The Night Market Pitch
A cat and his human decide to go to a Chinese night market for the first time.
Early Storyboard Thumbnails and Script
The scene opens with a hand turning the doorknob, and Yun is revealed for the first time. She is exiting her apartment when a furry paw stops the door from closing, and round faced, big eyed Pangpang the cat confidently struts out, begging to come along. Yun considers for a second, and kneels down and opens her bag for him to jump in. Yun and Pangpang exit the complex to an overwhelming faceful of new sights and smells!
Watching the hubbub from the safety of the bag, Pangpang watches the passing scenes: kids playing arcade games, a couple enjoying some snacks together, and an old man performing a song on his Erhu. Pangpang spots a stall with meat being cooked on skewers, and looks up at Yun hopefully, but her attention has been captured...
...by a stall advertising different kinds of girly clothes. He longingly watches the cook skillfully season the meats while Yun flips through racks of shirts. When she begins to leave the stall, he leaps onto her shoulder, pointing at the coveted meat stall, but she turns her attention to another shop with stuffed animals in various sizes. He slumps on her shoulders like a scarf, exasperated. Yun laughs at a chubby cat plushie that looks just like him, annoyed expression and all. Pangpang is not impressed. Suddenly, it begins to pour, and the other night marketers scurry under eaves and roofs. Obviously, Pangpang's devastated.
Physically and emotionally deflated, a wet Pangpang retreats back into the bag and curls up into a ball, hungry and hurt. With a massive angry lump in her side bag, Yun buys an umbrella from a vendor and opens it. She walks to a nearby stand selling grilled squid, and holds up two fingers to the vendor. Cut to a birds eye view of the vendor’s speedy hands grilling, seasoning, and flipping two orders of squid. From inside the bag, Pangpang lifts his head, smelling the aromas coming from outside. He sticks his head out...
...to be greeted by a gleaming, steaming skewered squid in Yun’s hands! His eyes are filled with wonder, and his mouth with drool. Sitting on a covered porch, Pangpang and Yun munch on the delicious morsels.
Pangpang and Yun
TONE and GENRE
The overall tone of the short revolves around wonder. Although Pangpang’s conflicts are very real to him, the overall image will be more cute and playful. Because I want to convey a feeling of wonder, I want the aesthetics of the scenery to really shine through with details, color, and music.
Target Audience
There is no defined audience for “The Night Market”. It includes no adult elements, and is meant to be a lighthearted short that appeals to all ages. It can appeal to those who have been to a night market before with nostalgic scenes and elements, and also depict an enticing adventure to those who haven’t been to one before. If this were to be expanded into a series, I think I would include slice-of-life stories depicting Pangpang’s perspective on daily activities with Yun, such as doing laundry, a spa day for the two of them, or visiting her family on Lunar New Year.
Construction
I will be using Clip Studio Paint EX for the frame animation and painting. I modeled the night market in 3D and will rotoscope so it will be easier to draw the environment.
There will be no dialogue in my short. None of my characters speak, but I will see if I can find ambient talking noise on the platforms for background noise. I will mix all of it in Adobe AfterEffects or Photoshop when I am making my animatic.
Environment 3D Model
This is the 3D model I made that I will be referencing during the making of this animation. The models for the buildings and stalls were found online.
Photo References
