For this blog post I watched She and Her Cat by Makoto Shinkai and 160 Characters by Victoria Mapplebeck. I will only be discussing 160 Characters, however, because it was one of the longer videos. None of these videos, as stated in the instructions, follow the Aristotelian plot structure, the three part structure that can be simply generalized as the beginning, middle, and end. Or the inciting action, climax, and moment of last suspense. The videos we watched followed a more abstract or episodic element. In 160 Characters there were dates following the chronological events that happened in the story, fragmenting them into episodic sections.
The conflict and strife are not a giant tragic circumstance that follows the main character, but smaller tragedies that do not overwhelm, but encumber whoever the story is following. For 160 Characters, an absent paternal figure continually failing to be present are the small tragedies throughout. As tragedy cannot make up an entire story, there are happy moments in between those events. The baby being born and healthy, bonding with the baby, taking new pictures and loving each other, etc.
Their words were a large part of the story, coupled with the visual effects. I cared more for the words than them because they carried the story, the heart of it at least to me. Meaning, every detail was kept in the words. The words themselves as well as the voice acting for each line made them feel real and genuine. That a woman was disappointed in a man, but happy she now has a child she cares for.
The narrative patterns, from what I can see, are more episodic, like I said before. They feel like a mix of episodic and kishōtenketsu 4-part structure because of absence of intense conflict. But 160 Characters is also a personal anecdote as a fictional story. Though it may have happened to her in reality, she molded it enough to fit a narrative that evoked more emotion or the emotion she felt she was going through. Either way, phenomenal stories!