Story Board "The Shopping Strip"

Directors Statement:

The first shot mentioned within Script 1 is the market

place, a vessel for bargaining and trades. Our main

characters are quite old, and their slowness helps

juxtapose the swiftness and commotion of the world

around them. Visually I can pose the question to the

audience in the form of a hint; do our characters belong

here?

This is what has attracted me to the piece, as I feel

anything rich with multiple themes helps pave the way to a

more interesting and interpretive story.

Secondly, another driving force behind my choice of this

script is the ingenious use of the café as a set. Though is

it an interior shot, we can clearly see the exterior threw the

window, giving us two stages to work with simultaneously.

Two worlds coexisting, or clashing together again help to

emphasize the theme that the realm of death has found

it’s way (or has been welcomed) into the realm of the

living, and our characters are caught somewhere inbetween.

We can play on the concept of two worlds further. The

lady longingly looks outside into the exterior world, where

the shadowy figure was present. The shadow,

symbolizing death, can help us to visually communicate

that the lady is tempted buy the realm of the dead.

Her husband’s angry reaction causes him to turn his back

on the realm of the dead (the exterior of the café.) He

never longingly looks outside, but rather looks away.

Already this gives me a lot of themes to work with

visually, and also allows me artistically to provoke the

audience with interpretive visuals.

Filled with sympathy, as we find out later on, the old lady

is drawn towards the shadowy figure. She offers the

creature coins. Due to the setting of the market place, we

can get a hint that some sort of bargain is being

conducted between the two. Further down the track, the

audience is presented with the imagery of a bill, or receipt.

Symbolizing that a transaction, or exchange of services

has indeed been processed.

The old man interrupts the two after payment is

exchanged. The old mans hand that grabs his wife’s is

juxtaposed by the shadows hand. Both characters

seemingly creating a tug of war for the same prize.

After the exchange of dialogue within the cafe, the Lady’s

tear transforms into a fallen petal, which we use as a

symbol of death or dying. As the shadow appears in the

background, we can guess that the shadow and petal are

perhaps found only within the lady’s mind, as both

disappear.

Here we can emphasize both the play on multiple worlds

again, and also concentrate on the lady’s loneliness in her

plight. We ask the audience, “Can no one see what she

sees?”

Curiously all other people within the market place are

oblivious to the shadowy figured presence, walking threw

it on occasion.

Later the shadow takes the form of a child, lugging a toy

bear around with him. Watching on the outskirts from afar,

the shadow seemingly has a limited ability to interact

within the world of the living. The image of the bear serves

as a dummy for the shadow, showing that perhaps it too is

lonely, or ‘hungry’ for company. The dialogue “He looked

hungry” can help us add more light to this idea.

I wanted to create the idea that death is tempting the old

lady. Perhaps she has lost a loved one many years ago,

and longs to be reunited. Mixing the imagery of a child

and a scythe gives the shadow a lot more visual flavor. It

can be seen on one hand as a threat, something that

extinguishes life, and on the other, something loved and

lost that could be regained. This is the tempting bargain.

The man suggesting that the money offered would be

wasted on drugs and alcohol reveals a poor

understanding of what his wife is going threw, and helps

to illuminate her loneliness.

Her walking away from him at the market stand can

suggest her willingness to make a journey into the afterlife

alone, much to her husbands dismay. The rush and

hubbub of the market place can reflect the lady’s rush to

be released from life before her time.

In the final scene, as the shadow walks out of frame, we

allow the audience to hear coins jingling, as if to say that

the deal has been accepted.

The theme of death is applicable to a broad audience, and

is perhaps best suited for short animated film festivals,

since the story is small but full of imagery.

I would use both 3D (subtly) and 2D to animate the story,

again giving the audience hints about multiple worlds

through the use of different mediums.

Due to the heavy use of imagery and symbolism, the

piece would require a minimum amount of labor, as using

limited animation could effectively communicate the

themes and ideas of the piece.

Within the storyboard dialogue is organized largely off

screen, or through the use of long shots, freeing animators the work load of extensive lip synching. This

stage structure makes the piece more achievable and less

expensive to create, without losing any aesthetically

pleasing visuals.

Fitting the piece into the genre of drama/animation helps

to give the shadow a lessened threatening feel in key

shots. Where as I feel a live action shadow would be more

sinister, and lose its duality of symbolism.

- Marcus Binge