[Class Exercise] Post #3

SCRIPT

“THE HOUSE CAT AND MISS BIRDBRAIN”

FADE IN:

SCENE 1: INT. LIVING ROOM – DAY

An airy living room with little furniture, a black CAT lazes near the window, under a spot of sunlight. A big cage with a little house on the top perch hangs above the cat, slightly to the left. The owners appear from a door on the right, walking towards the main door on the left.

NARRATOR

It is a peaceful afternoon, under the warm sunrays; the House Cat enjoys his nap.

FEMALE OWNER stops and gives cat a pat on the head, cat purrs softly in return. She continues to move left and rejoin male owner at the front door, putting on their shoes.

FEMALE OWNER

Be good now, THOMAS!

Door closes with a BANG. THOMAS’S ears perked up.

THOMAS

(Murmurs)

Finally some peace…

FLASHBACK

Thomas being patted by owners at different times of the day and night; Thomas struggling to get off the female owner’s lap. We hear humans cooing and making nonsensical noise to him in an unusually high pitch.

BACK TO SCENE

A VOICE

(Piercing and loud)

Tweeeeeet!

THOMAS

(Ears twitched)

Stop that banshee screech, Pea.

PEA

I’m Bored!
(Flutters around in cage)
Hey Tommy Boy! Entertain me!

Thomas curled up, paws covering his ears. PEA sees, and huffs herself up in a ball of feathers, sulking.

(SFX: A seed bounces off Thomas with a ‘Ponk’)

(SFX: A seed bounces off Thomas with a ‘Ponk!’)

THOMAS

(opens left eye lazily)

(SFX: A seed bounces off Thomas with a ‘Ponk!’)

THOMAS

(opens both eyes, sighs)

(head tilt up, frowning)

(SFX: A shower of seeds bouncing off Thomas)

PEA

Hahahaha!
Dumb Tommy! This is for ignoring me!

(flies to her house)

THOMAS

(spits out mouthful of seeds)

Plah! Disgusting!

SCENE 2. INT – BACK OF KITCHEN – DAY

Thomas laps at water quickly. Stops and looks around him. Grins when he sees a small vacuum cleaner.

SCENE 3. INT – LIVING ROOM – DAY

Pea finishes preening and peeks out of her house. Sees Thomas sleeping.

PEA

(Titters)

(Hops down to water bowl)

(Dips right wing into bowl and tries to splash Cat)

Gah!

THOMAS
(Looks up and smirks)

Birdbrain.

PEA

Why isn’t the water reaching you!

THOMAS

(Draws imaginary line beside him)

I’ve move further so you won't be able to reach! Now, leave me alone.

(Settles down to nap)

Pea waits till Thomas’s eyes closed again, and opens the catch of her lock with beak quietly. Standing at the opened cage door, she launches herself straight for Thomas’s tail. Thomas jumps up in pain and fright.

THOMAS

(Shocked)

Ouch!!

Am I bleeding?

Thomas brings his tail around and inspects it, only to find it swollen. He swivel around and sees Pea hovering above.

THOMAS (CONT’D)

(Hiss)

You dare pecked my tail?!

Thomas’s fur fluffs up as he stands on fours, and his swollen tail slowly swinging. He gathers his strength to his hind legs and leapt towards Pea with a battlecry. With an open mouth full of sharp teeth and claws outstretched, Pea freezes for a second.

PEA

Eeek!

(Flaps frantically at the last second)

Thomas unable to stop in time, hits the wall with a loud THUD, slides down and landed on the ground in a slump, dazed. Moons and Stars appear to circle around Thomas’s head. Meanwhile, Pea, witnessing the whole scene starts to shake with laughter till she wobbles to the ground, too weak with laughter to continue flying.

Thomas pounced onto the vacuum cleaner he took from the back of the kitchen earlier, pointed the hose at the bird and hits the switch. The vacuum cleaner sucks Pea in with a loud WHOOSH.

SCENE 4. INT – DUSTBAG – DAY

Only a pair of eyes could be seen.

PEA

(Gasping from laughter)

Huh? Where am I?

(Looks around)
HEY! LET ME OUT!

SCENE 5. INT – LIVING ROOM – DAY

An airy living room with simple furniture, a black cat is lazing near the window, under the spot of sunlight. A big empty cage hangs above the cat, slightly to the left. A vacuum cleaner a few steps away on the right, a few muffled CHIRPS coming from it.

NARRATOR

It is a peaceful afternoon, under the warm sunrays; the House Cat continues his nap.

FADE OUT.

THE END

[Class Exercise] Post #2

Storyline

1. Humans left house. Cat enjoying the peace under the sun
2. Bird disturbed peace by 'singing' and wanted Cat to entertain her.
3. Cat ignored Bird, and sulky Bird started her attention getting tactics
4. Bird throwing seeds at Cat
5. Cat spitting out seeds, and went away to rinse his mouth
6. Bird attempted to disturb Cat by splashing water
7. Attempt failed, and reason why.
8. Bird snuck out of cage and pecked Cat's tail
9. Angry Cat leapt for Bird but hit the wall instead
10. Bird rotfl
11. Cat used opportunity to suck Bird into vacuum cleaner
12. Peace again.

Scenes	Visual	Audio
INT - LIVING ROOM - NOON	A black cat lazing near the window, under the spot of sunlight A hand patting the cat's head Front Door closing Cat's ear perked up	a soft patting sound, followed by a soft purring FEMALE : Be good, Thomas! Door : Bang
Flashback	Fisheye effect : Human hands touching cat Cat struggling to get away	Human voice turning high pitched
INT - LIVING ROOM - NOON	Cat's ears twitched Camera moves up to the cage, and zooms in on Bird fluttering around Thomas curled up. Bird huffs itself into a green ball	BIRD: TWEEEEEEEET! BIRD: I'm Bored! BIRD: Hey Tommy Boy! Entertain me!
	A seed bounced off sleeping Thomas Another seed bounced off, Thomas's left eye opened. Another seed, both eyes opened. Head turned to see a shower of seeds falling on Cat's face Bird flying into her house on the top perch Cat spat out mouthful of seeds	Seed: Ponk Seed: Ponk! Seed: Ponk! Seeds: PONK PONK PONK!!! BIRD: Hahahaha, dumb Tommy, This is for ignoring me! CAT: Plah!
INT - BACK KITCHEN - NOON	Cat rinsing his mouth at his water dish Looks around his surrounding and saw something	Water lapping sounds
INT - LIVING ROOM - NOON	Bird finished preening Bird peeked out of house Bird sees Cat sleeping Bird hopped down to water bowl and dipped wing inside and attempt to splash Cat  - Cat glanced up and smirked Cat draw an imaginary line marking the aerial safe border Cat settles down to nap again	Hopping sounds Splashing sounds BIRD: Gah! CAT: Birdbrain BIRD: Why isn't the water reaching you! CAT: I've moved further away. Now, leave me alone.
	Bird opening the catch of her lock with beak Zooms down aiming straight for tail (Bird's POV)
	Cat jumps up Cat brought tail around to inspect Camera zoom sin on tail Cat swivel around and saw Bird above Cat on 4s, fur standing and hissing	CAT: OUCH! CAT: You dare pecked my tail?!
	Cat leapt for bird Open mouth, claws (Bird's POV) Bird fly up Cat hit wall, slid down, and slumped onto ground Moon and stars around head	Cat's battle cry Frantic flapping of wings Wall THUD Dizzy sounds
	Bird in air laughed Laughed until no strength to fly Bird reacting the Cat's dizzy state Bird lands on ground still laughing	laughing sounds
	Cat suddenly pounced on an item slightly off screen A vacuum cleaner Cat aims the hose and switched on Bird, still laughing, gets sucked in	click of switch vacuum cleaner sound
INT- INSIDE DUST BAG - NOON	(Dark except eyes seen) Bird in dust bag, wondering what was going on question marks
INT - LIVING ROOM - NOON	A black cat lazing near the window, under the spot of sunlight, with a vacuum cleaner nearby	Occasional chirping from vacuum cleaner

[Class Exercise] Post #1v2

1. One Sentence Summary

[Story 01] Human the Chameleon

We are all liars, someway or another. This is how I lie...

[Story 02] Human and Misassumption

When the Walls have ears and jumping into conclusions result in awkwardness.

[Story 03] Connecting Technologies, Disconnecting Humanity

With his precious earpieces on, and the player blasting music, he was lured subconsciously to the place where he would be loved.

[Story 04] The House Cat and Miss Birdbrain

A House Cat trying have a peaceful afternoon nap only to be constantly disturbed by the other pet Bird.

[Story 05] The Hare versus the Tortoise

THe Flighty Hare and the Calm Tortoise have a competition to see who will reach the end first, end up acknowledging each other's speed.

2. Character bio of chosen story

info relevant to story

House Cat (Thomas)

Gender: Male

Color: Black

Been a house cat for 4 years since he was a kitten. A rather laidback cat who has a rather kind heart.

Loves basking under the sun more than anything else.

As long as no body interferes with his afternoon naps seriously, he is able to just barely tolerate their existence - ie. Humans, Bird

Bird (Pea)

Gender: Female

Color: Green

A young attention-seeking bird which was recently bought. Easily bored, quite dumb to truly understand fear, derives entertainment from disturbing Thomas. 

Is a cunning two-face bird - according to Thomas.

A young working couple living in a apartment

Male - 34

Female - 32

[Story 04v2] The House Cat and Miss Birdbrain

Theme: A character that is preferably not human, suitable for children

A House Cat trying to have a peaceful afternoon nap only to be constantly disturbed by the other pet Bird.

______________________________________________________________________

Set up - a House Cat enjoying a peaceful nap under the warm sun

Confrontation - The bored Bird seeking entertainment from disturbing the House Cat's peace.  

Resolution - After enduring much harassment, the House Cat managed to trap the noisy Bird in a safe place and thus, able to enjoy his nap in peace again.

______________________________________________________________________

A pat on the head, and a “Be good, Thomas!” the front door slammed shut.

Thomas’s ears perked up, glad to have the inferior beings out of the house. Without the dread of being constantly molested by dirty hands and earache from shrilly voices, this peaceful afternoon under the warm sunrays was his paradise.

“Tweeeeeeeeeeeet!”

Thomas’s ears twitched at the sudden banshee screech. It was the other pet, the two-faced bird, Pea. She acted all coy and innocent when the Humans were around, but in reality was an irritating attention-seeker.

“I’m bored!” she exclaimed while fluttering around her cage, “Hey Tommy boy! Entertain me!”

Thomas just curled up tighter as an attempt to block out the noise. Seeing the lack of response, Pea huffed herself up into a fluffy ball of green feathers, sulking.

“Ponk.”

A seed bounced off the sleeping Thomas.

“Ponk!”

He opened an eye lazily, half wondering what hit him.

“Ponk!”

Thomas blearily opened his eyes, tired of this attention-seeking nonsense. He turned; ready to silence Pea with his evil glare… only to meet with a shower of seeds.

“Hahahaha, dumb Tommy! This is for ignoring me!” Pea sang out as she flew into her little house on the top perch.

Thomas spat out a mouthful of those disgusting seeds and hurried to his water dish, rinsing his mouth out of the foul taste.

A few minutes later, Pea, tired with preening, peeked out of her house, and saw Thomas asleep again. She tittered and hopped down to her water bowl, another mischievous plan forming in her mind.

“Gah!”

Thomas glanced up at the furiously splashing bird and smirked.

“Birdbrain.”

“Why isn’t the water reaching you!”

“I’ve moved further away. Now, leave me alone.”

Thomas, pleased with his aerial safe spot, settled down once more. Little did he know that Pea was escaping her cage sneakily.

“Ouch!”

Thomas jumped up in pain and fright at the red-hot throbbing sensation. He brought his tail around, half expecting to see blood. To his relief, it was just swollen. Thomas swiveled, seeking for the cause, only to see Pea fluttering above.

“You dare pecked my tail?” Thomas hissed.

He gathered all his strength to his hind legs and leapt towards the culprit.

Without the safety of the bars, coupled with the looming sight of an open mouth full of sharp teeth and outstretched claws, Pea flew higher in a panic. Thomas, unable to change the speed or direction, ended hitting the wall with a thud.

He slid down, landing on the ground in a slump, seeing asteroids. Pea, witnessed the process of Thomas crash and disheveled state, laughed so much till she had no strength to fly.

Quick as lightning, Thomas pounced onto the vacuum cleaner he had prepared earlier; hit the switch button and effectively sucked Pea in. Before she fully realized what happened, Pea found herself in the dark.

It was a peaceful afternoon under the warm sunrays, occasionally interrupted with a muffled chirp from the vacuum cleaner.

  

[500 words]

[Class Exercise] Mind Your Language

Character	Unique Voice/Trait/Behavior	Stereotype / Unique Personality
Ms Dolores Courtney (England)	Quite sensitive about being called 'Mrs'; feminist	Unique
Jeremy Brown (England)		Stereotype
Giovanni Capello (Italy)	Italian accent; Pasta~	Stereotype
Anna Schmidt (German)	Efficiency	Stereotype
Chung Su-Lee (China)	Mixes up her "R'" and "L"; quotes Mao	Stereotype
Tarou Nagazumi (Japan)	Adds a 'to' to end of speech; Electronics; bows before speaking	Stereotype
Jamila Ranjha (India)	Hand and head movements; talks/complains a lot; speaks no English	Stereotype
Maximillian Andrea Achimedes Panpandrious (Greece)	Heavy accent with a "H" to almost every word
Juan Cervantes (Spain)	"Por favor"
Ranjeet Singh (India)	"A thousand apologies"; hand and head movements; VS Ali's religion; threaten with kirpan when angered	Stereotype
Danielle Favre (France)	Charming	Stereotype
Ali Nadeem (Pakistan)	Literally misinterprets what people said; VS Ranjeet's religion; "Yes, please!" with a smile; "Oh, blimey"	Unique

zzz

25 Stories

Class exercise: 
Let's practice story-telling using the 1-sentence summary.
Write them in one blog entry - will be graded as blog notes. 
ALL stories must be suitable for animation.  


STEP1: CREATE & CRAFT 10 STORIES INTO THE 1-SENTENCE SUMMARY

Story1: Character driven story, eg Mr Bean
The truth behind Merlin
A life journey of Merlin, the greatest wizard, and how he was a female before he came into power.



Story2: Story driven by a location.
Plane wrecked 
An aircraft accident left a group of passengers on a small uninhabited island, and someone on the island is reducing the numbers to preserve the food ration... or is that the real reason?



Story3: Story driven by an item.
The Mirror on the Wall
A girl realized that the mirror on the wall of their new house does not only reflects what is in front of it, but is also a gateway to another dimension when the grandfather clock strikes thirteen times.




Story4: Story driven by a situation.
Last Summer
2 children were left at their relative's countryside house for the summer because their parents were busy getting a divorce, and the children met an old crone in the woods who claimed she could save the situation.




Story5: Story driven by Character's motive(s) or conflict with another Character.
Nerds versus Jocks
The Nerds have always suffered in silence under the Jocks' bullying, under the recent transfer of a Super Nerd who will be leading an all out attack against the Jocks.




Stories 6 to 10: Combination of above points for your stories.


Story6: Location, item
The Jewels of Beach Mahou
Tom is the new lifeguard for Beach Mahou, and on a early morning patrol, he discovers an exquisitely jeweled comb and mirror set that belongs to... a mermaid?




Story7: Situation, Conflict
The Witch of the next Town
A mother set off to the next town to find her missing husband only to realize that he, amongst other men, had been bewitched.




Story8: Item, Conflict
The Cursed Golden Collar
The dwarves and goblins have always been at odds with each other, until they finally agreed to a peace negotiation sealed with an exchange of their races' precious golden collars, only that someone sabotage the negotiation with a cursed collar.




Story9: Character, Motive
The Witch, the Prince and the chosen Embers
The Witch gave an apple to Embers, who was on the way to the Prince's Ball, promising Embers that the apple would change her life.


Story10: Item, Conflict
That Suitcase is Mine
A con artist bumped into a cat bulgar causing their similar looking suitcases of real and fake jewelry to mix up, and the approaching police sirens spells doom if they do not think fast.



STEP2: CREATE  (1 Sentence) STORIES FOR THESE GENRES: 

Story 11: Drama
Hybrid
She was always bullied in the past because of her mixed race, but now she stands at the top of the world of politics.


Story 12: Documentary
The Lost Island
An underwater journey exploring a long forgotten sunken island.


Story 13: News / Current Affairs

Nature's Wrath
The scenes behind the flood in Thailand and its aftermaths.



Story 14: Comedy
Ain't no ugly duckling

A nerd transferred to a former all girls school which recently changed co-ed, is being forced  to undergo a makeover to become a super handsome man.


Story 15: Horror
Bloody (Mary) Emily 
Occult crazy Emily performed the ritual for calling Bloody Mary and discovered the the bloody reflection was a horribly disfigured of her own face, and something invited itself into the house, refuses to leave until Emily's face becomes like the bloodied image in the mirror. 


Story 16: Action

Not so dirty Dirt Bikes
A biker who loves bikes races brings his reluctant girlfriend to an exhilarating dirt bike race.


Story 17: Mystery / Thriller / Crime
The Grave Digger
A group of young adults on a paranormal investigation at the graveyard saw someone digging in the graves for something, or to hide something?



Story 18: Teenage Drama
The School Mafia
The board of educators have decided to fight an eye with an eye by hiring ex-yakuzas into the disciplinary committee to control the increasing number of delinquents in school.


Story 19: Romance
To Love or Not
A man falls in love with a woman who does not understand what is love.


Story 20: Fantasy / Sci-Fi
Naughty or Nice
A pixie loses his senses under the mounting pressure of the upcoming Christmas, goes on a rampage, will Christmas be postponed?  


Story 21: Children
Kounna the Ramen Girl
Kounna, a Ramen Girl, vows to uphold her family's honor by creating the best ramen, goes on an adventure journey to sample the world's ramen. 



Story 22: Adventure / Swashbucklers
One new tour
A new tour guide brings a small group of tourist to visit some ruins, only to find themselves being teleported to the pirate age, and they have to figure out how to get back to present safely.


Story 23 - 25: Combination of any genre from above. 


Story23: Horror  & Thriller/Crime: 

That Night in the Ward

A hospitalized girl who shared an empty 4 patients' ward, started hearing muffled screams for help in her ward in the middle of the night, and it seems that someone is ensuring that she keeps the screams for help a secret...forever.

Story24: Children & Comedy:
Black Sheep in Wolf's Clothing

The black sheep plans his own petty revenge against the white sheep who outcast him.

Story25: Children & Adventure:
TeeVee Versus Me
TeeVee the hypnotist has been around controlling people's minds unknowingly for ages, until recently a group of children realizes his power, and sets out in an adventure battling TeeVee's underlings and ultimately TeeVee himself, thus freeing the people.

STEP 3: GIVE ONE OR TWO EXAMPLES OF A BLOCKBUSTER / SUCCESSFUL MOVIE THAT FITS THE ABOVE 25-GENRE-DRIVEN STORIES. 

Examples of Blockbuster/Successful Movies for: 
Story 11: Drama : Black Swan
Story 12: Documentary : Anne Frank Remembered
Story 13: News / Current Affairs : Minus One, The Wall Street
Story 14: Comedy : Vampires Suck
Story 15: Horror : Ju-on
Story 16: Action : IP Man 2
Story 17: Mystery / Thriller / Crime : Sherlock Holmes 
Story 18: Teenage Drama : High School Musical
Story 19: Romance : The Notebook
Story 20: Fantasy / Sci-Fi : Star Wars
Story 21: Children : Finding Nemo
Story 22: Adventure / Swashbucklers : Spirited Away
Story 23: Adventure & Comedy : The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Story 24: Action & Thriller : 2 Fast 2 Furious
Story 25: Fantasy & Comedy : Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

STEP4: POST HERE > YOUR STORY SUMMARIES & EXAMPLES (POST COMMENT)

>> POST A COMMENT AT THIS BLOG ENTRY
>> SIGN OFF WITH YOUR NAME
>> COPY & PASTE THIS CLASS EXERCISE INTO THE COMMENT 

[Notes] Homer

Bart's photo gets Homer into trouble with Marge.
Plot 1: Homer's party/caught in a photo/ distributed ->Marge ->Trouble
Plot 2: Bart get spy camera -> plays ->took a picture of Homer and dance -> trouble



one sentence story

3 act structure


Act 1
Setup
-Homer has a night out (stag party)
-Bart gets spy camera from Fe-Mailman
    and uses it accordingly to his character.



Conflict
Homer's picture with Dancer taken
Bart gives picture to friend -> Springfield (chain reaction)
Up the Stakes
Marge sees photo
freaks out

Turning point
How will Homer explain?
Bart just realises that he is in trouble (because he admitted to taking the photo)



Act 2
Confrontation
- Homer thrown out by Marge
- Bart faces parents' problem (because Dad is not around)


Conflict
Homer tries to explain, Marge gives him a mission
Tries to teach Bart, but got into trouble
SOmehow got into the show, and got distracted by the dancers
Will Homer get Marge to forgive him?

Turning point
Homer to teach Bart a lesson not to treat women as objects



Act 3
Resolution
- Homer and Marge make up
- Bart learn his lesson and he got his father back, parents are ok







Set up Scene breakdown
Act 1
Scene 1 - Interior - Home- day (slugline)
1. Homer and Marge talking about party
2. Homer gets onto a weighing scale
2.1 Homer wants to lose weight by exercising in the morning

Scene 2 - interior - home - day
1. Bart waits for the mailman to bring the spy camera
2. Gets spy camera
3. uses spy camera in the Bart's way that got him into trouble