Art direction references

The interactive short film uses figurines as the cast, and its art style will be based on traditional toy photography.

Source: Hot Kenobi

Source: Top Toy Alliance

Source: Lego Star Wars: Grandpa Vader and Kylo Ren
(Feat. AKPstudios) on YouTube

Plot to be adapted

The plot will be modified from the original.

Original plot of "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen

Dark forces made a magic mirror that distorts the appearance of everything that it reflects while magnifying their negative aspects. Once, the mirror shattered into billions of pieces, which are blown by the wind all over the Earth and get into people's hearts and eyes, freezing their hearts like blocks of ice and causing their eyes to possess the effects of the mirror. There was only one way to get it out.

Years later, a little boy Kai and a little girl Gerda live next door to each other. Gerda and Kai have a window-box garden to play in, and they become devoted to each other as playmates, and as close as if they were siblings. Kai's grandmother tells the children about the Snow Queen, who is ruler over the "snow bees" — snowflakes that look like bees. Looking out of his frosted window one winter, Kai sees the Snow Queen, who beckons him to come with her.

On a pleasant summer day, splinters of the mirror get into Kai's heart and eyes while he and Gerda are looking at a picture book. Kai becomes affected by the mirror's powers. The following winter, Kai goes out with his sled to play in the snowy market square and hitches it to a curious white sleigh carriage, driven by the Snow Queen. Outside the city she reveals herself to Kai and kisses him twice: once to numb him from the cold, and a second time to make him forget about Gerda and his family; a third kiss would kill him. She takes Kai in her sleigh to her palace.

Gerda then travels to the Snow Queen's palace. Gerda finds Kai alone and almost immobile on a frozen lake, which the Snow Queen calls the "Mirror of Reason", on which her throne sits. Kai is engaged in the task that the Snow Queen gave him: he must use pieces of ice like a tangram puzzle to form characters and words. If he is able to form the secret word the Snow Queen told him to spell she will release him from her power and give him a pair of skates. 

Gerda runs up to Kai and kisses him, and he is saved by the power of her love: Gerda weeps warm tears on him, melting his heart and burning away the mirror splinter in it, and Kai comes back to his senses. He and Gerda dance around on the lake of ice so joyously that the splinters of ice Kai had been playing with are caught up into the dance. They eventually fall down to spell the secret word Kai was trying to spell. The Snow Queen is obligated to free Kai. Kai and Gerda then leave the Snow Queen's domain back home and find that everything at home is the same and that it is they who have changed; they are now grown up, and are also delighted to see that it is summertime.

Source: Wikipedia

Planned changes:

- There will be three characters in the story.

- The Queen will be a humorous and kind character.

- The roles of "Kai" and "Gerda" may be reversed, as the main character (the OC that is planned to be made) is planned to be male.

Proposed plot structure

Instead of culminating in a single ending, a special, more exciting ending is considered when the viewer chooses the twist decisions.

New plot idea and casting change announcement

After a discussion with lecturers Sweii Chong and Din Tan, the whole project had changed to fit a new plot and a new cast of characters. However, depending on the decisions the user makes, the plot may still culminate in a single ending. Sometimes, a twist can be placed in the story line based on the decisions.

For the plot, I chose the original plot of "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen as the basis, because I was quite interested with the story and it inspired one of my favorite films. As for the cast of characters, the main character is suggested to be an original character, and he/she could be fashioned from recyclable materials or modelling clay. This is because the project needs some originality. There will be three characters in the interactive film.

For the figurines that come from other media franchises, they are suggested to be relegated to supporter, minor or cameo roles. The other figurines I have intended to put into the film are characters from the Disney movie Frozen. Since the character Elsa is a good character, I will portray her in a positive light and with a lovable, humorous personality as opposed to the original Snow Queen's cold-hearted personality in the original story. However, she will be in a supporting role based on the review.

Theme announcement and inspirations

After agreeing on the Inside Out cast idea, I came across a few PSA videos that can inspire the project. Some of them are student films with a sense of comedy and drama, which will be implemented to the script and the film. The PSAs are mainly about health and safety.

https://www.facebook.com/xiaoxiao.lee.9/videos/1101687803174994/ - fastening seat belts every time.

https://www.facebook.com/KenLooi96/videos/10205312136903005/ - drugs cannot cure depression.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH7V0Ao1Vzg - fire hazards.

Upon watching them, I wondered what if the figurines in my collection are able to convey messages about health and safety in the workplace. As some of them come from well-loved franchises, fans will like to see the characters they love do stuff like this.

Possible cast change

During a discussion with my specialist tutors, several things can be considered based on the current updates.

• After taking a look at my collection, the Emotions from Inside Out (I have the small figurines) can be considered as a new cast as they came from a kids' film with a special message.
• The special message can be based on a popular issue or major concern such as media obsession, filter bubbles or domestic violence. The issue on how to deal with depression or the importance of empathy can be suitable for the Inside Out cast as it deals with emotions.
• The major outcome of the interactive journey is to discover the truth about the issue, which contains the theme or message that the film is trying to convey.

Things to do:

• Make up personalities for the cast of characters.
• Get references on art direction and shooting methods.

Film plot suggestion and main character reveal

The plot of the interactive film will be based on the point of view of several characters on an event. Users will learn how they got into the situation by picking each character, which leads to the resolution of the film. The interactive film is intended to not be purely based on decision making, but the user's choice to follow a certain character's point of view. Currently, I have been considering a CSI-type scene, but other themes can also be considered.

The hidden message in the plot is yet to be considered.

As for casting, I was intending this figurine to be my main character, if the CSI-style plot is retained. The choice is inspired by an educational animated film that I watched the trailer of in YouTube.

Other characters are to be cast after choices on the plot are made.

Interactive Film decision ~ 8.6.2018

Idea #2 (interactive film) is finally chosen between the two ideas. During discussions with lecturers Yi Wei and Din Tan, the lecturers handed a few useful suggestions on the development of the plot.

As this is an interactive film, the plot is non-linear and planned to have a single resolution at the end. The decisions of the plot will be based on choosing the points of view of the characters. Yi Wei suggests that the decision-making style used in the project will be taken into consideration when planning the scenes. As for the plot, Din suggested the plot to contain a secret, positive message in order to instill emotions on the audience. The message is said to be an ultimate goal for a successful film and should be conceived before the plot is being written.

Things to be done:

• Message
• Plot
• Casting
• Location scouting

Skill Set Review

Skill sets I have right now and level of mastery based on the ideas I have given:

Premiere Pro - high
After Effects - medium high
Photoshop - high
Programming via Subline/Dreamweaver - medium

The interactive video idea seems to be fine for me but I want to learn how to make a video interactive. If YouTube is considered, I can follow tutorials and create the footage myself.

The plot is yet to be written, and I am currently picturing a crime scene investigation.

As for the website, the realistic estimation of the project timeline based on my current skill level would be longer than the deadline. This can become an optional idea.

In conclusion, I feel that the final project would be the interactive film idea as I have a strong point in editing videos.