1. kite

    kite New Member

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    Slapstick/funny story for an animated short

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by kite, Mar 23, 2011.

    Hello WritingForum Members,

    first of all, english is not my mothertongue :) Please excuse mistakes here and there.

    Currently i'm working on my bachelor thesis which will be an animated short of roughly 1 minute length. It's not my first short but right now i just can't think of a funny story with a good punchline for the short. I'm looking for dry, maybe dark humor. Plus: it has to work without dialogue.

    I was thinking about these two characters: A very nice, cute Monster/Demon and a Girl which is kinda into dark stuff, monsters and whatnot.. i thought: hey there are tons of opportunities for a great short.. but as of now i don't know anything, my head is empty and i've been thinking about this for quite a time.

    The short will be made in 3D and should be around 1 minute or less, but 2 minutes at the most! It is important that there is 1 or 2 sets at the most, like a graveyard or like a small room. Unfortunateley i won't have much time so i can only do so much.

    Some ideas i got were:
    Well, my question to you is this:
    Can you give me some suggestions?
    What do you think could happen if a demon or small devil meets a girl, in my case a nice demon and a kind of secluded, nerdy girl, although i wouldn't want to fix myself on that ;) The crazier, faster and more unexpected, the better.

    I hope you can help me out if it's not too much for a new member to ask of the writingforum.
    Thank you very much
     
  2. MLKerrick

    MLKerrick New Member

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    Personally, the first idea (the popcorn one) appeals to me the most. It doesn't involve the girl's arm getting chopped off. :) Plus, it would work without any dialouge at all. Maybe you can incorporate the "girl-dominantes-the-monster" idea in that after discovering that the monster has eaten the popcorn, the girl forces the monster to make her some more.
     
  3. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    i agree...
     
  4. Cynglen

    Cynglen Member

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    Well, I certainly don't wan't to be responsible for the fate of your thesis, but I've got a few ideas of what to do with Girl and Monster.

    1. The video game/popcorn one sounds fairly solid to me.

    2. If you want the girl to be a music nerd, have her practicing an instrument (guitar, piano, drums, or some other instrument with a fairly heavy component). As she struggles through a piece, the Monster comes in and gradually shows his irritation and/or tries to get her to go do something else/mocks her playing skills for fun. The girl gets annoyed and, while the monster is busy doing something annoying/mocking her she hits him with some part of the instrument (hence the heavy need). Final scene is her still practicing with the monster sitting grumpily somewhere in the room with a sore/lump/bandage on its head.

    3. The girl is reading a "how to train your demon" book. The Monster comes in doing/having done something bad/silly/annoying, and she tries some method of punishment. The Monster is surprised and stops, but then he notices what the girl is reading and takes offense. He grabs the book and throws it away/burns it/shreds it, so the girl pulls out a more severe discipline, to which the Monster replies by chopping her arm off. Final scene the girl reading some other non-monster-related book with her arm stitched on and the monster looking satisfied/victorious/doing something bad again.


    I think it's funnier if the girl wins over the monster. Also, if this is animated be sure to give them exaggerated/cartoony expressions/sounds since those will be telling the story rather than dialog. Good luck with the thesis!
     

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