Animated Narratives: Week 3

Animated Narratives Week 3

Wiki: The lit paperman cries in agony.

ANIMATED SHORT FILM TREATMENT 

TITLE

The Paper Firefighter

THE LOGLINE

A paper man tries to save a paper girl from a burning building.

THE OVERVIEW

‘The Paper Firefighter’ is a short animated film that aims to represent the theme of ‘anyone can be who they want to be no matter who they are born into’. The audience will be able to watch the journey of the protagonist, the Paper Man, and the choices he makes to achieve his dream to become a firefighter.

THE EXPLANATION

To engage the audience into the animation, the Paper Man will look relatively like a human. He will have the feature of humans but as thin as a piece of paper. Also, as the Paper Man is a normal human being in the world, he works to earn his living. He is always wearing his occupation-related clothing and goes to work every day. In this animated short film, he is a metaphor for those who are stopped or laughed at to be who they want to be by others’ judgment because of their born-features. All his mundane work and the whispers around his ears about his absurd dream only build up to the choice he makes at the Climax point.

SUMMARY (THE STORY)

Everyone is telling the Paper Man that he couldn’t be a firefighter. But it is the Paper Man’s dream.

Paper-made men are believed to be fragile and easily caught on fire. Therefore, they are deemed not suitable candidates.

One day, the building he lives in catches fire. The Paper Man successfully runs out of the building in time. Not long after, the burning building crashes. Wax man and plastic man firefighter are standing outside of the building, having not enough space to go into it to rescue the trapped people.

A paper woman cries for her baby that is still trapped in the building.

The Paper Man takes a deep breath. He pours water on himself and runs back into the building. The firefighter couldn’t stop him. The Paper Man steps carefully to avoid catching fire. However, he still moves in a relatively fast pace. He finds the little girl trapped behind a door. He helps her slip out from the small gap. Then, they start running out of the building together.

Out of a sudden, a pillar drops. It nearly drops onto the paper girl but the Paper Man pushes her out of the way. The Paper Man is on fire. He cries in agony. Water radiates quickly from his body. But he still manages to struggle out. Not having enough time to recover, he continues to bring the little paper girl out of the burning building. When they are both out, he is lit on fire. However, they are both safe.

He is over-dried and burnt a little. He is sent to the emergency room immediately and is told to rest properly for weeks. In his hospital room, there’re a few ‘get well’ cards from his colleagues and a ‘thank you, my firefighter’ card from the little girl and her family. Although he is suffering from the burnt, the Paper Man is still happy. He knows that even if he had to choose again, he would go back to the building and save the paper girl.

No matter what. 

FOLIO DOCUMENTATION

This work examines ideas of anyone can be who they want to be no matter who they are born into. By using the medium of animation, I am able to create a unique art style for each type of human and therefore enhance the different features they have on them. For example, the main character, the Paper Man, is as thin as a paper. Hence the character will be relatively thinner than other types of human e.g. the wax man and the plastic man. Also, the animation medium will communicate my idea easier than doing live-action as they will look cute and not creepy. 

This idea of the work is similar to ‘The Little Prince’ animation released in 2015, which talks about growing up and becoming who they want to be instead of what the society or their parents think of them. Similar ideas also exist in movies ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ and ‘Something the Lord Made’.

By reading ‘Overview of Traditional Narrative Structure’ written by Linda Aronson, I decided to implement the three-act structure into my creating process. I wrote out each section (e.g. Act 1 and Plot Point 1) before adding in the content to make sure I created my story based on the structure. Using the structure to build up my story creates a powerful climax and a well-planned resolution.

Downloads:

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