Week 3- character sheets

Week 3

IDEA #3:

THE IMAGINARY FRIEND:

the story of the imaginary friend. we always think that children create imaginary friends because if issues of loneliness or acceptance, have we ever stopped to consider that these character that these characters that we think children develop in their minds and actually real. That perhaps they are the ones that are lonely and befriend children to keep them company.

A story about the imaginary friend and the world that he dwells in. What gives in order to maintain a friendship that never really last.

- imaginary friend approaches a child, adopts the child.

- creates this amazing world, as if trying to by and maintain a friendship.

- the friendship of course doesn't last.

- ending: he finds solace in knowing that the child never really forgets him (child draws pictures)

The imaginary friend is sitting by himself on a bench, similar looking to a bus stop, the surroundings are barren a desolate, he is sitting their with a ticket, the ticket with the name of the next boy he is meant to befriend. He is sad and lonely, the background begins to become clearer, the surroundings materialize and he is then sitting on a bench on a modern day street.

A boy and his mum walk by, the boys back pack is on the back of his bag. It is the same name as on the ticket. The imaginary friend jumps up and runs after the boy, and tries to befriend him. Behind the imaginary friend is a whole lot of objects that belong to him, he pulls these along with him. The objects are his 'world', things that he uses and plays with when he undertakes his role as an imaginary friend. every step the imaginary friend takes the view is able to see a bit of the world that the imaginary friend creates.

The imaginary friend tries everything to make the boy see him, but despite his efforts the boy remains unaware of his existence.

IMAGINARY FRIEND RESEARCH:

There are a few different reasons. It makes a difference how old the child is and how they use the mechanism of the "imaginary friend".

Very young children often develop imaginary friends in an attempt to broaden their social circles. They also use this mechanism to codify the social roles they see around them and on TV.

Slightly older children may be acting out some desire or fantasy. I had 8 imaginary kittens. I loved animals (still do) but was not allowed to have a cat in the house. It can also be a method for gaining a little attention (if mommy pays attention to me by holding the door open for me, she must also pay attention to me when she holds the door open for my friend).

After the earliest elementary ages, some other factors come to play. Children who feel outcast or different from their peers may develop an imaginary friend who is like them or who provides them with kindness, attention, understanding or support they feel they may not be getting elsewhere. They may use the imaginary friend to test out social scenarios in order to gain a feeling for what is normal or right or acceptable.

Children who have been abuse or witnessed stressful situations often use an imaginary friend as a protective sheild - a friend who will not fail them or hurt them. They may even speak through the friend when afraid to speak themselves.

For the most part, psychological development of imaginary friends as a young child is normal, so long as it does not fear w/ normal social interaction and development.

IMAGINARY FRIENDS REFERENCES:

http://www.iusedtobelieve.com/make_believe/imaginary_friends/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imaginary_friend

http://www.aboutourkids.org/articles/when_your_child039s_new_friend_imaginary

STORY/THEMES:

loneliness

childhood dilemmas/issues

friendship

acceptance

MOOD BOARD:

SIMILAR STORIES AND REFERENCES:

- alice in wonderland

- spirited away

- howls moving castle

- my neighbor totoro

- la routine

- gary

- imaginary friends anecdotes

SIMILAR MOVIES:

- Don't Look Under the Bed

- Bogus

- Drop Dead Fred

- Payns Labyrinth

Week 3 Class

WORK 4 THIS WEEK:

- three themes and detailed story

- character sheets of all characters

- mood boards- create form images/ paints

- similar stories and references

Week 2

Last week I had the concept for an animation based on nature vs technology. This week I had the task of developing the concept further by developing a more detailed synopsis. After much deliberation I ended up changing the idea.

I had a few variations on a new concept, the underlying story is about a lonely boy who creates/draws a lot of characters and uses them as friends (imaginary friends). Due to some mystical, (currently) unknown reason the imaginary friends come to life and draw the boy into the world which they come from.

IDEA #2:

Lonely boy enters room.

Sighs out of discontentment and loneliness.

Sits at desk and starts drawing.

Gets a tap on the back, or hears something. Turns around to see what it is, but cant see anything. Turns back around and keep drawing.

Gets a tap on the back, or hears something again. Turns around to see what it is, but cant see anything. Turns back around and keep drawing.

Once again gets a tap on the back, or hears something. Turns around to see what it is, and one of the characters that he has drawn is standing with his face right up against his.

There is brief interaction between the characters, but ultimately the boy gets pulled into the world which the character dwells in.

In this world anything is possible i suppose. It is filled with all the characters that the boy has created.

In the end the boy returns to his world (alice in wonderland like).

WORK ON:

detailed synopsis

themes

conflict/ substance

Painting by Carrie Chau. Inspiration and a possible stylization for animation.

Week 1

IDEA #1 :

Boy enters a forest. He has a machine that he is in. He is part of a technologically advanced civilization. He is greeted by a giant girl who is part of the forest. The boy looks at the forest and takes it all in, amazed at what he sees. Looking closely at bits of nature, fascinated, he tries to mimic what he sees in his machine. He sees a bird fly, his machine grows wings and starts to fly. However, the machine being too big and not made for flying destroys many of the surrounding trees. He looks at other things in nature each time mimicking what he sees.

Always looking ahead he only ever sees more and more beautiful nature. He never looks behind to see the destruction that he has caused, until the end. He gets out of his machine and turns around a realizes the damages he has cause.

All this time the forest giant is watching. As a result of the continuing damage she is diminishing, so by the end she is not much more than a shell of a person.

Image for 6YL Mag. An original idea for the forest giant. A merge between a person and nature.

INITIAL CONCEPT ART :