Storyboarding « NM2208 – Learning Journal

Storyboarding

The Making of a Simple Story …

:: Research and Brainstorming ::

Main idea:
To develop a storybook that is suitable for reader age 11 and above.

Factors to consider:
We want something unique and fresh.
The story should be short and simple and easily understood by the reader. Overall, the concept is to produce a story which is fun and enjoyable to read.

Elements we wish to include in the story:
- Humor with a twist (entertaining)
- Local contexts such as language (some ideas from TV Ads) and social problems (contexts
which reader can relate to in real life)
- A possible message to the story and a reconciliation that leads to a happy ending
at the end of the story

Aim:
Based on the elements that we plan to include in the story, we hope that the story can leave a memorable impression to its reader.

Research for ideas:
We started by sourcing for ideas which can be included in a humor story. We tried to recall some of our life experiences such as our favourite hobbies or any events which was fun and enjoyable. At the same time we have a look into some cartoons which contain the entertaining elements we wish to include in our story. Cartoon such as Rugrats and One Piece have triggered our imagination for an adventurous story. It gives us the idea to include characters such as villains and superheroes which can help to add trills to the story. Beside cartoons, classic fairy tales are also considered as part of our research. The tales have reminded us of some moral messages which can be reflected at the end of the story.

Some ideas we have thought of:
Idea 1: Living: Lavida Loca
There once live 4 psycho patients (self- believed as superheroes) who wan to escape from the mental institute (Lavida Loca) to the “outside world”. Throughout their escape, they will use their “super power” to overcome any obstacles encountered on the way. However, only when they are about to reach the exit, they realized that all their superpowers were nothing but their imagination. Lastly they decide to return back to their cells and continue with their happy life.

Idea 2: The New Mother: Swan
Retrenched by the Fairy Tale Association (FTA), Mother Goose has turned from her role as a narrator to a salesperson selling cool gadgets to her fairy tales friends. After making a profit from her new business, she decides to go for a makeover and ultimately transform to Mother Swan. The moral of the story: “A new decision in life open doors for new opportunities.”

Analysis of Ideas:

Idea 1 is perfect for an adventurous story. However, the whole plot seems more suitable to be developed into an illustrated animation (comic) rather than a story book. Moreover, there are too many actions and details we need to focus on the story. This might result to complicate the story if we do not handle these details carefully. Time spent for illustration will also be tedious. Overall, this idea is hard to achieve within a short period of time. Idea 2 is similar to a fairy tale with a twist. However, we find that twisting just one fair tale is not enough to entertain our readers. Thus, we decide to feature a combination of different tales in the story. These will give us more room to edit the tales and inject more humor elements to the story.

:: Draft and Storyboarding ::

Finalized Idea:

Overall, we decided to go ahead with Idea 2 – The New Mother Swan.
The reasons are as followed: – Idea 2 is more humorous and less complicating than idea 1.
- Illustration is easier as there is only 1 main character to be handled throughout
the story.
- The story is easier to understand and appeals directly to the reader.

Story Outline:

- Introduction to Mother Goose
- Mother Goose faced retrenchment by the Fairy Tale Association
- She seek advices from the 3 Blind Mice
- Mother Goose decide to start her own business – MG $olutions
- Set off to sell MG $olution to a series of customers
- Rapunzel
- Hansel and Gretel
- Sleeping Beauty
- Business continues to grow and Mother Goose becomes rich and famous
- She repays the 3 blind mice for their kind assistances
- She decide to go for a makeover
- Transformed her from Mother Goose to Mother Swan
- Her new look win the heart of prince charming and they lived happily ever after