Film Studies and Cinematography

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Week 1 - Week 15


24 September  2025 - 28September2025


QIULIHUA/0365036


Design Research Dissertation / Bachelor of Design (Honours)in Creative Media

Film Studies and Cinematography


EXERCISE

Week 1 Task Reminder

  • List 3 favourite films.


1.This short film tells the story of a cloud responsible for "creating" various small animals, which are then delivered to the human world by storks. One of the gray clouds creates relatively dangerous or unusual animals, such as a baby crocodile, a hedgehog, and a small electric eel, and the stork is often injured as a result. Despite this, a deep friendship develops between the cloud and the stork. The short film conveys themes of responsibility, friendship, and warmth.


2."I See You," a puppet animation short film set in an abandoned old house, tells the story of a puppet's gradual transformation from a solitary observer to an active participant. Through the puppet's perspective, the film explores the emotions of neglect and loneliness, while emphasizing the importance of being noticed, understood, and having a sense of presence. The film, with its exquisite stop-motion animation, captures delicate emotions and conveys a profound message about interpersonal care and understanding.


3. The story revolves around a kitten who lives inside a banana. It looks like an ordinary banana, but when the skin is peeled, a cute kitten emerges. It loves to secretly play, eat snacks, and roll around in the house, and sometimes fantasizes about going on adventures or becoming powerful.


2. Kitbull

Part A: Return to Pixar SparkShorts. Identify the worlds and characters in each. Write these down.

1. Who are the main characters?

Stray cat and pit bull

2. Is there a character you identify with most?

I personally identify more with the stray cat. Because of its upbringing, it was difficult for it to trust others at first and was always in a self-protective state. But after interacting with the bulldog, it slowly learned to step out of its comfort zone and learn to accept and help others. So this process made me feel very real.

3. Where does the movie take place? Is it one world or multiple worlds?

The story essentially takes place in an old urban warehouse/garbage dump, a nearby house, and a street. While not distinctly separate worlds, they are connected spaces (the litter box where the kitten lives, the yard where the bulldog is locked up, and the street where it escapes). Thus, there are multiple interconnected "worlds"/settings.

Part B: Try mixing a character and world from different shorts. Try this and see what happens.

Bring Kitbull the cat to Purl's world (the office). Imagine the cat in the office, seeing everyone busy with their work and no one paying attention to it. Will it gradually adapt? Or will it be as scared as it was in the old warehouse? Over time, it might slowly integrate into office life and build friendships with its colleagues through small interactions like playing with paper balls and helping to organize things.


Project 1: Progression 1 (Story Ideas)

            - Choose any Pixar short for inspiration.

            - Analyse how this story become a great story from emotional connection and personal experiences.          

 -Make your own version.

            - Create your “What If” statement to spark you ideas.

            - Think of the main characters and world that can inspire your story.

Choose a Pixar Short for Inspiration：

I chose ‘Partly Cloudy’ – a short film about the emotional bond between a cloud and a stork delivering a baby.

Strong Emotional Connection: It conveys unconditional friendship and trust through simple characters (the cloud and the stork). Viewers can feel the genuine emotional fluctuations – misunderstanding, hurt, acceptance, and understanding.

Personal Experience Reflection: We all have moments of being misunderstood or afraid to face difficulties. The film evokes the universal and moving sentiment of "the courage to still love."

Visual Storytelling (No Dialogue): Emotions are presented entirely through action, expression, and color, delivering a pure narrative power – just like your story, *The Star Postman*.



PROJECT 1: DEVELOP SHORT STORY


  1. This project requires you to develop a 2 minute short story that is going to be an animation as the final output. The story should be INTERESTING, EMOTIONALY CONNECTED and RELATABLE.

  2. Develop the story from each week activities progressively:

    1. Story Ideas - get ideas on various techniques such as write what you know, what if statement and character & world.

    2. Character Development - from your ideas, develop your main character by visualising his/her external features. Then, give the character some internal features (personality) so that the character would react accordingly when encountering external obstacles as external goals (WANT) which drive the story arcs. Establish the character NEEDS, things that character should learn, change or evolve throughout the story and how it forms the CHARACTER ARC.

    3. Setting - putting the character into the right setting such as era, world

    4. Story Arcs and Theme - inciting incident, 3 acts structure, log line

  1. Deliverables:

    1. Write a report in word document which consist of:

      1. Story Title

      2. Logline 

      3. Synopsis

      4. Theme

      5. Character Description

      6. World Description

      7. Script

    2. Export as pdf

    3. Update all the progress in e-portfolio


Story Introduction

Starting this week, I will begin my story. Below are four ideas that I will use to develop my project.

idea 1: *Stardust Reply*

A lonely little girl writes a letter to a star, hoping her mother will come home; the star postman delivers the letter into the sky, only to discover that the letter was actually addressed to her.

→ Too focused on "personal sorrow," lacking a sense of adventure and hope.

idea 2: *The Lost Dream Bag*

The postman accidentally loses his dream bag, and dreams escape, causing chaos in the city. He must find them one by one.

→ The pacing is too action-oriented, lacking emotional depth.

idea 3: *Letters to the Moon*

He delivers letters to the moon every day but never receives a reply, until one day the moon itself replies, telling him that "the letter itself is the reply."

→ The theme is too abstract and unsuitable for children.

idea 4: *The Nightmare Collector*

A postman collects children's nightmares, not delivers them; after mistakenly accepting a child's "dream of courage," he learns to balance light and darkness.

→ The atmosphere is too dark, inconsistent with the "warm and healing" theme.

These are just my thoughts on this exercise, but I don't think they're complete enough, and I will continue to refine them.

 Story Summary：
Every night, a gentle star postman delivers dream letters to children on Earth.
One night, he must deliver dark letters that bring nightmares.
Through a little girl’s courage, he learns that even fear can bring light — and that nightmares help people grow brave.

Main Character: The Star Postman

  • External Features:
    A glowing little figure made of cosmic dust, wearing a postman’s hat. His bicycle sparkles like a comet’s tail.

  • Personality (Internal Features):
    Gentle, caring, and responsible, but timid when faced with the unknown.

  • WANT (External Goal):
    To deliver all dream letters and make every child happy.

  • NEED (Internal Growth):
    To understand that not all dreams are bright — that even fear and darkness have meaning.

  • Character Arc:
    Starts as fearful and naive → faces emotional conflict → grows to understand balance and courage.

Supporting Character: The Cloud Goddess

  • External Features:
    A soft, cloud-like figure with human shape, radiant and calm.

  • Personality:
    Wise, patient, and compassionate — she guides the postman through his emotional journey.

  • Function in Story:
    Represents wisdom and the balance of emotions. She helps the postman realize the deeper truth behind dreams.

Supporting Character: The Little Girl

  • External Features:
    A small child with a warm smile and bright imagination.

  • Personality:
    Innocent, brave, and creative.

  • Function in Story:
    Symbolizes humanity’s courage to face fear. Her dream of defeating a monster helps the postman find understanding.

5. World Description (Setting)

The story takes place in the Dream Sky, a magical world that floats above Earth.
Clouds act as post offices, stars are dream letters, and shooting stars are roads.

The world is divided into two realms:

  • Bright Star Zone: Where joyful dreams are created.

  • Dark Dream Zone: Where nightmares are born.

The Star Postman’s nightly route connects both worlds, showing that light and darkness coexist.

Visual tone transitions from soft blues and purples (night) to warm golden light (dawn), symbolizing emotional growth and hope.

6. Story Arcs and Structure

Inciting Incident:

The postman discovers the bag of black dream letters — nightmares.

Act 1:

He happily delivers bright dreams, creating joy. Then he finds the black letters and hesitates.

Act 2:

Encouraged by the Cloud Goddess, he delivers nightmares but feels guilty and conflicted as he sees children cry.

Act 3:

A little girl draws herself defeating a monster from her nightmare. The postman realizes that fear brings courage and light. Dawn breaks as he smiles, now at peace.

Resolution:

The postman accepts both light and darkness — symbolizing maturity, balance, and emotional understanding.

 Script (2-Minute Short Animation)

Scene 1 – Night Sky Post Office (0:00–0:20)
The Star Postman rides his glowing bicycle through the sky, delivering dream letters to sleeping children. Their peaceful smiles fill the night with starlight.

Scene 2 – Discovery (0:20–0:40)
He receives a black bag of dream letters. He opens one — it turns the light dim and cold. Fear crosses his face. The Cloud Goddess appears, gently telling him: “Every dream must be delivered.”

Scene 3 – Nightmares (0:40–1:10)
He reluctantly delivers them. Shadows form around children; monsters appear in their dreams. The postman feels sorrow as he sees them awaken in tears.

Scene 4 – Realization (1:10–1:40)
One girl dreams of fighting a monster and wins. She wakes up smiling and draws her victory. The postman watches, realizing that nightmares bring courage.

Scene 5 – Dawn (1:40–2:00)
He rides across the sky, scattering stardust. The dark sky brightens with the first morning light. The postman smiles peacefully — he has found meaning in both light and darkness.




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