We’re now at the stage of developing the story and visualising various elements.

This is a quick sketch of my initial thoughts for the stop motion section, involving paper cut outs on a multiplane. By having the character and the background elements on separate layers, it’ll be easier to animate the parts that move (e.g. the character, the funfair rides) without moving the parts that don’t (e.g. the sky, the ground).

If the stop motion part is made with paper cut outs, I really like the idea of leaning into that miniature, material world by using a variety of different materials and textures, such as buttons, ribbons etc. It would make an even starker contrast to the black and white world of the 2D section, and create a cuteness that goes against the sinister nature of the funfair itself.

We also have an animatic, made my Jocasta, for the beginning of our story:

This is the new version of the story, after discussing together and with tutors:

1. There is an old abandoned funfair, during day time. The rides are rusty and damaged, the stall are empty, there’s an old teddy on the ground. Everything is in black and white
2. A man walks in
3. He sees an old fashioned camera on the ground and picks it up
4. He holds up the camera to his eye
5. From his point of view, we see the funfair at night, in colour. There is still no people but the ferris wheel is lit up and turning, and there is music. 
6. He lowers the camera. In his world, the ferris wheel is still and silent
7. He holds the camera to his eye again
8. From his point of view, we see the carousel lit up and spinning (with no one riding it), and hear the music again.
9. He lowers the camera. The carousel is still and silent
10. He holds the camera to his eye again and presses the button to take a picture
11. Colourful paint bursts out of the viewfinder (where his eye is).
12. He moves the camera away from his face in shock. The colourful paints covers his whole body
13. Now in the colourful stop motion world, there is a close up of his eyes opening, while the paint falls down off his face. There is the music playing quietly in the background
14. From his point of view, we see the funfair alive in colour, and hear the music playing louder
15. With the camera in his hand, the man walks past the ferris moving wheel to a stall that has several huge candy flosses
16. He picks one up
17. He eats the candy floss as he walks towards the carousel
18. The carousel slows down and stops
19. He is now riding the carousel while it spins again
20. Next he is is riding the ferris wheel
21. From his point of view, we see a hook-a-duck game
22. He lifts the camera to his eye
23. From his point of view through the camera, we see the hook-a-duck stall empty, with no water or ducks or prizes, in the black and white world
24. He puts the camera on the ground so that he can pick up a stick to play the game
25. On the ground, the camera disappears
    1. we can discuss how it disappears
26. There is a wide shot of the funfair surrounded by darkness. It is bright against the darkness and there is nothing else around it. The music gets gradually louder
    1. this is to create a spooky feeling, to suggest that he is stuck there forever and there is nowhere else to go
27. Cut to credits

The main issue we have at the moment is how to end our animation. We want to make it clear that there is something sinister about the colourful version of the fun fair, and having a piece of it drift back into the black and white world isn’t quite dramatic enough. We think he should get trapped there in some way, so I added this idea of the camera disappearing, taking away his opportunity of returning home. But is that spooky enough, and is is clear enough? How can we show that this is somehow an intention of the funfair?