I’ve been exploring how to tell complex stories on the web for quite a long time. When presenting a complex story to an audience, the goal is often to simplify the complexity without sacrificing so much detail that important elements are lost. XKCD’s movie narrative charts do this in a novel and effective way. On one hand, they provide the ability to see the shape of the story in one easily digested image. While at the same time they allow you to drill deeper, getting into the structure and detail of the story.