In this work, our goal is to develop a theoretical framework that can eventually be used for analyzing the effectiveness of visual stories such as feature films to comic books. To develop this theoretical framework, we introduce a new story element called moments. Our conjecture is that any linear story such as the story of a feature film can be decomposed into a set of moments that follow each other. Moments are defined as the perception of the actions, interactions, and expressions of all characters or a single character during a given time period. We categorize the moments into two major types: story moments and discourse moments. Each type of moment can further be classified into three types, which we call universal storytelling moments. We believe these universal moments foster or deteriorate the emotional attachment of the audience to a particular character or the story. We present a methodology to catalog the occurrences of these universal moments as they are found in the story. The cataloged moments can be represented using curves or color strips. Therefore, we can visualize a character's journey through the story as either a 3D curve or a color strip. We also demonstrated that both story and discourse moments can be transformed into one lump-sum attraction parameter. The attraction parameter in time provides a function that can be plotted graphically onto a timeline illustrating changes in the emotional attachment of audience to a character or the story. By inspecting these functions the story analyst can analytically decipher the moments in the story where the attachment is being established, maintained, strengthened, or conversely where it is languishing.

翻译：在本工作中，我们的目标是构建一个可用于分析视觉故事（如故事片至漫画书）有效性的理论框架。为建立该理论框架，我们引入了一种名为"时刻"的新故事元素。我们推测，任何线性故事（例如故事片的情节）均可分解为一系列依次衔接的时刻。时刻被定义为特定时间段内所有角色或单个角色的动作、互动及表情的感知集合。我们将时刻分为两大类：故事时刻与话语时刻。每类时刻可进一步细分为三种类型，我们称之为通用叙事时刻。我们相信这些通用时刻会促进或削弱受众对特定角色或故事情感的依恋。我们提出了一种方法，用于编录这些通用时刻在故事中的出现情况。编录后的时刻可用曲线或色带表示。因此，我们可以通过三维曲线或色带可视化角色在故事中的旅程。我们还证明了故事时刻与话语时刻均可转化为单一的总和吸引力参数。随时间变化的吸引力参数可绘制成时间轴上的函数图，直观展示受众对角色或故事情感依恋的变化。通过分析这些函数，故事分析师能够解析故事中情感依恋建立、维持、强化或衰退的时刻点。