BSA 204 W12 : The Distinction between, and Importance of, Story and Plot

I saw this video interview with Seth Rogen where he explains the difference between story and plot, and how plot is the hook or what we usually talk about as the logline, the story is what the movie is actually about.



The thing he says about the importance of these two is that at the beginning of a film one seems much more important than the other - the plot takes center stage. It's only as the movie unfolds that the two converge and start playing opposite roles, at the end of a film the story stands as the most important element and the plot takes a backseat.

He mentions Superbad, which I saw some time last month for the first time - the plot is about a pair of teen boys attempting to lose their virginity before heading off to college, but the story is really about the fact that these two are going to different colleges and what that means to their friendship. It's the same reason Rocky works, the plot is about winning the fight, but the story is the reason it doesn't matter in the end whether he won or not.

He also mentions 40-Year Old Virgin, another movie I saw for the first time this year and thought was very good, another one where the plot sees the protagonist try and lose his virginity but the story is more about making an emotional connection and growing up.



As someone who has a lot of plot-centric ideas I think this advice can be very useful and it's instantly creative to imagine how I could implement story.