The latest version of the scarecrow duo.

More rough boards, this time for the first half of the film.

Some rough boards for the final moments of the film

Just a second pass at the color script which now follows the events of the revised treatment. I also experimented with a different brush, hoping to better capture the style and tone of the new story.

For the world of my film, I started by creating a small map to locate where everything would be. I took a lot of inspiration from my grandparents house back in North Carolina. 

My family used to joke that my grandfather must have been a hoarder with how much stuff he kept out on his land. There were loads of old tires, fences, pipes, wood, etc. I called back to that for inspiration for this first image below, though the amount of junk here doesn't compare to what my grandfather would keep.

For this next image, I wanted to get a view of the farm from the crows' perspective. I figured I'd put a power line for them to loiter on. It's on Maurice's side, allowing them to get to him easier without passing Lump first.

Lastly, I wanted to see how the farm would look at the end of the story. Not only is it darker thanks to the ongoing storm in the back, but the crops are pale and rotten to help emphasize some of the themes in the story. The hardest part was figuring out what kind of trees should be in the background and around the farm. For this shot I finally found that one was all that was needed. It's based off of a weeping willow that stands lonesome in my grandparent's backyard.

On an old farm in the middle of nowhere, an even older farmer adjusts the posture of his weathered scarecrows: Lump and Maurice. Before walking back to his farmhouse, the farmer barks at the surrounding crows. The crows attempt perching atop of Lump, but quickly retreat after Lump intimidates them with a scare. Lastly, the crows make their way to Maurice, who is happy to receive some company. The crows “talk” to Maurice as he nods in affirmation. The crows fly away after speaking their mind and Maurice welcomes the next. Disgruntled with Maurice’s tolerance, Lump scolds him. Maurice brushes it off by mocking his grouchy counterpart, who then returns to his irritated position. 

Time passes and the farmer notices a crop which has been picked away at by crows. Lump watches in fear as his farmer walks away dissatisfied. Hoping to find some equal concern, he turns to Maurice. Instead Maurice is blissfully unaware and surrounded by a murder of crows. Furious, Lump tries again to discipline the reckless scarecrow. This time however, the reckless scarecrow is backed by a dozen birds. As Maurice mocks an anxious Lump once more, the crows join in. The murder starts to swarm Lump and the sounds of cawing become louder and louder. Suddenly, the chaos is interrupted by shots from a rifle. A mess of black feathers fill the air as the crows depart. 

As they fly away they reveal Lump, who was caught in the crossfire, now laying destroyed across the ground, straw and hay seeping from his worn flannel. It begins to rain. We see Maurice standing over his now defunct partner. He is perfectly still and his head hangs low, weighed with his decisions. The rain slowly washes away his smile. That’s when the farmer walks by, scaring off the remaining crows before swapping out Maurice’s worn face with one much more scary and intimidating. As the farmer walks away, we get one last look at the farm and the enormous amounts of death that plague the field, crops and scarecrows alike.

Lump is an old scarecrow. He’s been around for as long as the farm has and he’s gotten pretty good at his job. As far as he’s concerned, it’s all he needs to do. He doesn't much care for change. Unfortunately it’s never that easy. His partner, Maurice is a newer scarecrow who actually ENJOYS the company of a crow. Lump knows however that he needs to put an end to this, otherwise he’s in danger of being replaced! 

Lump is a hard worker. You can count on him to get the job done. The task has made him tough and provided him with a spine of steel. That being said, he may be a bit stubborn and when things don’t go his way. He can get grouchy when his patience is tested. More than anything, he hates being disrespected, which is why he gets so fed up with Maurice. He loves making his farmer happy but terrified of being replaced by him. At the end of the day all he really wants is for things to stay the same.

Maurice is a scarecrow who isn’t all that scary. In fact he’s pretty approachable. So approachable that all the crows want to talk to him. This is no problem at all with Maurice. He loves their company and enjoys listening to what they have to say. He wishes that Lump would understand his fascination, but he’s pretty convinced his conventional counterpart isn’t changing his ways. Instead Maurice just carries about his own methods. After all, he wouldn’t want to lose all of his friends. 

Maurice is a good listener. Not to mention fun to be around. He’s a pretty outgoing scarecrow and he’s always got a lot of energy. However, this makes it difficult for him to take things seriously sometimes. He hates the fact that he isn’t supposed to be friends with crows, especially with how good they are to him. He loves the crows and would rather be replaced than betray them. He fears becoming as grouchy as Lump and wishes that he could understand his friendship with the crows. 

Excited about my concept, I decided to put together a mood board to help influence the visuals of the film. 

Characters were next. So far, I'm happy with how their designs are coming along, but I think the toughest part is the colors. I want them to stand out, but I also want them to feel like they're a part of this world. 

Finally I settled on these. I think your typical bright yellow raincoat fits Maurice's energetic personality. As for Lump, I added some purple to this burgundy color, just to help contrast his body from his face. 

I have also been thinking about what mediums would work best for the story. While I think a rough 2D approach would fit the "messy" look of the farm and it's characters, I couldn't help but think of Stop-motion or paper cut outs. I believe these collage designs help make the characters feel like a farmer made them in his free time one day. 

This quarter, I brought back "The Art of the Incredibles" from home. After studying it, I fell in love with some of Teddy Newton's collage work as well as Lou Romano's color script for the film. While at first both approaches may seem simple, a closer look reveals so much to be said about the story and characters. For instance, the shy teenager violet, is nothing but a dark trapezoid over some denim and sneakers. That one really stuck with me. Influenced by these artists, I tried to explore that with my own themes and concepts. 

Whenever I'm developing a story, I like to search for music that best represents the tones I'm trying to convey. My grandfather had a taste for old country music and it's humble melodies are something I also came to enjoy. They're slow and twangy, but also kind of sad. Perfect for an old run-down farm and two rugged characters who don't quite understand each other. 

Story Beats

• A farmer tends to his scarecrows
• The farmer barks at surrounding crows before walking back to the farmhouse
• Crows approach Lump
• Lump scares them off
• Crows fly off immediately
• Crows approach Maurice
• Crows loiter and “talk” to Maurice
• Lump scolds Maurice
• Maurice mocks Lump
• Lump returns to his chair 
• Crops start to disappear overtime
• Farmer notices missing crops
• Lump tries again to discipline Maurice
• Maurice, surrounded by crows, mocks back again
• Crows swarm Lump
• Rifle shots are heard
• A crow falls to the ground
• Maurice is devastated
• Lump hears a rustle in the crops
• A rat is nibbling at crops
• A crow scares rat away before Lump
• Crow flies away
• A conflicted Lump looks at Maurice
• Lump gets an idea
• Lump sticks hand of hay in broken watermelon
• Later the two are at regular posts
• A crow is on Maurice again
• Farmer walks by
• Lump hits Maurice over the head
• Reveal scary face on the other side
• Crow flies away and farmer passes
• Maurice spins head back around to a smile
• Lump smiles back

Treatment

On an old farm in the middle of nowhere, an even older farmer adjusts the posture of his weathered scarecrows: Lump and Maurice. Before walking back to his farmhouse, the farmer barks at the surrounding crows. The crows attempt perching atop of Lump, but quickly retreat after Lump intimidates them with a scare. Lastly, the crows make their way to Maurice, who is happy to receive some company. The crows “talk” to Maurice as he nods in affirmation. The crows fly away after speaking their mind and Maurice welcomes the next. Disgruntled with Maurice’s tolerance, Lump scolds him. Maurice brushes it off by mocking his grouchy counterpart, who then returns to his irritated position. 

Time passes and the farmer notices that his crops are disappearing. Lump watches in fear as his farmer walks away dissatisfied. Hoping to find some equal concern, he turns to Maurice. Instead Maurice is blissfully unaware and surrounded by a murder of crows. Furious, Lump tries again to discipline the reckless scarecrow. This time however, the reckless scarecrow is backed by a dozen birds. As Maurice mocks an anxious Lump once more, the crows join in. The murder starts to swarm Lump and the sounds of cawing become louder and louder. Suddenly, the chaos is interrupted by shots from a rifle. A mess of black feathers fill the air as the crows depart, but not before one falls to the ground, right in front of Maurice.

Maurice’s head hangs low, staring at what used to be living. He is devastated, but does not move. Lump is also stationary and silent, feeling sorry that Maurice had to learn a lesson in such a harsh way… but Lump’s thought is disturbed by a rustle in the field. He decides to investigate and finds a rat feasting on the crops, but before he can scare away the rodent, a crow does instead. The rat flees and the crow and Lump share a brief glance before the crow escapes as well. Lump is conflicted and looks back to see the back of Maurice’s head, who hasn’t moved - but that’s when Lump gets an idea. He sticks his hand in the shattered watermelon, gaining the attention of a curious Maurice.

Later, we see the two scarecrows back at their posts. A crow is even perched upon Maurice’s arm once again, but this time Lump doesn't seem to mind. The farmer walks by and Lump quickly knocks Maurice over the head. The impact causes the jug to spin around, revealing a terrifying face painted by Lump on the other side. The crow flies away quickly. Once the farmer passes, Maurice spins his face back to the approachable side and the two scarecrows share a smile. 

Logline: Two weathered scarecrows must investigate what's been ravaging their crops to avoid being replaced.

Meet Maurice and Lump. Two scarecrows who have been doing just that for a long time now... well, almost. While they both do the same job, they each have a different approach. Lump is pretty conventional. He's scary, intimidating and aggressive. Maurice on the other hand doesn't mind the company of a crow and enjoys listening to what they have to say. Once the crow has spoken their mind, they fly away peacefully. Unfortunately, Lump has always had his doubts about Maurice's methods, so when crops start disappearing around the farm, he has a hunch as to why. 

Themes: Communication, trust, doubt, utility