The Difference Between Story and Plot
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- Опубликовано: 17 окт 2024
- Most of the time, 'story' and 'plot' mean essentially the same thing. But when you get into the nitty-gritty of writing, understanding the difference between the two can be key to crafting a compelling narrative.
After watching this video, you might fairly ask, "But Jacob, if this is the case, shouldn't you have called your 'Entire Story of Kingdom Hearts' video the 'Entire Plot' instead?" You're absolutely right. But people don't Google search the word 'plot' as frequently as they do the word 'story'.
... Unless, of course, they're bronies.
Frustrated Jacob What do you know about bronies, Jacob-senpai?
What does being a brony have to do with it? Is this a joke I'm not getting?
@@411314 Bronies can sometimes turn to sexualizing the ponies. Plot is just another word for a ponies ass.
As a writer and filmmaker going through school for this sort of thing, this video was SO useful on many different levels!
Another great video Jacob! :)
~SSP~
I'd like but you have the perfect 69 and I'm no idiot.
It is an interesting and important balance that is overlooked. An exciting and unique plot is under appreciated. I do find those movies where the characters don't "do" a lot quite entertaining as long as the motivations for why conversations are happening are compelling then it's more dramatic.
I'd been jumping through articles without fully understanding the difference, even using the textbook the teacher told the class to get. And you happened to explain a clear difference within the first minute. Thank you so much!
Finally! Somebody who asserts that the best (or at the very least, more difficult to achieve) art is the combination of accessibility (plot) and character depth/themes (story), not just Oscar bait (story-heavy) films that nobody enjoys except the people who made it.
True im weak asf
People are sheep.
Oscar bait is normally a derisive term directed at those films whose singular audience is the judging board of the Academy. This generally favors films with a focus on Hollywood, American historical events, and the process of filmmaking. They are also generally films that center around singular characters and performances, and demonstrate a writers particular mastery of dialogue. This isn't necessarily something that is more or less heavy on plot, just a system of appeal that pushes out more innovative and adept filmmakers in favor of the Hollywood circlejerk.
I found this video from my college cinema course to explain the difference between plot and story. If there was anything about college I wasn't expecting, it was a funny RUclips video with my favorite games soundtrack. Great video! It really did help me understand these two things since I was having a hard time with it.
Wow you have made this topic and distinction so clear. The best I've ever heard.
A Frustrated Jacob video about storytelling using The Incredibles as an example, with Persona 5 music in the background?
That's like four of my favorite things combined!
Awesome video, Jacob. You're always improving
Thank you soooo much! I've been searching for this answer for the past 7 years! I've become an absolute master and beast at PLOT, I mean I've written LOST fan fiction people think I stole from JJ Abrams but I've always been lacking want I want most, THE TARANTINO, SCORSESE, AND NOLAN STYLE. Now, I have it. You summed it up perfectly!
Persona 5 music at the start? Welp I already know this is gonna be good
my exact thoughts as well!
Writing myself, I find a lot of the stuff you say helpful and inspiring. Even in the research run videos I can find some things you say very interesting and useful. Thx a lot
IVE BEEN STUCK FOR SO LONG I LOVE THESE KINDS OF VIDEOS YOU ARE STRAIGHT TO THE POINT AND VERY ENTERTAINING WHILE TEACHING. NEW SUB DEFINITELY💜
Wow, this puts allot of things into perspective.
When God of War finally launches for PS4, I hope you do a video covering:
-The Plot, how Kratos and his son fight to survive and how they go about their journey and adventure.
-The story, of how Kratos gained dimensions to his character, constantly struggling to raise his son so as to not make the same mistakes he did in his past, while having humility for the first time in his life to accept his son teaching him and guiding him in return.
Once again, beautiful video. This is the kind of quality i'm subscribed for.
I thought plot was when you plan to do something bad, and story was a level of a building.
Gold
You're on a five head level, bruh.
Great video. I tend to come more from David Mamet's perspective, that characters should be viewed as "habitual action" rather than beings with internal lives. To reconcile what I've learned from Mamet with this video, one could say that Mamet views these two concepts (story and plot) as one and the same. For example,when creating a character arc, one could view it as: A bunch of habitual, consistent actions are taken in pursuit of a goal. When these actions fail to achieve said goal, new habits are established, leading to new kinds of habitual actions, leading to the goal being reached.
I suppose this view that I subscribe to, can be said to reduce character arcs to being just another part of the plot, seeing as these are all just events. A bit reductive maybe, but it helps me write better.
This is the best video I have watched about story vs plot. Very well done.
This video was the part of our University storytelling lesson created by the storywrites of Alan wake in 2023, Finland. For a good reason.
I actually never knew there was a difference between story and plot and it's even in the dictionary.
Thanks Jacob. I learned something new today.
I'm a simple girl. I hear Persona 5 music, I like the video.
Great video! It should reach 100k views soon (it deserves a lot more) 👍
Great video. Really gives great information in simple enough language for a general audience to understand without sacrificing details. But I think you're coming off a bit too dismissive with more non-hollywood, experimental foreign filmmaking. There's more to those types of film than just being long winded and abstract. These film styles are where the big steps toward innovation lie, be it technical or as storytelling wise. And being liked by the general public, while an undeniable achievement, shouldn't be the only way to evaluate a work's worth.
Knowing the fundamentals is essential for any students, of course, but it's just as important to studty and understand the appeal and context in different styles of art.
I don't mean to be negative, but since I agrre with most of what you say, the only thing worth saying is the part I had an issue about.
so essentially...
plot + lore = story
Really enjoy your videos, you are a very insightful person. Btw what was the jazz song playing in the background during that back to the future to the bit
Dude, excellent video! I understand how important a story is in any form of art and I'm one of the few students in Cinematography at my university who understands this (apparently). I want these students to learn more about the importance of storytelling so I'm going to show this to my professor and hopefully she'll use this to demonstrate her students in her Story Development class in the future. Again, nice work!
Watching those scenes from Die Hard, I was thinking about how we typically think of Bruce Willis as almost a symbol of the 1980's-90's. But in reality he was a fully grown man by that point, the actual person that became famous in the 1980's who played those awesome characters was really a product of the 1960's-70's when he was growing up and becoming who he is. Idk pretty stoned and thought that might contribute to the comparison of story vs plot
8:17
“Speaking of watermelon Oreos...”
Does not remotely relate to watermelon Oreos...
Haha I do this to people as well 😂
Great video! Surprised you don't have more viewers.
The Incredibles was an excellent example. That movie is in my top 10 list.
This is what I tell people, this is great, you are sharing the truth
We want the values to succeed
What a well thought out video. Put together really nicely as well.
Thanks for that, still don't know the difference. But it was very entertaining good job
Awesome video... Thanks for helping me understand this stuff
So for Fight club for example , the plot is all the things that were happening at the first of the movie and the story is the moment we knew that the two guys are actually the same person ?
This was funny and informative. I was able to witness multiple film scenes I had not watched while being schooled AND entertained. I appreciate your comedic wit and am now like .05% smarter, which on the whole isn't saying much. Also love your handle? "Frustrated Jacob" :) thanks and keeping making videos
Heard Persona 5 music, immediately grabs my attention
Thank you you've saved my life
Bro you cleared up the difference in the first 20 seconds
2:11 i love how he used that community episode to describe below-average crime dramas
Plot and Story as you've differentiated them here become one and the same in "character driven" stories, which at least as I've seen the term commonly used are where the plot is a direct result of interactions between characters rather than a series of events the characters have to react to. One of my favorite examples is the original Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, all three films basically revolve around the conflicting motivations of characters and what they'll do to get what they want. Go back and watch them again, literally nothing that has any impact on the plot "just happens" out of nowhere, everything is the result of the actions of some character that we actually see in the films. I know people mainly focus on the first film and consider the other two to be lesser, but all three stick to this idea and structure very well and that's one of the reasons I like all of them a great deal.
Technically many if not most stories could be said to fall into this category except for maybe disaster or horror movies, but I'm being more strict in the definition that a "character" in this instance has to be an actual person which shows up in the script and has motivations or agency of some sort. In LoTR, everything is Sauron's fault ultimately, but he's far off in the distance and thus isn't a "character" in this sense. Saruman is a "character" though, and you could say the A plot of Two Towers (regarding the conflict between Rohan and Isengard) is partially character driven based on the criteria given, though obviously there's more to it and both sides are driven by things beyond personal motivations and desires.
Was that Final Fantasy 12 music at the end? Speaking of which can you eventually do some form of analysis of why you think 12 is the best Final Fantasy?
I really enjoyed your video. Thanks!
Great video man! Was this an assignment for your film class? How many drafts of the script did you do?
This is more for film but I think the breal down helped me to create s strong structure in my mind for how to categories ideas. Most of the books I read have World Building elements that drive the story and the plots are more simpler.
I always thought of Story as consisting of plot, characters, and setting.
Love these kinds of videos. You just earned yourself a new sub dude :)
This was really helpful sir, thanks!
I told my brother who is a middle school English and Writing teacher and he showed it in his class a few months later
I really don’t know why, but when Jacob was explaining the beginning chase scene from “Casino Royale” all I could think about was the chase scene from “Captain America: Civil War”.
this was so helpful thank you !!
Excellent video Jacob! Informative and easy to follow.
This was Definitely helpful and everything was thoroughly and entertainingly explained
This is all a bit confusing now. Here's the classic EM Forster quote, which most web articles cite to show the differences: "The king died and then the queen died is a story. The king died, and then queen died of grief is a plot."
So, a timeline of events is story-"this happened and then this happened." Plot provides the why-"this happened but it ___, or "this happened, therefore ___". But in this video, if I'm not mistaken, it says story is concerned with the "why" and "what." I guess it really doesn't matter which is which in the end.
Great point. I think EM Forster's term "story" should really be "history" -- otherwise the whole idea of a "story" loses all the art and emotion and subtlety that most people have in mind when they talk about stories and story-telliing. Plot is a component or ingredient IN a story, referring to how the events are presented. A story contains BOTH history (which is usually implied rather than "told") and plot (which is the logical structure of the final presentation). But Story contains them both, along with lots of other things that the artist selects to make the story work -- character, location, period, etc. The EM Forster definition of story leaves all that out. But then he was talking as a novelist, to novelists, in another age....
Best explanation yet. Great video.
This was very necessary for understanding The Last of us 2.
A superb video. Can't wait for more.
Goood sheeeet 👌👌👌
Also love the Hat in Time music
Love the color contrast of the thumbnail
Thank you very much.
Analogy using food - everyone liked that.
wow, such a great video!! thanks!!
Thanks this was really helpful.
THANK YOU FOR EXPLAINING THIS!
I’m studying and practicing to become a cartoonist (or something along those lines). I want be able to create something fun and engaging that sticks with you like Danny Phantom, Gravity Falls, Code Geass or even What Remains of Edith Finch (have you checked that game out BTW? What Remains of Edith Finch? Rather short and not a whole lot of game play other than interacting with certain items, moving and triggering dialogue but solid story AND plot. Love it. You should check it out). This kind of video really helps me so thanks a lot. I’ll definitely be keeping this stuff in mind. Also, LOL at the peanut butter and jelly sandwich metaphor bit. XD
Looking for any writers to collaborate with?
Great video,
Liked the persona 5 music
These definitions of story and plot are inconsistent with all other definitions I've read on the internet.
Many sources cite E.M. Forster’s Aspects of the Novel, which describes "The king died and then the queen died." as story and "The king died and then the queen died of grief." as plot. (story with explanation of cause)
Others define story as a series of events in chronologial order (what actually happens) and plot as the sequence of these events.
Wikipedia defines story as the sum of all events that take place and plot as the set of events that are causally connected and affect the outcome. (articles on "narrative" and "plot" respectively) This is also consistent with the meaning of "tightly plotted", as in very dense in meaningful events that drive the story forward and with little to no filler.
You provide yet another definition, and one that's the exact reverse of E.N. Forster's.
So even though I still do not have a definitive meaning for these words after hours of googling, yours is probably not the correct one. It might even be debatable whether or not there even is one that could be said to be correct, as everyone has their own idea about it.
I guess it doesn't matter as long as you keep these concepts in mind while writing. They'll be helpful regardless of what you happen to call them. Still wish we had a consitent definition, though. Makes talking about this stuff much easier.
yes this video is wrong and literally explained it backwards. he says plot is 2 guys shooting at each other, story is why they're shooting. It's backwards, plot is WHY they're shooting, story is that they're shooting.
thanks a bunch, You saved me a big headache
The Dark Knight nails both story and plot perfectly.
@ Frastrated Jacob. You could have explained the difference between story and plot much better than you did. The story is the content that is presented to the audience, the plot is how it is presented. The story is so to say the soul, the plot is the observable body. In a movie, the filmscore isn't part of the story, but it is part of the plot. The flight from New York to Tokyo can be a part of a story, but the actual flight is dull to watch and can be left out from the plot. The difference between plot and story is that simple.
B.t.w a movie that is all plot without story is possible, however, a movie that is all story without plot is impossible.
What if you record the story, voices, and to this you add video that is related to what is said, and amplifies the feelings, but every scene has different people, different places, and is intentionally made so that it's not a plot being shown, the story is in the sound, if watched with the sound off it would make no sense what so ever. Would that be a movie with a story but without plot? 🤔
This actually made it more clear to me. His video just made me confused af.
@@XiaoPangZi I'd say there is a plot, albeit with the `help' of nonsensical pictures. Even the crappiest plot is still plot. ;-))
Also, when I google "story vs plot" I get answers like "Story is the timeline: the sequence of events in your narrative. The point of a plot is to
Well done, Jacob, very very good video.
So Story gives meaning to the plot and the plot is what driving the story forward? Like PB&J?
casino royal is one of the best if not the best bond movies, with the best song.
really great video]
can you talk about story and plot in games? how to make it work with keeping the flow with the gameplay, and with the restrictions the game have, like in a 2 hour platformer
Hmm. Maybe I will. Pretty big topic, it'd be a hard video to make. Very interesting suggestion though, there are a lot of unique challenges for storytelling in games and it's a subject I think about a lot.
This was such a great video!
is....is that persona 5 music in the background?
So I have a quastion plot is the action of the story?
I think of it more as the story is the point of the thing, and plot is the way of getting that point across. Abstract expressionism is what I would call the peak of all story no plot, and the problem is that you need to be exactly on the creator's wavelength, or completely obsessed with the profundity of your own artistic analysis, to get anything out of it. The plot serves to place this story in a consumable structure where it can be enjoyed by a much wider set of people. That is why it is built from a set of recognizable conventions, so that people know what they are watching. Also, Raiders of the Lost Ark is a terrible example if you are trying to find something with no story.
This is good stuff 😊😊
I needed this
how about tobey spiderman trilogy? Is it good story or good plot or both?
Name of movie with scarlet johanson?
Lost in Translation. All the movies are listed in order of their first appearance at the end of the video, just in case you want to identify any of the other clips you see here.
I always see the plot as the structure of a story
12:00 FFXII Balfonheim theme playing in the background. For anyone interested
Omg I am totally gonna watch Casino Royale now!
Thank you!
I'm not convinced there is a difference between plot and story. I think this video talked about Plot/Story and Character Development.
Basically plot is a foundation, a structure, while story is context and additional details.
I think you should do a video on script vs screenplay
High concept has no relation to high brow.
Ugh yes I love the Incredibles movie
4:00 If you asked Michael Bay to make "Raiders of the Lost Ark"....
What do you mean "if"? I already did.
A story and a plot are the same thing because they have the same nebulous definition. Every single video I've watched to give me a definition between the two has swapped them back and forth interchangeably no one knows what a plot versus the story is or they are indeed the same thing.
Dope video
Please don't touch that bread like that
THX men.
Is this true?
Isn't a Story pretty much everything like Plot and characters combined, but Plot is like how the events or story progress? Meh it seems hard to describe
I like my sandwich extra jelly and peanut butter
Movies that makes it interesting
What's hot in the Incredibles?
Wink wink
Returning to this video after Book of Boba Fett. The show had a complete failure to deliver story. The setup and payoff was abysmal, the only character to be developed was The Mandalorian. Boba is just a victim of plot after plot and he relies on those around him to even get to the next plot thing. I wanted to like this show so bad, and individual moments and episodes were good but I keep coming back to your points in this video as to why it failed so tragically.