Master Of Animation, Games & Interactivity
Master Of Animation, Games & Interactivity

Overview for production

Today we explored narrative structure, analysing different narrative forms and approaches to story, plot and narrator. 

As our weekly premise exercise we were tasked with posting a short conclusion to a story, which we could use to reverse engineer a narrative. My submission was “…And she devoured every last one of them.” I picked this wording very carefully, trying to give enough to create a vivid image in the reader’s mind, but leave it vague to allow for a variety of interpretations. 

I pitched this to my group and asked what they pictured. The responses were images of a dark, malevolent woman, maybe in a fantasy setting, or someone sitting down to a nice meal. If I’m remembering correctly, I think there was a mention of Hannibal Lecter too. 

For me, it conjured up the image of a towering Vampiress and a mob of angry villagers storming her castle. 

This process made me think of narratives which attempt the inverse, in providing a clear narrative without a definitive conclusion. Works such as the films of the Coen Brothers, namely Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) and its cyclical narrative, where the viewer is left wondering if the beginning was the end or the end was the beginning.

Animated Narratives - Week 3

By Nick Flanders-Farmer

written

This week's theme of Character/Location/Action asked us to explore the relationship between these three pillars of narrative, and write "an outstanding character, a dynamic action and an interactive location." In response to this I wrote:

"The Blind Spy frantically clambers back onto the platform, as a train comes rushing by."

Inspired by my recent reading of Ian Flemming's original James Bond novels and the works of John le Carre, I wanted to write a premise about a spy, but I felt the idea of just 'a spy' wasn't dynamic enough. Making this character blind introduces and implies a miriad of conflicts and challenges for them to face. It creates a nice dynamic, where their disability may aid their work perhaps as an unsuspecting undercover operative, while making the more physical aspects of their career more difficult.

This plays directly into the location and action, too, as they attempt to avoid an oncoming train. How would they get out alive? How did this character end up on the train tracks? What would failure mean for their mission and the world at large?

In these ways all three elements of Character, Location and Action play into each other to create a genuinely tense and intriguing scenario.

Animiated Narratives - Week 1

By Nick Flanders-Farmer

written

In response to this week's premise exercise, 'Place a character into a relationship with a need,' I began developing a short narrative about a man who wants to dance with his own skeleton.

The overarching conversation about character needs and motivations was very insightful, and had me thinking about characters and their purpose in a new way. In the past I would generally think of characters as symbols for ideologies, traits, emotions or archetypes, and while this is often the case I can see how important it is to ground a character in their own wants and needs.

In my mind I visualise my premise as a short animated film, following a man who dreams of seperating his body and his skeleton, creating a dance partner for himself. I'm not sure how I would conclude this story, but the initial concept has potential to resolve in a variety of interesting ways.

Though slightly different, this concept was partly inspired by the video game Felix The Reaper (Kong Orange, 2019). The game follows the titular Felix, a hopelessly romantic Grim Reaper set on winning the heart of Betty The Maiden from The Ministry of Life.

Animated Narratives - Week 4

By Nick Flanders-Farmer

written