- Intruiging
- Conflict
- Cause + Effect = Result
- Ticking Clock
- Logical Suspense
- Problems/Obstacles
- Closure
- Backstory
- Goals
Idea 1:
Child dies and a parent becomes obsessed with bringing them back so creates a robot with his memories and mind (Cause + Effect here). Backstory could be how the child died.
Artificial intelligence find out about the success of this robot and come after it (external conflict could become ticking clock if somehow the parent knows someone is coming after them and create suspense). If I was to animate this scene I wouldn't animate a full CIA squad or something, the shot would end with the robot in the back of a van driving off.
The creation of the robot takes place in the cellar and is kept hidden from the other parent, there can be 2 diaries in this one being system logs of the robot the other a diary of how the parent has made this robot - all their ideas, designs and plans put in there.
Idea 2:
A robot from the future is sent to the present to find a young version of its inventor to stop them making a big mistake in their life (cause), how the time machine works is, it takes you back in time to the same spot in the world as where you used it. The robot ends up in this cellar, the robot is drawn to staying enclosed in this cellar (in the future it becomes the lab he was created in) it finds the diary of the young inventor,
A) the robot either falls in love with this young mind it is reading about in the diary or adopts it as its own mind which either way creates internal conflict which = malfunctions as it starts becoming its creator. It ends with the overwhelmed robot's internal conflict overloading itself and breaking down and no one from this time can fix it.
B) Then eventually we meet the young inventor and they become best friends if the robot doesn't fall in love or adopt the young inventor's persona. The Robot buddy starts becoming the reason the inventor started inventing robots in the first place. The mission is a success because the whole time the young inventor is distracted with the robot they're not out there making the big mistake (closure). An obstacle could be the young inventor is freaked out by the robot and is terrified of the idea.
Idea 3:
A manufacturing incorporation have a quest to make robots that can detect and control natural disasters using rays of some sort (yet to think of some logic behind this), their first attempt which they believe to be a failure and threw/discarded in a cellar (cause) was actually a success, the rough treatment of this robot (which they believe they deactivated), reactivated it and it caused an earthquake (effect) which destroys the building above and traps the robot in the cellar (result and problem). The obstacle is getting out which he can't do because he isn't designed with strength or drills - he ends up almost running out of power and panics, the internal conflict/overwhelm/overload sends it into low battery mode (ticking clock and obstacle) until months later is found and that's where the animation ends.
I think you should continue with idea one, but I think instead of the logs being a diary just give the robot a diary. Make him first learn how to write, then writes in 1's & 0's, then in text. A diary is a very personal object that will differ depending on the person.
ReplyDeleteAs the robot is taken away by the CIA, there could be a final shot of the van driving off with the robots diary in the window.
I feel like idea 3 is going away from the diary which could really be used to add emotional depth to your story. Idea 2 seems like it would be a little hard to get all the vital details of the story into 2 minutes without making it seem too cramped so I would agree with Tom and say that idea 1 is probably best! Idea one would add a lot of emotion and feeling to your animation as there are lots of ways to convey this through the theme of loss!
ReplyDeleteI'd be inclined to agree with the last 2 comments and go with number 1. It feels like the most personal of the stories and can also be done in 2 minutes.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I would say is that the diary seems fairly inconsequential in all of them. If you get any ideas for adaptations where it plays a more integral role in the story it would be worth experimenting with them.
Right now I'm thinking it could work to have the diary be of the deceased child. You could possibly see the robot finding it and working out somehow that it's not who it thought it was, ending the animation with it running off.
Whatever story you do make sure it fits in the 2 minute time frame. It's not long so either the story has to be simple or your'e going to have to cram a lot of exposition in there.
I do think you are on the right track though. Everyone's will need tweaking and polishing, but these ideas (especially the 1st one) aren't far from becoming great stories.
Diary belonging to the deceased child - I like that!
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