Treatment File : Love Birds / Promotion

Concept / Narrative

The animation takes place in a strange disturbing world. It begins slow paced with a couple in bed, a man and a woman, Tom and Marguerite to be exact. Tom gets up, Marguerite does not. Tom starts talking to Marguerite, he mentions that today he might get a promotion all the while not looking at her. Marguerite is eerily still and quite throughout the whole scene. Tom leaves the bedroom. As Tom travels to the bridge the mood of the piece becomes increasingly tense. He encounters distressing individuals along the streets shouting in comprehensible gibberish. Finally a midst the distress Tom finds himself at his destination. He stands on the edge of the bridge. The music builds and the piece reaches its climax. The screen cuts to black. The viewer is left with a silent black screen for a brief moment, until the shape of a door fades on screen. The door opens casting light into the dark bedroom room. It's Tom he looks sad. The pace is now slower then it was in the beginning. Tom tells Marguerite he didn't get the promotion and that he is sorry. There is dead silence as he looks over to her and she fades away. Tom begins to cry. The scene fades out to black.  

The story is about a man and a woman. Tom and Marguerite. Marguerite is dead. Tom misses Marguerite. Tom hasn't truly come to terms with Marguerite's death and pretends she's still there talking aloud to himself all the while careful not to ruin the illusion by looking directly at her. Tom leaves with the intentions of committing suicide. As Tom travels to the bridge he passes disturbing individuals. Tom stands at the Bridge considering suicide. He doesn't jump. He comes home and is ashamed. He looks directly at Marguerite and she disappears. 

My story has been inspired by "Cowboy Beebop : Knockin on Heaven's Door"
 Visually it's inspired by the art work of the artists Rothko, De Kooning and Franz Kline. 

A slow paced animation that starts eerily, begins building with tension to the point that it spirals out of control at the climax only to return with a haunting silence that is filled with sobbing at end. 

Technique & Approach

This animation will require a multifaceted approach. I plan for it to use vector based graphics. I will paint the characters and backgrounds loosely in watercolour and scan them. Once on the computer I will gesturally draw over my characters, and I will precisely draw outlines over my environment, using a tablet. Texture of wrinkled sheets of paper shall be applied to the background. Wrinkled textural quality of the backgrounds shall increase and decrease depending on the tension within the piece. Similar to the artist Daisuke Yokota. 

Applying sound shall be done in audition and I will compile my animation in adobe after effects. 

Aesthetic / Mood Board

Drawing from the modern artists Rothko, De Kooning and Franz Kline I hope to create a chaotic world filled with existential angst.

The colour of the piece is taken from the works by Rothko. As it is rather draining and unsettling. 

Marguerites character is pale and dark as she is devoid of life. When in the bedroom Marguerite shall be the single point perspective of the scene to make the viewer uneasy. 

The characters will be messy and chaotic to depict the internal struggle. Disturbed, shape shifting and expressionistic individuals rather like the work of De Kooning, screaming and moaning gibberish, to highlight the lack of meaning and absurd nature of the world around Tom. The main character Tom will remain rather consistent throughout the animation. 

 The piece has a mood of increasing tension, various degrees of crumbled paper used as a texture shall indicate this. 

Audio

It starts in silence, the man wakes up and begins his dialogue with his wife. When he leaves the bedroom, howling winds, and rain can be heard. 

Screeching, Screaming, shouting, crying , ranting, laughing and gibberish make up the outside worlds soundscapes. These noises are distorted, echoed or backwards at times. Similar to the movie "Fantastic Planet".  

 The music will be similar to that of the music in "2001 A Space Odyssey" when the monolith is discovered on the moon. 

To end there will be sobbing and silence. 

Sequence of Events / Shot List

The piece begins as a close up on a photograph of a happy couple the camera pans out to reveal said couple in bed. The camera stays fixed on the bed but ever pulling back as Tom gets up and prepared for his day. The scene is set up so that all the angles are pointing towards Marguerite. As Tom leaves he turns off the light causing the room to turn black. The camera pulls out off Toms black core to his body as he walks down the stairs this shall be a static shot.  Tom walks along outside this is again another static shot. Now have various scene of Tom encountering  screaming individuals. This shall be shot between a mixture of close up shots cutting between Tom and the disturbed individuals. Tom will be made to look small through forced perspective. and the camera will be jittery. Tom walks on and gets to the bridge. He hosts himself up onto the ledge and he considers jumping. The camera will preform a dolly zoom and continue to zoom in onto his head into black, this transitions into the next scene. The next scene being the dark bed room the camera is facing the door and Tom opens and enters. The camera pulls back from door revealing Tom  looking to Marguerite and fades out to black. 

Look and Feel

Abstract body parts by Aurora Del Rio.
The people shall be watercolour painted .

Untitled, 1948 Willem de Kooning
The people will also be outlined gesturally like this.

Door to the River - Willem de Kooning, 1960
The solid land scape shall mimic this style.

Daisuke Yokota

from the series Fossil, 2009

The sky and water shall be textured using crumbled paper.

Mood Board

Black in Deep Red, Mark Rothko, 1957.
Powerfully dark and draining. There's a sense of  hopelessness and pain. 

Mark Rothko, Green Over Blue, 1956.
Cold Loneliness. 

1952-A - Clyfford Still, 1952

Alkama Frédéric Fontenoy

Setting

Clyfford Still- 1957-D, No. 1  1957

Double-decker smear ~ Westminster Bridge, London ~ Sony NEX-7 ~ ⅓ sec at f/14 18 mm 400 ISO by Jacob Joyner. 

Door to the River - Willem de Kooning, 1960 This will also be the Door out go the bedroom as it is suitably named.