FILM STUDIES & CINEMATOGRAPHY - PROJECT 1

24/09/2024 - 03/11/2025 / Week 1 - Week 6

Thanaphorn Daensaad / 0350930

Film Studies & Cinematography / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media

Project 1: Story Development

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List

1. Lectures
2. Instruction

3. Project 1: Story Development
4. Feedback

5. Reflection

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Lectures

Week 1
In the first week, we were briefed according to the Module Information Booklet (MIB) about the module content and assignments.

Week 2
This week we learned about the elements that make a good story. He also taught us the art of storytelling so we have a better idea how to map out the spine of a good story. 

5 Elements of Story 

1. Character

2. Conflict

3. Setting

4. Plot

5. Theme (Lessons)

Week 3

In week 4, we learnt about the topic Character Development. 

1. External vs Internal Features
2. Wants vs Needs
3. Obstacles
4. Character Arc
5. Stakes

Week 4
This week we learned about story structure and the 3 Acts.

Act 1: 

1. Once upon a time

2. Everyday 

3. Until one day

Act 2: 

1. Because of that

2. Because of that 

3. Until finally 

Act 3: 

1. Until finally…

2. And ever since then…

The moral of the story is…

Week 5

• Scene Heading = Title
• Action lines = Subtitle
• Character = Heading 1 (Ctrl-Alt-1 or Cmd-Option-1)
• Dialog = Heading 2 (Ctrl-Alt-2 or Cmd-Option-2)
• Parentheticals = Heading 3 (Ctrl-Alt-3 or Cmd-Option-3)
• Transition (Film Editing) = Subtitle, manually align right

Week 6

The characters take up about 3 to 4 squares when using the rule of third. 

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Format

Font: Courier New

Font Size: 12

Cover Page

• Title (All Caps), by [Name]
• Contact
• Address

How to write:

INT.  LOCATION - TIME OF DAY - WRITE ONE OF THESE EVERY TIME YOU

        CHANGE LOCATION OR TIME OF DAY - WRITE IN ALL CAPS

• Place your action lines here.  Use these lines to describe what the viewer will be seeing when he or she watches your production

CHARACTER 1

(Dryly to audience)

Write your character's dialog here. Dialog will automatically wrap.

CUT TO:

EXT. NEW SCENE LOCATION - NEW TIME OF DAY

CHARACTER 1 (CONT'D)

More dialog.

CHARACTER 2

It formats me for dialog.

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Instruction

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Project 1: Story Development

This project requires you to develop a 2 minute short story that is going to be an animation as the final output.

Develop the story from each week activities progressively:

• Story Ideas - get ideas on various techniques such as write what you know, what if statement and character & world.
• Character Development - from your ideas, develop your main character by giving his or her obstacles (external & internal), goal, want vs need, character arcs.
• Setting - putting the character into the right setting such as era, world
• Story Arcs and Theme - inciting incident, 3 acts structure, log line

Requirements

1. Write a report in word document which consist of:

• Story Title
• Logline (Shorter version of synopsis - character, villain, settings, goal)
• Synopsis
• Theme
• Character Description
• World Description
• Script

2. Export as pdf

3. Update all the progress in e-portfolio

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Story Exploration
I drafted out a few story ideas of stories that I would like to develop

Story 1: Night’s fright (selected idea)

The story begins with a pair of kids (Jamie & Stella) usually fighting over everything and anything. They’re identical twins but the polar opposite of each other. Jamie is more of the extroverted kind that likes to be around everyone and hang around while Stella is the introverted type that prefers to have her time alone. Halloween is one of the celebrations that they both actually look forward to since it’s the time they could get and eat as much candies as they want which forces them to get along with each other. Out of nowhere, an abandoned house that was rumored to be haunted attracted the attention of Jamie to investigate. As a curious kid, he went to the door and he was grabbed by a shadow into the house. From that kidnap, Stella was forced out of her comfort zone and they were forced to work together to escape.

Conflict: 

The creature lures the brother in to get the sister because it wants the youth of the sister to restore its beauty and youth. The creature would be either holding her up to suck her face out so like the girl would end up being wrinkly from it (but that's too insane I think bc how would I find the way for the brother to get the thing solved)

Solution:

He saved her by tossing his handmade sword that came with his costume which cut the face of the creature then all the souls returned back. Stella's face got restored to its original look. 

(Bro went HAH! Told you, my sword was useful!)

Story 2: Slip n spy

The story begins with a spy named Blackout. The name sounds cool for a spy but not as what you would think. You would think the spy was named after it because that’s what would happen to the victims in his hand right? Wrong! It’s because he blacks out in almost every mission due to a clumsy mistake he’s made. This time, Mr. Blackout will be accompanied by a fellow robot companion called Echo, built by the scientist to fix his issues by analyzing the possible events of clumsy Mr. Blackout before it happens and finding ways to avoid it. A mission one day would be the change of the meaning of his name ‘Mr. Blackout’ as he would be the one to go through the error and succeed his mission that Echo would not be able to predict. 

(Echo exploded from the disbelief of not predicting the error and self destruct - sad ending)

(Mr Blackout graduates with better meaning to his name - happy ending)

Conflict:

In the heat of a mission of stealing the data of a company, Echo malfunctioned from the amount of predictions made that caused him to overheat which led to Mr.Blackout working on his own while making sure to bring ‘broken’ Echo with him. He was met with a 5050 decision on choosing his fate to escape. 

Solution:

Since Echo wasn’t there to assist, his clumsiness kicked in when he dropped a “slip” note that acts as a slippery substance for quick movement. A guard spotted him and ran to him. They accepted fate by being caught. But due to his clumsy act, the guard slipped on the substance making him go on one path that was the one that would cost his life.

Story 3: The Not So Lost Adventurer

The story begins with a young kid named Lila. Her parents have just moved to a big new city where nothing is what she is used to, having grown up in a farm with nothing but grass for miles. Now in a bustling city with towering buildings and busy streets, Lila can't help but feel lost. When her parents go out to work in the day, Lila is left to her own devices to explore the city all on her own. Luckily for her, she makes a friend, Teddy, who is there for every adventure she wants to live out. Lila doesn't know this but Teddy is just her childhood stuffed toy come to life, in her eyes it's an actual person. Teddy shows her the city one day and how to take the train to get to places. They have a lot of fun running around and exploring new places. At the end of the day, as they get on the train home, the train is packed to the brim like sardines in a can. Lila manages to squeeze in but as she turns around she realizes Teddy is unable to get on. She tries to make room for Teddy but when she realizes there isn't enough space, she tries to hop off the train to join Teddy. 

Conflict: 

In the heat of everything, the train doors start to close. Left all alone once again, Lila starts to cry as she not only feels lost but she left her only friend behind. She does not know what to do or how to get home.

Solution:

A moment of clarity strikes her midway through her breakdown. She remembers her happy moments exploring the city with Teddy and how they have took this train home multiple times. Lila clears up her tears and starts focusing on her surroundings and focuses on her journey home ahead. She traces back the steps she and Teddy took before and finds her way back home. When she finally reaches home in what feels like hours, she sees Teddy on the couch. He congratulates her on getting home by herself and tells her she is ready to go explore on her own.  Lila rubs her eyes to see in her disbelief Teddy is just her childhood stuffed toy sitting on her couch.

Synopsis

On Halloween night, opposite-personality twins Jamie and Stella eagerly set out to collect candy together, only to be warned of a haunted house where kids have gone missing. Dismissing it as a myth, Jamie sneaks off to investigate, and Stella watches in horror as he’s pulled inside by a sinister creature. Driven by both fear and responsibility, Stella follows and finds herself trapped as the creature drains her life force. Just in time, Jamie breaks free, using his costume sword to defeat the demon and release the captured souls. Though still rivals, the twins leave the house with a strengthened bond, knowing they’ll always be there for each other.

Story Structures

We applied story spine to our story idea. 

Act 1

(Once upon a time) Jamie and Stella are just an ordinary pair of twins with opposite personalities. (Because of that) Jamie, the curious little explorer while Stella, the quiet closeted reader who prefers to stay at home. (Everyday) While they both enjoyed different things, (Until one day) there’s always that one day that both of them look forward to, which is Halloween, the only day where not only they would get to spend time together but also collect and eat as many candies as their little hearts desired. 

(Until one day) On Halloween night, Jamie put on his knight outfit that he made on his own. As he slit his sword into his belt, Stella came in with her princess outfit, belittling him about the sword. Jamie gets mad and chases her to the front door to start the fun night of competing to get the most candies. Out of nowhere, their mother stopped them before they reached the door. (Because of that) They tripped off the stairs slowing themselves before crashing into their mother. Their mother selected Stella to be the one in charge of the night out. (Because of that) Their mother warned them of the rumors of the missing kids who stumbled upon the abandoned haunted house. Jamie laughed it off, taking it lightly as a joke while Stella was alerted to it. 

What happened to the kids? What’s in that house? Stella got scared of leaving while Jamie wanted to debunk the rumors. 

Act 2

(Because of that) A fight broke out between them as Stella was too afraid to leave the house after hearing the rumor. (Because of that) Jamie assured them that the rumor was all just empty words said by their mother for them to stay home for the night rather than go out and about. (Because of that) Jamie left without Stella to the abandoned house as it was calling for his name. The moment Stella looked away and back, Jamie had already disappeared right there and then.  (Because of that) She looked out the window and saw him in the front yard of the abandoned house. He knocked on the door. (Because of that) The next thing he saw was his arm being grabbed and pulled into the house. Stella was the only one who witnessed all of that. Should she tell her mother? Face the consequences of her action of not being in charge? The next thing she saw was herself standing right on the pavement on the opposite of the house.

Fear overwhelmed her but the responsibility that was put upon her cleared away her fear. (Because of that) She snapped out of her fearful thoughts and went up to the door. She knocked on the door once then twice. No answer. (Because of that) She went to the side of the house and looked through the window and saw her brother sitting in the corner with his arms tied up, unconscious. (Because of that) A rush of emotion went through her as she ran back to the door and knocked repeatedly. Still, there was no answer. She reached out for the doorknob and twisted the knob. Surprisingly, it was left unlocked. The door creaked as she stepped on the old wooden boards, trying to sneak into the house quietly. She turned on the flash on her phone as she saw a silhouette swiftly go past her. (Because of that) She turned to follow the silhouette. (Because of that) Instead, she was met with a pair of old, wrinkly hands covering her eyes, pulling her through the hallway.

(Because of that) She screamed out of fear as she fought her way out of captivity but no one could hear her. Her screams echoed across the hallway. A spell was casted to keep her trapped in a bubble, where no one could hear her cries for help. Moments passed and Jamie finally gained consciousness. He saw his sister held captive in a bubble. As he tried to get up, he realized his arms and legs were tied up by the witch demon. (Because of that) He tried to wiggle out to let the ropes loose from his limbs but failed.

The demonic creature let out a menacing laugh. Jamie turned to look at his sister and saw a demonic creature sucking out what seems to be her soul away from her body. Stella could feel her energy drain as the creature pressed its claws against her face and pulled the life out of her, wrinkles creeping over her once-youthful face. (Because of that)  Panic took over Jamie as he saw his sister suffering. Jamie knew he had to act quickly before it was too late. 

Act 3

(Because of that) An idea came to mind as Jamie pulled out the sword that came with his Halloween costume. He nudged the sword out and mustered every ounce of strength to cut himself free without the creature realizing. The fibres started fraying little by little, until finally, he was free.

Turning in the direction of his sister again, his heart sank as he saw her lying crumpled on the floor. She looks pale and lifeless. The creature standing beside his sister admiring the youthful features she just gained in a mirror.

(Because of that) Anger boiled inside Jamie, as much as he wanted to sprint towards the creature and kill it in an instant, he knew he had to play it smart. He gripped his sword tightly in his hand. While the creature was distracted by its beautiful reflection in the mirror, he sneaked up on her, slowly inching his way closer. The creature saw Jamie in the reflection, as it was about to turn around, Jamie charged forward and swung the sword with everything he had. (Because of that) The creature let out a loud scream in pain as it tried to hold onto the table for support, looking at Jamie with anger in its eyes. Jamie lunged at it again but this time he pulled out the sword leaving the creature to bleed out, a strange mist seeping out into the air - releasing every soul it had taken. Jamie fell backwards, resting from the battle he had with the creature as he let out a sigh of relief, watching the creature’s death. The creature cried as it slowly dissolved into nothingness. 

The bubble trapping Stella shattered into a million shards, setting her free. She gasped as she felt the life flood back into her body. Her wrinkles faded as her appearance was restored. Jamie rushed to her side to help her up. "Told you my sword was useful!" he said with a proud grin. “Yea, yea, you’re right.”, she said in a sarcastic tone. 

Even though the twins still argued over every little thing, their bond between each other grew stronger from that day. They knew that no matter how different they were, they will always be together and by each other’s side. 

Final Project 1: Story Development

Final Project 1: Story Development - Report


Final Project 1: Story Development - Screenplay

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Feedback

Week 3
The first one is good because there is a lot of action

Second one is funny but focuses more like a series than a short animatics

There's not much action in the third one

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Reflection

I had fun writing it however all the storylines I had in mind are very common and it was difficult to think of something different except for the Halloween idea. I enjoyed letting people listen to the story I had and letting people pick their favorites, in the end I chose the first option which is the Nights of Frights.