long shots.
Last – this is sort of a variation on the use of language of film. Here, the story has been
presented entirely as silhouettes. One more variation for you to consider.