Thanatophobia Script

Each episode of the series could easily have been expanded to feature length. A few of them really suffered from being shortened, but I do think Thanatophobia works well at its current length, though it seems to require multiple viewings for all the pieces to fit. I'd originally wanted to build up more of a sense of Sybil's daily routine of going to work, daily meetings with Onan across the hole in the wall, coming home, practicing her maneuver, using up her spinal ampules. It's the episode I use in my class to show how an animated episode goes from initial concept to script, to design and storyboard, to final film. It demonstrates many of the methods of engagement I teach which are the tools every director should learn. Sadly, students I've had in just the past 4 years have shown me that they're less and less interested in reading scripts or recognizing the importance of the writing phase of filmmaking. Even when I require them to read the script I've posted here, I get fewer each year who make the effort.

I have to ask your theories on why that is.

At USC, there's a huge population of Chinese students. My class last year was over 60 percent Chinese, some who barely speak English.
They are very talented and hard working, but the effect on class discussion is unfortunate. Still, I'd rather have quiet students who produce high quality work than ones who talk big but have little to show.