Sharkskin
A New Take on an Old Fairy Tale
A New Take on an Old Fairy Tale
This was an assignment for Drawing for Storyboarding class here at Savannah College of Art and Design. The objective was to write our own spin on a fairy tale of our choice, create six full-color beat boards, and then pitch it to the class as either an animation, a film, a TV show, graphic novel, or commercial.
I started off with the German fairy tale, Bearskin, a story of transformation through a deal with the devil. From there, I adapted it into a simple undersea adventure, a full-length animated movie catered towards children and families. Sharkskin tells the story of an over-fished ocean, an angry sea god, and two fishermen who wish to make amends on behalf of the humans.
To learn more about the process behind the project, visit my blog:
Fisherman #1 Character Sheet
Fisherman #2 Character Sheet
Sea God Character Sheet
Fisherman #1 (Hammerhead SharkTransformation) Character Sheet
Fisherman #2 (Goblin Shark Transformation) Character Sheet
Beat Board #1
The fishermen are over-fishing the sea. The sea serpent, lord of the ocean, intervenes.
Beat Board #2
The ocean god capsizes the fishermen's boat. He plans to punish not only them, but the other humans as well. The fishermen plead for their lives and strike a deal with the serpent. The men will live one year beneath the surface as sea creatures so that they may understand their suffering.
Beat Board #3
The serpent sinks their boat and transforms them into sharks. He vanishes into the deep, leaving them to fend for themselves.
Beat Board #4
The men spend the next year as sharks, roaming around the sea together. During this time, they see the ocean for the beautiful place that it is, and also that it is a home for families of creatures.
Beat Board #5
As their year undersea comes to an end, they come across a mother whale caught in a net. They watch in sadness as the baby whale cries out in distress, unable to free her. Driven by their new-found sympathy for animals, the sharks free the mother whale from the net, but become entangled in the process. They are unable to escape as the net rises to the surface, and they accept their fate.
Beat Board #6
As the sharks are hoisted to the surface, they gasp for breath, but realize they have lungs once again. Transformed back to their original selves in the nick of time, the men are bewildered. The net is dropped on the deck of a fishing boat, and everyone is a little bit confused. From there on, the men make an effort to resolve the demand for fish across the world.
