- Jade’s skin is turning ninja blue. It looks like Jade will come under the influence of
Shendu and end up destroying Jackie, who has been captured. This is the worst thing
that could happen—the major crisis. - The conflict or battle continues as Jade makes a critical choice and responds to
Jackie’s pleas. The Shadowkhan release Jackie. Jade and Shendu have a battle of wills
over control of the ninjas. - We have come to the climax as Jade wins. The tattoo is melted away.
- In the resolution Jade and Jackie have a reunion. Jackie tells Jade she has his respect.
Look at the premise along with these basic structure points to plan what scenes you’ll
need. A rough estimate of scenes needed in a half-hour television episode (actually about
twenty-two minutes of story in the United States) is around fifteen to twenty-five scenes.
You don’t want so many scenes that you have no time to develop any of them. And comedy
scenes will probably take more time than action scenes. List the scenes you must have in
order to tell this story, numbering them as you go. What you’re looking for are scenes that
are necessary to advancing the plot.
We’ll need a scene where Maynard shows off his new tattoo at school and makes Jade
jealous of the attention and respect it gets. What about a scene where Jade finds a symbol
on one of Uncle’s magic books and inks it onto paper before pressing it onto her arm? Here
we’ll see that the ink etches into her skin. We’ll need a scene where Jade shows off her new
tattoo to the other kids, and Maynard confesses that his tattoo is a fake. Another scene is
needed to show Jade as she hides the tattoo from Jackie and Uncle. We’ll need a scene where
Jackie discovers the tattoo, and Uncle freaks out because it’s a symbol of evil. Continue to
list in a sentence or two each of the scenes that you need to tell your story.
How many scenes did you list? If you have too many, combine some or find a different
way. If you don’t have enough, then you need more complications.
Have you considered any changes that might make the story stronger? What new infor-
mation can come out in Act II to complicate the plot? What twists can you add? See the
more detailed information in Chapter 15 for more story structure tips. When you read the
Jackie Chan outline near the end of this chapter, you’ll notice that there is a B plot with
Shendu trying to retrieve his book. There is an opening teaser as well.
Taking Pencil to Paper
- Get into the action right away, and use plenty of action throughout.
- The thread of the story, reflected in all gags and dialogue, should be immediately
apparent and weave through to the end. - Principal characters must appear early.
- Reveal character through action, reaction, and universal emotions. Show relation-
ships. Show that you know the series characters. All action should be motivated and
believable for those characters and within that series.
132 Animation Writing and Development