To help develop your animation idea go through the Blake Snyder 'Beat Sheet' to structure the story. Can you all post your pitch before Wednesday 18th November ready for storyboarding in class. Remember to give feedback to your peers to help each other produce an original and ingenious story.
THE BEAT SHEET
Opening image (Sketch)
Theme stated (Genre)
Setup
Catalyst
Debate
Break into act 2 – Something has to happen
B story
Fun & games
Midpoint
Bad guys close in
All is lost
Dark night of the soul – death
Break into act three
Finale – Partners who went separate ways reconcile
Final image (Sketch)
THE GENRES
Monster in the house
Keep it confined
Keep it primal
Golden Fleece
Road movie
Mission becomes secondary to personal discoveries
Out of the Bottle
Wish for fulfillment
Often a comeuppance tale
In the end they are just like the audience
Dude with a problem
Ranges in emotional substance
An ordinary guy finds himself in extraordinary circumstances
The more ordinary the guy the greater the problem an greater the thrill
Rite of Passage
Every ‘change of life story’
In the end these movies are about surrendering
The victory won by accepting forces greater than ourselves
Buddy Love
One is the hero who undergoes the most change and the buddy is the catalyst that starts the change.
Why Dunit
Who cares who, it’s why that counts
Explores the dark side of human nature
The Fool Triumphant
Often the fool (underdog) will have an insider who is in on the joke and cant believe the fool is getting away with his ’ruse’
Institutionalised
About groups
Even Family
Explores who’s crazier the group or the individual
Superhero
Exact opposite of “Dude with a problem”
Sympathy for the plight of being misunderstood
