Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Monday, September 9, 2013

Script revised


EXT. CENTER OF THE EARTH, SURROUNDED BY COLUMNS THAT REACH THROUGH TO THE SKIES
Atlas is standing in the center of the columns, some of which he holds with his two arms and others of which pierce through his skin. His other wounds consists of a distortedly crooked neck, torn achilles and skin, and crushed knees. Though he appears strong, one can tell the years of strain have withered his body.
ACT ONE
Atlas is shown trembling with pain as he struggles to continue to hold up the pillars, which support the heavens for earth.
Closeup of Atlas' eyes close shut as he lowers his head. Different scenes show parts of his deteriorating body. Atlas loses his grip and the pillars slowly drift down while he tightens his hold. His eyes flash back open, he looks to his left side, and he tightens his grip on the column. He looks to the left and does the same. 
Anger and hatred creep onto his face as scenes flash across his mind. With each passing glimpse, his grasp on the pillars tighten and bit by bit, they begin to actually crack as pieces fall deeper into the depths.
Atlas' face is shown again, and as he looks up, the camera slowly zooms out to reveal his surroundings, Tartarus. The pillars shake and pieces of the sky fall.
Text slowly fades onto the scene.
Release the burden that the gods have condemned you with Atlas. What is keeping you from doing so?
Camera pans on close up of Atlas' face, then onto his eyes which close once more.
ACT TWO EXT. EDGE OF THE MOUNTAINS OF OLYMPUS
Atlas' eyes dart open as the camera zooms out again to show Atlas free, standing before Mount Olympus. In the distance, the original titans fall into the ground in what appears to be Tartarus. 
Text appears. 
Do you remember, Atlas? The war which brought you to where you are now?
Atlas picks up his weapons and leads his forces up the mountain. As they ascend the cliff, some followers fall. At the top of the mountain only Zeus stands, who greets the only remaining titan, Atlas. 
The skies swirl into a vortex, as pillars slowly descend from them, then quickly fall into Atlas. As he is trapped, Zeus delivers the final strike, causing Atlas to fall into the earth. 
Atlas looks up with little strength and sees Zeus over him.
Text fades onto the screen as Atlas is scene struggling to break free in the background. 
The last stand of the titans results in your ultimate failure. You, who fought only for what originally belonged to your fathers, are cast into Tartarus. The sentence, to live the remainder of your eternal life holding the heavens for the gods. So what keeps you from releasing your burden? 
A zoom closes in on his eyes which shift angrily from side to side. The camera then zooms out as he slowly closes his eyes. 
Text appears.
Release it Atlas...
The camera faces the side of Atlas' face as he fades into a silhouette.
Text again appears.
RELEASE IT!
Conflicted, he imagines the sky falling and people in panic and chaos. A zoom shows the gods laughing at the people's misfortunes, which angers Atlas even more. He closes his eyes as he seems to have discovered the answer to his question.
ACT THREE
Atlas is now completely exhausted from the weight on his shoulders. His vision drifts in and out. Through his eyes, in a hazy form, he believes he sees Zeus, the target of his hatred. As he opens his eyes in surprise, it is not Zeus, but a frail old man with the same beard featured for Zeus. The man smiles and slowly back away, as Atlas drifts off into consciousness.
Atlas awakes and sees a small offering left for him at his knees. Atlas is sure of what he needs to do. Although he shakes, he slowly stands to his feet and uses his final strength to grasps tighter hold of the pillars. With a determined look on his face, regardless of his several wounds, he looks strong. He realizes what sacrifice he has to make and bravely accepts his fate. 

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Atlas story edited

Elevator line:

With every second becoming more painful as he holds up the skies, will Atlas choose the mortals he cares so much for or his revenge on the gods.

Act one:

We are first introduced to Atlas and the torment he has to endure as punishment. Scenes show his surroundings and we eventually see the severity of his pain by the effects it has taken on his body. He begins to question why should he continue to hold the heavens when he was not in the wrong to wage war on the gods. With this question lingering, he begins to remember what led him to be here and with each passing second as his hatred grows, he clutches the pillars tighter (similar to the stance that Samson from the bible holds) and pieces of the skies start to fall down.

Act Two:


We see scenes of of Atlas past, his original stand against the gods but these scenes are dissolved with ones that show the humans. He is conflicted in whether to get revenge on the gods and release his burden or to continue to hold the skies in order to protect the people. He thens imagines what would happen if the sky were to fall, and chaos takes place. The gods do not care that the people are in torment, which angers Atlas even more. He closes his eyes and his grasp again tightens on the pillars. Atlas then slowly relaxes as it seems that he finally has his answer. 


Act three:

As he opens his eyes, Atlas sees a small pile of offerings before him and he realizes that he must not drop the world for revenge or himself, he has to protect. The weight feels a bit lighter after remembering what he holds the sky for. He adjusts himself and appears stronger than before as he accepts his fate and continues to stand for the rest of his days.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

A bit of character design









Script for Atlas


EXT. CENTER OF THE EARTH, SURROUNDED BY COLUMNS THAT REACH THROUGH TO THE SKIES
Atlas is standing in the center of the columns, some of which he holds with his two arms and others of which pierce through his skin. His other wounds consists of a distortedly crooked neck, torn achilles and skin, and crushed knees. Though he appears strong, one can tell the years of strain have withered his body.
ACT ONE
Atlas is shown trembling with pain as he struggles to continue to hold up the pillars, which support the heavens for earth.
Closeup of Atlas' eyes close shut as he lowers his head. Different scenes show parts of his deteriorating body. Atlas loses his grip and the pillars slowly drift down while he tightens his hold. His eyes flash back open, he looks to his left side, and he tightens his grip on the column. He looks to the left and does the same. 
Anger and hatred creep onto his face as scenes flash across his mind. With each passing glimpse, his grasp on the pillars tighten and bit by bit, they begin to actually crack as pieces fall deeper into the depths.
Atlas' face is shown again, and as he looks up, the camera slowly zooms out to reveal his surroundings, Tartarus. The pillars shake and pieces of the sky fall.
Text slowly fades onto the scene.
Release the burden that the gods have condemned you with Atlas. What is keeping you from doing so?
Camera pans on close up of Atlas' face, then onto his eyes which close once more.
ACT TWO EXT. EDGE OF THE MOUNTAINS OF OLYMPUS
Atlas' eyes dart open as the camera zooms out again to show Atlas free, standing before Mount Olympus. In the distance, the original titans fall into the ground in what appears to be Tartarus. 
Text appears. 
Those who originally ruled are cast aside for the new power of the gods, but all is not settled. The second coming of titans seek what once was, to rule over the earth. In defiance, they follow the lead of Atlas into battle. 
Atlas picks up his weapons and leads his forces up the mountain. As they ascend the cliff, some followers fall. At the top of the mountain only Zeus stands, who greets the only remaining titan, Atlas. 
The skies swirl into a vortex, as pillars slowly descend from them, then quickly fall into Atlas. As he is trapped, Zeus delivers the final strike, causing Atlas to fall into the earth. 
Atlas looks up with little strength and sees Zeus over him.
Text fades onto the screen as Atlas is scene struggling to break free in the background. 
The last stand of the titans results in their ultimate fall. Atlas, who fought only for what originally belonged to his fathers, is cast into Tartarus. His sentence, to live the remainder of his eternal life holding the heavens for the gods. 
A zoom closes in on his eyes which shift angrily from side to side. The camera then zooms out as he slowly closes his eyes. The camera zooms to reveal where Atlas stands at the beginning and where he has been standing for thousands of years. 
ACT THREE
Atlas, now riddled with anger, uses his final strength and stands. He assumes the strong pose of Samson and pulls the two pillars he holds in his arms together, crushing them. He then begins to tear out the remaining pillars and they all begin to crumble. 
Text appears on the screen.
What is it to me if the skies fall? The world will fend for itself from this day on.
He takes one look up and sees debris fall from above, starting with small pieces and eventually becoming larger and larger. The world begins to shake around him and eventually smoke clouds out the entire scene.
From the clouds of smoke Atlas walks through the falling world and begins to climb from Tartarus towards his "revenge" on Olympus.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Act structure

Elevator line:

If the gods rely on one man to keep the world from crumbling, why would this man continue to aid his enemies when he could so easily drop this "burden" and release chaos onto the earth and Olympus.

Theme:

Is revenge more acceptable if it is justified?



*****I want to show Atlas as less of an enemy and show that the titans' war on olympus was kind of justified as the titans did rule the earth before the gods and they were pushed aside after the gods came into existence. *****



Act one:

     We are first introduced to Atlas and the torment he has to endure as punishment. Scenes show his surroundings and we eventually see the severity of his pain by the effects it has taken on his body. He begins to question why should he continue to hold the heavens when he was not in the wrong to wage war on the gods. With this question lingering, he begins to remember what led him to be here and with each passing second as his hatred grows, he clutches the pillars tighter (similar to the stance that Samson from the bible holds) and pieces of the skies start to fall down.

Act two:

     In this flashback, we see the brief fall of the titans and the rise of the 2nd generation titans deciding to wage a war on the gods of olympus. Atlas is chosen as the lead and then he rushes into battle with the gods. Because death is not a threat, the only way Zeus can defeat the opposing side is to release ______ from tartarus and eventually the Titans are overpowered. Zeus points to Atlas as being the "ringleader" and condemns and chains him to the center of the earth as the rest of the titans fall deeper into hades/tartarus. Atlas is given the pillars and must hold them forever. There is a zoom closeup of his face/eyes which then zooms out to reveal the present situation.

Act three:

     After his flashback, he comes to the realization that the gods do rely on him to hold up the sky and without this, it would fall. He also realizes what does he owe to anyone and decides to drop this burden and let the world "fend" for itself.  In the final moment, he squeezes his eyes shut and with his last remaining strength, collapses the pillars and the skies come raining down, causing chaos. Atlas stands in the crumbling world, and his "revenge" on Olympus begins.