Back to the story, I previously had thought of having it told by somebody making a joke with his friends in a pub (as the story as mentioned previously is based on a joke I’ve heard), and narrating as the story unfolds. I’ve decided to at least do away with the joke telling person element of the story, but I may have some narration, we’ll see. I’ve also decided to show the mouse in the inventor’s thoughts, which may prove to be a tricky concept, but I can but try! I want to keep this story gore-free, so the mouse action will cut away (so to speak) before anything actually happens to the mouse, leaving the inventor to re-enact that part of how the mouse would be killed by the trap.

The first draft of the story summary that my short film will tell is now up, and can be found by clicking here.

It’s based on a joke that my Dad has told many times (I think since his student days, I don’t know where he heard it originally), and which I thought would make a nice animated film. The punchline is kind of a visual gag, so it doesn’t translate so well to text, but hopefully the final article will do the (sort of funny) joke justice!

I’m still considering my options for how I would actually put together a film like this. I wondered about opening with some people telling jokes around a table, and then somebody starts telling the story of the mouse trap, and we start to see the story unfold in the patent office as the person narrates the story.

There’s also the option to actually show a kind of thought bubble showing a mouse running up to the trap as the man tells the patent officer how it would work, but a) it complicates things a fair bit more and b) I don’t want to actually show the mouse cutting its throat on the razor blade! I’d maybe show that last bit being done by the original joke teller as he shakes his head, and possibly the film ends as we fade out from the laughter (or lack thereof). Decisions, decisions.

At this precise moment in time there’s not much to see, but as pre-production gets going that should all start to change.

As I move through the various stages of my film, the featured areas on the front page will change to highlight new developments and immediately show you what stage I’ve gotten to in proceedings.

Feel free to leave comments, and I hope you return once things really get going.

I have just begun pre-production of this as yet untitled film about an inventor who has to have a couple of attempts (along with some encounters at the patent office) before he makes what in his eyes is the perfect mouse trap. The story is now complete, and you can read it here.