CSE 456 - Story for Digital Animation

RED TEAM

Iteration 6: Fishy Fun (7/23/09)

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- Beatsheet
- Shot List
- Character Descriptions
- Thumbnails: 1, 2, 3
- Storyreel

1) Once upon a time there was a fish named Spot who yearned to share in the fun of a school of fish named the Maelstroms.
2) And every day Spot would watch the Maelstroms having fun playing daring games.
3) Until one day Spot was invited to join the Maelstroms in their games.
4) And because of this the Maelstroms and then Spot, who was very afraid, touched the face of a sleeping whale.
5) And because of this Spot woke the whale who proceeded to chase him.
6) Until finally Spot escaped the whale.
7) And ever since that day Spot is happy to make his own fun.

Armature: Don’t always follow the crowd because what might be fun for them might not be fun for you.

Characters: Spot (artistic, shy, lonely), The Maelstroms (high-spirited, daring, affable)

Setting:  A coral reef

Time of day: Present day in the early afternoon


1. Is the story as clear and succinct as you can make it? If it isn't, how can it be improved?
- The story is as clear and succinct as we can make it. 

2. Do you have a visual style in mind for your story and if so, can you describe it or provide visual reference?
- The visual style we have in mind is a highly saturated classic cartoon style.

3. Why should this story be told? Why would anyone care?
- This story should be told because many people make poor choices while struggling to find meaning in their lives - such as, in Spot’s case: a willingness to accept the friendship of any fish that offers it and to do the things that give their life meaning even if he doesn’t enjoy doing those things himself. People can learn from Spot that everyone’s life has meaning and that they should always do what feels right to them. 

4. Is there an emotional hook in your story? Is it engaging?
- Seeing how the main character is willing to do something that he clearly doesn’t want to do in order to fill a void in his life creates a bond between that character and the audience who have likely suffered through similar emotional issues.  This shared experience provides an emotional hook in our story and we feel that it is engaging.

5. Have you captured the visual transition in your story? Have you captured and illustrated the story beats? If not, what can you do to improve your visual storytelling?
- We have captured both the visual transition in our story and illustrated the story beats by following the thumbnails and beatsheet carefully when creating our camera shots in order to depict the shifts in both events and emotions.  We also show the transformation in Spot’s outlook by showing the transformation in Spot’s initial and final pictures.