I fought of two stories that both sounds good and a bit realistic.
The first idea is for now titled Santa's Coming.
Act one
It begins with Santa landing on the roof of a house ( the way the decorations are placed on the roof of the house resembles that of an airplane runway.) Once he is on the roof Santa the went down the chimney like a contortionist.
Act two
When Santa enters the house through the chimney he then started placing down the presents. He heard a noise from a toy that startles him (he bumped into a tree that has some decorations on). He was relief until the tree he bumped into fell on him. when he got up he placed the tree where it was, but then the lights went on. it was the mother.
She said in a tired voice " Yawn* who's there, is that you dear, are you placing the presents?" Santa was thinking to him self what to say in this situation. " you even worn a Santa's outfit just in case the children might come down stairs how sweet of you" the Mum said. Santa replied "hhhhoooo" while nodding his head. The Mum gave Santa a kiss on the cheek and said " I'll be Waiting for you upstairs when you're done." The Mum went up stairs, Santa was again in relief, and so he gavers his things so he will be on his way. At the same time when the Mum was in bed, the farther said in his tired voice " Yawn* who was that dear?" The Mum replied I was just talking to you dear, you were down stairs placing the present under the Christmas tree. Yawn* you even worn a Santa's outfit. The Dad replied " that's good of me placing the presents under the Christmas tree and wearing a Santa outfit." he then woke up and spoke in a surprise voice " wait what?".
Santa over heard their conversation and decided to be on his way. He was making his way to the chimney but was caught by the fairy lights. The noise from upstairs gotten louder. When Santa finally gotten out of the fairy lights the Dad came down stairs.
Act three
The Dad spoke in an angry tone" Who's there?". Santa was then panicking and out of desperation he jumped out the window, leaving he's bag behind and ran for his life.
I thought I would make Santa speak in ho ho hos. The thing about this story is that it's sound like it's too long but I could try to make it fit in one minute if this was my final decision.
The next idea was for now called A & B the Christmas Cracker.
Act one
A and B finished eating their Christmas dinner so it is time to open the crackers.
Act 2
The goal is to see who gets the most prizes from the crackers the most. B keeps getting more prizes from the crackers then A, Which is really annoying him. A then finally snaps. He then tied up B with some fairy lights and stuff him in a small package (the package might have a bow on it with a card saying to Somewhere love A). A then went to the Post office and tells them to post the package to somewhere. We then see a montage of how the postmen deliver the package, it finish with the airplane taking off. A came home but sees B sitting on a chair looking angry.
Act3
A then nervously sat down and saw one last cracker on the table. It ends with the two of them opening the cracker with an explosion aimed at A, but A finally got his prize
They might speak in mumbles but we get the idea of what they are saying from their gestures and small thought bubbles diagrams.
This sounds appropriate for my one minute story because it's short, but I need to check it out my self.
Interim Online Review 16/02/2010
ReplyDeleteHey Shahbs,
I'm confused. You seem to be complicating your story ideas - not refining them... These latest stories seem less focused and further away from your three story components than before - and I'm worried. The second idea makes very little sense - at least to me - and while the first idea has potential in terms of Santa being the contortionist, the 'airport' is all but absent... what happened to the other idea - with the final act 'airport' conclusion? You need to think very carefully now Shahbs about how you progress. You need to better identify the specific challenges of crafting a ONE MINUTE animation; see the following animation for a great example of a 3 act story...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzg2jjH2z8E
It's simple, expressive and self-contained - and dialogue free; I want you to really watch this and think about it - and also go on myUCA and look again at the original briefing presentation - look at the 3 act structure and look at the ways in which stories are developed; i.e. character against character, or character against fairy-lights (situation). I still believe that you can tell a great story about a man tying himself in knots trying to complete his 'Christmas Grotto' - and just when he'd happy and triumphant, the audience sees that he's about to be landed on by a plane... the reason why it works is because of something called CAUSALITY (cause and effect) - in this instance, the fairylights 'cause' the story, because a) they make your character crazy, and b) they cause the plane to arrive - and so give you a proper rounded off conclusion.
What is important to me (and to you, I hope) is that you actually understand why certain combinations go together better - if you don't, if you don't start to refine your skills, then we have a problem, Shahbs.
Please see the following 2 comments for guidance re, the written assignment. You are in desperate need to improving your essay writing, so I suggest you spend time absorbing the information - particularly the advice regarding how to develop a more formal style of writing.
“1,500 word written assignment that analyses critically one film in terms of the relationship between story and structure; you should consider camera movement, editing, and the order of scenes”
ReplyDeleteWhile the essay questions asks you to analyse one film in terms of the relationship between story and structure, you are nonetheless expected to contextualise your analysis – and that means you have to widen your frame of reference to include discussion of other, related films and associated ideas – and also the ‘time-line’ within which your case-study sits.
So, for example, if you are focusing on a scene in a contemporary film which makes dramatic use of montage editing and quick-fire juxtaposition of imagery (the fight scenes in Gladiator, the beach landings in Saving Private Ryan, the bird attacks in The Birds…) no discussion of this scene would be complete without you first demonstrating your knowledge of the wider context for your analysis – i.e., the ‘invisible editing’ approach as championed by W.D. Griffith, and the alternate ‘Eisensteinian’ collisions adopted by Russian filmmakers (and now absorbed into the grammar of mainstream movies). In order to further demonstrate your appreciation for the ‘time-line’ of editing and its conventions, you should make reference to key sequences in key films – ‘The Odessa Steps sequence’ from Sergei Eistenstein’s Battleship Potemkin (as in scene in the Cutting Edge documentary, but also viewable here in full
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps-v-kZzfec
Also – if further proof were needed of the influence of this scene, watch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH1tO2D3LCI&feature=related
The Cutting Edge documentary, as shown on Monday 15th Feb, is viewable on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJcQgQHR78Q
If you choose to quote from any of the ‘talking head’ sections (Ridley Scott, Walter Murch etc.), in support of your discussion, ensure you put the documentary’s original details in your bibliography (as opposed to the You Tube url). For official title and release date etc. visit
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cutting-Edge-Magic-Editing-Region/dp/B0009PVZEG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1266311784&sr=1-1
Put simply, whatever film you choose to discuss, you will need to link it to its ‘ancestors’ and also, where appropriate, to its ‘children’ – i.e., what influenced it/what it influenced.
Regarding the ‘language of editing etc.’ the following site is useful – if ugly!
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/gramtv.html
I suggest you use it only as a starting point for focusing your research parameters – not as the fount of all knowledge (it isn’t!).
Something that keeps coming up is how to cite websites using the Harvard Method:
GO HERE!!!!! IT’S GOT ALL THE ANSWERS!
http://www.ucreative.ac.uk/index.cfm?articleid=25881
Stylistically, many students’ essays still lack the required formality and tone for a University level written assignment. Many of you write as if you’re ‘chatting’ to your reader or writing a blog entry. This is inappropriate and you need to cultivate a more appropriate style if your discussions are to be authoritative and properly presented. Below are some suggestions re. use of language; take note and use!
ReplyDeleteUse good, formal English and grammar,
see: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/home.htm
Use objective language: e.g. rather than 'I find it difficult to identify ...'
'It is often difficult to identify...'
'It can be seen that...
'There are a number of...'
Adopt a cautious academic style; avoid conclusive statements: e.g. use may, might, it seems that, appears to, possibly, probably, seemingly, the evidence suggests that, it could be argued that, research indicates...
Avoid assumptions and generalisations: e.g. everyone can see, everybody knows, public opinion is...
If you make a statement, always present evidence to support it.
Within your essay you will be hoping to demonstrate or prove something. You will have a point of view that you wish to convey to your reader. In other words, your essay should 'say' something.
You should support what you wish to say with a reasoned argument and evidence.
A reasoned argument consists of a series of logical steps you make in order to lead to a point where you can form some sort of judgement on the issue you have been examining, or come to some sort of conclusion.
Paragraphs are organised in order to build your argument in a series of logical steps
A typical paragraph is concerned with a single step in your argument
The first sentence of a paragraph is the topic sentence. It clearly states which step in your argument you intend to deal with in this paragraph
Subsequent sentences explain, define and expand upon the topic sentence
Evidence is offered
Evidence is commented on
A conclusion may be reached
Try to make each paragraph arise out of the previous paragraph and lead into the subsequent one
Below are some useful ‘linking’ words and phrases that suit the formal tone of an academic assignment – get used to using them to structure clear, articulate and confident sounding sentences.
To indicate timescales:
when, while, after, before, then
To draw conclusions:
because, if, although, so that, therefore
To offer an alternative view:
however, alternatively, although, nevertheless, while
To support a point:
or, similarly, incidentally
To add more to a point:
also, moreover, furthermore, again, further, what is more, in addition, then
besides, as well
either, not only, but also, similarly, correspondingly, in the same way, indeed
with respect to, regarding
To put an idea in a different way:
in other words, rather, or, in that case
in view of this, with this in mind
to look at this another way
To introduce and use examples:
for instance, for example, namely, an example of this is
such as, as follows, including
especially, particularly, notably
To introduce an alternative viewpoint:
by contrast, another way of viewing this is, alternatively, again, rather, another possibility is..
conversely, in comparison, on the contrary, although, though
To return to emphasise an earlier point:
however, nonetheless, despite, in spite of
while.. may be true
although, though, at the same time, although.. may have a good point
To show the results of the argument:
therefore, accordingly, as a result
so, it can be seen that
resulting from this, consequently, now
because of this, hence, for this reason, owing to, this suggests that, it follows that
in other words, in that case, that implies
To sum up or conclude:
therefore, in conclusion, to conclude, on the whole
to summarise, to sum up, in brief, overall, thus