Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello,
My name is Arran Bull. I'm 22 and I'm an autistic man who's doing a master's Course in 2D animation. I am currently developing a pilot for an animated show called Psychic Maria, a show about an autistic girl with psychic powers. The show revolves around how autism affects Maria's powers compared to her neurotypical older sister Sam while they fight bad guys from society and getting through high school.
I have created a rough storyboard animatic for the pilot and I'm looking for some feedback. Especially from autistic women, as I want to make sure Maria as a character is authentic to girls with autism, and the show is enjoyable for both neurotypical and neurodivergent people. Here's a link to the animatic if you guys fancy a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlnB-tRSDbY
Maria was also in a short film I created for uni last year, where she tries to mask her autistic traits to get through high school: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCLvsSfid-Q
I look forward to hearing your comments. Any feedback would be very helpful. Thank you!
Arran :3
I have to be honest and say that if I heard a child saying the F-word I would not be impressed because it is considered a swear word, in addition to being a crude slang word to mean sexual intercourse. As a parent, it is a word that I certainly didn't want my son to hear when he was young. If your video was aimed at older teenagers and adults, I wouldn't have any issue with the use of the F-word.
Thanks!
Two-sided cartoons are the best cartoons, old or young, nobody gets bored watching them
I started writing short stories seemingly for kids, but containing hidden meaning, that adults would notice. Werll I did first one in Novemberand second two nights ago. So I've got 2 episodes from Storyteller Series.
Right
Yes they look like they are more stary-scary with one eye instead of two
just realised we have one-eyed monsters in mythology, no need to look for them in sci-fi - cyclops, they are scary-stary beings too
Brilliant idea,to give everyone superpowers, when she feels low and attempts to use them, effects comes out different. right? visual representation of her feelings, So public can see more than just autistic hiding under her hoodie.
Thanks for the insight. I didn't think it was an actual swear word but there's no sexual implications with the way Sam is using it. The show is geared towards 7-15 year olds but written in a way adults can also enjoy
Thank you! Can't go wrong with a dose of funky city pop :3 And yeah I'm looking forward to finishing it
Thank you! :3 Another reason why I also gave Sam psychic powers was to demonstrate how differently autistic people think, and to make it clear that psychic power is not autism in this universe
And oh I've never seen Final Space other than the few clips I've seen and I've never heard of those robot characters. In Maria, those one-eyed students were designed that way to exaggerate them staring at Maria and judging her, making it as scary as how Maria is feeling in those scenes.
I thought the animatic was really creative with a healthy balance of comedy, charm and a nice dose of city pop. I like the dynamic with the siblings and found Marias depiction to be believable. I look forward to seeing the final animation.
Sporadic Sparkly said:F-word
The law would impose between10+ and14+ age restriction, depending on its sexual implications
A Bull said: how autism affects Maria's powers compared to her neurotypical older sister Sam
I like the concept, I would say you're pioneering it,
One eyed monsters in Maria, is it reference to robots in Lost in Space, before they turned?
Nice Name Sparkly
I'm curious as to the age range of the audience this is aimed at. Having watched the first video, my only criticism refers to the phone conversation between the brother and his mother. You might want to omit the F-word if there's a chance young and impressionable children will be watching. Apart from that, it seemed fine.