The movie that help me see who I am

What do you first say when you want to tell your friends or the whole world that you have something grand or life changing to say?

I guess by saying it from your heart.

Rise of the Guardians is a movie that I will cherrish in my heart for eternity because of the message it spoke to me.

Jack Frost a boy who was lost, couldn't remember who he was and most of all his wonder, and why no one could see him. The reason: No one believed in him because he didn't believe in himself and therefore, he forgot who he really was.

Why did the man in the moon believe in Jack Frost? Is because even though Jack lost his way, there was someone who believed in him.

Now Jack was the person in this film that spoke to my heart the most, but other characters such as the Man in the Moon and The Boogeyman also played a part.

Jack Frost spoke to me because, well, I have been like him for a long time. At times I cruised through life putting on a happy face just to show others that I was happy; doing awesome stuff to get a smile or a yeah man, but when the happiness died down, I was the unhappy me again. Then I start to think, who am I really?

Then through the film Jack is encouraged, he dares to try and discover something about himself at what the Boogeyman had, then it took the last person in the world to help him remember who he is and finally he started to believe in himself and therefore, he became visible.

Like Jack I lived my life for a long time trying to work out who I am, putting on a face to make people see that I am happy, but when I was alone my fear and emptiness came back. I was unhappy. It took the Rise of the Guardians, to remind me who I am. I was reminded to the time I was a kid climbing up onto my parents roof, had cousins and friends all around, and my goal was to jump onto a trampoline below, and I did it. I jumped off. I DARED to jump off. But why, what made me believe in climbing up to a height where I knew the risk, but I also knew that I could do it.

I did it because I believe in myself. I had a daring spirit, but most of all I was different. All these lost years, I wondered why I was so different. All I can think of and now believe, I was born to be different and dared to do what others seems dangerous. It took this film to help me remember what my centre is and who I really am and so, now that I can learn to believe in myself more, people will finally see...me!

"You are the light of the world. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl, instead it is placed on its stand, so it shines in the whole room. Then those who see, will marvel and praise the one who is in heaven." Jesus

This brings me to what the Man in the Moon represented for me.

The Man in the Moon believes in everyone, gives life and gives to those accordingly. It helped Jack Frost to become who he is and gave him his abilities. The man in the moon didn't speak, it was like he was invisible, but also visible as the moon. To me, the Man in the Moon figure is God. He didn't speak verbally, but at times he showed the way and at times he used others. The man in the moon didn't just work in the extra-ordinary, but in the ordinary.

Why the man in the moon (God) didn't answer Jack Frost when he asked? A lot of the time, that is exactly happens when we talk to God. We hear no verbal communication, but the man in the moon (God) speaks to us at a right and appointed time. When we ask at that time when we want means the answer isn't ready yet or not the right time or we are not in the right attitude for the answer. 

He believed in Jack Frost. Like Jack when he fell into the freezing water and at life's end the man in the moon changed Jack from an ordinary person into the person the Man in the Moon (God) believed in.

As soon as Jack Frost became invisble to being seen be that last kid, with my observation skills I learnt at JMC Academy in Story 2, I immediately saw a story I can do.

This is what I wrote down,'You believe in me? Then I will believe in you. God wants people to believe in him, but people can't see Him because he is invisible, so how can people believe in God? He send his son Jesus. Whoever believes in Jesus, will believe in God.'

This is where I was filled with joy and the trigger of looking into my past, like Jack Frost, and find the event that showed who I am.

As for the boogeyman, he is exactly like the character in Rise of the Guardians who goes out to bring fear and doubt to all of us. To me, the Boogeyman represents, The Devil/Satan. Who else fits this role as the villian, who wants nothing else, but to destroy the Man in the Moon and his creation.

Now that I can learn to believe in myself again and found who I am ment to be and believe in what the Man in the Moon (God) believes who I am, I don't need to be afraid of the boogeyman (The Devil/Satan) because of the strength that is in me.

I guess you can say this is my testimony, the words from my heart.

This is the day that the man in the moon (the Lord) has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Rise of the Guardians is a movie that has changed my life. Maybe it can change your life too.

- Ben William Lines -

Finding Dory PIXAR Release for 2015

Finding Dory (2015)

Well, Ellen has been in anticipation for 10 years waiting to reprise her role as Dory and finally her wait is over.

The sequel to Finding Nemo is called FINDING DORY.

For more officially news about this movie go to - http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/movies/pixar-to-do-finding-nemo-sequel-called-finding-dory-with-ellen-degeneres/story-e6frfmvr-1226611312276

EXERCISE 3 - Fisbo monologue

          EXT. STARTING LINE/ANNUAL HARRINGTON RIVER RACE - DAY

                              FISBO

                    Today is the Harrington Annual Boat

                    Race. Jesse and I are always racing

                    every year. so far, she has won 3

                    years in a row. Now, it is my turn.

                    With these new engines, I can beat

                    her on that last bend.

My method of starting a story

Whenever I am stuck for an idea, one of my methods of coming up with something is I have a list of characters, a list of objectives/goals and a list of things that can be an Obstacle/Conflict for the character/s.

For example:

Characters:
Boy, girl, fox, dog, cat etc etc.

Objective/Goals:
Rainbow, forest, house, castle, cake etc etc

Obstacles:
Log, boy, girl, fox, tree, river etc etc

So for instances, I'll grab a girl and a fox from the character list, Rainbow and cake from Objective/Goal list and River from Obstacle/Conflict list.

"A girl is walking down a road and sees a rainbow ahead. She becomes excited and runs towards it.

'Oh owe', she says as she stops and sees that there is a river in her way. The rainbow is on the other side.

'How am I going to get across?' says the girl.

She turns and sees a fox on a raft coming down the river. The fox sees the girl.

'Hello? Are you wanting to cross to see the rainbow?' says the fox.

'Why yes, sir!' says the girl.

'Well, that will be 5 tokens please!' says the fox.

The girl becomes sad because she doesn't have 5 tokens.

'Oh, I don't have 5 tokens Mr Fox. I really, really want to see the rainbow.' says the girl to the fox. The fox sees the girl has a cake.

'I see you have a cake. I really, really love cake. Let me have a piece and I'll take you across to see the rainbow.' says the fox.

Happy again, she gives the fox a piece of her cake. The fox takes her on his raft and rows over to the other side of the river. The girl gets off and visits the rainbow."

EXERCISE 2 - FISBO: Believing is winning

          EXT. HARRINGTON RIVER/STARTING LINE - DAY

          It is a beautiful day for the annual Harrington river race.

          FISBO THE FISHING BOAT, JESSE THE FISHING BOAT, PETER

          PADDLE-BOAT and TERRY THE TRAWLER are lined up and ready.

          Fisbo turns to Jesse.

                              FISBO

                    Are you going to win again Jesse?

          Jesse smiles with a cheeky grin.

                              JESSE

                    Just like last year and the year

                    before that Fisbo. Why are you

                    going to win?

          Fisbo revs up his new installed engines.

                              FISBO

                    With these engines I hope so.

          Jesse giggles. MR FREDRICK is at the waters edge.

                              MR FREDRICK

                    Are you ready racers? Get ready!

                    Get set!!

          Mr Fredrick holds up a flag.

                              MR FREDRICK (CONT)

                    GO!!!

          Mr Fredrick swings the flag. All racers head towards the

          finish line.

         

         

EXERCISE 1_FISBO - Friends forever

          EXT. HARRINGTON RIVER - DAY

          PETER THE PADDLE-BOAT is travelling slowly up the river. He

          is looking down, something is bothering him. FISBO moves up

          beside him.

                              FISBO

                    Heyya Peter!

                              PETER

                    oh, what do you want?

                              FISBO

                    Is there something wrong?

          Peter has a frown on his face. Fisbo is in thought. FROG

          looks straight at Peter.

                              FISBO(CONT)

                    I bet I can cheer you up?

          Peter turns and heads away from Fisbo and Frog. Fisbo and

          Frog look at each other.

                              FISBO

                    Gee, what's wrong with him today?

                             

Bob the battleship sketches

 

 

 

 

 

Bob the battleship sketches

Here are some sketches I did to get an idea of his character. I researched some battleships on Google to observe the design and look. In the image above, the design on the top right is getting close to the look I want Bob to be.

As you can see in the image above there is a mouth on the side and front of the ship, I wasn't sure which best suit to what I was looking for, but I eventually leaned towards the mouth at the front.

Fisbo the Fishing Boat - Sea of thieves - Story 1 Part 1

It’s a beautiful day on the river near Harrington, Fisbo and Mr Fredrick are heading out to the coast to do some fishing. Bob the battleship sees Fisbo.

BOB

Good morning Fisbo! And good morning to you Mr Fredrick.

MR FREDRICK AND FISBO

Good morning Bob!

FISBO

Have you caught any naughty boats today?

Bob chuckles.

BOB

Not yet young fellow

Bob acts like he is a secret agent looking left to right with his gun turrets pointing right to left. FISBO smiles and giggles.

But I am ready for anyone who wants to be naughty.

MR FREDRICK joins in the laugh.

MR FREDRICK

Well secret agent, we had best be off. Those fish ain’t jumping

in the boat by themselves.

BOB smiles.

BOB

Enjoy your day Mr Fredrick. You too Fisbo.

BOB squints looking left to right and then looks at Fisbo

Hey? If you see anyone being naughty you let me know. OK?!

FISBO

Will do!

Fisbo and Mr Fredrick head out to the coastline.

My name is Fisbo

My name is Fisbo. I live on the river near Harringtion and my owner is Mr Fredrick. He and my best friend Frog go out catching fish every day. The river is my favourite place and I get to see my other boat friends too. Terry the tugboat – he helps stranded vessels, Jesse the fishing boat – she and I race when we get the chance, Peter Paddle boat – always tired and grumpy, Tom the trawler – he is very brave, he gets to go out to sea and crash through the big waves and Bob the Battleship – always patrolling making sure no one is naughty.

One thing I don’t like is floods. Once I was coming home from picking up a crate for Mr Fredrick and a flood came and a log crashed into my hull. I had a big hole, but Mr Fredrick said it was just a small crack. I was still really really scared.

Thank goodness for my best friend, Frog. He always makes me happy.

Say hello to FISBO

FISBO The Fishing Boat

A character idea I developed from one of my previous stories posted here on my blog about a legendary fishing boat. Although, I didn't want Fisbo to be an old boat, I wanted him to be admired by children. In the story of the 'Legend on the Clarence', the boat survives all major floods in its time and a strong little boat. I wanted to adopt the idea of Fisbo being a little boat, but I thought the flood concept could be a flaw of Fisbo.

"FISBO the fishing boat is a cute little boat owned by Shipbuilder Mr Fredrick in Harrington. He goes out catching fish everyday and is a really friendly boat. Fisbo's best friend is FROG, a young green frog who Fisbo rescued from a floating signpost in the middle of the river.

One thing that Fisbo doesn't like is floods.

One previous day, Fisbo crossed the river with Frog to pick up a crate and bring it back to Harrington. As Fisbo was making his way back across the river, a flood came and a log rammed his hull. The log put a hole in Fisbo's hull and he started to sink, but luckily he just arrived to the dock. Mr Fredrick quickly tied him down so he wouldn't float away. From that day on Fisbo became afraid of floods."

He likes the colour blue and is very friendly. Fisbo has other boat friends on the river near Harrington: BILL THE TUGBOAT, JESSE THE FISHING BOAT, GUS THE PADDLE-BOAT AND BOB THE TRAWLER. Occasionally, Fisbo will see STEVE THE BATTLESHIP when out deep sea fishing.

My iconic image for 'Legend on the Clarence'

Here is my iconic image for Story 2 class.

This is a moment that the legendary fishing boat rescues 12 flood victims on the river near Taree NSW 1950.

This story is only fictional. We were to observe our environment and find things that would trigger a story idea. I was on my way into Sydney CBD on March 8, 2013 and I saw a Countrylink advertisment. In this picture was the Clarence River with a fishing boat on the far right. The boat triggered an idea for a good story.

The story I came up with:

"In the the early 1900's, the community of Grafton needed a fishing boat to bring in food for the area. A member of the community volunteered to build the boat because he comes from a line of shipbuilders. The man put his love and dedication into the fishing boat. Upon completion of the vessel, the man dies of a heart attack. The new boat is given to the community, but the mayor of Grafton passes it back to the family of the man who built the boat; as long as the family dedicates their services to the community by fishing for the local area. The family agree and the family fishing business starts in the area.

The boat becomes legend in the area as it has survives major floods and lasts longer than any vessel every made in the area. Stories are told in the district that the spirit of the man who built the boat is what keeps the boat alive. The family who own the boat believe it also. In 1950, a major flood hits the area, where 1000 cattle drowned and the vessel rescued 12 flood victims near Taree.'

This is what came out of a simple one photographic image. I'm pleased with this movie idea.

I created this image in Photoshop. I gathered some images that I needed from the internet I then manipulated them to create the image you see. The boat in the image I created from scratch, I used reference photos for the boat.

A Picture Speaks A Thousand Words

My idea for this post was to look on the internet for an image because I believe story ideas can come from a simple picture/ photograph.

I found this image because I found it an interesting piece that can be an idea for family or mother and daughter story.

In this image, the mother watches her child, pondering on the beautiful memories when she first came into the world, seeing her first steps or the day her daughter first spoke the word, 'mummy!'

Looking at the child, she looks as if her mind is elsewhere. What is she thinking about? Mum and dad? School? Her friends? She looks content and comfortable.

This image is a beautiful picture of a mother and daughters love for one another. Love is grand! Love makes the world go round.

Let's make some interesting story ideas out of this image.

What if this is the last happy moment together as mother and daughter, and tomorrow the daughter is killed by a drunk driver as she is crossing the road to go to school?

What if this is the last happy moment together and tomorrow the mother is shot dead in a bank heist?

Maybe this is a shot moments before their home is raided by a group of drug dealers looking for the husband of the mother; and the mother and daughter are taken to a secret location and then held from ransom, and the husband has to find a way to pay the money, or his family will be killed.

I could go on and on picking out ideas for a story and I have only just used one photograph. Imagine the possiblities in many other pictures like this one.

Since this post, I believe a photograph is a great place to spark an idea for a story.

Wasp in the train

Wasp On a Train

March 8, 2013 - Observation for story ideas

On a different train travelling home. At one station, a wasp enters the train. Hmmm, I watch him for a while and then I decide to move to the next carriage.

I opened the doors between the carriages, walked through and sat down. Suddenly I sense a little anxiety, 'Hope that wasp doesn't follow' I say to myself. The doors were taking time to close. I wanted the doors closed, so the wasp doesn't come in.

'Close damn it, close.' I say in my mind.

The doors slowly close. 'Hurry up, damn it!'

I imagined that I was someone running away from a monster. I was afraid and allergic to this monster. If I let it get me, I will surely die. So here I am, I got away from the monster and I am sitting down. Although, I can hear him, but too afraid to look.

The only thing that stands between me, my freedom and the monster is the closing of these doors.

The doors are wide open. 'Come on damn it!' I hear the screeching of the monster. The doors start to close. You can sense the coming freedom and you can sense the coming monster at the same time. You can see the freedom coming, but you don't know when the monster will appear.

Airport Tunnel story idea

Airport Tunnel Story Idea

March 8, 2013 - Story idea - Observation for story - Trigger for story

I was on a train heading home from the city (Sydney). The train that I was on was heading to Revesby and I planned to travel to Wolli Creek to catch another train to Penshurst. This train travel through the airport tunnel.

The train enter the tunnel and I got this vision. We are watching the train enter the tunnel, we continue looking at the same shot. 5 seconds later there is a loud bang. We hold this image of the tunnel entrance.

Do we immediately think the train has exploded? Something has happen to the train comes into mind. The train entered the tunnel, then 5 seconds later we hear an explosion. It has to be the train!

What if, it was a bomb exploding in the tunnel? If so, where did the bomb come from? Who put it there? And why?

A bomb doesn't just simply show up in a tunnel. Someone had to put it there.

It couldn't of been some Joe Blow of the street, it could of only been someone with the knowledge of a bomb. Or could it? Maybe that someone used an ordinary Joe Blow to plant the bomb. Do his dirty work. Maybe Joe Blow is the bomber.

I thought this was an interesting trigger for a story.

Countrylink Grafton poster on train

Countrylink advertisement for Grafton

March 8, 2013 - Story ideas - Observation for story

I was on the train into the city from Penshurst and I saw a Countrylink ad advertising Grafton. The image is of the Clarence River in Grafton and a boat is docked to the shoreline.

What interested me in this image was the boat. The boat looked old and been in service for decades, been through all the major floods and survived.

What is its story? What has it been through?

When I saw this image, I could see a story of a legendary boat that has been through considerable odds and has survived to this day. Any other boat would of sunk, broke apart or just simply gave up the ghost. No this boat was built by a dedicated ship builder in early 1900's and has been passed down from generation to generation. Used to rescue flood victims on the Clarence and used to haul fish.