Sources Of Story Ideas For Short Animations
Steve K
Posts: 3,235
I do short animations in Carrara, typically 4-7 minutes which is the 48 Hour film contest requirement. You can see my videos here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/SteveK77536?feature=guide
We would all like to think we can come up with a story idea that will be wildly applauded by all. But unfortunately that is not the case. Good story tellers are few and far between, IMHO. So I am always looking for stories to ... borrow, or at least get inspired by. Some of my faves:
- The Complete Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson
- The Twilight Zone Companion by Marc Scott Zicree (Stories by Rod Serling & Others)
- Aesop's Fables by Aesop, e.g. The Crow and the Pitcher
- Science Fiction Hall of Fame (example: "Its A Good Life" by Jerome Bixby, scariest story I've ever read)
Anybody found any other story sources they really like?
Thanks,
Steve K.
P.S. the first one, C&H, may seem strange for a story source, but its one of the best. for a small boy's imagination. Books by Shel Silverstein are another good one.
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Remember that lifting a plot from something else is not OK - lifting the average essence from multiple other plots and then reworking is another matter (have a look at TVTropes).
For inspiration when using an old story, e.g. Aesop’s Fables, consider changing the POV. For example, tell the story of the Tortoise and the Hare from the POV of the hare. (I always wondered what he thought when he lost. Was it a life changing experience?) Law and Order got 20 seasons plus two successful spinoffs by changing POV from defense to prosecution.
Yes, a good suggestion. This year's list of genres for the 48 Hour Film contest replaced "Detective/Cop" with "Crime/Gangster". They apparently wanted a different POV. OTOH, they encourage mixing genres, a good thing since our entry was not entirely from the gangsters' POV.
Of course, I would not use a story verbatim or even close without getting permission and giving credit. But inspiration is another thing. For example, the story I mentioned, "It's a Good Life" is about a small boy with virtually infinite, god-like power, but not the maturity to distinguish between good and evil. Serious evil ensues. Pixar's short animation "Jack Jack Attack" has the same concept, a toddler with super powers who innocently creates havoc. I would not be surprised to learn that people at Pixar are familiar with the earlier story (its famous among scifi fans), but I think nobody would accuse them of stealing it.
To name a few non original works of animation:
Disney:
Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs
Pinocchio
Bambi
Cinderella
Alice in Wonderland
Peter Pan
Mary Poppins
Sword in the Stone
Jungle Book
Robin Hood
The Little Mermaid
Beauty and the Beast
Aladdin
Hunchback of Notre Dame
Pocahontas
Tangled (Rapunzel)
Peter Jackson:
Lord of the Rings
The Hobbit
And a gazillion of novels that were turned into movies.
Not to mention all the remakes of films.
Doing a movie based on existing stories is not a bad thing in itself.
Most of the films derive from existing plots.
We would have missed a couple of absolute masterpieces if they hadn't.
Doing it without minding the copy rights is bad, of course, and you can not
use other people's ideas and then claim them as your own....
(But buying copyrights is probably not within the budget of the average
animation hobbyist anyway...)
Borrowing ideas...?
Yeah, Avatar borrowed heavily from Pocahontas, Dances With Wolves,
Fern Gully, to take just a few inspiration sources; even the pros do it.
The real entertainment often isn't even in the main plot, but also in how you tell the
idea, the pacing, point of view, art direction, etc. You can take an old story, find a
new angle, and turn it into something new and refreshing. And you can take
the best story in the world and still turn it into a horrible film. (Even the pros
do it and I animated on some disasters...)
Jack Jack Attack is a good example of an original angle, we see the entire
story through the eyes of a baby sitter that cannot cope with the situation.
Her entire personality, her initial belief that she is doing a very good job,
helps. The humor of the film is not in what Jack Jack does, but in how
she reacts to it.
Spoofs and parodies can be based on existing works without
copyright infringement, as far as I know, but a lot of spoofs are
rather taste and witless, you really have to find an original
angle to do it well.
Basing your ideas on things that happened in your own life can be
helpful, sometimes. Many narratives contain autobiographical elements.
The real entertainment often isn't even in the main plot, but also in how you tell the
idea, the pacing, point of view, art direction, etc. You can take an old story, find a
new angle, and turn it into something new and refreshing. ...
Jack Jack Attack is a good example of an original angle, we see the entire
story through the eyes of a baby sitter that cannot cope with the situation.
Her entire personality, her initial belief that she is doing a very good job,
helps. The humor of the film is not in what Jack Jack does, but in how
she reacts to it. ...
B-}
From "Jack Jack Attack":
QUOTE
Agent Rick Dicker: [after Kari describes how she gave Jack-Jack to Syndrome, the "Sitter"] And you believed him?
Kari: THE BABY WAS EXPLODING! You ever sit an exploding baby before, Mr. Dicker?
END QUOTE
One of the great line deliveries by "Kari" (Bret "Brooke" Parker, an animator at Pixar).
And I agree about the "new angle" for old stories ... Tom Stoppard's "Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead" is a great example, "Hamlet" as experienced by two minor characters.
QUOTE
Guildenstern: Hamlet's transformation - what do you recollect?
Rosencrantz: [pause] Well, he's changed, isn't he?
END QUOTE
Both of which, being in copyright, required the licensing of rights from the owners.
Both of which, being in copyright, required the licensing of rights from the owners.
True, of course, but there is a lot of copyright free stuff out there as well.
I directed a season of a children's TV series that made a young witch travel
through history and sometimes through literature as well.
For meeting a young Hercules or Robin Hood there are no copyright infringements.
Using real persons like Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin or Leonardo da Vinci is
also free of risk. (Better stay away from pop stars, though - but even then, for
a TV commercial I animated Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger and a load of
other cameos...)
For an episode with a Sherlock Holmes theme we chose not to use the names
of Arthur Conan Doyle's protagonists, but the allusions were clear - we changed
appearances, but we had a Holmes like character, with the young witch slipping
into the Dr. Watson role
We had original story lines, of course.
Let's just say it is prudent to check about the copyright ownership.
I worked as an animator on a short film about Koko the Clown, for
which the director obtained the rights from the Fleishers. The film
was meant as an homage to the Fleisher studios.
Having Betty Boop as a cameo was easy as she was also owned
by the Fleisher studios, but we could not use Popeye's Wimpy, as
Fleisher did not own the rights, Popeye was animated by the Fleisher
studios but not invented by them.
I was the one that told my director to check about Wimpy's copyrights
and I was right, we had to cancel Wimpy's cameo appearance and
change the story board..
Always a slippery slope using other people's characters...
But as a bottom line the problem is not so much in the borrowing from
others but in the respecting of copy rights, and that was my point.
I must be one of those rare ones that can pop put stories.
I don't seem to have any problem coming up with story ideas.
I just lack the knowledge and talent to complete most of my stories in animation at the level of details I'd like...lol
Don't feel too bad about it.
I work at a European animation studios where they produce feature film animation,
and usually there are over twenty very talented and specialized people involved
in every single scene. And even they spend ages on every scene...
Getting the sort of quality we know from the movies is almost always a group
effort, rarely the work of one single animator doing it all - we have riggers,
texturers, shaders, lighter/rendering people, compositors, match movers
animation checkers, pipe line programmers, etc....
And twelve core machines with 64 GB RAM are also getting pretty much standard now - and
did I mention our render farm..?
Films that you do alone are better kept small, no matter if you work in Studio or Maya.
Don't feel too bad about it.
I work at a European animation studios where they produce feature film animation,
and usually there are over twenty very talented and specialized people involved
in every single scene. And even they spend ages on every scene...
Getting the sort of quality we know from the movies is almost always a group
effort, rarely the work of one single animator doing it all - we have riggers,
texturers, shaders, lighter/rendering people, compositors, match movers
animation checkers, pipe line programmers, etc....
And twelve core machines with 64 GB RAM are also getting pretty much standard now - and
did I mention our render farm..?
Films that you do alone are better kept small, no matter if you work in Studio or Maya.
i know its maybe silly but I'm kinda proud of my Daz & Poser, animation as you said I am a single person doing all levels of the animation. so I know I miss a lot, not to mention having to also do the sound & final film editing...lol
That is what I found the hardest of doing animation by yourself, is that you miss a lot of mistakes. where more than one person would pick on them. also having modelers and Texture artist on the team would be a must I would think.. , But having a team of artist like you said, with good hardware is why you get great stories. with accomplished better levels of detail animation.
But for a person or 2 working on 10 min or less short films daz and poser is a good for those with limited resources and starting out.
Plus now with Sub-div in poser that is going to help bump things up too on the detail of the animation renders..
also I got to really brag on Daz 4.6 spot render tool. its really killa on helping speed up setting up and lighting & scene building.
Quicky post;
Ideas small and simple enough to realize in a short time
without a lot of resources.
A link a got from a colleague yesterday.
An animation test for Despicable Me 2
Two crazy characters
One banana
No storyline worth mentioning
Not even a setting
Just two characters reacting to each other in limbo
Long time since I had to laugh so much.
Sometimes it's just about keeping it simple...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uqszKFsaBpo#!
Funny stuff. My alltime favorite is the 20 second "outtake" that starts at 2:50 here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtXpQwlIBLY
I especially like the camera falling over.
Probably did take subtantial time & resources, but I'm guessing these are by younger animators that Pixar lets try their chops.
Then you guys outta love this new outtake from Monsters University "Terri & Terry and Art" Clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeUgC4_1qA8
Yup, looks like another winner in Pixar's long streak. Unfortunately, I read that the character "Boo" from the original "Monsters, Inc." is not in the new movie. She was a favorite of my wife and her friend, and hilarious in the "outtake" I linked above, trying to catch a piece of popcorn, missing, looking at the director with embarrassment, then again ...
B-}
Try Lord Dunsany or Ambrose Bierce they both wrote alot of short stories that would translate well into short animations. (and are in Public Domain)
example: Fifty-One Tales by Baron Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett Dunsany on Project Gutenberg.
Good suggestion, and in fact I have a story by Lord Dunsany that I have been keeping for a 48 Hour Film contest if the genre fits. The title is "The Man Who Sidetracked His Brains", only about one page, but with all the elements needed for a nice animation. Especially a good ending, which the audience always wants.
Ambrose Bierce wrote "An Occurence At Owl Creek Bridge", one of the alltime great short stories, so also a good suggestion. I just downloaded "The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Volume 1" from Amazon for the Kindle app on my Samsung Galaxy Note tablet. A couple of dozen stories, and more volumes available, all free.
Thanks for the suggestions.
Sometimes I get inspired by a single product from DAZ or others. Obvious examples are castles, dystopian sets, etc. But sometimes its a simpler item like a sand box. Rod Serling, the genius behind "The Twilight Zone", apparently got similar inspiration long before there were 3D elements on the Internet (early 60's). He once got a flier in the mail offering a jet liner simulated cockpit for sale or rent. His friend says he ignored all the other mail and started just thinking. Then he called some pilot buddies and asked, "What would happen if ..." Eventually we got this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Odyssey_of_Flight_33
Reportedly the dialogue is realistic because the pilots wrote a lot of it.