In previous posts I have discussed the color palette for this project. I want it to be very low-key colors and lots of greys with red accents. I don’t have the whole story board complete, but I have the whole story line planned out. So this will make it a lot easier to complete the story board.

The story is set in 1888 in England. The main characters name is Everton and he is a failed musician turned hat maker. His dreams were always to play the violin for all to hear and compose beautiful music that everyone would love. The problem wasnt his talent, because he played with excellence, it was the notes. He never was able to think of anything new and creative that no one had ever heard before. So one day he finally had to give up and follow in the family business and become a hat maker because that’s all he knew. On a particularly depressing day he goes for a stroll and decides to go into a shop owned by an eccentric married couple who sell used items, kind of like a pawn shop or resale shop. Everton comes across a violin that they are selling at a very good price. He had to sell his in earlier years because he needed the money. He also comes across an old pocket watch and he has been meaning to buy a new one, so those are his purchases for the day.  Everton is all excited about his new violin so he goes to the park to play on a bench, in hopes that someone, anyone will notice his music. He begins to play the same old things he use and no one pays any attention to him. Hours and hours go by and still no one has even given him a second look. It is getting later and Everton finally stops and almost begins weeping. After a few minutes of this, his pocket watch strikes midnight and he hears the first couple notes of a dark, almost morbid tune, and it gives him inspiration and he begins playing. It’s bleak and emotional and Everton looks angry as he begins to play faster and with more confidence. Then all of the sudden there’s a shot of a hand reaching out of the grave from the cemetery across the street. the camera switches back and forth between Everton and these rising bodies from the grave. Finally the camera begins to show these bodies pulling things out of their bodies and playing the same tune as Everton. They walk closer to Everton and he squints and sees coming out of the darkness these zombies walking towards him, playing the same beautiful music that he was. Everton is terrified and begins to run but then trips and falls and the orchestra is right behind him they walk up close he is crawling backwards in terror and they all stop playing and stare at him. Confused and scared, Everton stands up, then out of instinct continues playing. For hours they play in the park and then the sun begins to rise and they disperse and Everton goes home. All day he is waiting to go back at night and begin playing. He can’t sit still at work, or focus and then he finally returns and plays with them that night, then the next night and so on. Then one night there is a disruption. Another man rises from his grave and walks over to the park in rage and pushes all of the members of the orchestra out of the way and stares at Everton. He is breathing heavily and with every breath the spaces between his ribs open up and his body makes the sounds of a pipe organ. He is angry and looks at Leonard, who is the main violinist and the most talented, then back at Everton and takes the violin from Everton and smashes. Everton is upset scurry to put the pieces back together, but the sun starts to rise and they all go back to their graves. Everton is a mess the next day. He thought he will never be able to see or play with his new friends again. Everton is too scared to go back to the park that night because the angry man (I havent figured out an appropriate name yet) was so terrifying. After weeks of not going to the park, Everton finally returns at night. Leonard is the only one there. The sit down and Leonard explains what happened in the past to the whole orchestra to cause them to play so beautifully and why they are all dead. The whole orchestra was famous and known for playing beautiful music. Leonard was the most talented of all and the angry man envied all them, especially Leonard. The night of one of the biggest performances the orchestra has ever done, the angry man decides to sabotage them and burns the whole opera house down, however the angry man didn’t get out in time and died with them. They rise every time they hear that tune, but you find it out it wasnt the violin. Leonard take the pocket watch from Everton’s pocket and opens the back and there is an inscription that says to my love Leonard, congratulations on a great performance, Love Sylvia. You learn that Leonard’s wife was going to give him the pocket watch after his performance that night, but they both died in the fire, and the pocket watch ended up being sold to the resale store that was shown in the beginning. Then the pocket watch strikes midnight and plays the tune. The same tune the Everton first played, and the whole orchestra rises and plays. Everton is so happy, but then the angry man comes out again and goes after Everton. Leonard stands in his way and says to him You will silence us no more, and the whole orchestra rips the man apart, and harsh notes are played on an organ to show him being ripped apart. The ending of the movie shows Everton playing in front of a crowd in an opera house, playing same tune he first played with the orchestra, and the orchestra is outside playing right along with him. 

There are still some things that need work, but that is the basic idea of the story. For the final I will turn in for this class, I wanted to do a scene with Everton and Leonard playing together, because they are the two main characters, and it will show the style of the zombies and the style of all the human characters in the movie along with the lighting and colors as well. I will draw out everything for the next designer step, and I have already begun producing the puppets for the stop motion film.

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