Great storytelling shot from the Prince of Egypt. I re-watched this the other day for the first time in a long time and it truly is a masterpiece. Religious views aside, a lot of great craftsmanship went into making this. You don't have to believe in the story of Moses to get that this is a great story told in a fantastic way.
One of the things I love most about this movie is Rameses. He's the villain of the story, but by letting us understand the reasons behind his decisions, we as an audience can completely sympathise with him. It's a really great way to write a villain. He's my favourite character in the movie. He has his own character arc, but it's in a completely different direction to Moses. This is what makes them oppositions. Moses learns how to be responsible and Rameses is forced by his position to learn how to harden his heart. He will not be the "weak link".
I like to use Jim Hull's "Complete Story" idea as a mechanism sometimes to test whether a story I've just watched/read is in fact complete. Most of the time you'll be able to tell this by the middle of the movie/book, just by deciding that something doesn't feel right. This is a good start in trying to understand the craftsmanship that goes behind telling a good story, but what's better is if you can figure out what didn't sit well with you in the first place.
Jim Hull calls these points "through-lines". I call them plot and subplots. Whatever floats your boat. If you ever watch a film and decide something wasn't right with it (for you, this is a completely subjective notion), most likely (though not always), one of these main scenarios is missing.
This is all copied and pasted from storyfanatic.com. What I've added is in italics:
The Big Picture Throughline. This throughline is what most consider the main story, the plot, or if you prefer, the A-story line. A majority of screen-time is spent telling this throughline (at least in American cinema). This is the part of the story you describe when you’re asked, “What was the story about?” From here, the audience gets to see the central problem from a bird’s eye objective view.
I call this the main plot idea. The main concept or premise. For the Prince of Egypt this would be: "An Egyptian prince learns of his identity as a Hebrew and, later his destiny to become the chosen deliverer of his people." (Copied from IMDb) Simple enough right? From here we flesh the story out to make it feel a little more complete.
The Personal Throughline. This throughline concerns itself with who the story is about. Most story experts agree that a successful story revolves around one central character, most often referred to as the Main Character. This throughline is also sometimes called the B-story line. From here, the audience gets to experience the central problem from a completely subjective personal viewpoint.
This is the story of the main character/protagonist. Some people say these two concepts don't always have to be the same character. It's true, but for now, for this movie, they are. The main character in the Prince of Egypt is Moses and obviously the story is being told through his eyes. He's the character we follow along to the very end and he's the character with the main arc (although in the prince of Egypt quite a few of the characters have an arc, this fleshes them out a little and makes them appear less 2D).
The Opposition Throughline. This throughline provides the opposing viewpoint necessary to force the Main Character to deal with their own issues. Most accurately referred to as the Impact Character, this character has also been labeled the personal antagonist. From here, the audience gets to experience a personal viewpoint of the problem that is not their own.
Already said Rameses was Moses's opposition.
The Relationship Throughline. This throughline is the heart of every story. It concerns itself with the relationship created between the Main and Impact Character and whether or not that relationship is growing or dissolving. From here, the audience can gather some emotional meaning from the problem unavailable in any of the other throughlines.
The main relationship in the Prince of Egypt is the one between Moses and his brother. This is one that grows weaker over time because of the two men having two different ideas of what is "right".
Another relationship subplot is of course the one between Moses and Tzipporah. This is a movie with a lot of heart. The relationship subplot in this movie is probably the one that evokes the most audience response.
Stories missing a throughline tend to feel incomplete and might leave the audience feeling like something is missing.
Stories missing: -
The Relationship Throughline (subjective) – lack heart.
The Personal Throughline (subjective) – lack involvement and feel cold or uninvolving.
The Big Picture Throughline (objective) – don’t make sense.
The Opposition Throughline (subjective/objective) – lack drive. The opposition of course can be the main character having internal conflict issues. (This is just my opinion.)
Once all that is established, further fleshing out of the story is needed to really give the thing some meat. This is where Dan Well's "Story Structure" comes in.
I would go into character but, I've written more than I was supposed to already. Maybe I'll do that with another story. Either way, I really love the Prince of Egypt and I think we could learn a lot from studying it.
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