Was writing a 5 minute short to be produced as part of the series I've posted about in the past. One thing that I find interesting about animation writing is that I try my best to write it like any normal live action script, but I don't limit myself to the reality of real life limitations. I still try to make my stories believable and practical, but I let the story do what it needs to do for the type of story it is.
So in this particular scene, I was basically copying the concept of going into the Grid in Tron, but I wanted the characters to be portrayed in binary code in the way that they do it in the Matrix when they show the world through Neo's eyes. For me, I often have to over write, since I write in English and the animators don't speak/read English natively. So I often describe things in more detail than you would in a spec. But in this case I could tell that no matter how much I described it they simply weren't going to get it without a visual aid. I literally wrote "Like in the Matrix movies" in the script to end my description, because I just couldn't make it any clearer on my own.
So my challenge, if you will, is without mentioning the Matrix in the description, how would you describe a sequence where a person appears in a world that's essentially a black void with white grid-lines and depicted in 1s and 0s while still maintaining their own clear physical identity/shape?
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I hate to answer a question with a question, but - why can't you mention the Matrix? This: "I was basically copying the concept of going into the Grid in Tron, but I wanted the characters to be portrayed in binary code in the way that they do it in the Matrix when they show the world through Neo's eyes." Made total sense to me. Mind you, reading it, it reads like producer's note to art department, but still, I could see you saying "Matrix-like code" in order to connect the script to the producer's note.
So, here's my go at it -
"A MASKED ATHLETIC BODY runs, jumps, dives into the Arena of Light. Their tight-fitting black suit disappears against the pockets of darkness in the arena except for the glowing striped pattern, head to toe. It does not shimmer, the pattern actively scrolls. The code pattern is the Masked Body."
It can be cleaned, of course, but it stays within four lines.
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You pretty much wrote it in your question.
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it is very important to find a visualization tool to bring your description to a visual consensus oherwise everybody will say 'understood' but they didnt... so
get 3d puppets from daz3d and then use the 3d model character in a soft like stardust https://youtu.be/-JAE4I1BKI8
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Using "The Matrix" as a reference is fine.
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Roman BRuni Very true. I do create visual aids for this specific project. Nothing as intricate as Stardust, as I don't have the time and don't get paid the salary to warrant that much extra effort, but the general concept of storyboarding for the animators is a requirement for this.
on a second thought, I'd like to suggest another approach: write "a black void with white grid-lines and depicted in 1s and 0s while still maintaining their own clear physical identity/shape" as you did, and let the animators and illustrator propose visual back to you - without hint matrix or tron.
there is a possibility someone will invent another wheel... another fire... but only if you 'open' space to creative propositions