1 · Topic to film
The topic changes every time; the shape of the film does not. This skill turns a topic ("how gravity was found", "why the sky is blue", "the first flight") into the six decisions every film in this style needs. Fill the worksheet as you go.
The six decisions
1. The angle: find the surprise
A topic is not a film until it has a surprise. Look for one of these:
| Angle | Question to ask | Example opening claim |
|---|---|---|
| Myth-bust | What does everyone believe that is wrong or incomplete? | "Everything you know about this apple is wrong." |
| Hidden mechanism | What happens that nobody sees? | "Your sneeze leaves your nose at highway speed." |
| Absurd scale | What number is unbelievably big, small, fast or slow? | "This rock has been falling for four billion years." |
| Weird cause | What tiny thing caused something huge? | "A bored 23-year-old on a farm changed physics." |
| Second twist | What did a later discovery overturn? | "Then Einstein rewrote it." |
The best films stack two: a myth-bust hook and a second twist. Pick the angle whose claim you can source (skill 2).
2. The viewer's role ("you")
The story is told as the viewer's own experience ("You're 23, stuck on the family farm…" or "Your eye starts to water…"). Decide who "you" are for most of the film: the discoverer, the person it happens to, or the object itself. Third person is allowed for a second character (Einstein in the example), but the main thread stays "you".
3. The cast
- One hero who carries most shots (the person, or an object with a face).
- One or two supporting characters for the second twist or the reaction.
- Objects with faces for every key thing in the story (the apple, the Earth, the Moon). A face on an object makes it a character and gives the camera something to react to.
Design each with skill 6: a silhouette that reads at phone size (hair, hat, outfit colour), skin tone, and the three or four expressions the story needs.
4. The places
Two to four places, each reused. Start every place from recipe/engine/kit.mjs (exterior, interior, studioVoid, outerSpace) and dress it with props (skill 10). Choose places that say when and where at a glance: a 1666 orchard, a stone college gate, a 1915 study at night, space.
5. The numbers list
Write every number the story will say, and the device that will show it (skill 9):
| Number | Kind | Device |
|---|---|---|
| 1666 | a year | the calendar on the tree flips |
| 23 | an age | a flip counter labelled AGE |
| 240,000 miles | a distance | a tape measure from Earth to Moon with a counter |
| 250 years | a span | a YEARS flip counter beside a statue |
Aim for 3–6 numbers in 30 s. If the topic has none, find them: dates, ages, distances, speeds, counts, percentages.
6. The big picture
One everyday analogy built as a literal picture, placed at the twist: a bowling ball on a trampoline (bent spacetime), a water balloon worn as a contact lens, a square peg in a round hole. It must be something a child has touched. It is the shot people remember, so it gets the most build time.
Gags that carry ideas
Every abstract idea needs a physical gag that shows it:
- A force or link → a glowing string you can pluck (twang) and snip.
- A rule or belief → a sign, a plaque or a chalkboard line you can cross out and rewrite.
- A closure or ban → doors that swing shut and a notice that slaps on.
- A question → signposts that light up (UP / SIDEWAYS / DOWN).
- A change over time → a counter or calendar fluttering through the years.
- A surprise → a jolt, a shocked face swap, a pause in the music before an accent.
Topic sketches (to show the method generalises; facts must be verified before use)
- Why the sky is blue. Angle: hidden mechanism plus a second twist (sunsets are red for the same reason). Hero: you, looking up. Objects with faces: a sunbeam split into coloured runners, a tiny air molecule. Numbers: the length of blue against red light, the distance sunlight travels at sunset. Big picture: blue "runners" bouncing off pinball bumpers while red ones run straight through.
- The first powered flight. Angle: absurd scale (the first flight was shorter than a modern airliner's wingspan; verify the exact figures). Hero: you, lying on the lower wing. Places: windy dunes, a bicycle workshop. Numbers: the flight's distance and duration, the year. Big picture: the whole flight drawn inside the length of a jumbo jet.
- Why cats land on their feet. Angle: hidden mechanism. Hero: the cat (a character, not "you", then "you" as the owner). Numbers: the fall time, how fast the righting happens. Big picture: the cat twisting like two halves of a wrung towel.
Output of this step
A filled worksheet: angle, opening claim, "you", cast, places, numbers and devices, the big picture, and the gags. Then go to skill 2.