Story Flow & Storyboard (sketch)

During the semester break, I have wrote out all the storyflow and the interaction part in the narrative. So that, it mights really helps a lot to build out my storyboard, where the key points that I have noted down might help me to develop on scenes in the story.

There were four chapters in the story. From this stage, I just have thought of the fully interaction for the chapter 1 and 3 while the other chapter which is 2 and 4 I have roughly take noted down. 

In chapter 1
Story will start with Baku entered to people's dream and sabotage the dream.
I will explain the outline of the story, the interaction and the sound effect with the paper above and the storyboard.

Dream one: Panel 1

In dream one: In the night market.
Panel 1 : Overview of night market
Interaction: Click on the kids grabbing the clay toy from the mask character
Sound effect: Soft market sound

Dream one:
Top left (Panel 2)
Bottom left (Panel 3)
Top right (Panel 4)
Bottom right(Panel 5)

Panel 2 : Zoom in to showing what's happening on the kids. A showing more clear visual about there are 3 kids were grabbing a free cat toy from the seller, the mask character.
Interaction: Click on the cat toy to view other panel.
Sound effect: Soft market sound, few kids shouting sound

Panel 3(3 frames in one panel) :
Frame 1: Zoom in and oh that's a cat toy. A more clear visual of the cat toy. In here will be explain cat that symbolize good fortune in Japan culture.
Interaction: Mouse over image, play sound effect.
Sound effect:
Frame 2: Zoom in Baku's face, with evil smile.
Interaction: Mouse over image, play sound effect.
Sound effect: Evil smile
Frame 3: The seller saw the boy who tearful and want to give the cat toy to the dreamer (the boy)
Interaction: Click on the boy for the next panel
Sound effect: N/A

Panel 4: In this panel, Baku was trying to sabotage the dream. In here, showing the seller was giving the cat toy to the boy. Objective of this is to make the cat toy become ugly and scare away the boy.
Interaction:
Option A : Making cat toy into disgusting monster , the boy's face changing every each button. This progress will lead to different outcome. (To panel 6).
Interaction ( 3 buttons) : Click on the eyes, mouth and body in sequence.
Sound effect: Eyes > "doing" sound & pop sound , Mouth > evil smile, Body > pop sound.
Option B : Skip this progress and lead to different outcome. (To panel 10)
Interaction : Click on the skip button on the bottom.

Panel 5: This panel showing after user has made the cat toy become ugly, the eyes drop out, mouth with evil smile and the chicken pox body.

Dream one:
Top left (Panel 6)
Bottom left (Panel 7)
Top right (Panel 8)
Bottom right(Panel 9)

(Continue from the option A in Panel 4)

Panel 6: The seller give the cat toy to the boy, the boy crying loudly and refuse to take.
Interaction : Click on the Baku for next frame.
Sound effect: Boy crying sound.

Panel 7: Change scene to reality, Baku was actually disturbing on the boy's dream, the boy cry badly while he's sleeping.
Interaction: N/A
Sound effect: Boy crying sound

Panel 8: The boy's mother woke up and try to comfort the boy. The Baku left with evil smile.
Interaction: Click on the arrow button to the next dream.
Sound effect: Boy crying sound, Baku evil smile.

Panel 9: This panel showing Baku in very happy mood and singing on the roof top. The music note showing the transition to the next dream.
Interaction: Click on the music note to next panel.
Sound effect: Whistle sound.

Dream one:
Top left (Panel 10)
Bottom left (Panel 11)
Top right (Panel 12)

(Continue from the option B in Panel 4)

Panel 10(3 frames in one panel):
Frame 1: The boy got his good fortune cat and very happy.
Interaction: Mouse over image, play sound effect
Sound effect: Springing sound.
Frame 2: Baku was very angry because he failed to sabotage the dream, suddenly he though another way to sabotage the dream again.
Interaction: Mouse over image, 1st, appear the angry steam on the head of Baku, 3rd, the idea appear on the head of Baku.
Sound effect: 1st, angry sound. 3rd, thinking sound.
Frame 3: In here, Baku saw the street dog and found a new idea.
Interaction: Click on the street dog for the next panel.
Sound effect: Dog sleeping sound.

Panel 11: In this panel, Baku was trying to sabotage the dream again. He saw a street dog.Objective of this panel is to make the street dog to wake up.
Interaction(3 buttons):
When user click on the buttons on tail, the tail shakes.
When user click on the buttons on the body, the flies appeared.
When user click on the button on the nose, the dog wakes.

Panel 12 (2 frames in one panel):
Frame 1: This frames shows that the dog smells the cat toy.
Interaction: Mouse over image.
Sound effect: Nose sniff.
Frame 2: Showing the street dog want to chase over the kid that holding the cat toy happily.
Interaction: Mouse over image.
Sound effect: The dog bark sound.
*This panel will lead back to Panel 6

Dream two:
Top left (Panel 1)
Bottom left (Panel 2)
Top right (Panel 3)
Bottom right(Panel 4)

In dream two: In the Kabuki theatre.
Panel 1: Showing the transition from dream one to dream two. In here, music note will be zoom out, and bring to the next scene.
Interaction : N/A
Sound effect: Whistle sound.

Panel 2: The overview of Kabuki theatre.
Interaction: Click on the performer to next panel.
Sound effect: Kabuki background music.

Panel 3(2 frames in one panel):
Frame 1: A zoom in to the girl character dancing Kabuki holding a fan .
Interaction: N/A
Sound effect: Kabuki background music
Frame 2: A zoom in to audience, the dreamer with lovely face expression.
Interaction: Mouse over image.
Sound effect: Acclamation sound.

Panel 4 (3 frames in one panel):
Frame 1: Showing the girl wanted to use the fan to cover her face because she felt shy.
Frame 2: A zoom in to the gadget on the stage which is the umbrella. The Baku is hiding on the umbrealla.
Frame 3: Zoom in to Baku with evil smile. In here Baku tried to sabotage the dream again.
Interaction for all: N/A
Sound effect for all: Kabuki background music.

Dream two:
Top left (Panel 5)
Bottom left (Panel 6)
Top right (Panel 7)
Bottom right(Panel 8)

Panel 5: Before the girl tried to cover her face with the fan. In here, Baku want to make the girl face feature gone to scare away the audience included the dreamer.
Interaction:
Option A: 3 buttons on the face feature, the eye, the nose and the mouth. Click away all the face feature to lead to Panel 6.
Option B: User can choose to skip this process by clicking the skip button at the bottom.(To panel 7)

Panel 6 (2 frames in one panel):
Frame 1: In here, showing the back view from the girl character . All the audience shocked some were running and some face were pale.
Interaction: Mouse over image, play sound effect.
Sound effect: Audience shocked sound.
Frame 2: In here showing the faceless ghost which is part of the Japanese culture/ folklore. Nopperabo, the faceless ghost aim to frightening humans will be explain in here.
Interaction: N/A.
Sound effect: Soft girl evil smile.

Panel 7 (3 frames in one panel):
Frame 1: In here showing Baku was very angry, because he failed to sabotage the dream.
Interaction: Mouse over image, play sound effect. Angry steam appear.
Sound effect: Baku angry sound.
Frame 2: He thought another way, he wanted to make the dancer fall down.
Interaction: User have to roll the umbrella to the dancer to continue to frame 3 and other panels.
Sound effect: Rolling sound.
Frame 3: The dancer has stepped on the umbrella stick.
Interaction: Mouse over image, play sound effect, stepping visual appear.
Sound effect: Stepping sound

Panel 8 (2 frames in one panel):
Frame 1: Showing the Kabuki performers fall down.
Interaction: Mouse over image, girl dropping from top to bottom.
Sound effect: Girl shouting " ah~"
Frame 2: Showing the real identity of the performer is actually a male was playing the female character. In here will be explain some of the history of the Kabuki. The audience included the dreamer got shocked. Some faint and some run away.
Interaction: Mouse over image, play sound effect.
Sound effect: Audience shout, some running sound.

End of Chapter 1

In Chapter 2

This story is about Baku has met a boy character who started to change Baku's personality.

Top left (Panel 1)
Bottom left (Panel 2)
Top right (Panel 3)
Bottom right(Panel 4)

Panel 1: Is another midnight, Baku came out to start his "entertainment" suddenly he saw the light from the alley that grab his attention.

Interaction: Click on the light to next panel.

Sound effect: Quiet sound with cricket sound.

Panel 2: There was a house with the light on, Baku was very curious and have a peek of the outside of the house. He saw three characters, the father, the mother and the son. They are living in very worse environment, worn out house.The father has fall sick and sleeping on his bed. The mother was crying because of her hushband serious sick. The son was feeling depressed. 

Interaction: Click on the son to next panel. Mouse over the father & mother , play different sound effect.

Sound effect: Father breathless sound, mother sob sound.

Panel 3: Baku saw the kid was fall asleep and he smile evily and started to enter to the boy's dream.

Interaction: Click on the son to enter his dream.

Sound effect: The son sleeping sound

Panel 4: The son name Yoshi. In Yoshi dream, Baku saw he and his father were playing kite happily on the field. 

Interaction: Click on the kite to next panel.

Sound effect: Windy sound.

Panel 5: Suddenly, there were thunderstorm and rain.

Interaction: Mouse over, play sound effect.

Sound effect: Raining and thunderstorm sound

Panel 6: Yoshi kite has broken by the thunderstorm

Interaction: Mouse over, rope broken

Sound effect: rope broken sound, windy sound.

Panel 7: The kite flies to far far away in the forest. 

Interaction: Mouse over, kite flies towards the forest.

Sound effect: Windy sound

Panel 8: Yoshi's father try to comfort the crying Yoshi

Interaction: N/A

Sound effect: Yoshi crying sound

Top left (Panel 9)
Top right (Panel 10)
Bottom left (Panel 11)
Bottom right(Panel 12)

Panel 9: The father ask Yoshi to stay and he went to chase back the kite, Yoshi was very scare and doesn't want the father went away.

Interaction: Mouse over father, father gone away

Sound effect: Yoshi sob.

Panel 10: The day getting darker and darker, Yoshi father haven't back, the rain getting heavier and heavier. Yoshi found a cave and hide inside. He hugging his knee and wait for his father to back.

Interaction: Having transition from hugging knee to the next panel.

Sound effect: Raining sound.

Panel 11: Yoshi woke up by his father cough. His father passed him the aspiration as taking care of his mother and live positively in the future. 

Interaction: Click on the father to view the aspiration.

Sound effect: Father mumbling sound.

Panel 12: After Yoshi father has passed away, few months alter.

Interaction: N/A

Sound effect: N/A

Panel 13: After Yoshi father passed away, Yoshi live happily and work hard to get money to take care of his mother.

Interaction: Mouse over Yoshi washing dishes, bubble appear.

Sound effect: Night market sound, washing dishes sound.

Panel 14: Baku in the corner saw the overall process, although Baku saw Yoshi live happily but he know that he himself very unhappy , having nightmare everynight. However Yoshi choose to stay positive because is his father aspiration.He does not want to disapoint his father. 

Interaction: Click on Baku to continue to next panel

Sound effect:N/A

Panel 15: This process reminds Baku's childhood, start Chapter 3.

Interaction:Click on Baku to continue to the next chapter.

Sound effect:N/A

End of Chapter 2

In Chapter 3 

This chapter introduce Baku's childhood, how Baku became bad and what's happened in his childhood.

This overall flash back scene will be delivering in the traditional Japan sumi e calligraphy scroll. Story will merge it together to form a long horizontal montage scenes.

1. A Monk is resting under a tree in the forest after the long journey. He was drinking water beside a river. 

Interaction: Mouse over the bubble, play sound effect

Sound effect: Some baby crying sound.

2. Suddenly the monk heard a sound behind the forest.

3. The monk felt curious and he found the baby Baku in the forest, with wounds every on his body.

Interaction: Click on grass, grass open

Sound effect:Grass sound, baby Baku crying sound

4. The monk decide to take Baku back to the temple and start to adopt Baku

Interaction: Click on monk , the monk walk to the temple.

Sound effect: N/A

5. The monk play with Baku and their relationship became more and more close.Playing ball with Baku.

Interaction: Click on the ball or mouse over, ball goes toward Baku

Sound effect: Happy sound

6. Baku was helping Monk to clean up the temple, everyone likes him and praise him .

Interaction: Mouse over people clapping, play sound effect.

Sound effect: Clapping sound

7. One day, the monk found the real identity of Baku.

Interaction: Mouse over book, flying

Sound effect: magical sound effect

8. Although the monk know the real identity of Baku but he doesn't dislike Baku and he kept the secret.

Interaction:N/A

Sound effect: N/A

9. Until one day, the monk was getting older and sick. Baku has grown up and stay beside the monk. The monk ask Baku to stay strong and told him he has this ability to enter to people's dream to help people against nightmare.

Interaction: Click on the monk to view the speech bubble.

Sound effect: Baku crying sound

10. After monk has passed away. Baku became very depressed, he cried everynight and miss the monk every day.

Interaction: Mouse over , monk appear in the sky

Sound effect: depress music, crying sound

11. He found that everyone was dislike him , bullied him and asked him to get away from the town.

Interaction: Mouse over, stone throwing towards Baku.

Sound effect: Laugh sound, stone throwing sound

12. After that, Baku felt very angry and he became evil. He started to use his ability to do bad things which is disturb people dreams to become nightmare. 

Interaction: User mouse over on the scroller to scroll to left to view more scenes.

Sound effect: Background music

End of chapter 3

In Chapter 4

This chapter showed that Baku has realized what he did was wrong, after he met this character Yoshi and they become good friends, and from there Baku has change and started to use his ability to help people against nightmare.

Panel 1: The chapter will began with Yoshi dream. Baku has entered Yoshi dream again and in this dream, Yoshi was wondering in the field and suddenly he heard puppy dog sound.

Panel 2: Yoshi saw a puppy has drop in the river. He was trying to save the puppy

Panel 3: Yoshi saved the puppy.

Panel 4: Suddenly the puppy has became a monster and wanted to eat Yoshi.

 Panel 5: Yoshi was trying to escape
Panel 6: At this moment, Baku stood out and protect Yoshi and fight back to the monster puppy.
Panel 7 : The monster puppy has escape away. Yoshi was very thankful for Baku of saving him from danger.
Panel 8 : Yoshi petting Baku's head. They became friends.

Panel 9-11( Uncompleted scenes):

After the dream, Yoshi has told everyone about Baku. Some of the citizen dislike Baku because he was the monster that always disturb their dreams. However Yoshi was trying to persuade them and gain back their confidence, one of the citizen that agree with Yoshi and from there more and more citizen slowly accept Baku and starting to talk about Baku.

From that day, Baku are the famous mythology creature that protect everyone dreams and keeping them safe from nightmare.

End of story

Explore Adobe Edge

A day to explore Adobe Edge software. 

I have not experience of using Adobe Edge before, therefore learning from tutorials video in Youtube is very helpful for me. I found few tutorials video that very helpful.

Source from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=562rhra1C0M

I found this tutorial has clear instruction for beginner like me to understand how to animate in Adobe Edge Animation. In this tutorial, I learn how to animate by pressing the toggle pin. It is very similar to Adobe After Effect. I found I can easily handle this software.

Link: https://helpx.adobe.com/dreamweaver/how-to/integrate-edge-animate.html

Another important tutorial is to integrate the files from Adobe Edge into Adobe Dreamweaver. The tutorial above provided step by step instruction and also free demo files for me to download. 

Free demo file that downloaded.

Kabuki & The idea

Instead of using Bon Odori in one of the story , I decided to change it to Kabuki dance as it helps comes out with more interesting ideas and introduce some of the culture in Japan.

In this post, I will be trace back only some Kabuki theatre history , what is the fact of the Kabuki dance and from that I found some interesting points and the inspiration of building story in one of the scenes in this project.

From the research article of the overview about Kabuki in web-japan.org ,Kabuki is one of the three major classical theatre in Japan. Kabuki is designed for entertainment, often spectacular, effects. This classical theatre has started few centuries ago since the year of 1603. While I glance through the history of Kabuki research in Wikipedia, Kabuki had quite complicated transform from male and female actor. 

In the traditional Kabuki, female performers played both men and women role, however it gone viral and got banned due to the augmented of prostitution performance. Therefore, after women got banned in dancing Kabuki, male performers were played the both men and women role. In this era, male performers were called yaro-kabuki. However , in this decades, young (adolescent) men were preferred for women's roles due to their less masculine appearance and the higher pitch of their voices compared to adult men. Due to the erotic context and performance were so ribald, these Kabuki performers were got banned too. After all the transformation of era and the world war II, the Kabuki performers today is both equal for both female and male and avoid of prostitution.

Here is the video that I found that introduce of Kabuki dance. I really get shocked when I found out the history of Kabuki performance, as male can be play the women role and acting the elegance gesture or body movement just same as women. 

Other than that, I found more interesting information about Kabuki in unesco.org.

"Kabuki plays are about historical events and moral conflict in relationships of the heart. The actors speak in a monotone voice and are accompanied by traditional instruments. The Kabuki stage is equipped with several gadgets, such as revolving stages and trapdoors through which the actors can appear and disappear. Another speciality of the Kabuki stage is a footbridge (hanamichi) that extends into the audience. Important characteristics of Kabuki theatre include its particular music, costumes, stage devices and props as well as specific plays, language and acting styles, such as the mie, in which the actor holds a characteristic pose to establish his character. Keshÿ, the particular make-up, provides an element of style easily recognizable even by those unfamiliar with the art form. 

After 1868, when Japan opened to Western influence, actors strove to heighten the reputation of Kabuki among the upper classes and to adapt the traditional styles to modern tastes. Today, Kabuki is the most popular of the traditional styles of Japanese drama."

Therefore, after research about Kabuki and found that interesting point of male playing the women role in Kabuki, I want to implement this to the story when the dream eater "Baku" this character sabotage human's dream. This idea will appear in the second dream that Baku sabotage, I want to make a twist about this Kabuki dance in the story. 

In the story of this project , in one of the dreams, there are Kabuki stage and one performer were dancing in the stage just like the video showed in above. This performer will be cover by the fan, all the audience will not know this performer real identity is a male playing the role of women Kabuki. However, this performer were depicted in very pretty and elegance appearance, while all the audience are male. Until there are some interaction that Baku needs to sabotage this dream , at the end of the story user might get to know the real identity of that Kabuki dancer or either they will led to another outcome which is the

Noppera-bō(the faceless ghost).

The twist is, the dreamer actually thought that he has entered to a women Kabuki as from the research the history of women Kabuki that plays erotic themes/prostitutions. Therefore, audiences included the dreamer were very excited about it. Baku as the dream destroyer were tried to unfulfilled this dreamer's dream, he was tried to sabotage the dreams as brought out the real identity of this Kabuki performers is actually a male that playing the women role. 

As came to the end of the scene, there will be some sharing knowledge to introduce this Kabuki for the user.

References

Angelparfait, (2008). tamasaburo kabuki dance. [Online Video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABV86sCZ0FQ [Accessed 1 Oct. 2014].

Section, U. (2014). UNESCO Culture Sector - Intangible Heritage - 2003 Convention :. [Online] Unesco.org. Available at: http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/RL/00163 [Accessed 1 Oct. 2014].

Web-japan.org, (n.d.). About Kabuki. [Online] Available at: http://web-japan.org/museum/kabuki/about_ka.html [Accessed 1 Oct. 2014].

Prospectus Feedback

I had received my prospectus feedback from Sweii. I realized the rational and the intend of my final year project is not clear enough. Therefore, I have do some review about the overall project to make sure everything is strong and clear. 

The starting idea of this project is more relevant to personal experience. As a friend around me who has lost her loves one and always having nightmare. One of the issues that cause nightmare is she always having negative thought. However, we might get nightmare from other causes as well such as sleep disorder, stress and so on. While from this "nightmare" perspective, I have done a lot of research until I found Baku which is a mythology creature from Japanese folklore. Baku having dream-eating abilities and people believe that it is a mascot that they place it in their house to against nightmare. I found Baku is a very interesting creature that only happens in our dream that it will protect us in our belief. Therefore, from this mythology creature  and the story of my friend that have inspired and helped me to expand on building a fantasy story.

An article by San noted, "If you are prone to having nightmares, the cause is always the presence of several “strong” fear-based vibrations in you that have not been released from your energy space. A nightmare is an indication of a strong negative vibration, as compared to a “bad dream” which is relatively less intense."

In Japanese folklore, Baku is against to nightmare, it helps people to eat up all the bad dreams but in my Baku's story, I have implemented my friend's story and  made a twist character as this Baku character who became depressed after his master death and got bullied by others. He became very depressed and angry at the same time and from that his personality has change to bad. He started to build out nightmare to the others and he found himself very enjoying doing it. 

In the research in Pindariherbfarm.com, what author has noted is,

"If our negative emotions are very strong then we may be unable to resist acting out their telepathic thoughts, even if doing so is against our "belief" or mental programming. We may be feeling so "angry" that we have no chance to "choose" and in an instant we have perpetrated the "thoughtless" dark deed. We then "find"that we have said or done something that we had not initially intended to do.

Alternatively, when negative energy is directed in the painful "hitting" of ourself or others, it causes a negative energy flow that possibly has a detrimental effect at a later date on the biological self. Whether we are abusing self or others, the flow of that energy darkens our vibrational essence."

When we are in negative emotions, we couldn't control our behavior or mindset and it might cause us to hurt ourself or other else. The only way to get rid from it is to face the problem and stay consciously. 

San noted that the unconscious instinct of human mind is get rid from it and it create fear. However, it fuel up the power of fear in human who unwilling to face up this, this thoughts or fear that causing the production of graphic nightmares. People who misunderstand how realities get created think that staying aware of a fearful thought will cause the manifestation of it, but in truth when you bring a “conscious awareness” to a fear-based thought you are essentially not allowing it to influence your vibration, and thus it does not become a player in attracting your reality. Fears that you try to run away from are the ones that have the capacity to become a point of attraction, in some way, because, unless a negative vibration is dissolved in the wisdom/intelligence of your awareness, its energy keeps attracting some form of manifestations onto it.

Because of that, at the end of story, Baku has met a character who has similar situation but with positive thought and this is how it  change and twist back to the real Baku identity as  from creating nightmare/giving fear to other else to help people against nightmare/create happiness. 

I hope to use this story to spread out the moral value for people who depressed , try to get rid from the negative thought and mix with someone who are enthusiasm in life, especially I have targeted on teenager. The reason of targeting them is because they are still young and might experience depression that they might not handle well. (Look for target audience post, click Here)

This story might not fully help them get rid from depressed but a message for them to encourage them to have a positive mind when they are in the worse situation and develop self-confidence for the user.

Other than that, this story has few little entertainment input to attract user and gain user experience. 

References

Calmdownmind.com, (2011). What Is The Cause of Nightmares?. [online] Available at: http://www.calmdownmind.com/what-is-the-cause-of-nightmares/ [Accessed 5 Nov. 2014].

Pindariherbfarm.com, (n.d.). Negative emotions, negative thoughts and disease. [online] Available at: http://www.pindariherbfarm.com/healing/disease.htm [Accessed 5 Nov. 2014].