MF TOON
02-10-2005, 11:06 AM
Hey guys...
For those that don't know, I am a 3rd year film student and am currently working on something that I'd really appreciate your help with! I know that this board has a very broad demographic so I think you guys would be perfect for this questionaire (sort of) and would like to ask you a few questions.
First let me explain what this is about.
I just finnished writing a script a few weeks ago, which I will start production on next Wednesday and am hoping to enter into festivals when it's through. It's going to be a short 10 minute film that I think is really original and interesting and I'd be happy to post a link to it on the boards for feedback when it's ready.
Anyways, I am working on the film as a school project but have also received outside funding and grants so while I am going to be marked on this project, it is more than just a school assignment.
The thing is, prior to scripting my actual film... there were various excerices which we were supposed to complete for marks.
One of which was a character lifeline, which is basically a timeline of events that details specific moments in a character's life.
(This is almost where you guys come in!)
Now... since my script is already complete and I start filming in a couple of days, I've spoken to my teacher about this character timeline which I still need to hand in for grading, and was told that I could basically do something totally independant of the script and it doesn't have to relate to anything specifically. So what I'm going to be asking for here, is NOT for anyone to giveme ideas for a character or film events, etc.
The initial purpose was to help develop character depth and understanding but I just don't work that way and already had my script in mind so I went ahead without this.
NOW... here's where I would like to ask for your help...
The object of this timeline is NOT to detail significant events in a character's life. It is NOT to relay pivotal moments.
It should simply be memories which harken back to a MOMENT in time. A vivid or distinct emotion, feeling, memory, etc. that is physically lost and will never be experienced again... but has been preserved in thought and exists as such.
I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE THIS REAL.
Hence... Real Memories.
As such, I would like to ask for all of your help and will give examples of exactly what I am looking for. This could be a lot of fun and a way for us to learn more about one another as well...
Basically, I need to come up with 3 different titmelines, which are for the same character yet do not have to relate in any way.
The first, is for events and/or experiences that have occured at intervals in this characters life.
The second, should be reserved for observations. Perhaps at age 10, a girl is sitting at a bus stop and watching two older kids holding hands and kissing accross the street. That sort of thing.
The third and final timeline, shoudl be for imagination... That same little girl lying in bed at night and daydreaming about kissing the boy she saw earlier in the day (though again, the timelines don't have to relate).
What I am looking for specifically is subtle moments of YOUR life that spark memory when thinking back to a certain age.
I have basically completed the timeline for experience and will post it below to give you all an example of what I mean...
The character I've envisioned is an elderly woman (late 70's-80's?) and is based only in age and gender on the actual film that I've been working on... just because I find those details interesting to work with.
Here is my timeline for EXPERIENCE:
01: (5 years) Ordering a milkshake with her father in a old-fashioned diner car, her feet dangling in front of the tall counter as she’s unable to reach the floor from atop her stool.
02: (10 years) Running through the sprinkler on her front lawn with neighborhood friends in the evening. The soppy summer grass pasted around her wet ankles.
03: (15 years) Sitting at her small classroom desk, turning the final page of her thick textbook after a final exam, right before the summer break.
04: (20 years) Playing soccer after school in the rain, her muddy cleats splashing and sinking into the spongy park soil.
05: (25 years) Passionately making out with her boyfriend in the back of a matinee movie.
06: (30 years) Meeting her parents for an awkward lunch at a modest downtown café on her 30th birthday and introducing them to her nervous fiancée.
07: (35 years) Sitting crossed-legged on the cold wood floor of her old bedroom, surrounded by stacks of overstuffed boxes. She is sifting through the worn and faded labels that hang by the brittle cardboard flaps from a scant piece of tape, digging for her old 45 vinyl records.
08: (40 years) Passing out from jetlag in a London hotel room at 4pm in the afternoon. It’s her first trip outside of the country, for which she’d been saving and planning for years.
09: (45 years) Standing over the kitchen sink in the afternoon washing dishes and feeling exhausted. The telephone rings and she arduously fumbles for a rag to dry her soapy hands, only to learn that her grandmother has just passed away of heart failure.
10: (50 years)
Now I just need to finnish the last memory for age 50 and begin working on examples of OBSERVATIONS & IMAGINATION (subjective, thoughts, introspections, dreams, wishes, etc).
Since I am only 22, I find it a bit more difficult to come up with specific thoguhts or memories of fabricated instances in somebodies life at older ages... 35, 40, 45, 50, etc.
I do not want it to seem generic, like "woman gets married", "woman has baby"... and most of all, I figure that this could be useful to me in future as hearing about peoples memories of past experience or thoughts is ideal for someone who makes films, which is essentially an extension of real life and experiences adapted and stretched into a creative medium anyways...
So, especially those of you who are older... say in your 30's, 40's & 50's, etc. I would LOVE to hear from you... any and all of you who post here at GAC!
Let's say the age range, as I already listed above, is age 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50.
What's great about this, is that since you all have an appreciation for classic cartoons and knowledge/respect of past eras and so on... this assignment does not have to be limited to any generation. In fact, I'd prefer to not really have anything specifically relating to modern society, which is why I didn't include any referances to video games or computers, etc. in the above timeline.
PLEASE TAKE A MINUTE OR TWO TO THINK BACK TO ANY OF THE APPROXIMATE YEARS AS DETAILED ABOVE (~5-50... so childhood, teenage years, early adulthood, mid-life, etc.) AND TRY TO POST AT LEAST ONE SUBTLE MOMENT IN YOUR OWN PERSONAL TIMELINES.
PERHAPS YOU REMEMBER YOUR FATHER OR MOTHER INTRODUCING YOU TO YOUR FIRST ANIMATED FILM... VERY BRIEFLY DESCRIBE THE CONTEXT... BUT AGAIN, TRY TO THINK OF SIMPLE "MOMENTS".
MOST IMPORTANTLY RIGHT NOW... ARE MEMORIES OF OBSERVATIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE HAD, OR THOUGHTS YOU'VE HAD IN CHILDHOOD AND SO ON...
PLEASE TRY TO KEEP THIS HONEST, IT WILL ACTUALLY BE MORE FUN THAT WAY!
Thanks a lot guys, I hope you take a few minutes to help out!!
:bosko:
For those that don't know, I am a 3rd year film student and am currently working on something that I'd really appreciate your help with! I know that this board has a very broad demographic so I think you guys would be perfect for this questionaire (sort of) and would like to ask you a few questions.
First let me explain what this is about.
I just finnished writing a script a few weeks ago, which I will start production on next Wednesday and am hoping to enter into festivals when it's through. It's going to be a short 10 minute film that I think is really original and interesting and I'd be happy to post a link to it on the boards for feedback when it's ready.
Anyways, I am working on the film as a school project but have also received outside funding and grants so while I am going to be marked on this project, it is more than just a school assignment.
The thing is, prior to scripting my actual film... there were various excerices which we were supposed to complete for marks.
One of which was a character lifeline, which is basically a timeline of events that details specific moments in a character's life.
(This is almost where you guys come in!)
Now... since my script is already complete and I start filming in a couple of days, I've spoken to my teacher about this character timeline which I still need to hand in for grading, and was told that I could basically do something totally independant of the script and it doesn't have to relate to anything specifically. So what I'm going to be asking for here, is NOT for anyone to giveme ideas for a character or film events, etc.
The initial purpose was to help develop character depth and understanding but I just don't work that way and already had my script in mind so I went ahead without this.
NOW... here's where I would like to ask for your help...
The object of this timeline is NOT to detail significant events in a character's life. It is NOT to relay pivotal moments.
It should simply be memories which harken back to a MOMENT in time. A vivid or distinct emotion, feeling, memory, etc. that is physically lost and will never be experienced again... but has been preserved in thought and exists as such.
I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE THIS REAL.
Hence... Real Memories.
As such, I would like to ask for all of your help and will give examples of exactly what I am looking for. This could be a lot of fun and a way for us to learn more about one another as well...
Basically, I need to come up with 3 different titmelines, which are for the same character yet do not have to relate in any way.
The first, is for events and/or experiences that have occured at intervals in this characters life.
The second, should be reserved for observations. Perhaps at age 10, a girl is sitting at a bus stop and watching two older kids holding hands and kissing accross the street. That sort of thing.
The third and final timeline, shoudl be for imagination... That same little girl lying in bed at night and daydreaming about kissing the boy she saw earlier in the day (though again, the timelines don't have to relate).
What I am looking for specifically is subtle moments of YOUR life that spark memory when thinking back to a certain age.
I have basically completed the timeline for experience and will post it below to give you all an example of what I mean...
The character I've envisioned is an elderly woman (late 70's-80's?) and is based only in age and gender on the actual film that I've been working on... just because I find those details interesting to work with.
Here is my timeline for EXPERIENCE:
01: (5 years) Ordering a milkshake with her father in a old-fashioned diner car, her feet dangling in front of the tall counter as she’s unable to reach the floor from atop her stool.
02: (10 years) Running through the sprinkler on her front lawn with neighborhood friends in the evening. The soppy summer grass pasted around her wet ankles.
03: (15 years) Sitting at her small classroom desk, turning the final page of her thick textbook after a final exam, right before the summer break.
04: (20 years) Playing soccer after school in the rain, her muddy cleats splashing and sinking into the spongy park soil.
05: (25 years) Passionately making out with her boyfriend in the back of a matinee movie.
06: (30 years) Meeting her parents for an awkward lunch at a modest downtown café on her 30th birthday and introducing them to her nervous fiancée.
07: (35 years) Sitting crossed-legged on the cold wood floor of her old bedroom, surrounded by stacks of overstuffed boxes. She is sifting through the worn and faded labels that hang by the brittle cardboard flaps from a scant piece of tape, digging for her old 45 vinyl records.
08: (40 years) Passing out from jetlag in a London hotel room at 4pm in the afternoon. It’s her first trip outside of the country, for which she’d been saving and planning for years.
09: (45 years) Standing over the kitchen sink in the afternoon washing dishes and feeling exhausted. The telephone rings and she arduously fumbles for a rag to dry her soapy hands, only to learn that her grandmother has just passed away of heart failure.
10: (50 years)
Now I just need to finnish the last memory for age 50 and begin working on examples of OBSERVATIONS & IMAGINATION (subjective, thoughts, introspections, dreams, wishes, etc).
Since I am only 22, I find it a bit more difficult to come up with specific thoguhts or memories of fabricated instances in somebodies life at older ages... 35, 40, 45, 50, etc.
I do not want it to seem generic, like "woman gets married", "woman has baby"... and most of all, I figure that this could be useful to me in future as hearing about peoples memories of past experience or thoughts is ideal for someone who makes films, which is essentially an extension of real life and experiences adapted and stretched into a creative medium anyways...
So, especially those of you who are older... say in your 30's, 40's & 50's, etc. I would LOVE to hear from you... any and all of you who post here at GAC!
Let's say the age range, as I already listed above, is age 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50.
What's great about this, is that since you all have an appreciation for classic cartoons and knowledge/respect of past eras and so on... this assignment does not have to be limited to any generation. In fact, I'd prefer to not really have anything specifically relating to modern society, which is why I didn't include any referances to video games or computers, etc. in the above timeline.
PLEASE TAKE A MINUTE OR TWO TO THINK BACK TO ANY OF THE APPROXIMATE YEARS AS DETAILED ABOVE (~5-50... so childhood, teenage years, early adulthood, mid-life, etc.) AND TRY TO POST AT LEAST ONE SUBTLE MOMENT IN YOUR OWN PERSONAL TIMELINES.
PERHAPS YOU REMEMBER YOUR FATHER OR MOTHER INTRODUCING YOU TO YOUR FIRST ANIMATED FILM... VERY BRIEFLY DESCRIBE THE CONTEXT... BUT AGAIN, TRY TO THINK OF SIMPLE "MOMENTS".
MOST IMPORTANTLY RIGHT NOW... ARE MEMORIES OF OBSERVATIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE HAD, OR THOUGHTS YOU'VE HAD IN CHILDHOOD AND SO ON...
PLEASE TRY TO KEEP THIS HONEST, IT WILL ACTUALLY BE MORE FUN THAT WAY!
Thanks a lot guys, I hope you take a few minutes to help out!!
:bosko: