Definitely think it’s a translation error. Living in the European language blender, I see this kind of thing every day or end up inadvertently making this situation myself. Then there are the Americans in London who inadvertently say “fanny”… makes me cringe just thinking about it.
Story Solutions.
Knokle
#302
Im so sorry for everyones in this forum…:sad:
im verry sorry to post a words like before in this forum…wrong words…
im sorry to my bad engglish…
but thanks for everyones who remember me about my stupid mistake
thanks a lot…its never ben happen again (i hope so)…
Thanks…
ThinkStory
#303
Hi, I’m back.
It’s been about a month. CGRater, you were right I was pretty much on break,
I finished several projects I was working on and decided to do some traveling.
For once in a long long time, I didn’t bring my laptop or connect to the Internet,
that was fun, really took it easy. Probably not that great an idea economically as
airfares tend to go WAY up during this season but, boy, I needed to get out.
And for the translation/not translation thing…guys, it doesn’t matter. I understand.
Only thing is that, I do try to check the forum whenever I get a chance so no need to
post to remind me, if I read your reminder, I read the questions too, correct?
And just as before, sorry it took so long, it’s making me wonder if I should continue
the forum. Con is that I can’t guarantee a regular response time, pro is I can at least
help out whenever possible. So I’ll keep it open as long as people understand that
there may be long delays in response time.
O.K., so back to the juicy stuff:
sandy_maith - Good that you posted an explanation, the fact that this is your son
does clarify the reason you chose this concept. So to answer your original question on
how to wrap this up, the biggest challenge is really how do you break the attachment
that the boy has with the car and return to his family. That will be the major obstacle
from a storytelling perspective. So the thing to do here is to find out what it was that
led to the connection in the first place. Understand that I’m speaking of the story’s
character, and not your son. That’s one of the differences between the real world and
story world. In the real world, often, motives don’t require a rational explanation but
in story world, you’re trying to get the audience to believe your idea so there needs
to be some kind of rational.
Throw in a specific problem that the boy is facing and the car helps him with it, as an
example, the car provides an escape to the boy for something. And, literally as well as
figuratively, the boy CAN “escape” with the car where he later finds out that the thing
he’s trying to run away from is no longer a problem so he returns. Is this the kind of
frame work you were asking for to pull the story together?
Ali - You sort of have that classical father vs. son battle turned over. It’s a twist to
the traditional story of the child overpowering the parent thing. It’s a good concept,
the tricky part will be to present it in a way so that the audience will have a sense of
closure and not disappointment after the film. I mean, the viewers should feel bad that
the son (the so called “good guy”) lost but they should also recognize that the ACTUAL
war he fought has been won and that part needs to be worthwhile.
omarpac - Sure, as I say to all posters, if you have a question, feel free to post.
Knokle - No need to apologize, I don’t think the translation comment was meant for
you. As for the best animation software, I’m really no expert. I’m more on the
concept and design area, I do dabble a little with illustration but I’m sure the actual
animation gurus would be albe to help you better in selecting the right software for
you. I think there are a number of other threads in CGtalk specifically related to the
topic, so maybe check on the main forum for those?
Okay, I think I covered every question posted, let me know if I missed anything!
SandeepMaithani
#305
Thanks a ton for the insight Think Story…that was indeed a great help…i’ll post the story soon
Brgds
Sandy
killermachine
#306
hi thinkstory. i read this thread an i’d its nice one started.since ur helping ur out i thought i’s sought some help too.im trying to create a comic with digitalsol(he is on cgtalk too). this is what it has come til story wise
hazard men
two guys, nagi and sol live in new delhi which had been stuck by economic depression in 2020.sol has a stable job and nagi is a struggling artist.both continue with their daily life in day and in night they are hazard men.a duo who does anythin til its givin them money,widout a consent of good or bad.But they are good by heart so once in a while they help needy too,but they always land in a humorous pile of trouble.sol is a genious and a smart mouth and nagi a brawn of the team and an agile human.once they save an old man from an ambush but get hurt very critically.stuck between life and death situation,they are saved by the same old man who embosses pieces of a sacred medallion over their heart which increase’s their already god given abitlies a ten fold kickstart.
now the problem i see til now is that it looks very “i hav heard it” kind of plot.can you gimme any suggestions which mite make it more interesting.
thnx 
killermachine
#307
now the problem i see til now is that it looks very “i hav heard it” kind of plot.can you gimme any suggestions which mite make it more interesting.
thnx
jussing
#310
Wow, I think that’s a record. You know, you can go back and edit two of them so they take up less page space.
Cheers,
- Jonas
ThinkStory
#311
[color=white]Hi killermachine,
you know, it’s okay if a story is not the most “original” one ever told.
A bit of a misconception I’ve found in the business is that when you
say story development, a lot of times people just think of planning events,
setting themes, creating structure…it all sounds very cut and dry. In a way,
that might be one of the reasons why we don’t inspire as much story talents
as art talents or even writing talents.
But to create a good story, you actually have to look at everything. A
good storyteller should deal with every element of a story from character
to timing to setting to style to theme, etc. Because besides that being just
the Right and Good thing to do, these elements of a story are going to be
your tools to give the story its own unique appeal. Because, stories
have been told since many, many, many years ago, after all this time, what
hasn’t been done already?
So when somebody asks, what do you do to make your story different,
cool, or whatever, don’t just work on the plot, know all the story elements
you’re working with and which ones to emphasize to make the overall
product something special. From reading your description, this story
sounds to be primarily character driven and secondarily situation driven,
so it’s appeal should come firstly from the two main characters and
their relationship, then the situation they’re in.
Start working your way into the story with character development.
Think about the kinds of situations your characters can be placed in to
enhance their personalities and situations that allows them play off
one another. The Creative process should start from there to give you ideas.
Once you get good snippets of that, weave a structure around it and,
without actually trying to think of something that’s never been done
before, you will find that the story you have is coming out to be
something “interesting” and unique in it’s own way without being forced.
ThinkStory
[/color]
richardoud
#312
[color=white]Hi ThinkStory,
So first of all, let me thank you for all the awesome work you have been doing so far. Ive been reading trough this thread the past couple of days and it seems you come up with awesome ideas for people to get back on track with their stories.
This is why I kind of need your help to…
Im currently in my final year for my Masters in Computer Animation, and from now until the end of September we need to work on our final project, which consist out two parts.
First we need to be writing a thesis paper around a research question, and second, the results of the thesis paper should be somewhat visible in the final project (my short animated film).
Now my research paper will be about the qualities that game cameras have nowadays (1st person, top view, 2d platform etc.) and whether the movie cinematography can learn something from these qualitys to create a sort of new viewing experience.
So in order to make this research come back into my short, I will need to use a game camera somewhere in the short (my preference lies with the 2D platform camera, but any type will work as long as it fits the story and the current scene)
Now for the story (I hope I didnt put you to sleep with my boring explanation about the project), Im sort of stuck around these characters and cant seem to find a good solution.
The setting will evolve around a barbershop from around the 40s - 50s
The barber comes in every day with a smile on his face, he loves his job and the fact that he can be of service to people.
But lately, a barbershop quartet has been standing in front of his shop and the barber just cant stand these guys and the way they sing.
Because the barbershop quartet knows that the barber hates the singing, they come around every day on purpose just to annoy him.
So the barbershop quartet and the barber have a conflict with each other, now the thing I cant figure out is how to make this conflict escalate to the point where it starts to get interesting to look at.
The solution I had until now (but I dont know if I want to keep this) was to introduce a customer that needs to get a haircut, but as hes entering the shop he hears the barbershop singing and walks back out to enjoy himself listening to the music.
The barber tries to get him back in, while the quartet tries even harder to keep the man outside, so both of them try to get the attention of the customer.
This goes on and continues until it takes extreme forms.
I would love it if the customer walks out of this three-way as the winner of it all, but I just cant figure out how to make this happen
The final reaction I would like to have from people when they look at my short is just to be entertained, view it with a smirk on their face maybe even a loud laugh.
It should not take any longer then 2 to 3 maybe 4 minutes max. and the short will be completely without dialogue so I can focus on the character animation.
Could you please point me in a somewhat right direction to get me going again on the story.
Thanks in advance
-Richard
[/color]
Omarios
#313
hey thinkstory,
i would like to start off by takin the time to thank you for ur hard work and effort and for takin the time to help us all here in cgtalk.
after that i would like to discuss my graduation project idea with you,
its about mainly how indifferent a person looses feeling of time and becomes numb cuz hes been hurt soo much that he doesnt want to express his emotions to anyone or anythin so he wont get hurt…
as far as the projects time i want it to be around a minute or so,and as my experience goes in cg…i have moderate experience in all the 3d fields…
i have got some idea bout the shots…it would start off by the character walking in an empty grayscale bg…he’s walkin in a straight line to symbolize life and that hes eventually goin to reach his death by time,to show how numb he really became i thought of having cards that have the weather seasons written on them…and they pass by his head, and he looks at them with grief…after a while they start speeding up and then a sudden black out and the sound of a casket slammed,then a zoom in on a coffin still in grayscale
after giving the audience the sudden feeling of nothingness of death, the sound of a tape rewinding fast to get us back to the character in his childhood with well saturated colours
and the young character jumping around happily until he sees a pot with a red flower to symbolize the female…and when he approaches the flower,it weathers and dies away…and then the sudden sound of the casket door slammed again…and then a black out.
the use of the child version of the character was to symbolize the purity and immaturity as well of the character’s way of thinking at the time…
the use of the cards will be as if they are movie frames…
and i guess basically thats it…
so i wud really love ur input on it…
ThinkStory
#314
Hi Richard,
keeping in mind that this is a Master’s project, I would suggest designing a story
closely around the subject of the paper. Uh, I don’t mean a story about camera use.
I mean a story that can enhance your message in the paper as well as demonstrate
the advantages of using gaming cameras.
(Sorry if this starts to sound all big-picture and lecture-y. Since I don’t get to visit
the site as often, some of you may have noticed that I sometimes start to generalize
my responses. I try to do it whenever there’s a subject matter that others can
relate to so that maybe it can help those who didn’t post but have similar story
questions.)
Anyway, the GENERAL idea is that: I’ve done consulting on stories set in
various mediums, books, live action, comic, animation, games, radio, MTVs, etc.
And the thing to remember when you’re working with different mediums is that
there are pros and cons in each one and each one of them has their own appeal.
MEANING if you take one story and transfer it from one medium to the other, the
story (usually) SHOULD change to FIT that medium. Easy examples can be found
in movies based on books, the reason some of them don’t come out as good
is because the story wasn’t modified to fit into the film medium. You have to
UNDERSTAND the quality of both in order for it to transition well, to tell the SAME
story in two DIFFERENT ways and still have it work.
For your story SPECIFICALLY: The barbershop is your idea and the medium is
film/animation transferred to game. But the way you wrote your description, the way
the story reads, sounds like a film sequence than a gaming one. Huh? What am I
talking about? What I mean is DON’T LIMIT YOURSELF! Just as you are writing about
new camera ideas used in games, try new story ideas based on the way films, when
presented like games, can look and feel. You said your final goal is to make the
audience laugh out loud, when does a game make you laugh out loud? For 2Ds,
remember those simple arcade games from way back like pacman or bartender? The
trick is that you’re trying to focus on one character but you also have to worry about
all the other things going on around the screen too. That “rush” is what keeps a
player hooked and you can also use that to your advantage in a story as well. Games
are designed with the ability to convey a lot of information at a single point in time. You
can do the same with your short. Have one side of the war do one thing and the other
side do another and the customer will be the focus moving between them. And the
audience (just like a gamer) should be able to see what both sides are doing. So if the
customer is outside,we can see what the barber is setting up inside and the other way
around which automatically builds up the tension of the story physically. Don’t slow
down the actions of the barber or the singers and the crazy things they do, don’t let
your audience rest, (just as games don’t let their gamers rest, the levels just gets
faster, harder) that will be the key to accelerating towards the climax.
At the end of the story, how does the customer win? I don’t know, maybe the guy
comes out with an outrageous haircut and a bunch of goodies that the singers used to
lure him out? It depends on what you’ve set up as the baits in your story. But (hint,
hint) they should build up because it makes it visually interesting.
Wow, didn’t intend the post to be that long.
Did it help, let me know.
ThinkStory
ThinkStory
#315
Hi omarpac,
your story is strongly focused on symbols, themes, and moods, so those work.
Then I would suggest working a little more on story basics like the beginning,
middle, ending stuff.
The conflict and resolution of the story.
Elaborate a little more on how the character became that way, what are the events and
lessons learned? Usually for this type of stories, there is a moral of some kind or a
message or simply an emotion that it’s trying to evoke from the audience. And to do
that, it needs some buildup. Something that will speak out. Something to give the
audience an emotional channel.
There’s a popular writing tip, “show don’t tell.”
So SHOW why and how the guy was broken, don’t just display that he is.
These are some thoughts, does it help articulate the intent of the story a little more?
Is there anything specific you had in mind?
ThinkStory
richardoud
#318
He ThinkStory,
Thanks a lot for your post, it really made me think about the way I was heading and you gave me a lot of strong arguments about the subject.
So I followed your advice and didn’t limit myself in the stuff I wanted to create, and then the project finally took off.
The problem in my opinion was that I wanted to create just another ‘funny’ animated short film out there, and I didn’t really care about my research question for my thesis and my education.
This time I actually let the two really relate to each other (my project and my thesis) and my tutors and the board commission were really enthusiastic and approved my proposal.
So the research question is still somewhat the same (which it has to because of my background education), but it got more specified.
At this moment I’m going to research how camera setup, movement and perspective are being used in action oriented interactive narratives (more specific on stealth based games) to get a sense of immersion and involvement into the image.
As a project I’m still going to make an animated short film. It will be about a graffiti writer who gets spotted by a cop and tries to get away from him.
The things I’ll discover in my thesis research will be adapted into the final short, and hopefully proof that there is an added value by using these kinds of perspective and camera use.
I’m really excited at this moment about the project, and feel pretty confident that I’m heading the right direction this time.
I just wanted to say thanks again for your help and suggestions, it really made me look a step further.
- Richard
ThinkStory
#320
Richard - What a great response…YES! You seem to be heading to a great direction,
with your new idea. That is exactly the message I was trying to convey. Let me know
how it goes or if you need any help!!
Wicked_Chicken - Yes, I am but, as you can see, I don’t get to check this forum as
often as I used to so there’ll probably be delays to a response unless it’s posted
the same day I come to visit. What is your question?
ThinkStory