Next First Steps
As I predicted in my Gantt chart that I made at the end of last semester, I need to make revisions to my script/storyboard. This whole time, I have talked about wanting to show the external pressures that my main character faces, but have only shown my character facing “superficial” choices, like goods and items of status.
During the Winter break, I began thinking about my capstone and it’s “Big Idea.” Yes, I want people to recognize when they maximize, but why? I assumed that people that maximize less are happier but didn’t stop to wonder why that was either. I reflected on the period of my life I am in. The fear of seeing close friends move to different cities and explore their career options, made me realize why I wanted to cover this topic space. I realized that satisficers (opposite of maximizers) probably are happier because they use the time they save from not stressing over making the perfect choices and getting the “most” out of their life by spending time doing things that they actually enjoy. Things that don’t necessarily provide a service or benefit to the world in terms of great change, but are beneficial for an individual’s happiness and mental well-being. Going out with friends, knitting a scarf for your cat, playing Dungeons & Dragons, collecting and framing 2-dollar bills, going for a run, etc. These things make us feel good when we do them, yet more and more, people are pursuing perfection as opposed to (for lack of better words) fun.
Making a world for the main character isn’t necessarily the challenge for my storyboard revisions, it’s making the character’s world and shaping the environment that they willingly put themselves in. This means their external and internal forces. After learning of fellow classmate Bridget McCormick’s project about the term/topic of “Hustle Culture,” it made sense to me what else I needed my main character to face. Not only does she face the pressure’s of being a woman and a maximizer, but she also lives in a world where women typically have to work twice as hard as men to reach the same end goal. I made somewhat of a Venn diagram quickly to help illustrate how I perceive this playing out in my story:
The numbered intersections will all be obstacles during Max’s (placeholder name) day. The intersections at 1 will be a part in the story where being a woman-hustler affects her day in some way. And so on with 2 being an obstacle that reflects her being a woman-maximizer, and 3 being a hustler-maximizer. In this case, “hustler” means hard-worker, not like a con-artist. The filled-in space that intersects all three is the moment in the story where she finally gets some rest, only to enter a dream-like state of realization that her current practices are harmful to her.
I also made a visualization for what she is internally aware of:
Obviously, she is aware she identifies as a woman. She knows that she has to work harder than men in America’s workplaces, but still isn’t aware of how much she overworks herself because lastly, she has no idea that she is a maximizer. The day in her life that I am depicting is the “straw that broke the camel’s back.” In other words, it is her breaking point into realizing that she needs to make a change in her life. It is the day where her conscious mind becomes aware of her subconscious behaviors and in the end, we see her make the change.
Next Steps:
- Go back in my notes from last semester and find everyday scenarios that Max may find herself stressing.
- Sketch new “scenes” or key moments in the story. Freeform/index cards and structured/sequential storyboards.
- Explore different character designs and methods of character animation.
