Brainstorm # I - The Fire Extinguisher

So here are some of the brain storming ideas I had. Not anything concrete yet, but I hope that through continuous research and the feedback of my class mates, the project will move on. Though the plot might change, I believe that some indispensable plot element can benefit from some research even now. First off the prop, character and scene, while still vague, will require some research to accumulate enough experience to move on in a new direction with them.

I started playing around with some ideas around last week, here are the first ideas.

1.      Some ideas on the Fire Extinguisher.

I will start looking at the cause and effect aspect of each part of my story.

A fire extinguisher implies the need for fire. Unless it is used as something else than its original purpose. Fire allows for some interesting light and colour experiments. It also implies a change in the colour and its intensity due to the change in the light source. While my objective is to try and avoid the direct route, fire really is a nice element to play around with. It is a very strong cause, resulting in highly altered consequences.

A fire extinguisher is also a heavy object. Its weight could start an interesting chain of event should it be applied to a weak surface. It is a cylindrical object, which implies it could roll.

The initial location of the object should be decided. My initial idea is to have someone living inside the joke shop or even inside the joke shop. If inside the joke shop, should it be a prank item or a real fire extinguisher.

An interesting aspect of the prop is the thrust it can create. This was wonderfully demonstrated by Wall-E, who uses it to dance around space, which links up with an idea I had of having my trapeze artist dancing around with a fire extinguisher.

There are a few videos on the net of fire extinguishers being used as propellants. Though most of them seem fake, I like the idea very much. It gives a reason for how my trapeze artist could gain some momentum in a very short time.

Maybe this is pushing it, but I believe that in such a short animatic, speed is paramount.

Fire extinguishers are usually red. Yet old pictures demonstrate that they weren’t always. Red is the colour given by society to represent danger. Yet other society might interpret it differently. For example, they could see them as life savers and paint them blue. The colour will depend on the surrounding colours. I have multiple ideas on the colour range, though I will take a look at that a bit later when I deal with the setting. My main goal is still a strong colour and shape harmony, like a carefully built ballet.

Now obviously, I don't want the video to look like a fake. This will be the challenge, make it look believable. The characters will be of paramount importance to justify the chain of action.