Week 4 - The shapes of stories, plot, narratation
The theme for week 4 is shapes of stories and plot. I have a better understanding of the definition and function of ‘story’ ’plot’ and ’narration’. This week premise practice is to use a premise as an ending or resolution of the whole story and use it as a thread of narrative. We choose the Cecile’s premise - ‘It’s time for the stars to travel to a new planet (Shooting stars), entrusting the duty of the night sky onto the new youth’
Here is the short story from the premise:
- Baby shooting stars are born from people wishes. Each shooting star caries one wish
- They spend their whole life trying to fulfill that wish.
- Once it is done, they can retire to another planet
- It is time for the stars to travel to a new planet, entrusting the duty of the night sky onto the new youth.
Before sculpturing the complete story, I tried to ask certain question to help me create plot:
- Where were the stars before?
- Do any established stars refuse to go?
- Do any star apprentices reject their role?
- What if the wish is about sickness, disaster, death, or other terrible things?
After thinking of above questions, here is the whole story:
For every positive, beautiful, and good wish made by a person on Earth, a baby shooting star is born. It carries with the wishes of the people, running from the far reaches of the universe. Once a little girl made a wish that she would find true love. So, a baby shooting star was born and it came with that wish. Along the way it went over many mountains, flew over many seas, visited deserts, and went through forests. Eventually it arrives in the city and finds the girl's true love in the crowd at once. It takes the boy to meet the girl who wished for earlier. In the end they fall in love as the girl wished. Many wishes will be made each day, so each day there will be many new baby meteors born who will carry a wish to be granted for its owner. For meteors, they will spend their whole lives trying to fulfil this wish. Therefore, when a meteor succeeds, it retires and finds a planet of its choice in the universe to spend the rest of its happy life there.
A similar animation called “The Rain of Light” directed by Patrick Volve (2018), (https://therokuchannel.roku.com/details/4969572858295cb79dc7896ceea7642e/petit-malabar-s1-e5-the-rain-of-light), this is a small science animation about meteors, the main character Little Malabar and his friend the Firefly are admiring shooting stars, they wonder if other fireflies are creating this rain of light and at the end, they know the truth of how meteors are created. Although this is a sci-fi animation, at the beginning of the animation, the main character thinks the meteors are a swarm of fireflies. It inspired me that image every firefly was a shooting star in a previous life, and when they travel through the universe to Earth, they become a firefly and continue to shine and light up the night. I think it would be a good premise as well, I will try to complete this story later this semester.
Through this week, I have learned more about the techniques used to shape the story, while use the causal connection, always ask myself what? And why? (what is the story about, why are you telling it) before making my own story.
