For the past few weeks I've been storyboarding.  I had most of the images in my mind from the beginning--  But as I drew it out I realized that I needed to fully flesh out certain aspects, like the blocking/camera placement/making sure each shot directly flows into and influences the next shot.  I've been searching for and reading through a LOT of storyboarding resources to learn new information/refresh my brain on the topic.

Here are a few I really enjoyed:

http://www.floobynooby.com/IPUB/storyboards_bradbird_chrisroman.pdf
^^^Brad Bird's storyboarding guides/references from when he worked on The Simpsons/King of the Hill

http://www.floobynooby.com/comp1.html
^^^A collection of storyboards from films/cartoons with tons of information about composition, character blocking, lines of action, scene structure, etc

I've been going back and revising scenes I already drew out to try and improve them-- so far I'm about 75% of the way done with the storyboard, and it'll basically already be an animatic once I'm done.  I'm going to record some temp voices myself to pace out the frames and work out the general timing.

The main thing I'm concerned with right now is making sure that I get all crucial information about the characters/plot to the audience without taking too long.  I don't want to end up with a plan for a 7-minute animation that I won't have time to produce.  I also don't want it to feel like the story is frantically rushing to get to the conclusion-- but luckily cartoons tend to be fast-paced, so I should be fine.

This weekend I'm going to take pictures for live-action background plates.  Since the story takes place at night, I'm going to take long-exposure pictures at night and edit them as needed.  (I'll probably apply a paintbrush filter in photoshop and push colors into a deep purple/blue/orange/yellow color scheme for a Halloween-y feel.)

Character Bios:


Dave (Ghost) - Audacious and competitive.  In his human life, Dave was obsessed with archery, wanting to eventually compete in the olympics.  His dream was cut short when he died in a bungee jumping accident.  He currently loves being a ghost, as he is now free of many physical limitations.

Lee (Ghost)- Reserved but ambitious.  In his human life, Lee wanted to be a journalist for a high-ranking news organization.  After conducting interviews at an up-and-coming restaurant, he choked on a hot dog and asphyxiated.  He will often be coerced by Dave to pull ghostly pranks, even though he doesn't like getting in trouble.

Scott Reynolds- A 33 year old guy who is in the wrong place at the wrong time, and is run over by a car as a result of Dave and Lee's scaring tactics.

Grim Reaper - Wants to strike fear within human and ghosts alike.  In actuality, a pretty cool dude.  You'd probably hang out with him if he didn't, y'know, forcibly take people to the afterlife.

Minosa (Spirit Mender) - A woman who died in the 17th century, and has spent her time as a spirit learning about the connection between the physical realm and spirit realm.



Treatment:


-Introduce Dave and Lee, they talk about competition.  Agree on the rules -- whoever scares the most people by midnight wins, and the winner can dare the other to do anything he wants.

-Dave and Lee start scaring humans. Montage of them scaring trick-or-treaters/teenagers/adults leaving parties.  When it's 11:55, their scores are tied.  They only see one guy near them: Scott Reynolds.  He's walking down the sidewalk and texting. Eager to win, Dave and Lee attempt to scare Scott at the same time.  Scott, terrified, stumbles into the road and is hit by a car.  Scott's body lies face down and limp on the road.  Dave and Lee are shocked.

-They see the Grim Reaper flying above them, silhouetted against the moon.  They have to think fast.  Dave possesses Scott's body and stands up, one of his eyes hanging out of its socket.

-Grim Reaper swoops down, sensing that there was a soul disconnected from its human body.  He sees Scott and shows disgust over his hanging-out eyeball.  Lee thinks he and Dave have been found out, but GR thinks it's "one of those gross body modifications humans are into."  Grim Reaper leaves to continue working, tells Lee  "Alright, well don't cause any trouble or I'll have to give your soul to Satan and you'll be tortured for all eternity.  Welp, seeya later!"

-Dave unposesses Scott's body and he and and Lee freak out, arguing over whose fault it is/ how they're going to fix this.  Meanwhile, Scott's spirit floats out of his body and groggily wakes up.  Dave and Lee stop arguing and look at ghost Scott.  As Scott realizes what's happened, he panics and accuses Dave and Lee of being murderers.

-Lee calms Scott down and explains that as long as the Grim Reaper doesn't find Scott's spirit and fully sever the connection to his physical body, there's a way of connecting Scott's spirit with his body again.  Scott agrees to try it.

Dave, Lee, and Scott bring Scott's body to a graveyard, and Lee knocks on a gravestone.  The spirit of a woman appears, introducing herself as Minosa, a "spirit mender."

Minosa starts mending Scott's spirit with his body, but once again Dave sees the Grim Reaper moving toward them.

Dave and Lee have to do something TOTALLY CRAAZY to distract the Grim Reaper while Scott's soul is mended to his body.  Still figuring this last part out + how to foreshadow it in the beginning.  But in the end, Dave and Lee don't get in trouble and Scott probably dies for good or something.