Fall_PrePro_Assignment_Story Beats of Short Film

 Genre Presentation

Assignment Week 3

For the Genre presentation, students will research one particular genre that pertains to the animated short they selected. 

Short Film: One Man Band by Pixar

Logline: Two one-man bands perform in competition with the other, which gets progressively more aggressive, in an attempt to be the one to earn a girl's coin as a reward for a good performance.

Genres:

Comedy -This being because the climax seems to have an emphasis on humor. Meaning most of the film is functioning as a build-up for the joke. The editing and camera work seems to be used in a way that helps maximize the buildup to joke. Like the camera movement that angles itself to make the two one-man bands look small when their expressions of despair show after the two coins were thrown into the fountain. Lighting tends to be bright and soft. Since the short takes place outside, it feels like the light is bright.

 I noticed that many full length animated films have jokes sprinked in that function like this short film. 

In this scene from Ratatouille, there is time spent around the pot cooking being used to build up to Remy getting caught but still having to finish dropping that last spice. The short also uses time to build up to humor of the girl getting a giant sack of coin and then throwing two into the fountain.

 Another film that builds up a joke is Zootopia. The sloth was shown earlier in a humorous manner as being annoyingly slow. In this clip, the build up to another joke is quickly clear. In the same way that there is suprise in this joke of the sloth speeding, there is humour in the short about both the girl's reaction following the coin loss and the two men having off screen decided to work together to climb the fountain to get the two coins the girl tossed. 

 

A bit of Action -This coming from the fact that two characters are technically in a fight (while having no true contact is still a fight) most of the short.

When this scene from Puss in Boots was focusing on the dance "fight", it felt a bit like the short film's "fight" between the two one-man bands. There isn't really traditional fighting, but there is an obvious conflict between the two parties and they are physically showing that conflict. 

Story Beats:

• Man is seen playing instruments to no one.
• The girl approaches to listen to the man play. 
• The girl appears ready to give a coin to the man playing.
• Another man appears also playing instruments.
• The girl's interest is drawn to the second man.
• Both men start playing more in competition with each other.
• The aggressiveness starts to frighten the girl a bit.
• The movement of the competition leads the girl into dropping her coin, which falls down a drain.
• The girl get angry at the loss of her coin and demands an instrument from the two men.
• The girl plays an instrument and gains a bag of coins.
• The girl appears that she is willing to give the two men a coin for each but then throws the two coins into a hard to access part of a fountain.
• After the credits, the men are briefly shown to try to be working together to access the coins in the fountain.  

Simpler Beats

• The girl listens to one-man play and almost pays him.
• Another man, also wanting to be paid, appears taking the girl's attention away from the first.
• The two men play competitively against each other.
• As the competition gets more and more aggressive, the girl is jolted and loses her coin.
• In anger, the girl demands one of the instruments from the men which she then goes to play herself.
• After gaining a large bag of coins from her playing, the girl appears to be willing to give the men one coin for each.
• The girl then throws both coins into the fountain and both men despair since the coins are now out of reach.
• After the credits, the men try to work together to get access to the two coins that are in the fountain.

Beginning | Middle | End

• Two one-man bands play in competition with each other in order to gain a little girl's favor and coin.
• The aggressive competition leads the little girl to lose her coin, which angers her.
• After demanding an instrument the girl plays, earns a bag of coins, and throws two of the coins in a fountain out of reach for the two men to get to easily. Together they try to get them.