Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Condensation
What if your idea has too many characters, events, or locations? Do you automatically
abandon it? No. It may be that when you understand the essence of the story, it is possible
to condense armies into a single soldier or a journey around the world into a walk around
the block. Let's play “What if?” and condense one of our bigger stories,
Noggin
.
Let's say that this was your idea for a story but you either didn't have or didn't want other
animators to collaborate with. Could you tell this story with two characters?
First, we need to determine what
Noggin
is really about. What is the concept of the
piece?
Possible concepts that are within a standard deviation may be:
Mutations save the species.
Sometimes your differences are your strongest assets.
Survival of the fi ttest.
Premise: Noggin, a prehistoric caveman, lives in confl ict with the Bellyfaces who don't appreci-
ate how his differences complicate their lives. Noggin's differences are what save him.
Without the introduction, we assume that Noggin is the fi rst man, a mutation, living with
Bellyfaces who ostracize him for his differences—a head that sits above the shoulders. He
scares off prey because his head sticks out above the standard methods of camoufl age, and
his head smothers fi re, which they worship, when he bows before it. The Bellyfaces decide
that his head must go. But it is storming. And when a great fl ood comes, Noggin is the only
creature who has his head above the water.
Noggin
, directed by Alex Cannon, Brigham Young University
