Treatment File for animation short

1. Concept;

The idea for this story came from my adaptation of our group story. The group story was inspired by a creative writing exercise, where we were given 3 phrases to incorporate into a made-up story. The group story was based around emotional response, rather than action or humour. In short it's about an old man, neglected by society, who wants to have some purpose in his life. He takes to watching the kids arriving and leaving the school next to his house, to make sure they're safe.This activity doesn't go unnoticed and he gains a reputation as a weirdo. In the end he attempts to save the kids from a wild bear and dies of a heart attack. Only then do people realise who he was and feel guilty for misjudging him. I decide to keep this emotional aspect in my own version, as it’s an angle that I wouldn’t have normally chosen. The original stories tended to be human character biased, due to the original 3 phrases, so I decided to transfer the theme to animal characters. This way it would be different, and yet still relate to the original idea. It will be slow paced and light-hearted.  Based around the different characters conversations, with a threat to the main character, and finishing with the inevitable happy ending. The characters will be 3D clay models, inspired by Aardmans ‘Wallace and Gromit’ films, and their ‘creature comforts’ shorts.

 

 

2. Technique & Approach;

Having worked with computer generated animations previously I wanted to try the stop-motion technique. I plan to create the characters by first drawing them to a style that suits, and then build them in modelling clay. Depending on the schedule, I would like to gain the experience of building a set, but I will film the characters on a green screen and superimpose them onto a painted background. I will also experiment with other materials for the characters, such as silicone or latex rubber as preliminary work with clay has shown up a few flaws. Mainly it’s delicateness and susceptibility to marking.

3. Aesthetic / Mood Board;

  

 

I find the work of Aardman studios very inspirational when it comes to stop-motion style animation. Their experience of working on animal characters is a valuable source of reference.

  

 

 

Reference images sourced from ‘Cracking animation’, by Peter Lord and Brian Sibley include a step by step guide to building characters.

 

A couple of the many reference images I gathered for the characters 

 

 

The main characters for my animation in positioned for the poster shot

 

 This large set for the animation ‘Wat’s Pig’ has gaps for both access and camera tracks



The innovative use of superimposing human eyes to the main character in ‘Madame Tutli Putli’ highlights the importance of the eyes for adding emotion to inanimate figures.

 

Some of the location shots that indicate the background I will be using. If I got a sunny day I think the local shots would possibly work.

 

How my opening shot might look from the lions perspective

 

 

 

 

Poster

 

 

 

4. Audio;

Though there is a lot of dialogue I know the piece needs both ambient background sounds and a music soundtrack. At the moment I’m thinking of typical African style music for the soundtrack, but then that’s the obvious choice so I might experiment with something unexpected. I’ll have to research the ambient sounds but I expect it’ll be mainly birds and distant animals. The characters will speak in English but with an African twang, something like Eddie Murphy in the film ‘Coming to America’ http://youtu.be/pKYl6y8qGqw

5. Sequence of Events / Shot List;

The opening shot will be a wide-angle, establishing shot, of one half of the set, from the view point of the main character, Leroy. It will also be a low-angle, voyeuristic shot, through a screen of long grass. Hopefully adding an immediate sense of suspense. This will be followed by an over-shoulder shot from the secondary characters’ view point, the 3 lionesses, as they are alerted to possible danger by the sound of a breaking twig. This shot will also be wide-angle and establish the other half of the set, where the main characters interact. Next there will be a series of close ups of the secondary characters talking, cutting between each of them as they speak.

The action then moves to the centre of the set, where the main character is being disturbed by ants. It will be a close-up of him scratching, hidden in the long grass. The camera will zoom out slowly as he edges backwards (to scratch his rear end against a rock). Next is an overhead shot of him, and the grass around him, being flattened by the force of a buffalo’s snort. This will be followed by a low-angle shot from his view point, as he looks up to see the giant buffalo’s head, silhouetted in the sunlight. Then we see a wide-angle shot as he spins around to face the buffalo. Their conversation follows, with the camera cutting between them as they speak ( low-angle from lions view point and high-angle/overhead from the buffalo’s).

The next scene shows Leroy’s attack on the buffalo. It starts with a wide-angle view of them both, as Leroy leaps at the buffalo and swings around one of his horns, before planting himself over the buffalo’s face. This then switches to an overhead close-up shot of him and the buffalos head, as he strains to suffocate the buffalo with a giant fart. There will be a close-up of Leroy’s stomach wobbling as the gases build up, then a close-up of the buffalos face as the giant fart begins. Then a wide-angle shot of the buffalo exploding from the pressure (depending on the special effects team – he might just faint).

In the final scene Leroy is lying on the ground, apparently dead. A wide-angle shot will include the lionesses and cubs as they run to Leroy to see if he’s o.k. The camera will then pan to a side view, for a left-right composition, as they will be speaking to each other. With possibly a slow zoom out as they all cheer at the end.