I got a lot of great feedback from people in class during our latest pitch session, and I've incorporated that feedback along with my ideas to create a rough narrative outline of my prospective grad film. It should be noted that this most likely isn't how events will be depicted in the film but is more of a general outline of the major ideas which will be present in the film's narrative.
First, an outline of the narratives background;
Unit 57 (his name for the sake of writing this, I don't plan on having expressed character names in the film) is clumsy, brutish and slow compared to his current co-workers, but it wasn't always that way. 57 is the last of his kind employed at the local manufacturing plant, a factory that produces cube components. Initially the factory produced large scale components and thus hired robot workers with the attributes to assemble these large, heavy pieces. As technology advanced, however, the cubes became smaller and more delicate, requiring a gentle precision that most of the workers simply did not possess. As the months progressed more workers were fired for their inability to meet the quota and more of a new kind of robot were brought on to replace them. These new robots, with their smaller hands and lighter limbs, could manufacture cubes at a much greater rate and without accidentally destroying components in their haste.
This next part is more just spitting out the general events which will lead to the climax and end of the film. Prior to this scene I plan to have more of a focus on Unit 57 and his interactions, or lack thereof, with his co-workers and his struggles with his work.
Unit 57 enters the blindingly white factory floor, angling his body in an awkward manner in order to get his broad frame through the small door. He trudges over to his position on the line, taking care to avoid the other workers, who come up barely past his knee, as they rush by him and to their own stations. 57 knows, that like every day at the factory, he will be staying well past the time that his co-workers leave, working into the night in order to complete his designated quota.
After several hours 57 has finally completed his first shipment's worth of cubes. As 57 closes the first cardboard box stacked with cubes he looks to his right to see his co-worker has six similar boxes prepared and is already working away diligently on his seventh. Standing from his station to retrieve another cardboard box, 57 turns and immediately crashes into a trolley carrying completed shipments, sending the boxes and their precious innards spraying across the factory floor. The small robot working beside 57 is snapped out of his concentration by the disturbance, frightened so badly by the cacophony of noise that he has unwittingly leaked oil onto the pristine factory floor. Embarrassed and flustered, the small robot quickly wipes up the spillage with a rag and, not wanting the others to know about his accident, pries up a floor panel beside him and tosses the rag into the depths. Glancing over, the small robot sees that the entire factory floor is staring at 57 as he feebly attempts to pick up the fallen pieces while being loudly berated by the worker whose trolley he knocked over. The small robot returns to his work, ignoring the events surrounding him and concentrating on going home.
The oiled rag previously tossed beneath the factory floor lands atop a bundle of exposed wires, quickly igniting into a small fire. Fed by the plastic encasing the wires, the fire travels beneath the floor, silently wandering the length and breadth of the entire factory. Eventually the fire reaches the chemical disposal room, where it comes in contact with an explosive material. The result is a massive explosion that levels the surrounding rooms and weakens the structure of the building.
From the factory floor a great boom is heard in the distance but there is no obvious threat. Curious, workers look up from their tasks and exchange glances. Suddenly the normal glaring lights of the factory floor are extinguished and replaced with a red light and blaring sirens. Workers get up from their stations and begin gathering, attempting to puzzle out their current situation. All at once, chaos breaks loose as gouts of flame erupt from the floor. The workers panic and rush for the door only to find it sealed shut by emergency protocol. Watching as the small robots bang their hands uselessly on the metal door, 57 steps forward and pries the doors apart with great effort.
Now spilling out of the door and rushing towards the exit, 57 is distracted by a cry he hears coming down a hall. He runs down the hall searching for the sound and comes upon a small robot partially buried in rubble and unable to get up. Digging out the robot and carrying him in one giant hand, 57 runs back towards the exit as the building is collapsing around him. Realizing that his heavy, slow legs cannot outpace the rapidly deteriorating structure, 57 uses all of his might to slide the robot in his hand down the hallway floor and out of the exit. Now outside with the others, the small robot skids to a stop as the exit behind him collapses. The workers now see that a majority of the factory has been destroyed, and that all of the floor employees reached safety, save for one.
... Boy, did this just get a lot more expensive to produce.
After several hours 57 has finally completed his first shipment's worth of cubes. As 57 closes the first cardboard box stacked with cubes he looks to his right to see his co-worker has six similar boxes prepared and is already working away diligently on his seventh. Standing from his station to retrieve another cardboard box, 57 turns and immediately crashes into a trolley carrying completed shipments, sending the boxes and their precious innards spraying across the factory floor. The small robot working beside 57 is snapped out of his concentration by the disturbance, frightened so badly by the cacophony of noise that he has unwittingly leaked oil onto the pristine factory floor. Embarrassed and flustered, the small robot quickly wipes up the spillage with a rag and, not wanting the others to know about his accident, pries up a floor panel beside him and tosses the rag into the depths. Glancing over, the small robot sees that the entire factory floor is staring at 57 as he feebly attempts to pick up the fallen pieces while being loudly berated by the worker whose trolley he knocked over. The small robot returns to his work, ignoring the events surrounding him and concentrating on going home.
The oiled rag previously tossed beneath the factory floor lands atop a bundle of exposed wires, quickly igniting into a small fire. Fed by the plastic encasing the wires, the fire travels beneath the floor, silently wandering the length and breadth of the entire factory. Eventually the fire reaches the chemical disposal room, where it comes in contact with an explosive material. The result is a massive explosion that levels the surrounding rooms and weakens the structure of the building.
From the factory floor a great boom is heard in the distance but there is no obvious threat. Curious, workers look up from their tasks and exchange glances. Suddenly the normal glaring lights of the factory floor are extinguished and replaced with a red light and blaring sirens. Workers get up from their stations and begin gathering, attempting to puzzle out their current situation. All at once, chaos breaks loose as gouts of flame erupt from the floor. The workers panic and rush for the door only to find it sealed shut by emergency protocol. Watching as the small robots bang their hands uselessly on the metal door, 57 steps forward and pries the doors apart with great effort.
Now spilling out of the door and rushing towards the exit, 57 is distracted by a cry he hears coming down a hall. He runs down the hall searching for the sound and comes upon a small robot partially buried in rubble and unable to get up. Digging out the robot and carrying him in one giant hand, 57 runs back towards the exit as the building is collapsing around him. Realizing that his heavy, slow legs cannot outpace the rapidly deteriorating structure, 57 uses all of his might to slide the robot in his hand down the hallway floor and out of the exit. Now outside with the others, the small robot skids to a stop as the exit behind him collapses. The workers now see that a majority of the factory has been destroyed, and that all of the floor employees reached safety, save for one.
... Boy, did this just get a lot more expensive to produce.
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