Layout 3

A more medium shot layout to allow character performance.

-Vlad

Layout #2

Haven't painted in a while..this is fun. :)

-Vlad

Twinkle

So i thought of this little star as an innocent character that doesnt take stress well. In one pose you can see he's wearing a monocle....why ... well i was thinking not only is he a little too smart for his own good but when his rage builds i see him flushing with color and with a few eye twitches his rage clearly to the point of no return, his little monacle cracking. there is a lot of facial expressions i have yet to play around with, could be a fun character.

-jen

Layout #1 for pitch

Hey guys! my first post here. Well, finished one so far..continuing to work on another...

Vlad

Blue monkey concept

To set mood i was thinking the monkey could be blue considering the story takes place at night. I also see his character as a very chill and relaxed, the color blue brings that attitude out.

Star characters

The Story as it Stands (aka A Monkey with Fireworks)

Here's the basic idea of the story, as conceived in the meeting. There are plenty of opportunities for gags, but the key is that now we have:
1)a solid motive to get to the stars in the sky - wants to get home, and 2)a beginning - monkey knocks star down to island with firework,
middle - mistakes star for starfish and star gets frustrated,
climax - star discovers monkey is responsible for his fall, and
end - star gets back up to space on a firework, but knocks down the moon.

So here we go:

[Unseen exposition]{A monkey on an island discovers a crate of fireworks that have washed ashore. He begins to play with them and figures out how they work. He shoots them off over and over until... }

A star is knocked out of the sky by a blinding flash of sparkling light. We see him soaring down to the ocean, skipping across it, bouncing across the island beach, and coming to a full-tilt face plant. The monkey comes in "are you okay little starfish?" The star is understandably dazed.
The star makes every attempt to convince the monkey that he is not a starfish, (opportunities for very many gags here) and that he needs to get back to the sky, which seems practically impossible. The monkey, suspending his disbelief, tries everything he can think of to help the star get back up (gags of foiled and very stupid attempts). Finally, he suggests that if anything could work to get him up there, it would be 'these'... he takes the star to the fireworks crate and shoots one off to show him. Upon seeing the sparkly explosion, the star realizes the monkey is responsible for his fall, and freaks out. After calming down, the star realizes that the monkey is right, he can probably use the fireworks to get home. After one or two inevitably foiled attempts (i.e. hanging on by the wick, or using cracklers without realizing the difference, or not hanging on tight enough, etc.) the star is finally launched back into space in a sparkly explosion, propelling him back to where he came from.

then...

the monkey looks in the crate to see one firework left, and just can't help but send it off, and we see him trying to run for cover as everything glows brighter and brighter around him. Until finally the moon falls down with a thud on the island. "What the hell was that!" he declares, sitting/rolling up to reveal the firework lodged in his eye (gag - parody of Le Voyage Dans La Lune [France 1902] http://www.greatestfilms.org/voya.html)

That's the story as best I can re-iterate from the brainstorming giggle-fest with DQ. I did patch some points on my own, just to make it all work so we have a quilt with no missing patches to start from... But let the ideas pour, I'd like to hear them. It's all pretty flexible, but I think this story stands very well as it is. Lots of visual animation, with glowing, fireworks, nightscenes, etc. and great opportunity for character development, with a twist - full circle ending. All easily done in 2 minutes.

Let the brain juices flow! cheers!

~Gord

Fun Pack

I will be posting the pages of our fun pack as I finish compiling them. Check back every hour to see new pages. Any comments/changes you have direct them to me on msn.



-Bon

Some Ideas...

Thought I'd throw this out there before Monday so you guys can brew on it.

I decided to change the setting in my version to a boy's room where he has glow in the dark stars plastered all over his ceiling. The starfish believes this is the sky and it is where the starfish gets the motivation to become a "real" star (sticking with the original premise, but it's a comical twist). He builds a contraption using stuff in the boy's room (similar to vlad's story) and launches himself into the ceiling, plastering himself over a glowing star. Soon he dries up and dies because he's been out of water for too long. The boy comes back home/wakes up (depends when you want this to occur -day/night) and finds his room a total mess and his pet starfish gone.

I know you guys think we've been changing the story far too many times already, but I'm just changing the location, since it would make a little more sense vs. starfish in a kitchen waiting to be eaten (already there is a bit of believability lost because the concept of eating starfish isnt widespread).

Here's a relevant picture from KH visual collection: Sora's Room

~Bon

Notes from Dreamworks Presentation

Story
- the story is driven by a unique and interesting character, and the plot is a result of that character's motivation and behaviour
- flawed characters are more interesting, because the audience can identify with their struggle
- pace yourself, it takes time and you need to maintain energy to stick it through
- don't be afraid to take chances
- explore who the character is, and the subtext of their actions
- don't second guess yourself, other people can do that for you

"Be prepared to kill your babies" - things will change by the end, embrace change and don't cling to your present ideas.

"The first draft is shit" - you may have to re-write the story 50 times or more. The initial thoughts and ideas you have will always be stereotypes. You have to dig down to the new and fresh ideas by re-writing and simplifying over and over and over and over... it never ends, until you decide to settle. You know you've hit it when the audience finds more relevance in your story than you do.

"Keep it simple" - don't worry about design, just ideas.

"Commit to the idea" - once you've decided the subject, stay with it until all the details are ironed out. Don't (as we've learned) change your subject in hopes of finding a better story.

"Be prepared to generate" - you only get out what you put in. The more you have, the more you have to choose from.

Inspiration
-improvise
-sketch
-read books
-watch movies + commentaries, sketch thumbnails
-watch silent movies for clear staging tips - Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd
-Observe life

Helpful Resources:
http://sevencamels.blogspot.com
Books; Ray Bradbury - Zen in the Art of Writing, Stephen King on Writing, Disney's Illusion of Life

Some other helpful links:
http://theartofglenkeane.blogspot.com/
check out "writing tips" at http://jameshudnall.com/toc.htm

props

cliff

The Story of Twinkle

Outline, First Draft

Twinkle the star is shining up in the night sky. Suddenly he comes loose out of ‘the fabric of space’ and falls down to the Earth where he [comes into collision with a satellite, a plane, and a seagull?] falls into the ocean against a rock knocking him out cold.

After he regains consciousness, a fish asks him what he is. He doesn’t know. She makes some suggestions of sea life, but none of them sound familiar. She suddenly realizes what he could be, and takes him to see the starfish.

They look him over from head to toe, and determine he isn’t one of them and tell him and the fish to leave. After some crying and despair, the fish comforts twinkle and promises to figure out what he is. Just then a large octopus climbs over the top of the cliff’s edge they have been resting on. It gives chase to the two as the fish scoops up twinkle and makes a dash for the surface of the water where the octopus can’t swim.

But not quick enough, as the octopus swipes the two back down, the fish falling into a rock and passing out, and twinkle falling into a deep crevice. Twinkle seems helpless having fallen so far from his friend, who is now in danger of being eaten by the octopus. He calls after it to leave her alone, and it does, however it is now coming down after him. He doesn’t know what to do, so he covers himself in fear. This causes him to glow so intensely the octopus is blinded and flees.

The fish, having regained consciousness from twinkle’s yelling, had seen the whole thing and now knows what he is. She takes him to the surface where she shows him the ‘diamonds in the sky above the world so high’, and he realizes he is indeed one of them. He says goodbye to his friend reluctantly, receiving a kiss, and heads back to outer space where he places himself back into the ‘fabric of space’ a little more firmly this time.

There's my version of the story, see what you can come up with!

~Gord

Story - potential elements 2 + template

oct 5 meeting:

-unaware of gravity
- gets shine back when he learns to be compassionate
-incomplete constellation

climax: star must choose between the (final?) opportunity to get home (now or never) OR save his friend (starfish or blowfish, whatever)

template:

1. star loses glow
2. lost+trapped in the ocean
3. attempts to get back (montage?)
4. sacrifices his goal to save his friend (climax)
5. as a result, gets glow back, and achieves goal

cliff

Story - potential elements 1

list of potential story elements from oct 4 meeting:

-octopus zombie
-hunting stars
-zodiac signs messed up
-star getting dimmer in ocean
-star as template in factory
-star vs. ocean civilization
-blowfish becoming something else (moon)
-architect
-lantern
-suicidal star
-fat stars/starfishes
-(moon) goddess
-montage sequences
-unaware that he has to learn something to reach his goal
-mean star (character development) to kind star

cliff

First Post!

hey everyone :)

we have picked the starfish premise, and are currently in the process of story treatment!

cliff