Synopsis brainstorming

Scriptwriting

Synopsis:

A small group of Will-O-Wisps has grown bored due to their repeated failed attempts at pranking humans. One day, while attempting to prank another potential victim, a trail of terrible and pungent odor distracts them. Even though they try to ignore it, the smell is so strong they are unable to focus and decide to follow it out of curiosity. The Will-O-Wisps follow the trail and end up in front of a house. They observe through a window, seeing a human casually eat stinky tofu - which was what’s causing the smell. They continue to watch, seeing the human take out ingredients to cook. The wisps follow the human, using the sky as their own kitchen, creating Mammatus clouds that parallel the human’s own pineapple buns. The human notices the clouds outside and goes out to take a look, as the wisps scramble away, the human catches a glimpse due to their glow. The human leaves a note inviting the wisps in, which they see the next night when they return to watch the human cook. The wisps appear in the kitchen of the human’s house and the human makes red bean ice to share with the wisps along with their help.

Few problems:

How do will-o-wisps control the sky?

The wisps are mischievous fire spirits who dwell in the sky, like stars, their magical powers allow them to control the sky

What’s the timing of everything?

This all happens at night time - even though cooking is obviously seen as a day hobby, the human’s nocturnal routine could indicate their homesickness - being awake when everyone else he knows is also awake, the nighttime setting makes it a little more melancholic and lonely

How does the human showcase homesickness?

Next to a gloomy mood, I could get him to be calling his family while he walks home - there won’t be any spoken dialogue, so he can sigh or just show a forced smile to show his unhappiness while his family is all shown close together and laughing, something could be happening through the screen

Also in their home could be tokens of home - family pictures, street sign decor, transportation collection

How do the wisps show their mischief?

To show the connection from the beginning, the wisps could try to prank the human but fail, and then later be drawn to the same human

They are mischievous, not malicious, so they could be trying to lure the human into a puddle of mud - something dumb but innocent

V.2

A small group of star spirits emerges from the sky every night to try to prank humans to no avail. One night, they attempt to prank a meek-looking human target, attempting to lure him to trip over a puddle of mud using their tail flames. The human is walking home alone while face timing his family. The human mumbles and gives them a forced half-smile while his family jokes on the other end of the line. A crash could be heard over the phone and the family turns the phone over to show them having a family meal. The family waves goodbye and the human hangs up, noticing the lights. He becomes startled and quickly walks away. The spirits sigh at another failed attempt. The human opens a box of stinky tofu and smiles a little before eating them. The strong pungent smell immediately catches the spirits’ attention, they grow curious and decide to follow it.

The spirits follow the smell and end up at the human’s house, watching as he comes through the door and finishes the last tofu, throwing it away. On the wall are pictures of his family and the decor of his home. The human takes out ingredients to cook, and the wisps watch in curiosity and follow him, creating Mammatus clouds that mirror the human’s pineapple buns. The human notices the uncanny similarities of the clouds as he finishes cooking at dawn. He catches a glimpse of the spirits as they hurriedly make their exit and leaves a note for them. The spirits return the next night and the humans invite them in, pouring them a glass of red bean ice. The spirits take a drink and cheer in excitement, making the human smile.

It’s too long, and really overcomplicated but doesn’t encapsulate friendship or homesickness all the way from just the story alone
The wisps need to better show why they want the friendship
Stan needs to better show how food/friendship helps him cope with homesickness

Stan:

There’ll be a shot that shows his home and all the things that remind him of home
There needs to be a scene where eating the food makes him happy
He could look at his decor and smile to show his mood has gotten better
By turning back to the wisps in the final shot, it could show how he feels better with the company of new friends

Wisps:

Maybe there’ll just be one wisp to better show loneliness - it gets left behind on accident
Rainy night, the wisp is trapped outside Stan’s house, and he notices it

Instead of being lonely, the wisp should just stick with being curious

There’s a group of wisps traveling through a park at night
All of them travel in pairs, but there are 13 of them so its the unlucky one, it also gets distracted by the smell of stinky tofu, and then it travels to Stan’s house and the rest follows

V.3:

One night, Stan is walking home through a park while face-timing his family. A horde of will-o-wisps is floating by. Stan hangs up after his call and opens his box of stinky tofu, the pungent smell sparking the curiosity of one of the wisps who follows it back to Stan’s house. The wisp watches Stan cook when it starts to rain. Stan notices its glow and lets it in, the curious wisp offers its help and Stan becomes happy to tell the wisp about his home and enjoy a meal together.

V.4:

One night, Stan is walking home through a park while face-timing his family. A horde of will-o-wisps is floating by. Stan hangs up after his call and opens his box of stinky tofu, the pungent smell sparking the curiosity of one of the wisps who follows it back to Stan’s house. The wisp watches Stan heat up a microwavable meal when it starts to rain. Stan notices its glow and lets it in. The wisp points to a picture of Stan drinking red bean ice and Stan makes the wisp a cup. The wisps’ excitement encourages Stan to also make pineapple buns. Stan shows the wisps his photos and collectibles of things from home.

Storyboarding / animatic

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