There are many different ways to tell a story. It’s all about which building block of storytelling the creators want to focus on. Typically, most stories will be predominantly driven by one of two of these building blocks: character and plot. It might seem like an inconsequential difference to an audience, but figuring out which one to emphasize can create very different experiences. It’s all about the ultimate goal of the creator and the type of message they want to convey. Noticing the differences can be tricky, but the recent Pixar film Elemental is a great example of how a story can play out radically different depending on which one of those two is in the driver’s seat.
Starring Leah Lewis and Mamoudou Athie, Elemental is a story with a very intricate setting. It involves a fictional fantasy world where different races of elemental beings live and work together. The races are more or less segregated, but they do interact across numerous areas of their lives. The overall plot involves a water and fire elemental as they form a relationship and try to stop the fire neighborhood of the city from being engulfed by a flood.
Now depending on what the story wanted to focus on, it could have handled this flood in two very different ways. If it wanted to center the plot, it could have created a villainous character who wanted to purposely flood the fire neighborhood for some nefarious purpose. Then the characters would have to work together in order to stop him. This would create a very action-packed and tension-filled story. But that’s not what Elemental chose. Instead, there is no villain. The neighborhood floods purely by accident, and the flood is used as a mechanism to further drive the characterization and relationship of the two main characters. Indeed, character is at the heart of the story, but it’s still interesting to see how even a slight change could shift that focus over to plot instead.
Elemental is now streaming on Disney+.
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