Song Choice

Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) from the 2004 album Funeral

Premise

Stuck at home during a blackout, a child plays with her shadow puppets. The puppets slowly come alive and perform for the surprised child.

Setting

Set in a family/living room in a suburban home. Staircase nearby for the child to hide behind initially.

Characters

• Child - young, late grammar, early junior high aged female.
• Band Members
• Male Singer/Guitarist - in puppet and apparition form.
• Female Singer - in puppet and apparition form.
• Drummer - only puppet form.
• Whisps - particles flying around representing xylophone hits.

Character Forms

The band members appear in two possible forms. The first is the puppet itself, and then a shadowy apparition interacting with the child.

• Puppet Form - A flat representation of the character, similar in form to the ginger bread man. This representation casts the shadows on the wall and is just a single color.
• Apparition Form - A volumetric representation of the character forming a ghostly apparition. The more prominent features involved in playing a song are solid, while the rest of the characters body is volumetric most likely represented through a particle system. For example when the character is singing a humanoid face would be present and moving.

Character Actions

Potential animations for the characters are as follows.

• Child - Initially scared hides away viewing the scene from afar. Eventually the curious child approaches the apparitions.
• Male Singer/Guitarist - A ghostly apparition who fades in and out of the scene as its instruments are played. For example the face may disappear as the singing stops, and reappear as it begins again. Same behavior for the guitar portions. Having no legs the apparition floats around the room while playing
• Female Singer - Follows the same pattern as the male singer, fading in and out as its parts come in and disappear.
• Drummer - Mimics the playing of the drums. The portion of the model where the kick drum is present is deformed when a kick occurs. The kick also has an effect on the candle light source projecting the shadows. There is no apparition present representing the drummer.
• Whisps - Originally appear from within the candle. They fly around the room in a circular motion. Each whisp corresponds to a different note and the xylophone. When that particular note is hit on the xylophone, the corresponding whisp lights up for a short period of time

Rough Storyboard

1. Child lights a candle and spins around her shadow puppets. The puppets are arranged in a circle and rotate around like a record with the candle at the center of the circle.
2. Music starts, and the drummer comes to life.
3. Whisps fly out from the candle and begin its actions.
4. Child hides behind a staircase observing.
5. Singer/Guitarist appears and begins its actions.
6. Female Singer appears and begins its actions.
7. Child moves forward to get closer to the apparitions.
8. As child finally reaches the apparitions the power comes back on and the song ends.