Half Awake: About the middle

Over the past few weeks I have been contemplating what it is exactly that happens in the middle. I have a beginning, a sketch of a middle, and an end. I just need to fill out the sketchiness a bit better.

So. Here are some of the ideas that have been thought out for the middle.

1) Using hospital sounds throughout, using various means to let these sounds in.

2) Using sounds of the crash and how she ended up in a coma as the sounds throughout.

3) Using a first person perspective and have no character in her dream world.

4) Providing point 3 is used, have it in stop motion but use a pen camera to go around the garden.

5) Providing point 3 is used, show who the character is using reflections and shadows.

Result of the mulling-it-over process:

I want the audience to really connect with the little girl, Emily. She has been through some pretty horrific stuff for her age. But to really do this properly, I think there is a time were we need to forget Emily as a separate character, but show the viewer that they are Emily.

From here, I am thinking of outlining the specifics in a rough/thumbnail storyboard into next week.

Story & Sound Requirements:

1) In the beginning we don't know what has happened. We don't know there has been a crash, or a comatose induced state for our character/avatar at the outset.

2) We see the little girl in the bed and get some sign that it wasn't good, but see it out of context with the dream world state.

3) A minute in these two things come together so we can focus on the rest of the plot I've got for the audience.

4) From when we first see the little girl in the bed, a metronome beat of the heart monitor is heard throughout.

5) The little girl plays solitary games, on the swing, skipping stones and hopscotch.

6) When she leaves the swing there is a grinding noise similar to the crunch of metal from the crash.

7) Moving between activities brings her across the path to the large house that's really dark. From it she can hear noises from the hospital.

8) The noises gradually keep getting louder and she covers her ears, she can't avoid hearing them anymore. The heart monitor is laced in as well.

9) Suddenly the noise stops and she takes her hands down. It's quiet. The almost muted sound of the heart monitor gradually becomes louder again.

10) She takes a deep breath and smiles, an indication she has overcome her trauma.

11) The sounds from the house indicate the machines are about to be turned off, so she starts running toward the door.

12) Just as her hand closes around the handle, the plug is pulled and the heart monitor stops.

13) She falls through the dark doorway. Everything disappears in a flash of white. Screen blackout and silence.

14) Emily wakes up in the hospital.

END.

This is what the story is looking like now. I'm much happier to have it fleshed out a bit better, and have something more concrete for the middle.

Badger Storyboards

Being a cut out and collage piece, I collected various images from Google searches and based my storyboards on them and after drawing the storyboard I decided I was going to use illustrator rather that photoshop to get a more graphic-esque appearance. They are undeniably really sketchy, and done in photoshop purely because I'm feeling green at the moment and don't want to waste paper that's going to ultimately be scanned and digitized anyway. Still, I think it looks better when its done on paper rather than this mess.

Narrative: Badger Synopsis & Treatment

Here are my synopsis and treatment for the badger animation. They have been modified and changed slightly since the premise, and again they are a little off from what the final piece is. I find this quite annoying as it is a similar case with the crime project, not being able to fulfil what I was expecting to get done within the time frame given. However, the gist of it remains in tact, with only a few mismatches with the final outcome.

Synopsis:

It is a peaceful day and the badgers are out of their setts foraging. They wander close to the edge of the wood and into a vast empty field. A farmer out with his dog and The dog picks up on the badgers scent start barking. The badgers, startled, disappear back into the woods. The farmer and his dog come and he finds traces of their foraging. Following this he sets traps for the badgers: snares, rat poisoning etc. before retreating. The badgers venture out unaware. Slowly, they head toward the field again. Some begin to eat the rat poison. The farmer returns with a gunshot, startling the badgers and they flee back to their sett. Some get caught in the snares. The farmer walks past as the snares wind tighter and tighter. Trapped inside their sett, those that manage to return have no escape when the farmer finally buries their sett with slurry. The farmer walks off into the horizon with his dog, dropping dead badgers by the roadside to look like road kill.

Treatment:

For this project I plan to use cut-out and collage of photos for the opening act, wherein the badgers are peacefully foraging at the edge of the woods on an open ended field. All is peaceful and tranquil; snuffling and bird chirps in the distance break the silence.

The badgers move closer and closer into the field, (here there will be a far, wide shot of the scene) and we begin to hear the farmer’s footsteps. Close ups of the bagders snuffling snouts as they forage begin to be interlaced with another snout: the nose of the farmer’s dog, which is in black and red. The footsteps are gradually growing louder, closer. Switching between the foraging badger noses and that of the dog hunting for smells gradually increases in speed each time. Then we stop with a upward angle shot of the farmer’s face (all shots from here are in black and red in pop art style) the dog stop sniffing out smells, raises its head and howls. The farmer turns his head in that direction and enters the field. (The same far, wide shot as earlier.) The dog is sniffing round the field as the badgers have disappeared. The farmer kneels down, (then an over-the-shoulder angle will be used) inspecting the ground. The dog barks, signalling he’d found something.

The farmer, following his dog, discovers a well-used animal track under the fence and places a snare. He leaves rat poison down where they had been foraging. And we hear his footstep recede into the distance with his dog.

We switch to the entrance to the set. Tentatively, the badgers emerge and cautiously head out to forage again. After a time, a few have begun to venture out into the field again. One starts sniffing at the rat poison. Another notices and joins. A gun shot. One of the badgers is shot dead. Frightened, the other badgers turn and run. In their hurry, they get trapped in the snares. As the farmer passes, he pauses long enough to shoot a few, before ambling on.  The badgers scurry into their set again. Just as the last one disappears, we see the farmer stopping at the entrance. (Only the feet are visible). We switch to a black screen with nervous sounds of badgers inside their dark sett. A brief silence proceeds their squeals as they are buried by slurry in their home with no chance to escape.

All becomes dead silent. We then see the farmer destroy the entrance to the sett. He walks away. On his way back home, we see him dropping badger carcasses on the roadside as he disappears off into the horizon.

Narrative Project: Leeds City Museum

Our final project of the year was based on an object which we found to be of interest in Leeds City Museum. I chose the stuffed badger from the basement. Coincidentally, badger's are one of my favourite animals because of the Bodger and Badger Show I used to watch as a kid.

However, not everything about badger's is all fun and daisies. There is a darker side to their existence, which has cornered them into having to be a protected species. This is because of illegal badger culling, based on the idea that they are the cause of spreading of bovine tuberculosis, a disease that can be fatal to the economy of a farm. Farmers blame the badgers for the infection, and although there is truth in that they are something of a reservoir and carriers of the disease, it is not entirely true to say that they are to blame for the disease. In fact, there is evidence supporting the theory that it was cattle that first gave the ailment to badgers.

Regardless of the truth, when farmers find traces of badgers and foraging on their land, especially near their cattle, they are going to do something about it. And that is where I'm taking a stance on this, as though it is understandable as to why they kill them, it is in truth illegal to do so, and I want to cherish the idea of silly little badgers being innocent and mash potato-y.

As regards to research, I took a look at various online sites such as the Badger Trust and the CBAG to gather information, as well as talking to my Dad who is in the farming industry and is well versed with the situation and what the badgers mean to the farmers.