COLLECTION NAME:
Graduate Thesis Collection
Record
Title:
Slice Of Life: Use of the Kishōtenketsu (conflict-absent narrative) method of story-telling in animation to create appealing stories
Creator:
Shah, Jahnvi
Subject:
Thesis (M.F.A.) -- Animation
Subject:
Savannah College of Art and Design -- Department of Animation
Rights:
Copyright is retained by the authors or artists of items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Abstract:
"The East has a long tradition of conflict-less storytelling that originated in Chinese poetry and spread to all formats including prose, journalistic writings, graphic novels, and filmmaking. This style of storytelling, known as Kishōtenketsu, consists of a story in four-acts which can exist without a conflict driving it. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that Kishōtenketsu is commonly used in the slice of life genre in Japanese live action and animation, which is made up of the mundane, every-day stories of regular people These stories of regular people, which are devoid of conflict, still have a lot of substance and are made all the more compelling with the way they are told using Kishōtenketsu. In the following paper, I will consider the roots of this type storytelling and the how it came to be. Using feature and series animation examples, I will discuss how this unique kind of story-telling enhances the appeal and strength of the stories in the slice of life genre. Lastly, I will touch upon the idea that greater usage of conflict-less plots in all formats could lead to a more peaceful world."
Abstract:
Includes the author's animated film "Hamster Days / a film by Jahnvi Shah, in which a young girl's boredom turns to happiness through her imagination and her friendship with her pet hamster.
Abstract:
Keywords: Kishōtenketsu, slice of life, Hero’s journey, conflict-less storytelling, Western animation, Japanese animation, conflict-driven writing, four-act stories, plot twist, Chinese poetry
Publisher:
Savannah, Georgia : Savannah College of Art and Design
Date:
2017-08
Format:
1 text file (thesis) : PDF, 38 pages, color illustrations + 1 animated film : WMV, sound, color