Our armature for our film will remain the same. It's "Old men Play, Young Men Die."
With this in mind:
Update the 7 Steps
Use the current seven steps and revise and rework them. Make sure to develop the story so that each step logically progresses from the last one. Currently there are problems starting with step two :-) Select a location for the story and include the two old men as characters. Provide an ending that you feel is most appropriate.
First Draft of the Beat Sheet
Once you have revised your seven steps, add detail to your story by expanding the steps into a first draft of a beat sheet. I'm looking for a first draft, not a final beat sheet. For those of you who don't know what a beat sheet is --it's a list charting the story's major plot points. The beat sheet is the story broken down into events, described in single sentences. Your beat sheet doesn't have to be perfect. I'd like to see you flesh out the 7 steps into something more substantial though. Go here to see a Sample Beat Sheet.
For those of you who have developed a beat sheet before ( for the final last Quarter) revisit your beat sheet and revise it based on the change in your 7 seven steps.
Thoughts: We need to work on the basic story initially without an emphasis on the card world so I'd like you to try to avoid the card world for the first iteration of your assignment -- especially the 7 steps. Focus on what happens to the two main characters playing the card game and what happens with the cards -- without the shift to a different world. Don't worry, we'll come back to it :-) We'll consider the card world and the shadow world behind the figures/men once our 7 step story is clearer and more compelling. Right now I'd like us to work out the seven steps without it. It will be a lot easier for us to determine where and how both approaches fit in then. So, please work carefully and thoughtfully on revising those 7 steps and creating a first draft of a beat sheet for us to work from. A huge challenge at this point is how to present the ending.
Statement of Purpose
Come up with a collective statement of purpose that we could all adopt so that there's general agreement about the underlying intention of the film/story. Here is a sample statement of purpose:
The film we create is an opportunity to present what we feel are the truths of war in an animated short film through the use of metaphor. We will make a film that we believe is the most engaging and enjoyable way to present these truths. One way to handle the question about whether to present a hopeful or hopeless take on the concept of war and the future of war is to choose to present a story that doesn't proscribe or judge but instead encourages the audience to consider these truths and consider what responsibility they might have to respond when faced with a difficult decision. This is the approach we will take. If we are successful, we hope the audience will enjoy watching the film and also spend a moment to consider the serious aspects of war.
Please rework this for me and prepare it for class.