Animorphs: A Second Chance, the Animated Series

Here, I want to discuss two seperate topics that somewhat mesh together.

Topic 1: Who the episodes will center around.

The logical answer to this, of course, is Animorphs. But here's the thing: though the Antis make good antagonists, they're also a whole mix of character types, some of which aren't really antagonists as much as antiheroes. Not to mention, it brings a whole new perspective when you see it through their point of view. What I would like to see is both the Anis and the Antis centering, both being a group of protagonists antagonizing each other, but I realize we could hit some snags like that.


Which brings us to Topic 2: How we're going to format the episodes and writing style.

Basically what I'm thinking is that we'll keep this pretty much like the books. Each episode will be from a different character's point of view, and we'll cycle this a certain way. OR-- and this will be much simpler and easier-- we could cycle team POVs. Ani, Anti, Ani, Anti, lather rinse repeat. This would be soft on the writers, and we probably wouldn't have much complication with it. But I want to know your opinions on this.


---


Now, I would REALLY appreciate your thoughts and comments. Tell me if you'd prefer it one way or the other, and if you have a better way of doing things please do not hesitate to tell me.

I think Anti, Ani, Anti, Ani, and so on would be fine. But see what the writers think ; I only have to edit there work. See what'd be easiest for them, and the most effective.

capnnerefir wrote:Swapping between Anis and Antis is fine, but I think it might be better to do so within the episodes rather than switching every other one (with allowances for the necessary Yeerk stuff).

I've got no idea how long you're expecting an episode to be, so I'll pretend this is an ordinary TV show and shoot for a 20 minute runtime. We'd do 5 minutes of Anis, 5 minutes of Antis, 5 more minutes of Anis, and then finish it up with the last 5 minutes for Antis, making the necessary allowances for things like Yeerks, non-affiliated individuals, etc. Add water and adjust times as needed.

I think this would give the whole thing a more integrated feeling and make it more clear that the Anis and Antis are working simultaneously in the same space; I think switching on and off every other episode or so would make them feel less connected.

Now, I'm not certain how practical this would be to produce, but I'm confident that, writing-wise, it wouldn't be too hard to pull off.

On a similar note, as a second layer to the usual switching of anis and antis, I think some episodes will/should probably focus more on one particular member of each team. Say, the first episode alternates between Jake and David, the next between Rachel and Adam/Alice, etc.

That's, actually, a much better idea then I originally planned. xDD
I like that. If enough people agree, that's what we'll go with. ^^

Well, the only reason the Antis are really antagonists are because we're prone to seeing them that way after having read the books. We have it in our systems to love Jake and the Animorphs, but how different are the Antimorphs really? They still fight the yeerks, they just also have a vendetta against the Animorphs and fight them. The Anti's may be the cause of that fight - though getting to that conclusion is a lot of back and forth from one to the other - both teams are relatively the same. I really like the term Anti-Heros for them because they're protagonists in our fight with the yeerks and antagonists towards the Anis.

That said, I feel like you need to go back and forth during the episodes. You need to show what one team is doing, but also show how the other team reacts to that if a reaction is needed. Kind of like a conversation. Chronologically things will just flow better if you don't try to focus on one team only in each episode.

I don't know about trying to do a character POV. With books that works, but with TV about all you can do is maybe have that character's thoughts but not those of others. You really don't try to shoot a movie or TV episode from the literal POV (meaning through the eyes) of a character. You need to be able to do more with the shots or they just get boring (Little tip from my digital video class).

------

Next thing, though I kind of previously covered it, who the episodes will focus on. Mentally when I think of this I think of the show Charmed. You had several main characters in that show. How did they work not focusing too much on a specific character? By giving each one their moment in the limelight now and then. Single episodes would often focus most directly on the actions of one or two sisters, while others would split the focus between all three or even between some or all of the sisters and another less important character. Even characters who were only in for one episode got their moments, but in those cases the whole episode kind of centered around them in its own way. And, of course, the villains too got their moments if they were big enough

I'm sure other shows do this too, but this is the one that came to mind. Anyways, taking that into account and combining it with wanting to rotate between Anis and Antis you kind of want to figure out what the episode will be about and pick the central characters from each group after that. Two episodes in a row could have some of the same central characters, but it all depends on the episode. Yes, make sure you get both groups in each episode, but don't create and rely on a certain rotation of characters. Let the episode plot determine the characters a single episode will focus on.

My two cents

I think It'd work, Hannah.

I like it! I can see it working like that.

(Yeah, I know I am neither writer nor editor. In fact, I'm not even part of the crew. Might as well throw in my opinion anyways, though.)

The question of POV might depend on what's going on. For example, if you have a very emotional moment for the Anis that you just can't wait until the next episode, you may be able to mix in more Animorph than Antimorph. Or if David got in trouble,the Antis may get more time than the Animorphs.
And then there;'s the question of the other faction, the Yeerks.
For the Peave Movement, some time each episode (Say there's not enough idea for Anis/Antis in one episode) you could have the Yeerks get some show time. That way, anyone who plays a Yeerk (Alone or most of the time.) doesn't feel left out.

As for style, maybe team would be a good idea unless you are trying to show deep emotion. (As I said before, Ty's death or David possibly getting grabbed. Relationship issues are also a reason to focus on one or two characters.) If there are, say, morale and leadership problems going on in a team, the entire team could get the episode. If nothing extremely dramatic happens, you can cycle.

I interested in any method to be adventitious scratch paper take on the internet. I coalesce tried numerous things and put up with not been moneymaking but I am not booming to defeat down up. It is at this extremely weaken my divertissement! I am amazed at the soup‡on and dynamics of the internet marketing community.