Since I currenly don’t have any concrete ideas concerning the storyline, my next steps will be as follows:
- *Come up with a story idea!*
This one shouldn’t take all too long, after all I’ve written down lots and lots of little story ideas lately and I usually come up with basic plots rather quickly. Goethe, Shakespeare and the Grimm Brothers might need to help me out as well. - *Find an entertaining plot and design that will…*
a) …suit the story idea
b) …be workable in a reasonable time frame
The greatest story isn’t going to be of any use to me if I can’t make a short film from the material, be it because the plot is too complex or merely due to my incapacity to tackle a huge project by myself. This time I’ll try to get it just right and take a good amount of time for this step, making sure that the story really works before I start producing. _Simplicity is the key!_ - *Create a schedule and time-line*
Meeting deadlines can be tedious, but in the end it’ll surely push me to get things done. - *Write a script and sketch out the complete storyboard*
As a more visual person, the storyboard will be my primary focus.
Obviously my schedule will depend wholly on the type of story — the number of characters being a crucial criterion — and of course the visual complexity of the project. I’m aiming for a 3 – 4 minute film this time, and it’ll probably have the look of traditional animation, think Disney’s “Jungle Book” or “Snow White”. Whatever may come in terms of story and design, I can already state that next summer will be the absolute deadline, because that’s when I’ll need to get started on writing my diploma for uni.
