This story will be told primarily in voice over form with text on screen beside it with occasional vector graphics to emulate the style of illustrated children’s books. I need to write a condensed narrative piece that is focused considering I am going to be merging illustration, voice over, sound design and writing.
The piece will be composed in Adobe XD, the audio work will be completed using Adobe Audition and the illustrations will be created in Adobe Illustrator.
I will use various tools within Audition to change the voices of the characters such as The Stordrage. I will experiment with deepening of pitch and adding reverberation to create a larger soundscape for the audience. If I have time I will create foley pieces or utilise sounds available under creative commons.
I want to create the aesthetic of an old children’s storybook but updated to for a contemporary audience using Adobe XD. I will use paper stained with tea and coffee to act as the “pages” of the book and create the assets digitally using simple vector artwork sat on top of photographs of this paper.
Characters
Protagonist – Grith (Sanctuary / Peace)
The protagonist is inexperienced, and he has only heard stories of what lies beyond the walls of his small village. He is headstrong and he has internalised a lot of his fathers’ warnings about the world. Through the course of the story, he grows and realises that these warnings can be well founded but it was never right to assume that everything would be as dangerous as he was told.
I will be using The Heroes Journey style of storytelling to explore this character.
Antagonist? – The Stordrage (Large Dragon)
A large Dragon that lives at the apex of the mountain. He tries his best to put on a front to the rest of the world who seem content with the idea of hunting him down while he just tries to live in peace. He has no willing to be the monster that was slain in anyone’s story and uses bravado and flame to try and scare intruders away.
Father – Heimrot (Home Root) (MENTOR 2)
Heimrot is unwilling to allow his son to travel outside of the walls of their small village. Both he and his wife gave up on that life when they realised Vifstieg had fallen pregnant with Grith. He has some regrets about giving up that life but understands all too well how cruel the world can be and wishes to spare his son the same potential pain.
Mother – Vifstieg (Female wanderer)
While Vifstieg isn’t physically present in the story, Grith learns about her from other characters. Initially she is described as a once fierce warrior who roamed the lands in search of adventure. Grith inherits her old armour and tries to live up to the idea of the kind of person he assumed his mother was. It isn’t until he ascends the mountain and speaks with The Dragon that he learns she was kind and compassionate and would visit him to keep him compony on the lonely mountain.
Grandfather – Dyrspeki (Old wise) (MENTOR 1)
Dyrspeki knows more than he initially lets on to Grith. He understands the boys need to see more of the world and agrees to speak with his father to try and allow Grith to leave for a while, Under the provision he learns how to defend himself and learn more about how to survive outside of the walls. He went through the same issues with his daughter many years ago and hopes to help Heimrot and Grith having the same conflicts.
Story Outline
THIS OUTLINE IS NOT COMPLETE AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THIS PLAN DON’T HAVE COMPLETE ARCS AND WILL NEED TO BE CHANGED WHEN I ACTUALLY WRITE THIS.
A young boy is on the cusp of adulthood and is growing tired of life within his small village. His father constantly reiterates the dangers that lie beyond the large walls of their village and implores his son remain at home and learn to smith like himself. He acknowledges his son is growing older and won’t be able to control him as he has been able to so far but hopes his son abandons these dangerous ambitions.
The son walks through the narrow streets of the village, resenting this conversation before he is approached by his grandfather who sees a negativity building inside and invites him into his home. The two reflect what the boy’s father had told him and the grandfather reiterates his concerns but encourages him to explore beyond the walls and asks the boy one piercing question.
“How much did your father tell you about your mother, before she had you?”
The boy learns that his mother travelled across the lands as an adventurer making enemies and friends alike, before settling down to a simpler life in their village to give birth to Grith. She unfortunately died shortly after and was unable to tell Grith about her adventures first hand. The Grandfather then asks the boy if he could visit a friend of hers atop the mountain to check up on them, if he truly wants to venture across the lands. Grith leaves and away from the main narrative Dyrspeki and Heimrot agree to allow him to leave if he trains for one year.
The three of them spend the following year forging, training, and reading to prepare Grith for his first adventure beyond the walls.
Grith leaves the village after a year and encounters several characters (yet to be decided) on his way up the mountain.
Grith is confused as it dawns on him no one would willingly choose to live up here, let alone someone who had friends in the village before a loud roar interrupts this train of thought. Grith races into a cavern at the top of the mountain to be faced against a giant dragon who screams for him to leave before his voice softens and sees a familiar set of armour.
The two speak for some time and Stordrage recounts tales of himself and Vifstieg from years ago and asks how she is. Grith informs The Dragon she died years ago and The Dragon assumed she didn’t visit anymore due to becoming a parent. The two help each other grow and be less fearful of the outside world.
Grith returns to the village complete with his own tales to tell and starts to plan his next journey, one his paternal figures may join him on.
