Story Story Stor - Animating with Blender: How to Create Short Animations from Start to Finish - page 19

been better demonstrated by an entirely different situation or incident? Or, more easily, did you choose the
best part of the story to tell? What about the 2 minutes before or after the portion you chose to tell?
Sometimes refocusing on a slightly different portion of the objective story line can make the difference in
fi nding the right turn and creating a fully satisfying story.
If you can pull together a good character, plot, and image, unify them with a strong theme, grab your viewers
with a hook, and satisfy them with a well-crafted turn, then you have a story worth slaving over for the next
several months.
Writing It Down
With the story taking shape, your next task is to write it if you haven't already. Although actually writing the
story down is not completely necessary for such a short, visual production, it can help to give form to your
thoughts and provide a good reference for later steps.
Stories that are destined for fi lm or video are usually written in screenplay format . To bother with the entire
format for this limited production won't really be useful, so we'll borrow some elements from it but strip it
down to suit our needs. Here is the fi nal script of The Beast so you can get a look at the format:
THE BEAST
THE CAMERA COMES UP ON A WALL-HUNG PICTURE OF A VERY UGLY BABY, FOLLOWED BY ONE
OF A FAMILY HOLDING THE BABY.
THE CAMERA CUTS TO THE BABY BEING DEPOSITED ON THE LIVING ROOM FLOOR AND LEFT
ALONE BY THE MOTHER, WHO IS TALKING ON THE PHONE.
MOTHER (off camera, into a phone, continuing in the background throughout the
action): Hi June. Did you get that? Yeah, there's some really good stuff in the
catalog this time. I tried the Poolah mascara last time, and it's just great...
THE BABY GRABS FOR THE TOYS THAT ARE WITHIN REACH AND FINDS A RATTLE. HE IS NOT
PLEASED WITH IT AND TOSSES IT AWAY. HE FINDS A GROSS DOG'S TOY, A BONE, AND
BEGINS HAPPILY GNAWING ON IT.
A SNOOTY DOG AND A SILLY DOG WATCH FROM THE BACK OF THE COUCH. THE SNOOTY DOG
BECOMES ANNOYED THAT THE BABY IS CHEWING ITS TOY.
THE BEAST HITS THE SNOOTY DOG BY THROWING THE BONE, THEN FOLLOWS UP WITH SEVERAL
OTHER TOYS. FINALLY, THE SNOOTY DOG IS KNOCKED FROM HIS PERCH.
THE MOTHER HEARS THE COMMOTION AND PICKS THE BEAST UP, PLACING HIM IN A HIGH
CHAIR IN THE KITCHEN WHILE SHE SCOLDS THE SNOOTY DOG.
MOTHER (to the dog): Penelope! Leave him alone!