Fantastic Voyage OGR

Storytelling & Commission

5th March 2014
By Adam Stone

PHYSARUM POLYCEPHALUM
For the Fantastic Voyage, I
have chosen to explore and
present the reproductive
cycle of Slime Mould. More
specifically; Physarum
Polycephalum.
I have chosen this scenario
because my research into
the cell shows that it a
very organised, interesting
and intelligent organism.

PHYSARUM POLYCEPHALUM
My Research into the
single-celled organism has
shown me that it can
expand to look for food in
the fastest and most
efficient way possible and
retracts and evacuates
when the food dries up.
These facts sparked an
idea in my head

PHYSARUM POLYCEPHALUM
Due to this natural intelligence I thought that I could portray a kind
of Cartoony feel that would be aimed at the ages of around 7-10. It
would show the slime mould as a sophisticated society with heroes
known as Slimestronaughts getting their destination, building a
command centre/city and conquering the terrain and taking down the
evil characters (food) thats there before moving on to the next
place/episode. The possible repetition of a series would really get the
basics of a cell cycle printed into the child's mind: being that the
opening sequence would show Syngamy and the ending would show
meiosis and how it forms into a spores to colonise a new land.

THE SLIMESTRONAUGHT
These little characters
would represent the
haploid cells (amoeboid
cells) that go out looking
for another to join
together and form a new
zygote (syngamy) and make
a new command centre
(feeding plasmodium)

THE SLIMESTRONAUGHT
Once the food dries up all
of the little characters
come back to the command
centre, rise up and multiply
(meiosis), then eject escape
pods (spores) ready to
colonise a new land.

VISUAL CONCEPT
For my visual concept I plan on keeping to the general tonnes of
yellow to keep with the realism of the slime moulds original colour,
the surrounding areas will look rough and uninhabitable but very cool.
Using real-world locations that a slime mould might find appealing.
for example a wooden log would have huge chasms and a distant
green sky thats pierced the orange glow of the sun. There will be
music and the animation would give information via message prompts
that call out whats happening on a scientific level.

AGE GROUP - 7 TO 10
I am going for the ages of 8-12 because Id like my animation to be engaging be
being reminiscent of shows like Ben 10, Adventure Time, Battle Force 5, Teen Titans
and Robotboy. The main features of this being cool actions and interesting, vibrant
colours to engage the imagination of the child.

INFLUENCE MAPS