Script your own Cartoon or Movie

Superman flies. Mowgli grins. A pig speaks and a dog identifies a thief. Children live in the land of toys and ice creams. You must have seen one or the other in cartoons or movies.

So how does it all happen? How does it start?

Well, it starts like most things do — with an idea.
A person, or a group of persons, may have an idea.

Then they work upon that idea and create a story around it. A story may be something that one narrates or reads. But you need to do something more if you want to see this story in moving images — on stage or on screen.

Then they go step by step with the story. The development of the story into ‘action and words’ or ‘moving images’, from beginning to end, is called a script.

Now think of the characters of the story. No, do not think about the actors who are going to play the roles. Think about the characters of the story. Where they live, how they behave and talk, who they meet, how they look — all these must be described in the script.

So, the script answers some very basic questions:
What is the story about? (The subject)
When did the events in the story take place? (The time: past, present or future)
Where is the story based? (Country, city/town/village, rich house/poor house)
Who are the people in the story? (The characters)
How do they behave? (Action and words, or dialogues)
Why do they behave as they do? (Background of characters, their circumstances, their dreams and desires)

These questions when answered or described in a steady progression of the story form a script.

Now try your hand at writing a script. Choose your favourite film or cartoon and describe everything that you see or hear in it in great detail. Remember, you should not just describe the words and actions of the characters (for example, “Rajesh picked up his little sister in his arms and said ‘I love you’") but also the colour of their clothes, the kind of house they live in, the view from their window, the season, the time of the day. In short — everything.

And guess what? You just might have written a script!

389 words | 3 minutes
Readability: Grade 5 (10-11 year old children)
Based on Flesch–Kincaid readability scores

Filed under: features
Tags: #cartoon

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