Things to note about this video: The use of a variety of artist and independent animation studios to create the story which is broken into sections, each section has a different style or look which works with the animation because of the motif of the travel theme and luggage stickers each looking different stylistically. So style is part of the storytelling and not just tacked on to make it look interesting. This follows in the tradition of storytellers passing on a story and adding to it. (Collaborative Fiction). Although this was not a collaborative writing piece it is a collaborative animation piece with each segment tying into the previous. Perhaps it’s a bit more controlled then that though. Another example is the Guide Dog remake by Bill Plympton where animators signed up around the world for a 5 second segment and re-animated what Bill had created.
This brings up the thought of how to create a collaborative fiction that would be animated. Where each section is animated by a different team and written by a different team. Are they the same team? (writers and animators) How do you control the outcome to make a story that makes sense? Is it controlled through web linking? Each section can perhaps be voted on and shuffled around by viewers around the world to ferret out the best story outcome?
Idea 1: So, if this is the case, perhaps it would look like this: I write an opening piece for the animation, this piece is perhaps based on a culturally known story. Lets say, The Three Little Pigs. I upload this to the website that is shared by collaborators. The next person in the list of collaborators starts writing his segment (what is the the criteria for length and content so it does not get out of hand?) When he finishes he uploads his piece. In order to have some editorial control over the flow but without getting crazy with rewrites, perhaps the previous writer can edit the next authors finished piece with an eye towards continuity. NOW, once the story has went through its list of authors, the last author (perhaps the first author) can edit the opening to tie it back into the initial thought. The story is then complete. If it is now passed on to has a script written, voices recorded and then broken into pieces to animate, does this belabor the process and make this too organized. The goal is spontinaity and orginality and interesting juxtopositions. Not seamless storytelling. Not perfection.
Idea 2: Maybe, the linkage points are pre determined, so that we swing from one animator to another without continuity issues and we keep the general structure of the story alive with much room for free flow with each structure? But then, how to handle the sound continuity or is sound not a shared asset and is created individually by each user/studio? What if the only thing shared is the continuity for the connection points as a series of clearly defined still images that each animation has to tie into so that the transitions from artist/studio is seamless? Perhaps its based on The Three Little Pigs and public domain original illustrations or they are commisioned or created by the originator of the experiment.
Idea3: A rough outline, one sentence about each plot point is created initially. An illustration is created by each of the teams. and shared, segments assigned that are linked by the illustration and the process begins. Voice acting would not be allowed, just post sound (for continuity)
Closing thoughts: Using a classic story allows for some general controls and for the audience to better participate in the push and pull as the creators of the piece play against or for the story based on cultural knowledge. Using a open forum with just an outline of a story will be wilder and offers more creative opportunity, and risk of succumbing to animating the piece into a corner.
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