Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Rule #9: Know Your Ending
You can't really tell your story until you know the ending. Sometimes the idea you fi nd will
be the ending—the punch line or the payoff. Endings must transform the character, the audi-
ence, or both.
Rule #10: Entertain Your Audience
Audiences are entertained when they are visually, intellectually, and emotionally engaged.
When audiences watch a fi lm, they trust you to take them on a journey and bring them back
safely. They will suspend disbelief and travel with you as long as you maintain the rules of
your world and keep the story truthful and the characters believable.
The best shorts are the ones that have some adventure, some sorrow, some tenderness, and
some laughter. They are the ones that hold a few surprises and the ones that you continue
to think about after you see them. How will your audience feel and what will they remember
after watching your fi lm?
Rule #11: Use Humor
Most people, when they think of humor and animation, think of Tex Avery, Chuck Jones,
sight gags, and visual puns. Humor can also be parody, satire, or pathos.
The best humor in a short is the type that grows out of the situation, reinforces the confl ict
or emotion of the characters, or subtly reveals more about the character. It is sometimes
funny, sometimes nervous, and sometimes empathetic.
In Respire, Mon Ami , the young boy tries to revive his friend with mouth-to-mouth resuscita-
tion. In this scene, humor comes from three sources: 1) from the logical knowledge that the
head is already dead and cannot be revived, 2) from the grossness (for lack of a better
word) of the act itself, and from 3) the breath of the boy escaping out the neck to rustle the
leaves on the ground.
Respire , Mon Ami , by Chris
Nabholz, Ringling College of Art
and Design
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