But then due to time constraints we entirely altered our story. There was just no way we where going to be able to have 54 convince 1 to jump off the grid with him to leave the Maya world and get to the animators on the outside in under a minute, so everything had to change. Unfortunately this did involve re-writing our script entirely.
Here is our original script…
Script ver. 1 OUAN504
‘Leap of Faith’
The Void
Characters:
Number 54 - Wants to explore the possibility of
a world outside Maya
Number 1 - Cynical about the world outside their immediate surroundings
[Maya start up screen loads and the world is a
grid. Two characters sit amongst a amalgamation of random shit like exit signs,
pens, computers, water bottles, and on a giant projected screen two very
handsome, bored humans pore over a keyboard. The lighting is two spotlights on
the screen characters and an enveloping light is emitting from the projected
screen.]
[The characters are watching the projector,
and one of the on-screen character spills coffee or something on the keyboard]
[Number 1 loses an arm and falls onto their
side]
Number 1: OH MY GOD
Number 54: JESUS
ARE YOU OKAY?
Number 1: NO. NO
I’M NOT OKAY
Number 54: What
happened? [concerned]
Number 1: [after
a while flailing around on the floor] Everything
happens for a reason [tries to sit up]
[people on the computer screen try to mop up
the coffee]
Number 54: This
can’t keep happening I’m tired of getting attached to my limbs and
losing them
Number 1: It’s
alright for them [gestures to the screen] they always look the same
Number 54: You
don’t know they’re the one’s doing this
it could just be a coincidence or something.
I want to go there.
Number 1: Not
this again
Number 54: No I
want to go there, I want to live like them. With like, walls and… and
teeth. And I want smaller stumps on my stumps [gestures with their arms]
Number 1: And how
do you propose we get there?
Number 54: [looks
around, and into the void] We could get their
attention, or uh.. [looks into space]
Number 1: Right,
while you’re doing that, I’m going to go over here
Number 54: [snaps
out of it] You can’t t tell me
you’re satisfied with all this?
Number 1: [visibly
frowns] Well of course not, but we’ve
had this conversation before. The only way out is over the edge.
[camera pans around the edge of the plane]
Number 54: What
else is there. What else is there to do
Number 1: Sit
here and think about all of the ones that came before you. Sit here and wait
for rendering.
[silence]
Number 54: Rendering
is not coming
Number 1: Well no
you waited like 3 seconds
Number 54: Lets
just do it. Take a chance. Go for it
Number 1: NO.
Shut up. [tries to slap him with one of his arms and it stretches
ridiculously long and dangles over the edge ((long shot))]
[Number 1 screams and tries to pull his arm
back from the edge, pulls his arm round and ends up wiping all of the shit off
the plane, Number 54 jumps over it as it comes towards them, the animators look
puzzled and kind of scared]
[On the screen one of the animators is
shouting at the other for making the mistake, and then one of them dies in a
scuffle and the other legs it]
Number 1: Where’d
they go? [long arm is in a coil at the side of him]
Number 54: I don’t
know? They’ve done this before. Left for a while
Number 1: Somehow
I feel like they’re not coming back
[silence for a bit]
Number 54: I’m
gonna jump
Number 1: I’m
actually contemplating it now
Number 54: [standing
up and gesturing his hand] You ready?
Number 1: [takes
his hand] Okay, yeah
[Number 1 is tentative]
[At the edge now]
Number 1: I’ve..
I’ve just seen so many go this way
Number 54: You
don’t know they’re gone. :)
[Long shot, we see the characters jump and
then it cuts to a laptop screen and another person pulls the file into the
trash can. Leaving the two characters fates uncertain. Roll credits. End credit
scene. The trash can window opens and a mouse hovers over Restore. Empty Trash.
End.
Then we re-wrote it…
Script ver. 2 OUAN504
‘Leap of Faith’
‘The Void’
Characters:
Number 54/5 - Wants to explore the possibility
of a world outside Maya
Number 1 - Cynical about the world outside their immediate surroundings
[Maya start up screen loads and the world is a
grid. Number 1 is sitting amongst a amalgamation of random shit like exit
signs, pens, computers, water bottles, and on a giant projected screen two very
handsome, bored humans pore over a keyboard. The lighting is a single spotlight
on the screen characters and an enveloping light is emitting from the projected
screen.]
[Number 54 falls from the sky and lands in
the centre of the grid]
Number 54: [springs
into life] WHOA WHAT. WHAT IS THIS. [looks at
hands] MY GOD. [sees Number 1] HI! WHERE ARE WE?
Number 1: [bored]
Hi. This is the grid.
Number 54: What’re
we doing here?
Number 1: Waiting
Number 54: What
for?
Number 1: Rendering
Number 54: [points
to the screen with the animators on] What’s
that, who’re they?
Number 1: That’s… well,
I’m not sure, but I assume they’re the
creators.
Number 54: Creators?
[cocks head to the side]
Number 1: [silence
for a bit] OF THIS.
Number 54: [fails
to notice the tone] WOW. [looks around] It’s a
bit shit.
Number 1: This is
ma home.
Number 54: AH.
Well it’s FANTASTIC. [waddles up to the screen and presses his face
against it]
Number 1: Yer
gonna break it
[the animators on the other side look
surprised/repulsed, shot of Number 54’s face pressed
against the screen in live-action]
Number 54: Look
at the textures! And the animation wow!
As you can see, the second version of the script is entirely different to the first. One of the key differences is that in the first script the two characters are written as friends, then in the second it's more like they are written as enemies. 1 cannot stand 54 or his childish behaviour and does eventually murder him.
So, the point of the blog… How did we go from having a two page script of dialogue to an animation that contains not one spoken word. Well, we never actually came to the conclusion that this was the right thing to do, in fact we didn't actually speak about it at all. We put together an animatic, already we were seeing our animation come to life in front of us, but this time visually instead of in the writing.
Then we filmed the LAV video, this was with the intention that it would help us with animating facial expressions, and it did but it also taught us that we did not actually need dialogue to communicate the narrative, instead you could see it in how the characters at physically…
To be honest I was amazed at how well the animation syncs up with the LAV video, which shows how important getting primary reference is.
So basically we loved how the LAV video turned out and wanted to basically use it as a blueprint for our animation, yet it contains virtually no dialogue. So, we animated our scenes and never actually mentioned the dialogue. In the end I think it works very successfully without dialogue.
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