I received the following elements to work with:
Environment: A Farmyard
Prop: Cactus
Character: Baker
Some initial and very rough idea’s I have had so far:
Idea One - A farmer who lives in the middle of nowhere, he
is struggling to grow any food during a long heat wave, he needs to feed his
animals and family. He gets desperate and starts trying to find anything edible
around where he lives. During the heat Cactus start growing around the
outskirts of his farm, and he notices a wild animal nibbling on it and becomes
curious as to what it tastes like, but he has a problem because it has to many
spikes, so he cuts it down and drags it back to his farmyard where he cuts it
up and tastes it, but it tastes similar to a raw potato. He deiceds to try
cooking it and finds that it tastes so good he wants to eat more and starts
cooking different kinds of food with it to see what tastes best. Ending with a
fantastic cactus pie that is so good he decides to try selling at and dus
becomes a ‘cactus’ baker.
Idea Two - Similar to the first one with the cactus being
used for food, but this times it a man caught between a war with the sides
fighting and he is trying to help both sides by keeping them fed and alive
during the stand still. His cactus pie eventually becomes poular with both
sides and a piece is formed due to both sides wanting and the baker saying they
must share or have none at all.
Idea Three – The Black tailed rabbit brought to life, a chef(baker)
rabbit needs food to feed everyone during
a drought and the only available food source is cactus… However, there is a
problem for the rabbits because the cactus seem to be alive and can move above
and underground. This leads to a Looney
Toon type chase around the desert with the rabbits and Cacti, with the rabbits
trying all kinds of things to catch and eat the cactus.
I like the third idea because I think that it has potential to
be funny, while staying rather simple. And I think the rabbits dressed in human
like outfits could look pretty cool.
Personally, I like the first idea best - it makes the most sense, and the elements link together in a logical way.
ReplyDeleteHey Lekti,
ReplyDeleteSomething about the character vs character set up in your third idea is beginning to make sparks; as I was thinking about your chef character, I was thinking about a chef who has fields of fresh produce out in the farmyard; it's a sort of 'American apple pie, home-cooking' diner out in the middle of nowhere, with a farm out back. Maybe the diner has a famous signature dish for which it's garnered world renown; like 'Ma Baker's Leek 'n' Potato Pie!' Or actually, more logically it might be a farmyard with loads of pumpkins, and the associated diner is famous for its typically american 'Pumpkin pies'... anyway, maybe you've got a rabbit, or other animal that is always eating the produce, and so the majority of the action is a classic escalation of 'bait-and-chase' visual comedy. Maybe the punchline to your story sees the Chef replacing his fields of pumpkin with fields of cacti, with the final shot being a sign for 'Ma Baker's World famous 'Rabbit 'n' Cactus Pie!'... I think the Loony Tunes model would really suit, particularly if you think about the farmyard being out in the desert (thus explaining presence of cacti). So, edible cacti...
http://health.discovery.com/convergence/truth/foodarticles/cactus.html
... and what animals eat pumpkins anyway?
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091106163302AAdVyEa
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDC8C01A445A5928C
... and American roadside diners...
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_knHmw4EPfhE/Sp8VUbWNMbI/AAAAAAAAA_w/ugNxhgB4Iko/s400/NewJerseyRosiesDiner.jpg
http://www.viewzone.com/roadside-diner21.jpg
http://www.fastcompany.com/pics/multisite_files/pics/imagecache/slideshowlarge/slideshows/roadside_america_1.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3233/2665989958_229ee20c9c.jpg
Anyway - character vs character + loony tunes = promising!