As part of Dr. Cook's narrative production class, me and two peers created a story which blends the classic tropes of old western films and pasta related objects into a "Spaghetti Western". For this week's session, we created the rough story-beat animatic on a white board.
With a total of 21 frames, our short film depicts an dramatic horse chase through an old western town into the desert before the eventual reveal of the father/daughter game taking place in the real world.
These frames in particular were important for conveying several important details about each beat. Firstly, and most importantly, they depict the action and protagonists at each beat. From the bounty hunter searching the town, to a falling water tower filled with marinara, the story unfolds in a series of escalating instances of destruction to the pasta landscape. Additionally, these frames serve as the basis for directional movement on the screen. In the beginning, prior to seeing the girl for the first time, all the camera movements and bounty hunter movements are from screen right to screen left. When the girl bursts out of the stable and the chase ensues through the town, all movement is left to right. When the girl gets lassoed and grabbed in real life, the movement is right to left again. These consistent directions allow for a sense of familiarity for the audience and each change in direction indicates a major change to the dynamic of the story.
The final purpose of these rough frames was to establish the camera positions in relation to the characters and the environment. In the beginning of the short, the pasta related nature of the world is purposefully hidden until the moment where the girl bursts out of the stable. Therefore, the framing is a lot closer or birds eye at the beginning of the short. Throughout the rest of the short, the framing is a lot wider and is more focused on scenery. Then, when the short cuts to the real world, the framing becomes a lot closer again to indicate the close nature of the characters now.
With the finalized story beats, the group is now going to shift towards art development and illustrations over the coming weeks.
Comments