Animated Narratives, Week #4

STORY

We see a small, dirty and dark corner of the street, where rubbish bins stand there. We hear rustles come from a bin. A poor homeless dog is looking for food from the bin. His born white fur is stained with dust and turns grey. His fur is long and messy. In a fresh morning, the dog is jogging on the quiet neighbourhood street to exercise. He accidentally hits the handsome cat, who is also taking a walk accompanied by his family on the street. Then the dog has short dizziness and walks wobbly. He swaps souls with the cat unexpectedly. No matter how the cat barks, the family believe the cat as a crazy stray dog. The dog comes home with the cat’s family, and they treats him very well. He eats fish and catches mouses. The family uses the cat teaser wand to play with him, but he acts like a newbie. He forces himself to do everything a cat can. The cat harasses him every day and threats him to swap souls back. He makes a decision that it is time to give life back to this cat. The dog arranges to meet the cat the following day. He tries to run and bumps the cat again at the same position on the street, and swaps souls back to their original bodies. Then, the dog starts his new life as a ‘cat dog’, a dog with cats’ abilities, a better dog.

REFLECTION

This short script examines ideas of using terms of externalized seeing and hearing as a treatment of animation. The wiki I used is ‘A dog who wants to swap souls with a cat.’

By avoiding excessive descriptions of character’s thoughts in mind and keeping the focus on what we see and hear, I am able to write a very simple, clear start. This is exactly how the animations or films show to the audience, and they seldom express characters’ internal thoughts. There are only actions and sounds. Characters' thoughts hide in movements or facial expressions.

Similar ideas are developed in this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHpXle4NqWI) . It says, ‘Once you know what the character wants, you can figure out the next question: How does this particular individual move?’. This means we should first understand character’s desires and then no longer think about their internal feelings but concentrate on their actions.

In fact, it is not easy for such a sensitive person like me. During my writing process, I found I added many details in characters' minds that would not show on screens. It was complex and too specific as a first scene. Then I revised it. However, it's not saying internal feelings are unnecessary. Quote words say by a famous comedy animation artist, Chuck Jones, ‘Every action is dictated by what goes on inside you. You have to be able to think the way the character thinks. If you can’t tell what’s happening by the way the character moves, you’re not animating.’ Thus, every designed action for characters should be rational and based on their thoughts.