I analysed the story of 'Howl's Moving Castle' a movie by Studio Ghibli, which is based of a novel of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones.
The first page is a quick introduction to the setting and world the story takes place in, while also introducing the main character, Sophie Hatter.
The second page is a brief, summarised version of the plot. I had to miss a lot of details, as there just wasn't room.
This last page was to explain any confusing points, and to add any details I might have missed. I also added in a brief summary of the main differences between the novel and movie, as they are completely different beyond the beginning.
The novel has a far different story than the movie does, as it's been adapted to the screen. However, the narrative still remains linear in both, and the characters are mostly the same.
There are various different types of narratives that tend to happen in movies and tv shows. There's linear narrative, which is where the story's events unfold in the correct order; there's non-linear, which is when a story starts with a flashforward, then goes back to show the audience what led up to that point, and then continues with the story from there; there's multi-strand narrative, which is when there's more than one character, more than one story, but something that ties them together; and finally, there's dual narrative, which is where a story is told from two points of view.
The setting, characters and conflict also play a part in a story and narrative. A story can't happen without conflict, which can be something large like an invading army, or something small like a breakup or ended relationship. There are seven main types of conflict that characters are faced with:
Man versus nature, man versus man, man versus the environment, man versus machines/technology, man versus supernatural, man versus self, and man versus God/religion.
A story doesn't just have to go along with one of these conflicts. In Howl's Moving Castle, Sophie is often pitted against the supernatural, and also against other people as well as herself. Howl is also pitted against himself as well as the environment, as he's forced into hiding.
There are also different types of characters that have a role to play in a narrative and story. There's the hero, the villain(s), helpers/allies, the false hero/anti-hero, the princess/damsel in distress, and the dispatcher, who sends the hero on their journey.
In Howl's Moving Castle, Sophie isn't really the hero, but is the protagonist and also the damsel in distress of the story, and Howl is the deuteragonist. Markel and Lettie are the helpers of the story, as Lettie offers advice to Sophie, and Markel offers advice to Howl. There are two villains in Howl's Moving Castle, yet both of them span different roles. There's Madame Sulliman, who poses as a friend to Sophie, yet turns out to be against her, and there's the Witch of the Waste, who is reformed in the middle of the film into another helper to Sophie, and gives her the confidence to confess her feelings to Howl. She also acts as the dispatcher to Sophie, as she places a curse on her, which prompts her to leave her home.
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