Friday 28 January 2011

4th Year Project

......and so it begins: our first steps into a year and a half of perpetual mental Maya torture.

I'm working with Kieran Duncan (www.kieranduncan.blogspot.com) on an idea which we've spent the last few weeks fleshing out. It began with us considering doing our own take and re-imagining of the classic Sci-Fi short story, 'Time Enough at Last', by Lyn Venable. However, it began to take its own shape and transformed into an original idea that we're both extremely proud of.

Here is the synopsis and some early concept art.

"A young inventor sits aggravated and dumbfounded at his faltering time machine. His continuing attempts at success seem futile. He places his watch into the machine, throws the switch , resulting in a fantastic explosion of light that fills the room...

However, as the dust settles, he finds that the watch remains on the time machine's platform seemingly untouched. Indignant, he furiously and repeatedly cranks the massive lever activating the machine over and over before collapsing - defeated - in his chair with a mug of tea.

In a last ditch attempt, he grabs the watch, pulls the lever, and slips through the doors into the chamber. He watches in amazement as the world around him rips apart into infinite expanse, before reforming before his eyes.

He slams back into reality, stumbling off the platform onto his knees. Staring at the ground confounded, he finds himself surrounded by watches… all of them identical to his own.

Perplexed, he stands up to find himself in the same room, although not all is what it seems: the décor diminished, neglected and dusty… As if hundreds of years have passed.

The time machine emits a lonely spark as it lies destroyed behind him; he’s trapped in the future.

After climbing the rotting stairs, the inventor steps out of the doorframe and into the outside world, only to be confronted by a vast, barren landscape; the remnants of his former city, now a desert wasteland.

He wanders aimlessly through the city streets looking for any signs of life. Suddenly, a loud clang echoes from the distance. He spots the figure of a man through the dust rummaging in a pile of scrap.

Shouting, he walks towards the figure. The man flees, tearing through the city streets and down alleyways. A chase ensues, culminating in the exasperated inventor tackling the man; wrestling him to the ground.

He turns him over onto his back and recoils in horror as he sees himself staring back. Standing up, he’s surrounded by duplicates of himself seemingly non-phased at his presence. One of them pats a chair - inviting the inventor to take a seat.

In the background, several other clones are building what seems to be another time machine.

Present Day: The inventor sits down once again at his desk frustrated, with a cup of tea. He’ll try again tomorrow."







Mark

1 comment:

  1. Really cool idea. It's going to have to be really clear that he's sending clones of himself into the future, otherwise that last scene might be a bit confusing.

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