The Last Gift: Scrip #2

Here's another script with added narration, scene description and atmosphere. Also, with sound effect descriptions!



          SCENE #1 EXT. WASTELAND DREAM

                              ASH (NARRATION)
                    "We live in a dying world. Few
                    trees remain and forests disappear
                    overnight. My tribe resides at the
                    foot of The Great Tree. And here I
                    stand, having given up my physical
                    body to strengthen and protect the
                    tree. But is that enough...? From
                    here I can see everything; the
                    past, the present and even glimpses
                    of the future."

          Time of day is ambiguous.

          A large desolate plane stretches out as far as the eye can
          see. There is no wind blowing, and no life in the scene
          apart from ASH. A circle of light shines downwards on him.

          Ash stands in the center of the plain, seemingly sleeping.

          Ash awakens with a gasp. He looks around quickly, before
          facing forward. An image flashes before him, an image of The
          Great Tree in flames (SFX: screams of terror).

                              ASH
                    "The future...? Then my action
                    weren't enough."

          Ash takes a step forward, a look of determination in his
          eyes.

                              ASH
                    "You must send me back! My family
                    will die without me!"

          The circle of light surrounding Ash begins to close.

                              ASH
                    "Do the lives of my people mean
                    nothing to you? By what right do
                    you imprison me?! I must warn
                    Lily!"

          The circle of light continues to close.

                              ASH (NARRATION)
                    "Do not judge too harshly those
                    that chose to survive, we all chose
                    our own path. If I could see your
                    face just once more... Lily."

                              ASH
                    "Lily!" (Said at the same time
                    narration says "Lily.")

          SCENE #2 INT. LILY'S ROOM, DAY

          The floor of Lily's room is covered in thick blankets. A
          single small table stands by the window of the circular
          room. A single red flower in a glass vase is atop the table.
          The wooden blinds of the window are open, allowing light in.
          LILY is lay asleep on the floor.

          (SFX: Echo of Ash calling Lily's name)

          Lily awakens with a gasp.

          An image of The Dark Warrior appears before her, he is stood
          before The Great Tree. The tree is on fire.

          Terrified by the image, Lily stands and makes her way out of
          the room.

          SCENE #3 EXT. SETTLEMENT ROOFTOP, DAY

          The settlement is considerably small. Most of the buildings
          are buildings single floors with only a single room. There
          is a central well.

          (SFX: Slight breeze, rustle of leaves)

          ROSE is stood on the rooftop of one of the only two storey
          buildings. She sees Lily running towards The Great Tree.

                              ROSE
                    "That can't be good for the baby!"

          Rose begins to climb down the building. As she climbs she
          notices The Dark Warrior approaching in the distance,
          heading towards The Great Tree.

                              ROSE
                    "Lily! I have to stop her!"

          Rose leaps from the side of the building and begins running.

          SCENE #4 EXT. OUTSIDE SETTLEMENT, DAY

          The plain around the settlement and The Great Tree is quite
          desolate. In the distance are mountains and a few sparse
          forests.

          (SFX: Lily's footsteps, Lily breathing heavily, wind)

                              LILY (NARRATION)
                    "I knew all too clearly what was at
                    stake, and what I must do. My life
                    had been spent in darkness, like so
                    many before me. We were too weak to
                    fight for what we believed in. Now
                    I will atone for these sins. My
                    past will not be your future. If I
                    could wish for one last thing it
                    would be this; a future where you
                    can smile. This will be my last
                    gift."

          Rose follows some distance behind Lily.

          (SFX: Rose's footsteps, Rose breathing heavily)

                              ROSE (NARRATION)
                    "Why did I even try to stop you?
                    You're so stubborn! Once you have
                    your heart set on something,
                    there's no stopping you! You know,
                    I always wanted to be just like
                    you. You're so strong and kind.
                    Even if you fade away, I'll
                    remember you. Always."

          SCENE #5 EXT. THE GREAT TREE, DAY

          The Great Tree stands in the center of the desolate
          wasteland. It is truly humongous.

          (SFX: Rustle of leaves)

          The Dark Warrior has arrived at the tree. A threatening
          purple/black flame-like glow surrounds his body as he
          readies to sap the tree of energy.

          Lily has arrived at the other side of the tree. A spirit of
          Ash materialises before Lily.

                              LILY
                    "Ash! I knew you would be with me!"

          Ash smiles and nods. He holds out a hand. Lily's body begins
          to glow slightly. Lily takes his hand, causing her body to
          glow more and more until the light is blinding.

          Rose is running towards them. She shields her face from the
          bright light. This causes her to trip and crash to the
          floor.

          (SFX: Rose's footsteps, Rose hitting the floor, magical
          effect with bright light)

          On the other side of the tree, The Dark Warrior holds out a
          hand. The dark glow begins to extend from his arm, towards
          the tree. A bright flash interrupts him.

          (SFX: Crackling flame, magical sound effect with flash)

          Lily and Ash, now tree spirits, stand before him. They have
          no clothing. Their bodies glow with a green/white glow. Lily
          is no longer pregnant.

          The Dark Warrior laughs at this sight. He continues his
          previous action, holding out an arm.

          (SFX: Flame crackle)

          A small root begins to sprout from the ground below The Dark
          Warrior. More begin to sprout around him. They appear to
          grab The Dark Warrior's feet, which shocks him.

          (SFX: Roots growing, wood cracking)

          Lily and Ash float towards The Dark Warrior, they circle
          around him. As they do, more roots grow from the ground.

          (SFX: Magical energy, wind blowing)

          Lily and Ash begin to rise in to the air as they circle.
          They become closer to each other as they get higher until
          they are close enough to embrace.

          (SFX: Slight heartbeat begins when Lily and Ash embrace)

          The embrace lasts for a while before Ash begins to float
          back towards The Great Tree. Lily holds Ash's arm as he
          slips away, until eventually he is too far away.

          Lily falls back towards the earth. The roots below are now
          much larger and have begun to form a tree. The Dark Warrior
          is trapped in the center of this.

          Lily lands lightly on the ground. She steps forward and
          touches the growing tree. This produces a blinding flash.

          (SFX: Heart beat gets louder until flash, magical energy on
          flash)

          Rose picks herself up off the ground. She is surprised at
          the sight of a new tree standing next to The Great Tree.

          (SFX: Wind blowing)

                              ROSE
                    "Lily"

          Rose hears a baby crying. She spots a baby at the base of
          the new tree. Rose picks up the baby.

          In the distance Rose sees spirits of Lily and Ash. They
          smile at her. There is a slight whisper on the breeze. Rose
          holds a hand to her ear, listening carefully.

                              ROSE
                    "Hope... That's her name?"

          Rose looks at the baby. Lily and Ash smile, they turn away
          and walk in to the sunset.

                              ROSE
                    "Thank you."
                 

       

I'd write a bit more stuff for you to read, as I do, but I'm in pain right now...

The Last Gift: Script #1

This is probably the shortest script I've ever written... Really, I managed to make an 8 page script for a two minute film! I can't even remember how long my script was for a one minute film. Well, here you go anyway! Draft #1:

   SCENE #1 - WASTELAND EXT.

          Ash stands in the middle of a wasteland with his eyes closed

          as if he is sleeping. A circular light shines down on him.

          He awakens with a gasp.

                              ASH

                    "Let me go! I'm not ready yet! They

                    need me!"

          There is silence. Ash drops to his knees.

                              ASH

                    "By what right do you imprison me?

                    Do the lives of my people mean

                    nothing to you?!"

          There is still no answer. Ash now seems desperate.

                              ASH

                    "I have a wife and child! At the

                    very least, I must warn them of the

                    approaching evil!"

          Ash stands.

                              ASH

                    "The Darkness is approaching! He

                    intends to destroy the great tree,

                    sap its energy for himself!"

          Ash stops as the circle of light begins to close.

                              ASH

                    "Do not judge too harshly... He

                    chose to survive, as we all did. If

                    I could see your face just once

                    more... Lily."

          SCENE #2 LILY'S ROOM INT.

          Lily awakens with a gasp. The sound of Ash calling her name

          echoes quietly. Lily sees an image of The Dark Warrior stood

          before The Great Tree. The image frightens Lily. She stands

          quickly and runs for the door.

          SCENE #3 SETTLEMENT, ROOFTOP EXT.

          Rose is stood atop a building that has become the

          settlement's watchtower. She sees Lily running towards The

          Great Tree

                              ROSE

                    "That can't be good for the baby!"

          Rose is about to climb down, but she notices something in

          the distance. The Dark Warrior is approaching The Great

          Tree. Rose realises this is where Lily is heading.

                              ROSE

                    "Lily!"

          Rose leaps from the building and begins running.

          SCENE #4 OUTSIDE SETTLEMENT EXT.

          Lily is running towards The Great Tree.

                              LILY (NARRATION)

                    "I knew all too clearly what was at

                    stake, and what I must do. My life

                    had been spent in darkness, like so

                    many before me. We were too weak to

                    fight for what we believed in. Now

                    I will atone for these sins. My

                    past will not be your future. If I

                    could wish for one last thing it

                    would be this; a future where you

                    can smile. This will be my last

                    gift."

          Not far behind, Rose runs after Lily.

                              ROSE (NARRATION)

                    "Why did I even try to stop you?

                    You're so stubborn! Once you have

                    your heart set on something,

                    there's no stopping you! You know,

                    I always wanted to be just like

                    you. You're so strong and kind.

                    Even if you fade away, I'll

                    remember you. Always."

          SCENE #5 GREAT TREE EXT.

          The Dark Warrior has arrived at The Great Tree. He begins to

          prepare to sap the energy from the tree. A dark aura

          surrounds him.

          Lily has arrived at the other side of the tree. A spirit of

          Ash materialises before her.

                              LILY

                    "Ash! I knew you would be with me!"

          Lily's body begins to glow. Ash holds out a hand and smiles.

          Lily takes his hand. Lily's body glows brighter still, until

          the light is almost blinding.

          Rose shields her face from the bright light as she runs. She

          catches her foot on a root and tumbles to the ground.

          On the other side of the tree The Dark Warrior is nearly

          ready to sap the tree's energy. A bright flash interrupts

          him.

          Lily and Ash, both tree spirits now, appear before The Dark

          Warrior. Lily is no longer pregnant.

          The Dark Warrior laughs at this sight. He continues his

          actions.

          A small root begins to sprout from the ground below The Dark

          Warrior. More begin to sprout around him. They appear to

          grab The Dark Warrior's feet, which shocks him.

          Lily and Ash float towards The Dark Warrior, they circle

          around him. As they do, more roots grow from the ground.

          Lily and Ash begin to rise in to the air as they circle.

          They become closer to each other as they get higher until

          they are close enough to embrace.

          The embrace lasts for a while before Ash begins to float

          back towards The Great Tree. Lily holds Ash's arm as he

          slips away, until eventually he is too far away.

          Lily falls back towards the earth.

          The roots below are now much larger and have begun to form a

          tree. The Dark Warrior is trapped in the center of this.

          Lily lands lightly on the ground. She steps forward and

          touches the growing tree. This produces a blinding flash.

          Rose picks herself up off the ground. She is surprised at

          the sight of a new tree standing next to The Great Tree.

                              ROSE

                    "Lily..."

          Rose hears a baby crying. She spots a baby at the base of

          the new tree.

          Rose picks up the baby. In the distance she spots Lily and

          Ash. They smile at her. There is a slight whisper on the

          breeze. Rose holds a hand to her ear, listening carefully.

                              ROSE

                    "Hope... That's her name?"

          Rose looks at the baby. Lily and Ash smile, they turn away

          and walk in to the sunset.

                              ROSE

                    "Thank you."

Character concepts

These are just some relatively quick character sketches I've made today in my down time. I was in the mood for a doodle, and I thought it'd be best not to waste said mood!
Sorry for the quick scan and lack of colour! Colour versions will follow!

Excuse the slightly manga-ish style, it wasn't really intentional. Although I like the way these turned out, well...Lily's face is annoying me a bit. Oh, Rose, Lily and Ash from left to right!

There's already a basic colour version of Lily, but I didn't want to put the colour versions in separate posts.  

Coming soon, scripts! 

The Last Gift R:Re: Synopsis

The world has a name now!!

La’Ter is a dying world, with forests disappearing overnight and tribes dying out every day. Lily, a mother to be, lives in this world. Lily awakens from a dream of her late husband, Ash, who had given his life to defend his tribe. In the dream, he warned Lily of the approaching Dark Warrior, who intends to sap the energy from the last tree standing between the tribe and destruction. Though his actions are only taken out of a fight for survival, Lily cannot allow The Dark Warrior destroy The Great Tree. She sets out to stop him. On her way, Lily is spotted by Rose, a dear friend. Rose attempts to stop Lily, but she is too late. Lily arrives at The Great Tree, where she is greeted by Ash’s spirit. There, Lily gives up her physical body and becomes a tree spirit. Once in this state Lily is able to create another tree with the help of Ash that encases The Dark Warrior. Rose arrives at the scene. At the base of the new tree Rose finds a baby, Lily’s baby; Hope. She makes a silent vow to care for the child, and to pass on the Legend of Lily and Ash.

Hopefully, this will be the final re-write of my synopsis before I write up some scripts!

Research: Emilie Simon

I've had a bit of a chillout day today, but I came across something a minute ago that I thought would make a cool research point! Well, actually, I've known about this for a while.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3RUJ22Ca2k

This is a music video, as you can probably tell, by Emilie Simon. She's this cool French singer and composer of electronic music that I found completely by accident. So, maybe the genre doesn't fit too well with my film, but you can tell straight away from the music video why this is appropriate for my film. I mean, we can see our singer here merging with plants. How much closer to my film concept could this be?! 

Anyway, I've seen some pretty cool stuff here. I particularly like the way vines kind of grow out of her body. I'll definitely keep this video in mind when I get to story boarding.

This lovely artist also has another lovely music video that I'm going to put here too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=N2odfjNMZVQ

This is the song I happened upon that led me to listen to more from this artist. It's got a really cool visual style going on. I'm not really posting it here for any reason other than it's really pretty and artistic and you guys should watch it! 

Although, I might keep that visual style in mind for designing a title logo for the film. I've never really given title logos much though so it'd be nice to have a cool logo to go with the film. Also, this'll make for some cool concept art inspiration.

Sorry this is just a research post guys! There will be scripts, character illustrations and concept artwork coming soon! And then, the all important storyboarding section! 

Exterior views

I don't really expect to have fans. I mean, my blog's only been here for a few days, and it's all just university work. So, I can see that it would be a little boring from an outsider's perspective. Well, hopefully not.

Anyway, I've shown my blog to a few people. I value my feedback; it helps me do a good job and just generally makes me feel good about myself. Here's some interesting feedback I had recently:

Conceptually, I love "The Last Gift" It's extremely imaginative. "The last gift" makes me think of mankind completing the circle we are already on, ie, returning back to where, biblically, it started, at the tree of knowledge in the Garden Of Eden. 

If you take the story purely as a metaphor, (and no- I'm not religious in any way) Mankind took fruit from the tree of knowledge, and used their gift of knowledge to turn away from, and abuse nature, destroying the world piece by piece until they were forced, bound as they are by the laws of nature, to return to the the last remaining tree. It really is quite poetic ; )

I also love the end of the "final flight of the isis" Ive got PJ Harvey's "On Battleship Hill" ringing in my head! 
"cruel nature has won again..." very uplifting! Kind of makes you wonder whether with all this damaging progress, are we any happier or better off than jungle tribesmen living in harmony with nature?

So, I think that means I'm doing a good job! What's great is I've not got some more stuff to research! Well...more work. But I'm sure it'll help me come up with an interesting story!

So, feel free to leave any feedback on my posts! Either by commenting on them with your blogger account, or if you don't have an account just comment on my Facebook page.

:)

Character Proportioning Sketches

These are just some quick sketches I did for Jeff's referencing pleasure. He tells me he's already got a model he's made, he just needs some proportion sketches to edit.
I really ought to be writing scripts, but this didn't take too long.

So, I know there's not much, but hopefully that should give Jeff an idea for the basic shapes of all the characters in the film! I've only done 2 characters for the time being so Jeff can get a basic idea of the shapes of all the characters. They'll all be proportioned similarly. These sketches are based on Lily and Ash (I'm aware Lily isn't pregnant here, we'll get to that!).

I want a sort of charm to the characters that I don't feel I've ever really achieved with my character designs before. In the past, my designs have always been a bit dark and grungy. So, I thought I'd have a look in to some character sketches for one of my favorite films; Tangled!

I love the proportions of the characters in this film. There's a certain level of realism to them, but at the same time they're quite exaggerated! Particularly in Rapunzel's eyes...well, her entire face really. I was going to go for a style that had the characters head quite large and out of proportion with the body, but I've opted to go with this more natural (and quite frankly less creepy) look.
Images courtesy of http://characterdesignnotes.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/disneys-tangled-character-design.html
And of course, all this belongs to Disney! 

And I've just noticed that's my first bit of research that I've actually published... Not to say I haven't done any.

I'll get back to you on that! 

The Last Gift Re:Synopsis

Here's a re-write of the synopsis for The Last Gift.

A mother to be, Lily, awakens from a dream. In the dream her late husband, Ash, warned her of an approaching evil; The Dark Warrior, a powerful warrior from a tribe that saps energy from the land. In an already dying world with few forests left, he must be stopped. And so, Lily sets out for The Great Tree, the final tree remaining of a once great forest. Rose, a dear friend of Lily, spots Lily making her way to the tree, but to her horror she also sees The Dark Warrior approaching in the distance. Rose sets out to protect her friend. At the base of the tree Lily reunites with the spirit of her husband. Together, she and Ash confront The Dark Warrior. Lily sacrifices her own life by becoming a tree and encasing The Dark Warrior within its trunk. By the time Rose arrives, it is already too late. At the base of the new tree Rose finds a baby, a girl Lily had intended to call Hope. Rose vows to care for the child and pass on the legend of Ash and Lily. 

There are a few things that are a little hard to put across in the synopsis. The key thing to point out would be that The Dark Warrior isn't necessarily an evil character. There are two opposing types of tribe in this world, Lily's tribe and The Dark Warrior's tribe. Lily's tribe shares energy with nature, they require trees and plants to live, and they also give life to trees and plants. People of this tribe do not die, they become plants and trees (so rather than graveyards, in this world there would be forests). The tribe of The Dark Warrior used to be the same, however they took one step too far; rather than sharing energy with the land they began to sap it as they realised this yielded more power. They began to do this because their tribe was dying out (see, not so evil when you look at it that way). However, this has led to the desolation of the world seen in the film. So really, The Dark Warrior isn't an evil character, he's just trying to survive. But this is Lily's story, and so The Dark Warrior plays the villain here. There is potential for people to live in harmony with each other and nature, but The Dark Warrior is set in his ways, as is the rest of his tribe.

Are you starting to see where I'm going with this? World drained of it's natural resources by a race that just couldn't control itself? Sounds awfully familiar to me...

Separate blog!

Any posts relating to my animated series pitch, Wonderland, will now be posted in to a separate blog!

http://wonderland-xiii.blogspot.co.uk/

Keep an eye on both guys! 

Synopsises...Synopsi?

What is the plural for synopsis anyway?
Well, enough pondering.

Here's a synopsis for The Last Gift, hopefully it's brief and snappy, but it can be changed if not!

In a desolate land with almost no forests remaining a mother to be, Lily, a member of one of the last tribes, senses a great evil approaching. While she cannot explain this feeling, she takes it upon herself to set out and stop this evil from approaching. Lily’s dear friend, Rose, spots Lily making her way towards the Great Tree and to her horror sees the infamous Dark Warrior approaching. Rose sets out to stop her friend, despite knowing she stands no chance of this. At the Great Tree, Lily reunites with the spirit of her husband, Ash, who had already given his life to strengthen the tree in order to protect the tribe. With Ash’s help, Lily halts the approach of the Dark Warrior by becoming a tree herself and encasing the warrior within the tree. Rose witnesses this legendary event, and also finds Lily’s baby at the base of the tree; a girl that Lily intended to call Hope. Lily sacrificed herself to create a better world for her daughter, and Rose will live to tell the tale of Lily and Ash’s sacrifice.

Well, I thought it was pretty cool! And you've already read that in detail anyway!

Here's another for my series, Wonderland.

 Alex is a young boy who has been institutionalised after the death of his father and his mother’s disappearance. Alex’s suffers from delusions, seeing the world as a Wonderland, but a twisted Wonderland. One night, he manages to escape from the asylum and escapes in to the city; a dark, dangerous slum filled with all kinds of perils. Alice, one of the best doctors at the asylum, sets out to find Alex. She has been sent to bring him in, however she believes that by helping Alex see his delusions through to the end, he can be cured without returning to the asylum. Using a device to see what Alex sees, Alice follows Alex through the city, ensuring that he brings no harm to himself and others.

Might be a bit niche. I'll have to look in to maybe making this series friendly for the younger viewers. Not children, but young teenagers. 

 

Samurai Arts

I had a quick talk with my team mate Jeff, and we discussed what our little group would be called. After tossing a few names around, we came up with Samurai Arts, which I thought was pretty cool :).

Shame Jeff's name doesn't get to be in it...but he tells me he's happy with it. I think I'll make a logo at some point...

Oh, and I did a presentation on Tuesday. That was pretty big actually, and that's what this post is really about. The presentation was all about the film and series ideas I've come up with over summer.

Well, it wasn't the best presentation, but I'm happy with it, and I think I've settled on the ideas I'm going for.

Here are the pages of the presentation for your viewing pleasure. 

This first page is just some of the stuff I've looked at that inspired or helped me strengthen my ideas.

You'll notice a corner of environmental based films. The top right corner is a trilogy of novels, they gave me the idea for an antagonist character in The Last Gift. The bottom left image is a video game that specifically inspired Hope. You'll get it in a bit. 

There's the first film, The Last Gift. Just a brief explanation of the story, and what happens, but you already know about that!

I didn't really have much imagery for this one. I do actually have a sketch of the character Claire, but I'm not too happy with it so I wasn't comfortable putting it in the presentation.

And the final film slide. Odd, Hope was actually the first film idea I cam up with. 

From here on out, the slides detail the series ideas I've come up with

The character on this slide is a design I made in my first year of university. I called him Orphan as a pseudonym back then because I thought it sounded cool, but now I'm just going with his real name, Alex. I'll also be re-designing him.

These are just some designs to go with the Wonderland idea. These designs are Alice. I've tried to go for a look that's modern, but still keeps that sort of traditional look that most people are familiar with (mostly thanks to Disney). There are a few bits of inspiration in there.

Here's my second series. I actually really liked this idea mostly for the characters in it, but storylines would be a little difficult for this one I think. I'm not a great comedy writer. If I could collaborate, I'm sure that'd be great, but alas, the series is a solo project! Again, a few sources of inspiration. I've not actually seen much of Daria or Ugly Americans, but I've seen enough to know that: the personality of Daria would be perfect for the leading lady of this series, and the storylines of Ugly Americans are similar to the sort of ideas I've had.

And my final idea! This one doesn't have a name, but it's the only child friendly series I've got. There's a little bit of referencing there, but that's just what I could link this series to, it's not where I got the idea. I came up with this when I was having a bizarre conversation with a Scottish friend, a trip to the shops that got greatly embellished by money grabbing krakens talking pyramid schemes. And that's how the character Business Kraken came to be. Then the radioactive hawk, then the Russian pyromaniac rats. The child was just some way to turn that all in to a story. He's the glue that binds it all. 

Terribly sorry about the quality of some of these sketches!
I didn't want to commit to anything before I decided on the ideas I want to go through with!

So, the ideas I've chosen to go through with are... *drum roll*
The Last Gift for my film and Wonderland for my series. They've both had the largest amount of planning so far, the most thought in terms of the storylines and characters, and I feel a bit more of a "connection" with them than the others. I mean, The Last Gift is sort of like my own Ferngully, and that film means a lot to me! And Wonderland...well, it's been with me for a long time. The character Alex is already a redesign of another idea I had in college...but we'll go in to that another time. If at all.

Film Ideas

So this is where it all starts, basic ideas. But these aren't basic ideas, these are things I've been thinking of for a while. I've gone from the most basic ideas to what you'll see in here. And that's not to say these are final! I've got a while to work on scripts and storyboards, well...a month or two.

It's a bit of a shame that the film won't be much of a surprise to you, but I'm sure you'll enjoy reading about me tearing my hair out, crying, kicking walls, headbutting my laptop, not sleeping, etc. Well, there should be considerably less of that now I've got a pal to help me out! Oh, if only you'd seen my second year work...

And there's going to be a bit of research in a later post to back these up! Sometimes I just need a bit of help, y'know?

Like I said, these posts are going to be text heavy for the time being! There is imagery, and it will be updated soon!

For each idea I've written a brief synopsis that doesn't really give away the plot, the sort of blurb you'd find on the back of a DVD box. In addition, there's a lengthier version which details the entire plot of the film. I've written them more like novels than scripts, just because I find it an easier starting point. I've always loved telling stories, so I used to do this a lot in my spare time when I was younger. But, just for that script-ish feel, I've written them in present tense.

So, without further delay!

Oh, just a quick note, character profiles will come later! But there'll be a list of characters for each film.

Film # 1 - The Last Gift

Characters: -Lily

- Ash

-Rosa

-Hope

-The Dark Warrior

Brief Synopsis:

In a dying world, where forests disappear overnight, one of the last tribes rests at the foot of a great tree. However, a great threat approaches with the intention of sapping the energy of the tree, thus leaving the surrounding lives to perish.

Lily now steps forward to fight this evil, with hope in her heart, hope for a better future. Having already lost her husband, Ash, she refuses to let his sacrifice be in vain. 

Lengthier version:

Ash opens his eyes. He looks around, wondering where he is. His eyes widen in fear, a sudden realisation of his predicament. He stands in a dark, baron wasteland with a single light floating about him. A figure appears before him. Ash’s expression turns from fear to anger.

“Let me go!” Ash’s voice quakes a little with fear, “I’m not ready! They need me!”

There is no answer. Ash drops to his knees.

“By what right do you imprison me?! Do the lives of my people mean nothing to you?”

Still no answer.

“I have a wife, and a child! Without me they will surely not survive! There is a great evil approaching my land!”

The light surrounding Ash begins to close in. He realises his hopelessness, and gazes up at the light.

“If I could see your face just once more… Lily.”

***

Lily opens her eyes in shock. She has been praying in a room filled with candles. She hears faint echoes of a familiar voice.

Rosa is stood atop the settlement gate. Lily approaches.

“Lily! You can’t climb up here with the baby!” scolds Rosa, “Little Hope... She’ll be here soon.”

Rosa looks at Lily’s bump with a faint smile.

“But what kind of a future will I bring her in to?” Lily looks off in to the distance, past the tree. She sees darkness approaching from the valley, “I won’t allow her to grow up with my fears.”

Lily takes her leave. Rosa looks to the distance, a look of concern across her face.

***

From the distance, the Dark Warrior approaches with the intention of stealing the energy from the tree to prolong his own life.

Still staring off at the horizon, Rosa notices Lily running towards the great tree. Full of fear and concern for her friend, Rosa leaps from the gate and begins to run after her.

Lily’s mind races as she runs towards the tree, the tree that her husband sacrificed himself to strengthen for the good of everyone. She wasn’t about to let that power be stolen. She calms herself as she runs, and thought of the future;

“I knew all too clearly what was at stake, and what it was I must do. 

My life had been spent in the darkness, like so many before me. We were too weak to fight for what we believed.

And now I atone for those sins. My past will not be your future. 

If I could wish for one last thing, it would be this; A future where you can smile. 

This will be my last gift. “

Rosa continues to chase after her friend, knowing that she’s already too late to stop her;

“Why did I even try to stop you? I knew all too well, once you have your heart set on something you can’t be stopped!

I always wanted to be just like you. You’re so strong, and kind. 

And even if you fade away, I’ll remember you always. 

You’ll live on forever, through our legends. The two of you will be our saviours.

Now and forever,

Thank you. “

Lily arrives at the tree. Her body begins to glow with energy. A spirit steps out of the tree. Lily recognises it instantly.

“Ash!” She smiles “I knew you would be with me.”

Ash holds out a hand and smiles. Lily takes his hand. Her body glows brightly. Rosa, now not far behind shields her face from the blinding light and trips, falling to the ground.

***

The Dark Warrior stands not too far from the tree. He prepares to sap the energy. However, a bright flash interrupts him, causing him to shield his eyes.

The spirits of Ash and Lily stand before him (Lily is no longer with child it seems).  The Dark Warrior laughs at this seemingly pitiful attempt to stop him. He readies himself again to sap the power of the great tree, but stops when he noticed a vine climbing up his legs. He attempts to stop it, but is unable. The roots grow further up his body, until eventually, they close up around him. Another bright flash emits from Ash and Lily.

***

Rosa raises her head from the ground and picks herself up. A second tree now stands by the great tree, and the great tree appears much larger than it was before. She notices something at the base of the tree. Rosa realises it’s a baby, Lily’s baby. She takes the baby in her arms and looks around. In the distance she sees the spirits of Lily and Ash, their arms around each other. They smile at Rosa.

“I’ll take care of her” Shouts Rosa, with a tear rolling down her face, “You won’t be forgotten. Thank you.”

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Film #2 - The Last Flight of the Isis

Characters: -Claire

-Alexander

Brief Synopsis:

The Isis, one of mankind’s last hopes after World War III left the surface of the planet inhospitable. Aboard this magnificent ship, only one member of crew still remains, a scientist; Claire. Still, she has not lost hope. She believes that she will someday return to the surface of the world on which she was born.  In one final attempt to return humanity to where it belongs, she acts upon her dream.

Lengthier version:

The Isis floats through space with the engines turned off. It seems almost abandoned, ghostly even. However, there is still one passenger aboard the ship; Claire.

Inside, Claire wakes up after a nightmare.

“I had another terrible dream, Alex!” She calls out.

There is no reply to her call, but she is unfazed by this. She presses a button, and she is released from her bed chamber. She floats upwards towards a window. On the way, she passes a room of plants.

“Morning, guys!” She smiles and waves as she floats by.

Claire reaches her window. She looks out in longing for a moment. She can see a planet surrounded by clouds; the Earth. She gazes at the stars.

“I’ll never get over how beautiful it is,” she sighs, “Wouldn’t you agree Alex?”

No response.

“Still not up yet? Alex?”

She pushes away from the window, making her way to Alex’s room.

“You know, with all the cloud coverage, there’s no telling what’s going on down there!” there is a tone of hope in Claire’s voice, “Just think, pretty soon we could return to the Earth…”

Claire’s voice trails off. She realises Alex’s room is empty.

“Alex…?”

Claire presses the button to open the room. The place is deserted. In the corner of the room, she can see a suit. There is a slight tear in it, with a small amount of blood. Claire’s eyes widen as she remembers the terrible event that caused the accident.

There wasn’t a name for it; a condition that would cause astronauts to lose their minds after prolonged exposure to the lack of gravity, and the loneliness of outer space. Some believed that is was due to the exposure of foreign life, such as plants and even rocks. It affected people in different ways; some would become delusional, others would become violent.

Claire suddenly remembered everything clearly.

She and Alex had been performing routine maintenance on the outside of the ship, resting on the moon’s surface. Alex had been ill for a while, but he still came out to help Claire.

“How are you feeling?” called Claire, “We’re almost done here, you can go back inside if you want to, go rest up!”

Alex looked towards the Earth. Then it happened. Without warning, he picked up a wrench and swung it wildly. Claire managed to avoid the blow, causing Alex to leave a dent in the ship. Claire backed away, unable to stand with fear.

“Alex… Please, we promised!” She pleaded for her life. Alex ignored her and continued to press forward.

“We promised we’d go back to Earth together! That you’d get better!”

Alex lifted the wrench, ready to strike. Claire reacted in the only way she could. She grabbed a screwdriver lying nearby and leapt up, stabbing Alex in the chest. There was a brief pause. The moment felt like hours to Claire.

“Oh, god! Alex!” sobbed Claire, “I’m so sorry!”

Alex seemed to have returned to normal due to the sudden pain. Claire helped him back inside the ship.

Once inside, Claire lifted the ship from the surface of the moon. She turned back to see how Alex was doing, and to her horror she discovered he had locked himself in airlock.

“Alex!” Claire leapt from the seat down to the airlock, “What are you doing?!”

“I can’t stay, it’s too late for me!” Alex said, “Get home safe, Claire!”

And with that, he pulled the lever and was lost in space forever.

Claire had never forgotten that day, she had merely repressed the memory. For years she had floated around her prison, going about her life as if nothing had happened, as if she had barely spent more than a week off the surface off the earth.

Claire is sat crying, cradling herself in her arm. She looks at her withered, old hands. She had forgotten just how many years she’d been in space.

Without a second thought, she made her way to the cockpit. She set the ship on a course to return to the earth.

“I won’t die here.” She tells herself, “I’ll make it home safe, Alex. For you, like we promised.”

The clouds part as the rickety ship makes it was to the surface of the planet. Claire is surprised to see lush green, not baron wastelands. The ship approaches the ground at an alarming speed, not suited to land on the terrain that it has been presented with. Claire prepares herself for the crash.

Claire awakens with a start on the floor of the ship. She stands up and looks out of the front window, and smiles. The ship is surrounded by trees. Claire makes her way out of the now broken windows of the ship. As she does, raindrops begin to fall.

“Maybe mankind deserves a second chance. A chance to do it right this time.”

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Film #3 - Hope

Characters: -Hope

-Wolf

Brief synopsis:

Nobody knows when the last city crumbled in this post-apocalyptic world, save for “a very long time ago.” But the world does not lie in ruin. Nature has reclaimed, and mankind still lives in small pockets of society, living in the remains of the old world and in the forests. But the world is not without its dangers. This is now a kill or be killed world, where only the strong and resourceful survive.

The story follows two hunters; Hope and Wolf, an unlikely duo. They hunt for old world technology in the hope understanding what the world once was, and in the hope of making a safer world for future generations. But their road is treacherous, and they will have to face the strange monsters that have appeared in the world.

Lengthier version:

In the depths of a great forest, Hope and Wolf have discovered the remains of an old world city. They have been led there by Hope’s strange device that reacts to most old world technology and paradoxes caused by the strange creatures.

However, most of the city has been swallowed by a giant chasm.

The pair of them walk to the edge of the chasm to see a huge skyscraper is still held in place by the roots of a gigantic tree. Hope holds out her arm, hoping to get a better signal with the device.

“You’re not gonna tell me that it’s down there?” Wolf asks

“It looks that way,” Hope replies with a look of determination on her face.

“No… It’s too dangerous,  we don’t even know what it is! How are we…” Wolf begins, but stops when Hope gives him a stern look.

“Every relic of the old world is valuable!” Hope uses a scolding tone, “Whatever’s down there, we need it.”

There is a slight pause. Wolf gives in, and the two of them begin to make their way down the tree that has grown in to the chasm.  They are both unaware that a rift, the source of the unusual monsters, has begun to open up below the skyscraper.

Hope and Wolf reach the skyscraper and being to make their way along it. Hope holds out her arm, scanning to find the strongest distortion.

“The distortion is intensifying, we must be getting closer!” She says with a tone of excitement.

However, the excitement is short lived when a loud crash is head and the building shakes. Wolf looks over the edge. Several small creatures have begun making their way up the side of the building, and one larger, less agile creature has begun making its way up the cliff.

“Get inside!” Shouts Wolf, “Find what you can, and make it fast!”

Hope climbs inside a broken window. She knows she can’t fight like Wolf can, her job is to provide tech support. Inside, the room is covered in paper, notes from experiments. Or perhaps scribbled final thoughts; goodbyes that never reached loved ones. Hope uses a root to climb in to the next room.

Outside, three monsters stand before Wolf. He looks around, hoping to find some way to defend himself. He sees a metal pipe sticking out of the side of the building. One of the monsters lunges for wolf. He uses this as an opportunity to get to his weapon, avoiding the lunge by jumping over the monster. Before he even lands he grabs the pipe and uses his brute strength to rip it from the building. Another monster lunges as Wolf lands. Wolf quickly turns, swinging the pipe and smacking the monster with such force that it is propelled in to the chasm.

Hope finds herself in what used to be a laboratory. A large computer is bolted to what is currently the ceiling in a rather precarious fashion. It’s hooked up to a suspicious looking device that flashes occasionally. Hope’s device begins to beep. She holds it towards the device.

“Rift activity!” She gasps, “This place must’ve been important. Maybe even where all of this began?”

Hope climbs up to the computer.

“The distortions must’ve caused this to boot up. I need to extract the hard drive!”

Hope begins to remove the casing from the computer. The hard drive is larger the Hope had expected. She removes it and ties it to herself. She drops down, narrowly missing a window on the floor.

As Hope is about to leave a monster bursts in through the window and grabs her. With quick reactions, Hope kicks off the monster’s face, latching on to the computer. Without thinking, Hope grabs her machete and begins to smash the bolts attaching the computer to the wall. The entire device falls, Hope along with it. The computer is so heavy, and the building so weak, that it crashes through the wall, taking the monster along with it. Hope manages to grab on to a pipe sticking out of the wall. She quickly pulls herself up and makes her way to the outside of the building.

Outside, Wolf is still dealing with monsters. One of the monsters runs towards him. He jumps over it, smacking it with the pipe in mid-air, sending it over the edge of the building. Wolf lands right in front of the last monster. It doesn’t even stand a chance as Wolf spins to gain momentum for his vicious strike. He sees Hope not too far away, she begins running down the skyscraper towards him.

Hope smiles as she runs. The data on the hard drive will prove invaluable and she knows it. And on top of that, Wolf is still safe. However, her happiness is shattered when the largest monster she has ever seen leaps on to the side of the skyscraper. However, the weakened structure of the building can’t support the weight of this monster. The building crumbles where it landed, right next to Wolf. Wolf doesn’t have chance to react and begins to fall.

Without thinking, Hope leaps from the building. She throws her grappling hook, latching it to the edge of the building. As she falls she grabs Wolf, and the pair of them swing back up on to the edge of the building. They both lie on the ground for a while, panting with exhaustion.

“Did you get it?” Wolf asks, panting. Without answering, Hope holds up the hard drive.

“Now we can learn how to stop those things,” she pants.

“There’s still hope for tomorrow.”  

------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

There you have it! All three potential student films.

Now, I know what you're thinking. They're a bit long, and yes, I do have a time limit (as infuriating as that is).  But, like I said these ideas are open to change, and it's better to have too much than too little at this stage. 

And it'd be nice to have that experience that animators dread, that thing they call "the cutting room floor". I think I'd like to call that animation hell. But yeah, it'll help keep things authentic if I actually had something to cut, as in the past I've worked so hard just to get everything ready that I've not had enough material to cut. 

I really am hoping that this year will be different with someone else working with me. 

And yes, that last idea in particular sounds incredibly ambitious. Once I can show you a sample of Jeff's modelling work (Jeff's the dude I'm working with), you'll understand why I approached him, and why I have faith in him.