The Invitation - Story Plan

Location - The Kitchen
Saying - "Every Cloud has a Silver Lining"

After Speaking to Alan, we've decided to use the bare-bones of Idea 1 (The Invitation) to create a heart warming love story which would be centered around the kitchen, using metaphorical meanings to connect the location with the saying and with the time period. For example; we use a kettle to emphasize the tension in the scene - with it becoming louder as the situation grows worse for the boy. 

We have also connected the story to the 1950s, the time period in which the animation is set, at which time tensions were rising as fear around the nuclear situation arose, only to diffuse like a kettle reaching boiling point, or a kid getting angrier and angrier until he has to run away and calm down before he starts something that will end badly for him.

Also, In the 1950's, it was considered common place for the mother to reside predominantly in the kitchen; so because we naturally relate the mother to safety and to the home, it makes sense for the boy to run for the safety of the kitchen.

The characters themselves could even be used as metaphors for the time. An example would be that the girl lives in 1950's America, wanting something different, some change from the usual lifestyle, and the chubby boy is all the things that people repress from their lives because of that ideal that they've been brainwashed to believe in. Like the stereotype of a strong, tall, masculine male figure being what the girl must go for.

Floor Plan

Boy: Our Chubby Boy
Girl: The Stereotypical Hot Girl

Part 1

1. Boy walks down side of House to Birthday Party in the garden.
2. He nervously 'scopes out' the garden.
3. He spots his crush (the birthday girl) come out into the garden to sit with her friends.

          Camera

• slow fade to the boy (face cam)
• Purpose to show that he's very nervous about going to the party
• Present and card in hand
• Prepares himself for a second
• Begins walking towards the garden
• Transition to an alley cam (looking down the alley)
• we see him peek around the corner of the house
• Back to the face cam
• he looks worried
• He sees his crush and goes all wide-eyed.
• Close up (slow motion) of the girl walking across the garden to sit with her friends

Part 2

1. Greeted by no-one, he places his present on the table.
2. before he gets a chance to put his card on the table too, it gets taken off of him and ripped up by some other boys.
3. He tears up, but runs through them into the 'safety' of the kitchen where the mum of the girl is making tea for herself.

          Camera

• Stationary Camera viewing through the window into the garden
• the table of presents and cards is in front of the window
• we can see the girl on a bench in the garden with her friends (she is looking at the boy)
• there is a kettle in the foreground that boils (whistles) as the boy begins to get bullied
• steam comes up from the kettle and acts as a screen that de-saturates the scene

Part 3

1. Comes through into the kitchen and sits on a stool at the breakfast bar.
2. he starts to cry as he looks at the remains of his card

          Camera

• Another Stationary Camera that slowly zooms into the Breakfast Bar area as he enters the room (setting the scene)
• Cut to first person perspective once the boy has sat down
• vision blurs as he looks at the remains of his card
• He blinks, his vision is clearer but a tear drops onto the girls name

Part 4

1. Girl nervously enters the kitchen to see if he's okay.
2. He looks away quickly to wipe his tears.
3. she sits on the stool next to him
4. She taps him on the shoulder to get his attention.
5. He is shocked, pauses for a second and then turns on the stool.
6. They stare into each other's eyes, he is very shy.
7. She holds his hands an kisses him on the cheek.

          Camera

• Transition back to the kitchen door, we see the girl coming in.
• From the same angle as we saw the room before
• cut to a medium shot of the boy and the stool next to him
• Girl enters the shot as she gets on the stool
• (she looks nervous)

Cut to credits