Ok im struggling i want to produce a short animation by myself i know its difficult its just i’ve done small ones and stuff but want to make a better one. The only thing is i’m stuck for inspiration.
By this i mean i cant think of a story or an idea thats unique i have thought of some but i just don’t feel like they are the right ideas. Then when i think i have i think that its already done before i want to think of something unique does anyone have any tips on coming up with a unique story or idea? I mean i have seen animations like the new in the rough from blur studios and then other ones like singing cows but they don’t inspire me they seem to fill my head with copy cat ideas like pixar inspires me and makes me want to go and animate after i’ve watched their films but then i cant think of anything fresh. I know you can take inspiration from the things around you but i cant seem to find anything am i trying to hard? i want to get on to drawing concept art but i need an idea and a basic storyline to go by before i do.
Well for inspiration it all depends on the person, but here are a few ways I do it…
1: find something you like… as like a favorite fantasy or something that you always have dreamed about then if it has already been done before, then reverse your idea, change it slightly… that may work…
2: you can walk outside, and look in places you did not usually look… or sit and watch and listen to things, and see what you come up with…
3: you can sit or something in a dark room, where it is pretty much black… and sometimes you can think of new things then…
4: one way I do it is to listen to instrumental music… not music with singing, even though sometimes that helps, but for me instrumentals help me think of new things…
5: or just doodle around with shapes… if you get some interesting curce or shape then add on to it… sometimes just doing something, and modifying it as you go along, can come up with a new thing…
Thanks you can post i just read it thanks i might try some of your ideas they seem pretty logical. i think its just i want to make something so unique but its hard to nowadays because of all the ideas already used.
Thanks for your help.
Reaper
P.s if anyone has any other ideas on what they use i am all ears to them to as everyones different.
A good source of ideas (either to use directly or just to get your imagination in gear) is to look at a list of idioms or unusual words, then turn them upside down.
A simple example would be the word “horsefly”, which might make you think of a horse flying around, with a helicopter prop, or maybe jet engines, all sorts of things. Another example might be “to hang ones head”, which could conjure up a picture of a tired man at the end of the day, putting his head on a shelf with his hat and coat.
You may not get a directly original idea, but I’m sure it will get your creative juices flowing. If you’re interested, you might check out this site, which has a pretty large list of phrases. I go to it periodically when I want to get an idea for a new image.
thanks a lot for your help guys i mean i go to the equivilant of college in the day and try to think of things there but i just cant. i currently have the idea about a little roman boy with a huge set of armour and shield and his dad is a roman soldier and this boy wants to grow up to be his dad but his dad keeps sending him back whislt he’s training so far i have that but sounds like something i’ve seen before.
David Blair once said, “There are no original stories. It’s how you tell the story that makes it interesting.” Any number of writers, editors, producers, animators, et al., will tell you the same thing. Your story doesn’t have to try to say something that’s never been said before. In fact, most audiences don’t really want something too terribly different from what’s come before. That’s why movie sequels do such big business.
Make your story engaging, help the viewer to care about your characters and their situations. That’s what makes good animation, IMO.
I don’t know if this is a good idea, but could you have some twist or something, and have the boys armor or something, be able to talk to him.?. or something that makes the boy have some special ability?
Yeah maybe his dad gives him the one chance he’s been waiting for and he shines through and gains his dads respect but then again i got this in my head and i cant decide whether i like it or not.
Thanks
Reaper
might have a look around school tomorrow for things see what i can see got a half a day tomorrow aswell
I had this problem a while, ago when trying to come up with another scipt for a Cuby movie. Basically, I sat in room, spinning round + round in circles on the spinny chair, just thinking of stuff.
It worked for me, and I came out with a pretty cool idea.
I guess coming up with an entire new movie is harder though.
I’d sit down somewhere quite and sketch all kinds of different characters untill you invent something you like. From there spin around in circles untill you come up with a story!
Another thing you can try though, that worked for me on another occasion, is to come up with an action scene or something, like a car chase. Then decide why there’s a car chase, + create a beggining + ending around the event. This method is quite a good one if you can get some kind of action/idea.
Unique ideas are quite rare. Even the major movie companies tend to revisit old stories - or at least, old formulas set in new environments.
For example, Pixar’s “A Bug’s Life” was essentially the old Aesop’s Fable about the ant and the grashopper. They just built on the concept.
Many years ago I wanted to write and illustrate a children’s book. Where I live we are visited by Fairy Wrens. The male bird is a vibrant blue while the females and juveniles are mouse grey. I had an idea that I would have a small grey male bird bounding around the forest floor, desperately trying to look more colourful by sticking flowers and things to his feathers, but getting laughed at all along by other creatures. Eventually of course he would mature into a beautiful blue adult. I had it all thought out when it dawned on me - I’d just re-invented The Ugly Duckling! I never proceeded
In reality, many stories are re-hashed formula. “A boy and his dog” is a popular base theme that has been used not only in obvious “boy and dog” stories like Lassie and Rin Tin Tin but also Skippy (the bush kangaroo) and even E.T.
If you enter “story idea generator” into Google you might find some useful resources.
thanks for all your help guys so i guess i’m not going to be able to think of my own unique story so i suppose i could go ahead with other ideas i have.
Its set in the furture the amazon is a desolate desert (still negotiable depends). Predators became hunted to save the human race although now the race has become to dependant on the food chain to support them and the world is being overun by tiny creatures that have no purpose. Thus they introduced robot predators and with robot predators they introduced a new breed of human robot poachers.
The main character stands ontop of one of these dunes wind blowing his coat whipping up a storm in the distance you can here the crash of a robot eagle crash go to the floor and the whail of the poachers. The character follows the sound into the desert aiming to save and campaign to save the robot predators by finding the HQ of the poachers and their device stipping facility otherwise the earth will once again end in turmoil.
What i got so far its not that universal of an audience but what do you think?
Of course if i did this its not guna be like final fantasy but more on the side of a pixar style but not quite pixaresque. Although i’m worried the story is to masculine and not universal enough might come up with some more story ideas if i can. I also feel that the story is to long winded for me to undertake it by myself
The Cane Toad was introduced to Australia to control the Cane Beetle, which attacked Queensland sugar cane crops. The problem is, nothing can control the toxic cane toad! As a result, some decades on, we are suffering a Cane Toad plague right across northern Australia and scientists, environmentalists and others are trying to find ways to deal with it. The latest idea is to use dingoes trained to sniff out the critters!
Similar stories include the release of rabbits and foxes into the Australian bush - both of which now cause untold problems to farmers and native wildlife right around the country. Not to mention a whole host of South African plants that were brought here as garden specimens but are now declared noxious weeds as they just love our climate and soil but have no local predators.
I’m sure similar stories can be told in most countries.
I didn’t understand your story outline but it made me think of these situations. Take these real-life examples of rash human stupidity (“It seemed like a good idea at the time”) and apply it to your future fantasy world and you just might have something.
I’m sure it’s all been done before but you can make it yours by telling it from a different persepctive.
basically when the indriduced the new robot predators to control the “parasites” they indroduced robot poachers (humans, like nowadays poachers but they hunt the robots for parts these are the villains). These poachers like ours are upsetting the world we live in as they are taking away the robot predators.
The hero is the guy on the sand dune who sets out to erradicate the poachers by taking out their headquaters and robot stripping facilities.
Hope that made it a bit more easier to understand.
Although i think i might work on a new story idea as it seems to complex for a short but its a start and it made me think.
thanks i might try some of your ideas they seem pretty logical. i think its just i want to make something so unique but its hard to nowadays because of all the ideas already used.
