Rough Script

FADE IN:

EXT. NEAR A CITY BUILDING – EVENING

The scene opens on a rock flying through the air directly in front of the camera in a black and white world. The camera catches up to the rock, and the shot is now from the rock’s point of view as it sails towards a building window. About 15 feet from the window is where the camera stops following the rock, and we watch as it hits the building window, and the glass shatters and falls to the ground below. I.P. (male glass creature made from several shards of the broken window) forms here and quickly looks around the area to find out what is going on. CUT to I.P. looking to his left as he sees a tall glass sculpture out across a field, and CUT back to I.P. looking to his right at the empty streets in the city behind him. Other glass creatures are hurrying towards the sculpture, and they want I.P. to come with them. The glass creatures are trying to get as high in the air that they possibly can because they want to get away from the city and live in the clouds. I.P. wants to join them in this goal, but he also wants to try to be an individual and do things for himself. Because of this reluctance to join them, I.P. is left to reach the sculpture on his own.

EXT. CITY’S EDGE – EVENING

I.P. has reached the edge of the city, but he now sees the treacherous and troublesome landscape that he’ll have to face before he can reach the glass sculpture across the field. CUT to I.P. at the edge of the city and a panoramic shot of the terrain that he will have to cross. The viewer sees a river near the edge of the city, a huge barren field except for a few trees and the glass sculpture, and mountains on the other side of the field. CUT back to I.P. as he begins his journey across the terrain.

EXT. EDGE OF RIVERBANK – EVENING

I.P. looks over the edge of a riverbank and seems frightened. This is because the glass creatures are afraid of water. CUT to I.P. searching the area for something to help him across the river. He finds a long board and carries it off-screen. CUT to I.P. placing the board from the edge of the river to a rock that rest in the middle of it. I.P. then jumps to another rock and finally to the other side of the river, crossing the first big obstacle of his journey. During this river-crossing, I.P. loses a few shards of his being, and he thinks that these pieces are necessary. He feels almost as if he can’t go on without them, but he knows he has to continue and reach the sculpture before the sun sets and he can no long see because of the darkness. He continues across the field, and he is slowly becoming tired, but he is still able to see his goal in the distance, and he knows that he doesn’t have much time before sunset.

EXT. BELOW THE GLASS SCULPTURE – NEAR SUNSET

It has taken some time, but I.P. has finally gotten to the glass sculpture in the middle of this barren field. The sculpture is surrounded by rocks below in order to protect from invaders, and I.P. now must find a way to climb the rocks and get to his peers in the sculpture. CUT to I.P. as he begins climbing the rocks below the glass sculpture. The viewer can see the difficulty of crossing this obstacle in the body language and actions of the character here. I.P. finally reaches the sculpture and now has to climb it and get to the top before the sun sets. CUT to I.P. as he begins climbing his peers. The climb is not easy, and his time is running out. He will not be able to continue after sunset because he won’t be able to see after dark in a black and white world. CUT to the sun beginning to set behind the mountains. CUT back to I.P. as he nears the top of the sculpture. We see I.P. slip and almost fall off the sculpture completely, but one of his glass shards catches on a piece of another glass creature. He climbs the rest of the way up the sculpture and reaches the top just before the sun sets completely. CUT to the sun once again. CUT back to I.P. at the top of the glass sculpture. Suddenly the sun hits I.P., and, without the glass shard that he thought he needed, a beautiful prism is created. CUT to the panoramic view of the whole scene again as the world is flooded with color. CUT to a close-up of the entire glass sculpture as we see the intense colors that the glass creatures are and the happiness of the glass creature community.

FADE TO BLACK

Revised Story

Enter a world with nothing but black, white, and shades of gray. The world is colorless and, in turn, almost completely lifeless. There are inhabitants though, and they all always stick together to support each other and hold tight to the little amount of life they have. The inhabitants are glass creatures, and they take many different forms. Some of them are artistically formed and sculpted into their current shape, others form from bits of broken glass, but what is important is that they all stick together and form a close-knit community. They do this by coming together in the middle of a barren field in a sculpture-like formation that mocks that of the individually sculpted pieces of glass. This sculpture is surrounded by rocks below to protect from invadors and those wanting to cause harm to the tightly-bound glass creature family. On one side of the sculpture lies a river, protecting the glass creatures from city-dwellers on the opposide side, and on the other side is a mountain range, providing even more protection. Inside the city there is violence and desperation, it is no place for a glass creature to want to live. When a glass creature is born here, the only choice he has is to get out and join his peers as quickly as he possibly can. That is where our story begins. A rock is thrown and hits a window of a building on the edge of the city limits, and the glass shatters and falls to the ground. From these bits of shattered glass a small and fragile-looking glass creature is formed. He can see the violence around him and also the glass sculpture out across the field, and right away he knows that he is to go to the sculpture and join the others. This is not necessarily what he wants to do right away because he wants to live life his own way and be an individual, but he knows he will be more help to the other glass creatures if he joins them. He begins his journey, travelling to the edge of town and beginning across the field. When he reaches the river, he feels as if he has met a great enemy, seeing as how the glass creatures don't like water. He must find a way across the river because he can't let it keep him from reaching his peers across the field. He is eventually able to find a wooden plank to place across some stones and, after a few tries, he makes it safely to the other side of the river. During this attempt to cross the river, the creature loses a few shards of his glass-being, and he feels almost incomplete, but he knows he must keep going towards the sculpture because it is nearly sunset, and there is no way for him to function after dark in a black and white world. He continues on with every strength of his being. When he reaches the rocks below the sculpture, he knows that all he will have to do is climb up them and find the perfect place to rest himself among his peers. The climb up the rocks is treacherous, but he finally reaches the top of the rocks and begins climbing his peers to find a place for himself among them. The sun is nearly setting, and the glass creature thinks he cannot reach his destination before it does set, but he finally finds his place with some direction from his peers. Just as the sun is setting, he places himself at the perfect location, and, without the glass shard that he thought he needed, the sun catches him at just the right angle to create a prism. The prism floods the world with color and life almost instantaneously. The creature has given new life and color to his world just in time for the beautiful sunset to be viewed by all the glass creatures.

My Complete Story

Enter a world with nothing but black, white, and shades of
gray. The world is colorless and, in turn, almost completely lifeless.
There are inhabitants though, and they all always stick together to
support each other and hold tight to the little amount of life they
have. The inhabitants are glass creatures, and they take many different forms. Some of them are artistically formed and sculpted into their current shape, others form from bits of broken glass, but what is important is that they all stick together and form a close-knit community. They do this by coming together in the middle of a barren field in a sculpture-like formation that mocks that of the individually sculpted pieces of glass. This sculpture is surrounded by rocks below to protect from invadors and those wanting to cause harm to the tightly-bound glass creature family. On one side of the sculpture lies a river, protecting the glass creatures from city-dwellers on the opposide side, and on the other side is a mountain range, providing even more protection.
Inside the city there is violence, war, and desperation. When a glass creature is born here, the only choice he has is to get out and join his peers as quickly as he possibly can. That is where our story begins. A stray bullet hits a window of a building on the edge of the city limits, and the glass shatters and falls to the ground. From these bits of shattered glass a small and fragile-looking glass creature is formed. He can see the violence around him and also the glass sculpture out across the field, and right away he knows that he is to go to the sculpture and join the others. He begins his journey, travelling to the edge of town and beginning across the field. When he reaches the river, he feels as if he has met a great enemy, seeing as how the glass creatures don't like water. He must find a way across the river because he can't let it keep him from reaching his peers across the field. He is eventually able to find a wooden plank to place across some stones and, after a few tries, he makes it safely to the other side of the river. During this attempt to cross the river, the creature loses a few shards of his glass-being, and he feels almost incomplete, but he knows he must keep going towards the sculpture because it is nearly sunset, and there is no way for him to function after dark in a black and white world. He continues on with every strength of his being. When he reaches the rocks below the sculpture, he knows that all he will have to do is climb up them and find the perfect place to rest himself among his peers. The climb up the rocks is treacherous, but he finally reaches the top of the rocks and begins climbing his peers to find a place for himself among them.
The sun is nearly setting, and the glass creature thinks he cannot reach his destination before it does set, but he finally finds his place with some direction from his peers. Just as the sun is setting, he places himself at the perfect location, and, without the glass shard that he thought he needed, the sun catches him at just the right angle to create a prism. The prism floods the world with color and life almost instantaneously. The creature has given new life and color to his world just in time for the beautiful sunset to be viewed by all the glass creatures.

last of the reference images

Chihuly glass images for sculpture in middle of setting

reference images continued

last of the futuristic city images

barren field images for setting

reference images continued

last of the glass images

futuristic city settings

reference images continued

more broken glass images

blue glass images

reference images for character and setting

broken glass samples for character design

Concept and 7 Sentence Story

Concept Statement:

Everyone plays an important role, and, together, we have the ability to bring color and life into our world.


7 Sentence Story:

1. A glass shard creature is journeying towards a giant glass sculpture, made of his peers, that sits in the center of his black and white universe.

2. On this journey, the glass shard creature faces obstacles that block his way to the sculpture and others that cause him physical harm.

3. The glass shard creature loses a vital piece of his being on the treacherous journey.

4. The creature manages to reach the glass sculpture without this seemingly vital piece of himself.

5. He climbs to the top of the sculpture, searching for the perfect place to set himself down before sunset.

6. He reaches the eye of the sculpture just before the sun is setting, and, without the shard he used to have, the sun catches him at the right angle to create a prism.

7. The world is suddenly flooded with color and a beautiful sunset.

mind map

The official mind map for my story... first draft