Statement of Intent - The Box

For extended practice, I want to make an animation that will be at high quality in narrative and in my chosen focus (stop-motion). This way I will be able to end university with a film that can show off everything I have learnt along the way and something I can be proud of, so I have been coming up with a strong narrative that will hopefully relate to a lot of different people and possibly even help people who watch it. Creating this animation, will hopefully teach me how to create my own independent film, based off of my own narrative and how to carefully recognise each process of production, as when I leave this will be an important thing to have learnt throughout my time at University. For my COP, I am looking into the tactility and nostalgia that stop-motion brings, as well as the performance that can be achieved through stop-motion using different materials and even the most basic of those. So, the aesthetic of this animation I want to keep very minimal, yet still tactile. My concept for this module is a narrative based around feelings of addiction, uncontrollable feelings, betrayal, temptation, an affair or even struggles with mental health. I want to keep the interpretation of the meaning behind the animation very open so that more people will be able to relate to it. The hearts in the characters in this animation will be a very important factor as it will show their emotions and responses to their surroundings throughout.

Synopsis

The Box, is about a couple, Faith and Earl, who stumble upon a small box and decide to take it home. They both have in sync heartbeats and this is an important concept within the narrative. They sit with it in between them and start to open it when some strings come out of the box, the strings start to tickle them both and they’re quite excited by it as their hearts start to race and flutter. The strings grow and start to surround them and before long they go with the flow and lay down side by side, hearts still beating in sync. The next scene, Faith wakes up to find her arm has fallen off and picks up the box and throws it to other side of the room in disgust, her heart pumping with fury. Earl runs after it to pick it up again, still fully desiring what the box has shown him. Faith picks it up and throws it two more times before they’re both physically pulling at the box from either side, and eventually Faith gives up in defeat. She picks up her arm and leaves him with the box, knowing what he has chosen. Alone with the box, Earl opens it again and outcome the strings, although this time they get a little nastier. Each time he opens the box they take a little more and more of him, and the room seems to get darker and darker. On the final time, he opens the box again and this time they come for his heart. His heart at this point, beating very slowly, is weak and as they’re about to entangle themselves around it, Faith burst through the door. Earl’s heart starts to pick up at the sight of her and this is how she knows there is still hope. She runs over and pulls out some scissors and starts hacking away at the strings and Wilson starts to get stronger to the point where he can help Faith. Faith helps Earl put himself back together again and their hearts match up once again. Together they throw the box out of the window, only to be found by another couple and the cycle continues.

This is my basic synopsis for now, however it could change. My next steps are to fully begin pre-production.