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Here it is

The Fruit of my Labors

My Mangnum Opus

The Piece de Resistance of my Artistic Career

The Final Cut of

“Neighbors”

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Yo it’s been over 2 months since my Concept Development class ended, yet silly me forgot to upload my final pitch

So yeah, here it is: The Final Version of “Neighbors”

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Assignment 8: Animatic (completed) (05-21-18)

Made changes and fixed up some things from the last animatic

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Assignment 7: (working) Animatic (05-14-18)

Here it is, the fruits of my labor; after 7 weeks of buffering this idea out I at last have a (wip) animatic!

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Assignment 6: Research and Development 1 (05-09-18)

Norman: Gives Tag orange scented potpourri “Everyone thinks it’s garlic that keeps vampires at bay, but it’s actually citrus” (He pulls this out of his pocket when he notices Tag; and yes, he carries this around with him when listening in on Al’s room)

Al: Gives Tag earbuds “These walls are thin, and Norman has a habit of pacing and muttering to himself in front of his evidence board late at night” (He ducks in to his apartment and grabs these for Tag once he notices him after Norman leaves)

The Great Prospero: Gives Tag a new deck of cards “So you can practice your own magic tricks! Or play solitaire, something I’m unable to do now that there’s two of me hahahaha!” (His kind gesture towards the newest resident before Tag exits the lobby; also a sort of ‘sorry-my-dismembered-body-almost-gave-you-a-heart-attack’ gift [he carries around lots of card decks, since this is a regular occurrence])

Sophie: Gives Tag a lollipop “I was saving this for later, but mommy says to always welcome someone new with a gift, so you can have it!” (She pulls this out from her dress pocket after meeting Tag, before she introduces him to Cuddles)

Cuddles: Offers Tag his stick “My owner seems to approve of you, so I guess you’re ok; but you’re on thin ice bud!” (This is done with a ‘I’m-watching-you’ glare in Tag’s direction before he high tails it back in to the building)

Grim: Gives Tag some change for the dryer “The dryers are $1.00, not $.75; you’ll need this quarter” (Offers him the money when Tag realizes he’s short on change; replaces Grim’s robe getting mixed up in tag’s laundry, resulting in him asking for it back. However Tag runs out of the laundry room screaming before even using the quarter)

Throughout the film Tag collects these items and puts them in his hoodie pocket; at the end of the film when he’s confronted by his neighbors he slides his hands in to his pocket (default position), and feels the items, pulling them out and remembering how they all gifted him something.

Norman’s bag of paranoia potpourri (orange scented)

Al’s conspiracy theorist noise canceling ear plugs (lime green colored)

The Great Prospero’s apology deck of cards (purple suits)

Sophie’s welcome lollipop (pink bubblegum flavor)

Grim’s kindly offered quarter (has some black smudge on it)

All of these presents fill Tag with a sense of community, and, along with the Welcome Cake, gives Tag the push he needs to look past his neighbor’s weird behavior to see into their well-meaning hearts.

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Assignment 5: Concept Pitch (04-30-18)

My first pass at my pitch for “Neighbors” that I presented to my class

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The Cast (05-08-18)

(from left to right) Tag, Norman, Al, The Great Prospero, Sophie, and Grim

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Assignment 4: World (04-22-18) 

Joyous day, another moodboard! This time it’s for the ideas I’ve had in mind for the locations in “Neighbors”

I definitely want the apartment building to seem unassuming; I didn’t want it to be like “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends” or “Asventure Time”, where based on the layouts alone you can tell it’s a cooky, zany show. I wanted my film to give off more of a “Phineas and Ferb” type feel, where the backgrounds are pretty standard, and therefore you’re more caught of guard and focused on the characters’ eccentricities. I also wanted the apartment building to be pretty mid-scale, nothing fancy but also not a complete dump. I included in the moodboard images of some of the main settings, such as the courtyard where Tag meets Sophie and Cuddles, the lobby where Tag encounters the Great Prospero, and the laundry room where Tag comes face-to-face with Grim. As for the color scheme I’m pretty content with the ones Phineas and Ferb sets, not too saturated and not too muted.

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Some character sketches of Tag, Norman, Al, The Great Prospero, Sophie, Cuddles, and Grim

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Assignment 3 (elaborated): Characters (04-18-18)

Tag: A 22 year-old college student, Tag is your run-of-the-mill, everyday Joe, true neutral individual. His idea of excitement is going out to a bar and drinking 2 beers before going home and getting in to bed before 11pm. His boringness stems from his desire for things to stay the way they are; he has no intention to rock the boat, and he definitely doesn’t understand people who are spontaneous and random. This “leave-me-to-my-own-devices” attitude is thrown through a loop when he moves in to the apartment building, Chestnut Homes, where his fellow residents are anything but normal.

Norman: Norman is 26 years old and Chestnut Home’s resident conspiracy theorist. Any insane theory you’ve heard of, whether on the news or on an obscure internet forum, you can be sure that Norman has an entire evidence board dedicated to it. He firmly believes in the existence of aliens, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, Mothman, and Avril Lavigne’s secret double that the industry replaced her with after her death in 2003. However, for the past 3 years, Norman has been vehemently dedicated to observing and reporting on the activities of Al, another resident of Chestnut Homes. Convinced that Al’s an alien in disguise Norman will stop at nothing to get the evidence that he needs to expose Al’s secret to the world.

Al: Very little is known about the 30 year-old resident. Al never seems to go to work, so how he manages to afford rent is a mystery (though as long as it gets paid on time the landlord could give less of a hoot as to how he’s getting his funds). He never sends or receives any mail or packages, never goes to doctor or dentist appointments, and honestly doesn’t seem to have any friends outside of Chestnut Homes. All of this makes him a prime target for Norman’s crazed “aliens walk among us” theories, and more than once Al has opened his door to find Norman with a tape recorder and headset, listening in. At first it annoyed Al, but at this point he’s resigned himself to it, and even finds ways to screw with Norman and his “findings” every once in a while. The only somewhat valid point Norman has ever brought up against Al was the fact that he has a tail, to which Al rebutted was simply a genetic defect, to Norman’s great annoyance.

The Great Prospero: At 40 years-old The Great Prospero is a disgraced magician, having failed at his debut performance in 1998 when he sawed himself in half (his assistant had called out “sick” that day), and was unable to put himself back together. Though unsuccessful in connecting his two halves together again The Great Prospero’s magic did allow for him to still retain mobility in his bottom half, much to the confusion of modern medicine. Though he did receive his 15 minutes of fame for being the only human able to control his severed legs, the public quickly grew bored of him, and moved on to the next thing. Now The Great Prospero lives in Chestnut Homes, constantly practicing his magic and honing in on his skills, convinced that he will one day get the chance to rise to the top rank of magicians. In the meantime the landlord finds herself repeatedly yelling at him to stop asking every person that comes through the lobby to “pick a card”.

Sophie: There’s not much to say about this 7 year-old girl, seeing as how she’s still just a kid and discovering who she is. As for now, though, she is a very upbeat and bubbly individual, that loves all things great and small; and when one says “all things” they mean “all things”. Sophie loves cats, dogs, candy, marshmallows, balloons, cake, eels, horseshoe crabs, tarantulas, cobras, centipedes, you name it, she adores it. Sophie’s another individual that Norman is perplexed by, referring to her as “The Mysterious Case of The Girl Without a Mean Bone in her Body”, whereas everyone else just chalks it up to her having enough love to spare, even to the creepy crawlies. However, there is one thing that Sophie loves above all else, and that is her pet komodo dragon, Cuddles, whom she’s had since she was a baby.

Cuddles: He’s a 7 year-old, 8.5 foot long, 200 pounds weighing komodo dragon. The only resident that actively fears him is Tag (who, after the events of the film, slowly starts to overcome this fear), but everyone else knows to keep a respectable distance away from him, and especially Sophie when he’s around. Though no one has ever even thought of hurting a hair on Sophie’s head Cuddles is fiercely protective of her, and has sent a fair number of individuals to the emergency room for simply looking at Sophie the wrong way. When it comes to Sophie, however, Cuddles becomes a giant teddy bear, allowing her to snuggle and dress him up in silly dresses to her heart’s content.

Grim: If one was surprised by the lack of information when it comes to Al, they’ll be floored when they find out that even less is known about Grim. His age is unknown, his backstory is unknown, even his true appearance is unknown. Many a times Norman has asked, begged, and even tried to bribe Grim to tell him more about his life, but to all of these Grim simply shrugged and returned back to what he was previously doing. Whether he is truly the Lord of Death, or just one soul collector of many, or even a retired God of the Underworld, is unknown; all that anyone truly knows about him is that he’s a fairly nice fellow and that he bakes a mean apple strudel.

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Assignment 3: Characters (04-16-18)

Tag

Personality: done™, rational, a tad high strung, anxious

Most frequently found: his apartment (sleeping, studying, or on his laptop)

Deepest desire: to just live a normal life

Greatest fear: lizards

Norman

Personality: intelligent, paranoid, frazzled, sneaky

Most frequently found: his apartment (pondering over his evidence board)

Deepest desire: to prove the existence of aliens on earth

Greatest fear: having the government brainwash him after discovering their secrets

Al

Personality: nice, slightly jumpy, friendly, patient

Most frequently found: his apartment (gazing out the window)

Deepest desire: to meet that special someone

Greatest fear: having his secret discovered

The Great Prospero

Personality: eccentric, dramatic, loud, loyal

Most frequently found: the lobby (reading the newspaper or showing off his magic tricks)

Deepest desire: to become one of the world’s greatest magicians

Greatest fear: gore

Sophie

Personality: sweet, innocent, bubbly, kind

Most frequently found: outside (walking her pet in the courtyard)

Deepest desire: to be a princess for halloween

Greatest fear: the dark

Grim

Personality: reserved, calm, understanding, thoughtful

Most frequently found: his apartment (cooking and/or baking in the kitchen)

Deepest desire: to successfully make a 3 tier cake

Greatest fear: centipedes

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Assignment 2 (redo): Story Beats (04-16-18)

1) Tag receives his room keys from the landlord, who is unenthusiastically explaining the rules to him (“No smoking in the building, complimentary de-lousing once a month, loose your room key and I’ll cut your thumbs off”) 

2) Tag thanks the landlord, who simply rolls her eyes in return before leaving

3) Tag goes to unlock his door when he notices a man with red, curly hair and a UFO shirt listening in to the door next to his with a bionic ear and booster

4) Tag raises his brow in confusion at this before the door the man is listening in to swings open

5) The man quickly hides his gear behind his back as the room’s resident, a husky man in lounging clothes, appears in the doorway

6) The man nervously smiles at the resident before turning and walking away, whistling innocently

5) The resident, noticing Tag, turns to him, saying “You’re new here, so I’m just gonna give you a heads up and tell you that Norman does that A LOT; he’s convinced I’m some sort of ‘extra terrestrial’ or something. But past the paranoia he’s a pretty nice guy”

6) Tag responds “O...k. Thanks for the heads up...” he pauses at the end, looking pointedly at the resident

7) “The name’s Al”, Al responds

8) “Tag”, Tag replies

9) Al smiles before turning to head back in to his apartment, at which point Tag notices that he has a tail sticking out from his pants

10) Tag stares in confusion for a second before quickly shaking his head and going in to his own apartment

11) The next day Tag walks through the lobby on his way to class, noticing that in one of the armchairs (facing 3/4 away from him) a pair of legs

12) Tag approaches the chair, saying “Good morning!”

13) “A good morning to you too”, comes a voice from the chair next to the one with legs in it

14) A man with a handlebar mustache and wearing a top hat leans over the side of the chair to wave at Tag, who at that point notices that the man is cut in half, his lower half sitting in one chair, with his upper half in the other

15) Tag stares, wide-eyed and open mouthed, before the man starts laughing, replying fondly “Oh yes, that always seems to catch people by surprise! Bit of a mishap with the old ‘saw-in-half’ trick back in ‘98. I dare say I’m now only half the magician I used to be!”

16) The man starts laughing at his own joke as Tag stands there uncomfortably, unsure of what to say

17) “The name’s The Great Prospero, and you are...?” The Great Prospero inquires

18) “Late-I mean, Tag, but I, um, am running late, soooo...bye” Tag quickly replies, before dashing towards the exit

19) “Oh, do you really ‘half’ to go? Well, if you must, have a splendid day!” The Great Prospero happily shouts after Tag

20) Tag is out in the courtyard later that day, smoking a cigarette, mumbling to himself “This place is weird; doesn’t anyone normal live here?”

21) At that moment a young girl with blonde pigtails and wearing a pink dress comes skipping around the corner, humming happily to herself

22) Seeing Tag she stops skipping and smiles, saying “Hi, my name is Sophie! You must be new!”

23) Tag gives a relieved sigh, murmuring under his breath “Finally, someone normal”, before replying “Yeah, my name’s Tag”

24) “Nice to meet you Tag! Oh, I should introduce you to my pet!” Sophie responds

25) Turning around Sophie begins shouting “Cuddles! Cuddles! Come here boy!”

26) A tinkling bell sound is heard, when suddenly a giant komodo dragon wearing an overly tight pink collar with a bell on it comes hurrying from around the corner, racing towards Sophie

27) “CUDDLES!” Sophie exclaims

28) “NOPE” Tag states before running back in to the building

29) “Hmmm, I wonder what’s with him” Sophie ponders, bending down to lift up Cuddles, hugging him to her chest

30) Tag is later doing laundry in the building’s laundry room, his eyes darting back and forth as though ready for the next surprise

31) As Tag continues to pull his laundry out of the washing machine his hand garbs something unfamiliar

32) Tag raises the item in question, unfurling it to reveal an extremely long, pitch black cloak

33) Tag stares at it confusedly, mumbling “This isn’t mine”, before a skeletal hand taps him on the shoulder

34) Tag turns around to see a 7 foot tall figure standing behind him, clad in a black cloak with the hood pulled up, shrouding his face; in one skeletal hand he is holding a scythe, while the other is pointed towards the cloak Tag is holding

35) “That’s mine, I left it in the machine by mistake” the figure says in a deep, hollow voice

36) Tag hesitates a second before screaming, dropping the cloak and abandoning his laundry in favor of running back to his apartment

37) Tag slams his suitcase on the bed, shoving as many items into it as possible while talking to himself, saying “Nope, nope, nope; conspiracy theorists, possible aliens, a sawed-off magician, a little girl with a mini dinosaur, and now the grim reaper!? Screw the leasing agreement, I’m out of here!”

38) Tag slams the suitcase shut, grabbing it before determinedly marching towards his door

39) Tag wrenches the door open, his face going from hardened annoyance to utter disbelief as he sees what’s before him

40) Standing in the hall in front of his door are Norman, Al, The Great Prospero, Sophie, Cuddles, and Grim, who is standing front and center and holding a cake that reads “Welcome to the building” on it

41) Tag stands there, gaping like a fish as Grim extends the cake towards him, saying “We figured you might be a bit...uneasy, being new here and all, so we wanted to formally welcome you”

42) Tag looks down at the cake, before scanning the group of people before him

43) Tag slowly smiles before turning in to his apartment, gesturing for the others to follow

43) “Come on in, I was just unpacking” he says

44) Everyone excitedly files in to his apartment, the last person shutting the door firmly behind them, cutting the screen to black

45) The title “Neighbors” appears, and then the credits begin

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(04-11-18) So, after receiving feedback on my original story beats/treatment, I’ve made some major changes to my idea

May I introduce the moodboards for the cast of “Neighbors”:

Tag - The New Guy (and Protagonist)

Norman - The Conspiracy Theorist

Al - The (Totally Not An Alien in Disguise) Human

The Great Prospero - A Magician Whose Career Got Cut in Half

Sophie - A Little Girl who Loves Her Pet

Cuddles - Sophie’s Pet Komodo Dragon

Grim - Harbinger of Death (and A Good Baker)

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Assignment 2: Story Beats and Treatment (04-09-18)

Story Beats for “Neighbors”

1)  The protagonist (Tag) receives a room key from the landlord

2)  Tag gives a small smile to the landlord

3)  Landlord rolls his eyes

4)  Landlord walks away

5)  Tag turns to unlock the door to his room

6)  Tag sees something out of the corner of his eye

7)  Tag turns his head to see a man wearing an “Aliens Exist” shirt (Norman) pressed up against the door next to him, listening in on the room with a bionic ear and booster

8)  Tag raises his eyebrow in confusion at this

9)  The door Norman is listening in to swings open

10) Norman quickly hides his eavesdropping gear behind his back

11) The man that opened the door (Al) gives Norman a confused look

12) Norman walks away, whistling innocently

13) Al turns to look at Tag

14) Tag shrugs

15) Al shrugs back at him

16) Al turns to go back in to his apartment

17) Tag notices, right before Al closes the door, that he has a tail poking out from his shorts

18) Tag blinks in confusion

19) Tag enters his apartment, still looking bewildered

20) Tag is outside in the apartment building’s courtyard, smoking a cigarette 

21) Tag takes a drag of the cigarette

22) A young girl (Sophie) walks out of the apartment building with a leashed alligator in tow

23) Tag starts sputtering in surprise

24) Sophie hears the coughing

25) Sophie turns to see Tag

26) Sophie smiles happily and waves at him

27) Tag tentatively waves back

28) The pet alligator growls ferociously at Tag

29) Tag runs back in to the building

30) Tag tosses and turns in his bed at night

31) Overhead both rock music and classical are playing loudly

32) The twins that live upstairs (Lucinda and Lucifer [Lucy and Lucy]) argue with each other (indistinguishable shouting)

33) Lucinda turns up the volume of her classical music on the gramophone 

34) Lucifer turns up the volume of her rock music on her loud speakers 

35) Tag groans in frustration

36) Tag rolls over in his bed

37) Tag buries his head under a pillow, trying to drown out the noise

38) Tag walks past the apartment building’s parking lot on his way to class 

39) Psychedelic music is heard which catches Tag’s attention

40) Tag turns to see a hippie van parked in one of the spots with an elderly woman wearing John Lennon sunglasses, a tie-dye shirt, and with dreads in her hair (Miss Flower) sitting in the back of her van (back doors opened)

41) Miss Flower strums the sitar that she’s holding 

42) Miss Flower looks up

43) Miss Flower sees Tag

44) Miss Flower smiles serenely

45) Miss Flower shoots him a peace sign

46) Tag simply turns away from the scene

47) Tag continues on his way to class

48) Tag is at his mailbox in the building’s mailroom, rifling through his letters 

49) A man dressed like a magician (The Great Prospero) approaches his own mailbox, which is located relatively close to Tag’s

50) The Great Prospero sees Tag

51) Tag sees The Great Prospero out of the corner of his eye

52) The Great Prospero smiles flirtatiously

53) The Great Prospero takes his magician hat off his head with a flourish

54) The Great Prospero reaches in to his hat

55) The Great Prospero pulls out a bouquet of flowers, which he presents to Tag

56) Tag looks strangely at the bouquet

57) Tag hesitantly reaches for the flowers

58) An angry dove suddenly flies out of the bouquet

59) The dove starts attacking The Great Prospero

60) The Great Prospero runs away, still getting attacked by the bird

61) Tag watches him go, confusion written all over his face

62) Tag is taking his laundry out of the dryer in the building’s laundry room

63) A hooded figure with a dark aura (Trent) enters the laundry room with a basket of clothes

64) Trent takes the washing machine next to the dryer Tag is at

65) Trent starts unloading his laundry in to the machine

66) Tag looks up

67) Tag notices that the laundry appears to have blood on it

68) Tag’s face pales

69) Trent pauses in unloading his laundry

70) Trent slowly turns to look at Tag

71) A chill runs up Tag’s back

72) Tag grabs the last of his clothes from the dryer

73) Tag runs out of the laundry room

74) Tag slams his fully packed suitcase shut in his apartment

75) Tag grabs the leasing agreement that is laying next to his suitcase on the bed 

76) Tag crumples the document in to a ball

77) Tag throws the paper ball in to a waste paper basket

78) Tag grabs his suitcase

79) Tag marches towards his apartment door, determination in his eyes

80) Tag wrenches the door open

81) Tag’s eyes widen as his entire attitude changes from anger to disbelief

82) Standing in the hallway in front of his door are Norman the conspiracy theorist, Al the (possible) alien, Sophie and her pet alligator, the twins Lucinda and Lucifer, Miss Flower the elderly hippie, The Great Prospero, and front and center is mysterious Trent

83) Trent is shown holding a cake that reads “Welcome to the Apartment Building”

84) Trent extends the cake towards Tag

85) Tag blinks down at the cake

86) Tag looks back up

87) Tag’s eyes scan over the faces of his quirky neighbors 

88) Tag smiles happily

89) Tag turns back in to his apartment, gesturing for the others to come in 

90) Everyone joyously crowds in to his apartment

91) The door to Tag’s apartment slams shut after the last person enters 

92) Black screen

93) The title “Neighbors” appears 

94) Credits

The film follows Tag, a college student and the newest resident of the apartment building. The film starts with Tag receiving his room key from the landlord, during which time he notices the building’s conspiracy theorist (Norman) using a bionic ear and booster to listen through the door of the room next to Tag’s. Tag raises his brow in confusion before the door swings open, revealing the room’s resident, Al. Norman quickly hides his gear behind his back and walks away, whistling innocently. Al watches Norman go, then turns to Tag and shrugs in confusion. Tag shrugs back, and Al turns to go back inside his apartment. Before he closes his door, though, Tag notices that he has a tail sticking out from his shorts. Tag stands in place for a second, bewildered, before entering his apartment.

Cut to Tag standing outside in the building’s courtyard, smoking a cigarette and looking bored. Suddenly a small girl (Sophie) walks out of the building with a leashed animal in tow. The animal is revealed to be an alligator, and Tag starts choking on his smoke in shock. Sophie, hearing the coughing, turns to see Tag, and smiles at him, giving him a friendly wave. Tag tentatively waves back, when Sophie’s pet alligator growls ferociously at him. Tag immediately turns tail and runs back in to the building.

Cut to Tag laying in his bed that night, thrashing around trying in vain to get to sleep while a mix of classical and rock music plays loudly overhead. Upstairs the twins, Lucinda and Lucifer, argue indistinguishably with each other over their preferred music. Lucinda walks over to the gramophone on her side of the room and turns the volume of her classical music up. In retaliation Lucifer stomps over to her side of the room and turns the volume of her rock music up on her loud speakers. Meanwhile Tag turns over in his bed, angrily shoving a pillow over his head in an attempt to drown out the music.

Cut to Tag walking past the apartment building’s parking lot on his way to class. Suddenly the sound of psychedelic music catches his attention, and he turns to see a hippie van parked in one of the spots not too far off. Sitting in the open back of the van is an elderly woman with John Lennon sunglasses, a tie-dye shirt, dreadlocks, and holding a sitar (Miss Flower). Miss Flower strums a few chords on her instrument before looking up and seeing Tag. She smiles serenely at him and flashes him a peace sign. Tag turns away from the scene, determinedly looking straight ahead as he continues to school.

Cut to Tag getting his mail from the building’s mailroom. He’s shuffling through his letters when a man dressed as a magician (The Great Prospero) walks up to his own mailbox, located next to Tag’s. The Great Prospero looks at Tag, who, upon feeling someone staring at him, turns to look at The Great Prospero. The Great Prospero smiles in a flirty manner and takes his magician’s top hat off with a flourish. He reaches in to the hat and pulls out a bouquet of flowers, presenting them to Tag. Tag looks questioningly at the bouquet, hesitantly reaching for it. Suddenly an angry dove pops out of the bouquet and flies straight for The Great Prospero’s face, attacking him. The Great Prospero runs off with the dove still attacking him, as Tag watches him go, completely bewildered.

Cut to Tag in the building’s laundry room, taking his clothes out of the dryer. The door to the room opens and Tag looks over to see a hooded figure that seems to radiate an evil aura (Trent) enter the room with a basket of laundry. Trent goes to the washing machine next to Tag and starts unloading his laundry. Tag looks up and notices that all of Trent’s clothes appear to be covered in blood. Suddenly Trent pauses in his unloading and slowly turns his head towards Tag. A shiver runs up Tag’s back having that menacing energy aimed in his direction, and he quickly grabs the last of his clothes before running out of the laundry room.

Cut to Tag back in his own apartment, slamming the lid to his fully packed suitcase shut. On the bed next to his suitcase is a paper labeled “Leasing Agreement”, which Tag grabs, crumples in to a ball, and throws in to a nearby waste paper basket. Tag then grabs his suitcase and marches determinedly to his front door. He wrenches it open only to stop in his tracks, his eyes widening in disbelief at the sight before him. Standing in the hallway in front of his door are his neighbors, Norman the conspiracy theorist, Al the (possible) alien, Sophie and her pet alligator, the twins Lucinda and Lucifer, Miss Flower the elderly hippie, The Great Prospero, and mysterious Trent, who is standing in the front holding a cake with the words “Welcome to the Apartment Building” written on it. Trent extends the cake towards Tag, who blinks down in shock at the cake before looking up and taking in the group of quirky folks before him. Smiling, Tag turns to head back in to his apartment, gesturing for the others to enter. Everyone happily piles in to his apartment, the last person shutting the door firmly behind them, causing the screen to cut to black.

The title “Neighbors” appears, and then the credits roll.

[insidetheride]

Assignment 1: Theme and Logline (04-02-18)

In this piece I want to explore the strange happenings of a seemingly ordinary apartment building. Anyone who has lived in an apartment building before can testify that some weird stuff has happened within its walls; maybe not every day, but every so often one will come across something that makes them do a double take. I know for me personally I’ve had this happen quite a few times: seeing a girl walking her pet pig, witnessing the maintenance man walking by with a live ferret chilling in his sweatshirt pocket, hearing children’s voices playing hide and seek in the courtyard yet not being able to see any children, etc. The idea of a mundane sort of environment giving off somewhat supernatural vibes has always intrigued me, and even if the audience can’t personally relate to it, I’m sure they’ll still be amused by the retellings of the unusual events taking place. Basically, I want to slowly take the audience from “Alright, that’s a little odd” to “What the actual hell is going on!?”, because things, especially dull apartment buildings, are not always what they appear to be.

An average college student moves in to an apartment building, and though everything seems normal at first, strange things start happening that leaves the protagonist confused and bewildered.