Pre-Production Summary Template

GENERAL INFO
1. Your name:______Sam Grauman___________________________

2. Story idea #:___2___

3. Linear or Non-Linear?_______Non-Linear________________

a. which format are you using?__The Beaded Necklace_________

b. (Book Ending, The Countdown, The Puzzle, or The Beaded Necklace)

Summarize how your story will fit that format:

My idea is to create a bowl of cereal, but make it intriguing to watch because of how the
bowl of cereal is constructed. I follow several accounts on Instagram and Youtube that
create stop motion animations that do similar things and I was instantly inspired to recreate
it in my own way.

I will line up the cereal pieces in an organized fashion, Move the bowl into frame, Milk will
rise in the bowl, and the each piece of cereal will jump into the bowl one by one. Once the
bowl is full It will be eaten, the milk will drain, and the bowl will move off frame.

CREATIVE BRIEF

1. What must it be?

Stop Motion Animation

2. Who is it for?
Anyone who enjoys animation and food

3. How long must it be?

10-30 seconds

4. What is your objective with the piece?

To leave the viewer satisfied.

5. When is it due?
Feb 19th

6. What is the overall idea?

To construct a bowl of cereal in an interesting way

7. What is the storyline summary?

 The beginning of the story is an empty scene, with cereal being placed. The Bowl entering the
frame will start the middle, and everything up until the end, when the bowl drains and leaves
frame.

8. Elevator pitch:
What if your cereal did this?

9. Tagline:
Sentient cereal?!

10.Look and feel description:

My main goal is for this video to be satisfying to watch, There is a monstrous market for oddly
satisfying videos online.

11.Identify classic plot. Ex: Good vs Evil / Overcoming the Monster, Rebirth and Redemption,
Rags to Riches, Role Reversals, Buddy Stories, Love Stories, Quest / journeys / Voyage and
Return, Ship of Fools, The Rebel / Life Against the Grain, Coming of Age, or “Other”
(explain):
Other.

The plot is going to be cereal pieces lining up and going into a bowl of milk, then the cereal will be
eaten. The remaining milk will drain and the bowl will move to where it started.

STORYBOARDS

1. WHAT? Create your visual script using storyboards. Be sure to map out each “story beat” so
that someone unfamiliar with the story would be able to tell what is going on.
a. You may use imported graphics, but each frame should also have a hand-drawn
element.
b. Stick figures are fine, but do pay attention to framing (visual composition), for
example, Wide Shots (WS), Close-ups (CUs), Extreme Close-ups (ECUs), Over the
Shoulder shots (O/S), etc.
2. HOW MANY? Plan on at least one storyboard for each major shot or sequence we will see.
a. For example, we might start with an establishing shot (WS) to take in the scene, and
then cut to a CU of the main character, and then an ECU of a first-person perspective
of what they are looking at in their hand. Then we might cut back to a Medium Shot
(MS) of them walking across the scene. This sequence would be represented by 4
storyboard frames.
b. Or if a single framing is used (i.e. the camera doesn’t move and the focal length stays
the same), then you would clearly map out the motion of the characters and objects
in the frame. Use arrows to show us what moves where.

 [Insert all storyboard images here]

Pre-Production Summary Template

GENERAL INFO

 1. Your name:________Sam Grauman_________________________

2. Story idea #:__1_____

3. Linear or Non-Linear?_________Linear______________

a. If Linear, summarize:
i. Beginning / Exposition:
There is a small rock that is trying to get to the top of a mountain.

ii. Middle / Complication:

Halfway up the mountain, he falls, and his rock body breaks into different pieces that
are now scattered on the ground.

iii.End / Resolution:
He can control each part and roll each individual piece back together, so the rock
rebuilds itself and finishes his climb.

CREATIVE BRIEF

1. What must it be?

A stop-motion film

2. Who is it for?
Anyone who likes short animations.

3. How long must it be?

10-30 seconds

4. What is your objective with the piece?

I want to have fun with stop motion, and make a simple, attractive, motivating story

5. When is it due?
Feb 19th

6. What is the overall idea?

An epic story of a pebble trying to conquer a mountain.

7. What is the storyline summary?

There is a pebble, who wants to get to the top of a mountain. Halfway up the mountain, the rock
falls and breaks into pieces. The rock then picks all of its pieces back up and rebuilds himself, to
continue his climb to the top

 8. Elevator pitch:

That no matter what obstacles get in your way, you can always put yourself back together and
accomplish your goals.
9. Tagline:

Never Give up

10.Look and feel description:

I plan to film this with a macro lens, and create a fake mountain out of whatever I can find. There
will be No Dialogue, but lots of added sound effects. I will do my best to make it satisfying to
watch like most stop-motion, with a defined beginning, middle, and end.

11.Identify classic plot. Ex: Good vs Evil / Overcoming the Monster, Rebirth and Redemption,
Rags to Riches, Role Reversals, Buddy Stories, Love Stories, Quest / journeys / Voyage and
Return, Ship of Fools, The Rebel / Life Against the Grain, Coming of Age, or “Other”
(explain):
I see this as a Quest / Journey type of plot, Just an adventure for a little rock.

STORYBOARDS
1. WHAT? Create your visual script using storyboards. Be sure to map out each “story beat” so
that someone unfamiliar with the story would be able to tell what is going on.
a. You may use imported graphics, but each frame should also have a hand-drawn
element.
b. Stick figures are fine, but do pay attention to framing (visual composition), for
example, Wide Shots (WS), Close-ups (CUs), Extreme Close-ups (ECUs), Over the
Shoulder shots (O/S), etc.
2. HOW MANY? Plan on at least one storyboard for each major shot or sequence we will see.
a. For example, we might start with an establishing shot (WS) to take in the scene, and
then cut to a CU of the main character, and then an ECU of a first-person perspective
of what they are looking at in their hand. Then we might cut back to a Medium Shot
(MS) of them walking across the scene. This sequence would be represented by 4
storyboard frames.
b. Or if a single framing is used (i.e. the camera doesn’t move and the focal length stays
the same), then you would clearly map out the motion of the characters and objects
in the frame. Use arrows to show us what moves where.
i. Repeating the above scene, we might see the character move in from the side
with a large arrow. Once in place, their head might move down as their hand
moves up (use a small arrow for each), then we see them move across the
frame with another large arrow. This would likely be represented by 3-4
storyboard frames also.
3. HOW? Once you’ve created your storyboard frames, insert those images here in this
document. You may use software (Photoshop, Animate, etc.) or hand-draw them and scan
them or snap photos.

[Insert all storyboard images here]