Due On Blog

1. notes of protagonists/antagonists from BB
2. Developing the plot notes from BB
3. Genre recipe for your own plot
4. Character profile from your own film
5. Storyboarding notes
6. Interview with a Vampires synopsis
7. Scanned storyboard of ship task

Film Synopsis

FILM SYNOPSIS

The scene opens to the side view of forest. All is well and the forest appears as normal. Bird’s chirp somewhere in the distance and the sun shines brightly in the sky. “Once Upon a time…” a voice over smoothly awakens the story. “… in a Far Far Away land, there lived four beautiful princesses and a handsome prince.” The woman’s voice begins to become harsh and cold, one that you would not like to associate yourself with. The forest becomes dark and gloomy as the sunsets. Fog begins too loom at the edge of the forest, leaving the audience unable to see a few feet into the trees. “Do not be fooled land-dwellers, for this is no story of love, but one of betrayal, blood thirst and hatred. This was the Dark Side to Disney.” At the last words, the title seeps out from the fog and onto the screen whilst the music begins to play. A dolly shot through the fog, scatters it, and moves into the forest. Zooming through the forest, avoiding trees, the music begins to pick up speed. The time has reversed back to around noon. After flying further into the forest for ten seconds, the camera has zoomed all the way into a bound book and the music simultaneously stops. Two slender hands grip to each side to prop it upright. The sounds of birds chirping can be heard in the distance. Holding the frame for two seconds, the camera pans out to a medium shot to show Belle walking along reading. She lowers the book as the sound of a broken twig is heard ahead of her. Glancing up she smiles at something. You can then see a pair of female feet running with only one shoe on. Her toenails are painted baby blue. The camera pans up and out to a long shot of Cinderella jogging. She is dressed in a blue exercise out fit, her headphones are in and her hair is sleeked back into a high ponytail. She stops jogging suddenly and a close up of her face is shown. Her eyes lock onto something and her face brakes from a look of concentration to a smile. The screen then shows a female mouth, hanging wide open with its tongue balancing slightly on its lower lip. The camera pans out into a long shot to a show Aurora sleeping under a tree. Her body is propped up against its trunk as she dozes. An apple falls from the tree’s branches and lands by her side. She wakes with a start. A close up of her face is show and she glancing up and notices something, then smiles. Ariel is then shown wondering around through the trees murmuring to herself and picking up pinecones and twigs.

A jump cut then shows a long shot of Prince Charming, wondering through the forest walking his German Sheppard dog.

A jump cut splits the screen into four vertical strips, with one princess smiling inside each. They begin to advance towards the camera. A close up of the Prince Charming’s face is shown, which zooms in on his expression. He watches as the four princesses advance on him, smiling. By the time the camera reaches a close up on the Princes Face, everything goes silent except for the faint sound of a fast beat. A long shot then shows the prince hesitate for four seconds, then dropping the dogs lead and beginning to bound away, waving his hands in small circles out at his sides. A long shot shows the four now confused princesses jogging up towards the opening where the prince was standing, each on a different pathway. Upon reaching the clearing, where their prince once stood, it takes a few seconds to register what has happened. They survey each other, looking up and down at the other girls. Finally realizing why the prince has acted the way he has, they begin to run after him.

A jump cut then shoes a pair of feet in pink ballet flats running through a forest littered with broken branches and crinkled leaves. The screen shoots to a close up of a side view of Aurora’s mouth. She is breathing heavily and vapor makes its way into the air. A mid shot of Aurora is shown in the foreground. Unfocused in the background, another girl runs a few meters ahead of her. Aurora comes out of focus and Belle, next to her, comes into focus. The back shot of Prince Charming moving through the forest is a long shot of his whole body. Items such as pine cones and a book land nearby him, some almost hitting him. A shot of Ariel and Cinderella, rearming whatever they can get their hands onis shown. He stumbles, just to regain himself and continues to run. A view of Aurora’s face is shown, zooming in, finally ending one of her pupils. The black of the eye turns to white, and the white becomes opaque, showing a view down a chapel aisle. The pews are dark brown and a large image of Jesus overlooks a priest and groom standing by the alter. A red carpet runs down the aisle, covered in flowers. Wedding music begins to play, and the back view of a blonde girl in a wedding dress appears. She walks down the aisle, and the camera tracks with her. A mid-shot of the prince is shown, with the look of love on his face. He looks at his princess as if there is no one else in the world. She makes her way to next to him, and they both turn to face each other. The priest hanging a few steps closer to the alter begins his speech. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to…” his voice begins to drown out, “…witness the …”. Music begins to play. A close up of their faces are shown, gaping intimately into each others eyes. Another long shot, side view of the couple is shown. The priest’s words come back into focus, and he says “You may kiss the bride.” The two move a little positioning their body beginning to lean in, out of nowhere Aurora changes to Belle, who changes to Cinderella, who changes to Ariel, who changes back to Belle, to Aurora, to Cinderella, to Ariel. Changing faster and faster until the bride and groom are only one centimeter away from each other’s lips. When black burns out the image, zooming out from Aurora’s pupil yet again, she screams with rage and runs harder and faster at the unfaithful prince. Ariel is the slowest runner of all the princesses, she trips over and falls into a puddle of water. Her legs turn into a long green tail. “Dammit!”, she sighs under her breath, and lies face down into the dirt to take a catch her breath.

Belle comes into shot, running about ten meters between Aurora and Cinderella. With only Belle in focus, it is hard to see what is happening to the other princesses. Suddenly something pulls Aurora into a near by bush. Both Cinderella and Belle stop when they notice her absence. In the background, still unfocused, Cinderella gets knocked over by something and vanishes. Belle begins to panic, a close up of her face show her worry. Something makes her turn quickly. “No! PLEASE NO!” she begs. A spine-curling scream reaches out of her lips and the screen goes black, with the scream still being heard. The prince slows down his running; he turns and smiles to himself, knowing that his wives must have finished each other off. Gentle music quietly plays and sound effects of twigs breaking under his feet are heard as he begins to wonder further into the forest. Suddenly he comes across the body of Aurora. Her face is covered in deep wounds, making her almost unrecognizable. A close up of the princes face show his fear. He wonders on, walking a little faster. A worried look plastered across his face. He looks back, almost tripping over something propped up against a tree. Belle sits there, a large smile plastered across her face. Her hair is tangled into a mess.  A close up of the princess face show his fear. Sound effects make his emotion more intense. He breaks into a run. Finally coming across the body of Cinderella, with her body covered in shards of glass. He begins to run in another direction. He stops in his tracks when he sees movement nearby.

Ariel wonders out from behind a tree, slightly humming to herself. Moving around the tree she lifts a finger and slowly writes, Happily Ever After in blood on the trunk in big letters. Turning back to the camera, her mouth splays out in a twisted smile. Her eyes have changed from her normal blue to a bright red, and have developed a sinister absence. She pulls out from her belt, a dagger and silently throws it at the prince. The sound of impact can be heard and the escape of air out of the prince’s lungs. Her finger, still covered in blood reaches up to her mouth and she sucks off the rest of the blood. Turning back towards the rest of the trees, the nursery rhyme music begins to play. As Ariel disappears into the forest, the screen drops to a lower angle, then finally hitting the floor. The princes’ hand can be seen falling onto the dirt of the forest floor. The screen fades slowly to black as droplets of blood drip off the ends of his fingers. The screen turns to black and the credits are displayed on the screen.

Locations in the Movie

KEY LOCATIONS

Forest Setting (Happy Forest): A bright and exciting forest, full of light and large happy trees set at around mid-day, just as the sun is highest in the sky. The birds call out to each other, and the sun is high in the sky. The breeze makes the trees sway gently. Before the forest sits a pleasant green meadow.

Forest Setting (Dangerous Forest): A dark misty forest, set at the time of about 3 o’clock in the afternoon.  The trees grow close together and appear hundreds of years old. The ground is covered in broken twigs and fallen leaves. The shadows cast from the trees, creates an intense shade into the forest making it dark and hard to see into it than further than a few feet.

Wedding Setting: A bright chapel equipped with dark brown pews and a large organ that sits in the back. Red Carpet lines the aisle and along the alter. A large picture of Jesus rests on the front wall in front of the alter. Windows along the side walls, some completely transparent and some stain glassed.

Characters in the movie

This story contains one priest and four beautiful, yet avengeful Far Far Away princesses who discover the unfaithfulness of their one true love, Prince Charming.

Princess Ariel is a young seventeen-year-old mermaid who finds it difficult to develop friendships with other Princesses due to her fish-like characteristics. Falling in love at a young age, her father didn’t approve, however after selling her soul away to the sea witch, he realized that she really was in love. Prince Eric has her swept of her feet from the moment he almost drowned, falling off his ship. Her only friend is flounder, the fish, who cannot come onto land to spend the days in her castle. Without him she began to loose her sense of reality. Her struggle with jealousy and hoarding stolen treasures creates her fascination to the human world. She begins to believe that everyone in the world is evil and should be systematically assassinated. Using words no one but her has ever heard of, everyone believes her to be dumb and unconnected to the real world (the human world), however she is extremely intelligent and dangerous to underestimate. Even with strikingly beautiful characteristics (fire-engine red hair, pail skin and sea-blue eyes), the princess still finds herself with self-esteem issues. With the mixture of self-esteem and jealousy, is it only a matter of time, when she discovers the princes’ unfaithful ways, that she turns into a revenge thirsty beast?

Belle, however, has dark brown hair with hazel eyes. Being gentle, kind-hearted and the most beautiful girl in her town, she is loved by many. Even with men easily fall in love with her she is not on the search for love. Like her Far Far Away neighbor, Sleeping Beauty, by random acts of kindness, she found her one true love. Belle is an independent woman who when discovers the truth about her Beast, turns insane with blood thirst. Could her random acts of kindness turn into systematic killing? Is there a sinister plan lurking inside the back of her mind to elimate the competition of Far Far Away so that she can be the fairest of them all?

Princess Cinderella is a seventeen-year-old girl who likes to dress up and attend parties to all hours of the morning. She is Far Far Away’s party girl. She uses her best friends, who are mice, to make the clothes that she designs. By using her friendly personality to an advantage, she makes strong connections to people to ensure she knows everyone’s business. She knows everything about everyone, that’s why her hair is so big, it’s full of secrets. During one eventful evening of sneaking out of her stepmother’s castle, she met the prince of her dreams at a local night club, then disappeared with him to live in his castle. If only she had dated him first, she might have known how unfaithful this man was. Finally realizing, her friendly ways turn into something sick and twisted. Will her prince regret the night that he proposed to her in when the clock strikes midnight nightclub?

Aurora is most known throughout the kingdom for being very dopey and loving to sleep through the day. Her long blonde hair, blue eyes and sun kissed skin are among her best traits. She is one of the most beautiful princesses in Far Far Away. She is best known for her marriage with Prince Phillip. With her dopy personality she hasn’t developed a filter from her brain to her mouth, so her thoughts and opinions slip easily out for everyone to hear. She often has the tendency to sleep talk and talk to her self out loud. This disadvantages her in ways she can’t realize, people can hear her plans and move around them to manipulate her. Being not as intelligent as others, she cannot realize this. Her charm and feminine ways are changed when she discovers the betrayal of Prince Charming. Rather than developing the idea herself, she follows the other princesses in their pursuit to hunt down Prince Charming, or so it appears. Does she have a plan stored away to appear venerable to the others and take down the beautiful girls who took her husband with out their realization? Could being dumb just be an act?

Princes Charming has multiple personality disorder. He lives his unfaithful life as 4 different men, the first being Prince Eric, married to Princess Ariel, the second, as Prince Phillip, married to Princess Aurora, the third, as Prince Charming, married to Princess Cinderella and lastly as Prince Adam, who is nicknamed ‘beast’ by his closes friends due to his animal like characteristics, married to Princess Belle. His short brown hair and hazel brown eyes make him the most handsome prince in all the land. He truly is an operator, scheduling dates at the same time to dating next-door neighbors without being caught. However has he taken in more than he can handle? Will it be too late before he realizes that the title ‘princess’ doesn’t always mean nice?

The Priest is a short and stubby man, with round spectacles. He has dark black hair and pale skin. Usually his appearance doesn’t bother him, but when he meets Prince Charming, he is very intimidated. He strongly believes in faithfulness and respect towards woman, and having to marry the Prince to four different girls gets him furious. He hopes that one day the girls will find out what their unfaithful prince has done to them and he will get what is coming to him. Is it a coincidence that all four princesses were in the same forest that day as the prince? Or has the Priest been the main catalyst for what happened that day in the forest?

Mermaid Make Up

I found a video tutorial on youtube for a mermaid look (check it out, its amazing!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxyrOCgQksk&feature=fvwrel

Story Boarding

The story board allows you, and other people who are looking at it, to see what will be in the film. They allow the film maker to pre visualise their ideas and refine then in the same way a script writer refines their ideas through a succession of drafts. It also serves as the clearest language to communicate ideas to the entire production team eg. camera operators, actors (anyone who is working on the film).
For a story board, you will need include:
- shot type --> e.g.. wides shot/long shot, medium shot, close up, extreme close up, low angle, high angle. USE A WIDE VARIETY OF SHOTS
- camera position --> Use arrows to show zooming into a shot or zooming out.
- details about dialoge, camera action
- camera position - high camera angle, low camera angle, level camera angle, long shot
- Use action quotes - e.g. numbers on the clock flick to 6:39 am -- e.g.. point of view from the door way.
illustrating camera movement/action
--arrows
--time lapse
--zoom in box

Pan: A steady, sweeping movement from one point in a scene to another.
POV: (point of view shot): A shot which is understood to be seen from the point of view of a character within the scene.
Reaction Shot: A shot of someone looking off screen or a reaction shot can also be a shot of someone in a conversation where they are not given a line of dialogue but are just listening to the there person speak
Tilt: Using a camera trip, the camera moves up or down to follow the action
Zoom: Use of the camera lens to move closely toward the subject
Close-up Shot: A close range of distance between the camera and the subject
Dissolve: A transition between two shots, where one shot fades away and simultaneously another shot fade in
Fade: A tradition from a shot to black where the image gradually becomes brighter is a fade in
Jump cup: A rapid, jerky tansition form one frame to the next, either disruption the flow of time or movement within a scene or making an abrupt transition from on scene to another.

A storyboard is an illustrated version of the script in a production. The director will use it as a first visual draft of what should be done in a film or a television series. The storyboard is a very effective way to communicate what a director wants in their project. A script can be interpreted in many different ways, but a storyboard doesn’t leave much place for interpretation.

In animation, the storyboard will contain all the important information needed for the production:

• A basic idea of the layout

• The script

• The dialogue

• The duration of each scenes

• The camera move if there is any

• Character or element actions

• Sometimes even mood or colour.

What’s in a Panel?

A panel is one specific action or moment in a storyboard. One drawing is one panel. You will find all sorts of information in a single panel.

The Action

The action is what is going on at the moment in the storyboard. The character or characters poses should be clear and to-the-point. Arrows can be used to help explain what is going with the action also. (for example, if a character is walking in a certain direction, you might want to use an arrow to show the path)  

Action Notes

Action Notes are extra information to help understand what is taking place in the storyboard. Not every panel has notes but there should be enough so that no one is confused by what is going on in the board.

Dialogue

Dialogues (if there are any) should be included in the specified box. Simply copy the dialogue from the script and paste or type it into the dialogue box.

Arrows

Arrows are a clear way to indicate to the viewer what is going on. They can be drawn in all sizes and directions to show perspective in movement. Use them as often as you need to make your storyboard clear.

Panel Annotations

Panel Annotations as shown in the above example are important. Sometimes, they are put inside arrows, sometimes just like here, inside a circle. This is up to the storyboard artist. Characters coming in or going out of a panel should be clearly indicated as this makes a big different in a scene.

Camera Moves

Camera moves should also be included in the panel. A camera move should be marked as shown in the above image. You should have the first frame for the starting point and the second frame for the ending of the move. Then arrows can indicate the direction of the move.

What’s in a Scene?

A scene is contains panels. It can have one panel, or many. All panels in a scene will have the same background and each panel will have different actions in it, so that when you watch them in an animatic, it will look animated. The images above are a good example, notice how the framing of all the panels are the same, but the wolf and the house each have actions that, when put together, look like they are animated?

Camera Shots

If you plan on creating storyboards, you will need to learn about the different camera shots that you can use in your scenes. The following is a list of some commonly used shots. Start with these, then, do a little more research to learn about new shots and try to integrate them in your future storyboards.

The Establishing Shot

The establishing shot lays the groundwork for the context of a scene by showing the relationship between the characters and their location. It is usually used to indicate where a scene takes place.

The Long Shot

The long shot is used to show the entire object or character and puts it in some way in relation to its surroundings. Unlike with the establishing shot, the long shot will not necessarily show the full scenery around the characters. It is used to show what is going on, not where the characters are located.

The Medium Shot

There are many definitions for the medium shots. Depending on whom you might talk to, it will slightly vary. But the medium shot usually is a mid-shot view of a character (from the waist up).

The Close-Up

The close-up is when a scene tightly frames a character or an object. This shot will show a lot of details about the subject for rarely includes any background element. Such a shot will suggest emphasis on the character’s emotions or a very specific detail that is important to the story.

The Extreme Close-Up

The extreme close-up is a magnified view of a small object. That object will usually fill the entire screen, this way the audience can only focus on that element and nothing else.

Camera Moves

The following are three basic camera moves you can use in your storyboard projects. • Zoom In • Zoom Out • Pan Camera moves are used to direct the audience to the important part of your scene. You can hide elements that you might not want them to know about right away. It can also give a whole new perspective on a scene or a situation by revealing an important part of your scene.

Zoom In

This type of camera move is when the camera moves in from wider shot to closer shot. (for example, from a medium shot to a close-up). Depending on the speed of the camera move, it can either bring a lot of action to a scene or slowly direct the audience to a specific detail in the scene.

Zoom Out

The zoom out is the opposite of zoom in. Instead, you will go from a closer shot to a wider shot. (for example a close-up to a medium shot). This type of move can be very quick or slow.

 Pan

In animation, the pan is the horizontal or vertical movement of the camera. The pan is often used so that your audience can view across a wide panorama that doesn’t fit in the camera frame.

Staging the Action

Staging which is a term taken from theatre, it refers to placing the characters at the ideal position on the stage so that the story events are clear. In animation and storyboard, staging will refer to trying out different arrangements on paper to find the best presentation for a scene, so that it is clear and dynamic. A great way to stage a scene is to create a little diagram like the image above. An overview of the whole set will allow you do have a clear idea of what you should see in the panels you will draw in your storyboard.

 Show, Don’t Tell

Remember that animation is a visual medium. You shouldn’t depend on the dialogue to explain what is going on in a scene or in the whole story. The viewers will understand quicker if you can clearly show what is going on, instead of actually having a character say what is going on.

Here are some examples of visual cues you can use to explain elements in a story:

• Use the character’s surroundings to explain what kind of person he/she is. A messy room will tell use about their personality. Or maybe he is artistic with paint and craft material around? How about a geeky character with a computer room and posters and books lying around?

• Remember that an action will can say a lot. Instead of having a character say: “I am going out to the grocery store”, have him go out, then cut to an establishing shot of the grocery store.

• Use clever shots to show a character’s emotional state. If you look up at a character he will seem imposing. A character that is very small in a large empty field will seem completely lonely and isolated from the world.

• Showing the reason why a character is scared will have more impact than just saying the character’s emotion. If the character is terrified of falling, you might want to show the edge of the precipice.

from another source

Group Idea making

Locations (2)
- Forrest/Wood
- ???

Quotes Incorporated into the movie:
- Famous star wars quote 'I am your father'
- Mean girls quotes ' she doesn't even go here'
(add to comedic side to the film)

Plot Idea:
- The princesses find out the prince is cheating on all the princesses and the same time and they not only get mad at act other, but also the prince. They begin to try to kill him, at the same time fighting each other violently so that they are the one who gets to murder him

Possible POWERS!
Aurora - falls people asleep
Belle - Turns people into objects and objects into people

6 Characters
- Ariel
- Cinderella
-Prince
-Belle
-Aurora
-Little Boy (in bloopers)

'Once Upon a Time' or 'Happily Ever After'
In blood -zoom out, its ketchup

Black Horror / Comedy (I will further discuss the theme in another post)
A musical? Break out into song during the film (Could be included in bloopers)

The film must be approx 3 minutes - 3 to 4 pages of script

Editing :

--> Slow motion (matrix style) - when weapons are thrown
--> Black and white flashbacks
--> Focus change whilst the princesses are running
--> Saturation Levels (revise with Mrs Preston - Mrs Preston, If you read this can you please comment on what my group will have to do with this, Thanks)

Sound :

--> Battle scene (high intensity music)
--> Loud sound effects - eg. Twigs breaking under feet/ leaves rustling
--> Side scene - no sound or elevator music

Cinematography :

--> Close ups of prince
--> Fur on his face
--> Close ups of princesses body parts running - to show high level action
--> Lighting is dark due to forrest blocking out sun
--> Camera moving with girls

Mise En Scene :

??????