Kaitlin Pre Production: September 2014

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Character Development PART 3: The Toll Booth

The Toll Booth

The sun shone brightly through the prickly pine trees of the forest. It shone especially brightly on a cracked and worn asphalt road, where a small, somewhat decapitated, old toll booth stood silently and eerily as the forest slowly reclaims it.

Out from the low underbrush of the forest walks out a tiny root-like figure, about the size of a human thumb This tiny figure's name is Sproutling, so named for the tiny sprout on it's noggin.

After a long day of exploring the forests and climbing just about any tall thing he came across (and due to his size that meant just about everything) he was ready to re-join his brothers and sisters across the black sea of asphalt. Sproutling places h his tiny leg on to the pavement, when suddenly...YOWZA!! HOT HOT HOT!!

What was this?! The road wasn't this hot when he left in the early morning, but as the day went on and the sun shone brighter, the road was transformed into a boiling black desert of death that would fry him alive if he continued!

Hopping up and down frantically, Sproutling looks for anything that will relieve his blistering foot. Aha! A small mud puddle at the base of the booth, perfect!!

Sproutling does a small cannon ball into the shallow puddle, giving him instant relief from the burn. If he had a mouth from which to speak, a small audible sigh would be heard as he sat and relaxed into the muddy pool.

His relief was short lived, however, as worry began to set in. How could he return to his family if the road would fry him alive? He tilted his head up to the sky as he pondered a solution. As luck would have it, he found his answer towering above him!

A rain pipe mouted to the side of the toll booth, of course! If he could climb to the top and then use the toll gate as a bridge, he could make it to his family safe and sound!

Extending his tendril-like arms to form a stable loop around the pipe, Sproutling made quick work of scaling the pipe. One might akin the act to a tiny lumberjack using tiny ropes to scale a mighty pine.

Within a minutes he found himself on the white pebble roofing of the toll booth. Now came the tricky part: crossing the gate and sticking the landing on the other side.

Being the size of a thumb made it easier for him to cross the thin white gate than it would be for a much larger creature, but perfect balance and concentration were still of the utmost importance.

Luckily sproutling made fairly easy work crossing most of the gate, now all that was left was the jump. He spied a small shrub a foot or so away that should cushion his fall. However, there was about a 3 foot drop from the tip of the gate to the ground below. A potentially deadly fall should he miss.

He backs up, allowing himself a foot or so or runway space. He stakes of and...JUMPS!

If this were a movie, this jump would be in slow motion from various different angles in order to enhance tension and suspense.

But this is a written story, so he makes the jump and lands safely.

Once he gets his bearings from the landing, Sproutling makes his way out of the bush and makes it back to his brothers and sisters who are snoozing soundly in the dirt. He quietly buries himself up to his sprout and joins them in a well deserved nap.

Monday, September 8, 2014

Sproutling Character Bio: Part 1 and 2

NAME: Sproutling

SPECIES: Sproutling

GENDER: No biological gender, but identifies as male.

FAMILY: Many brothers and sisters.

FAVORITE FOOD: Dew drops and sunshine

How they Spend the Weekends: The same as every other day, gathering enough sun and water for them to live and grow without getting trampled or eaten.

BIOLOGY

Sproutling isn't just the name of the character, but also the name of his species. Sproutling's bodies are made up of a root-like material akin to that of a White Radish or Turnip. Just like plants, they absorb water and liquids through their root-like bodies and photosynthesize sunlight from the characteristic sprout on top of their heads.
Sproutlings spend the majority of their lives hiding in the shade and protection of much larger plants. They disguising themselves as ordinary sprouts by burying themselves underground to hide from hungry predators or a large boot, only moving unless absolutely necessary. Sproutlings also have long vine-like arms that they can grow and contract at will.

Our Sproutling is different in the fact that he is unhappy wallowing around in the dirt when there's a much larger, much grander world is just a few feet above his head. Sproutling is fascinated by the world beyond the shrubs and clovers to the world of vast blue skies and towering trees and buildings. Sproutling uses his extendable vine-arms to climb to the top of any tall tree or fence or tomato cage he can find, just so he can catch just a small glimpse of the bigger world. The downside to this is that exposing himself makes him a prime target for any hungry crows who prowl the skies, which he often is.

But despite his rebellious nature, Sproutling does care deeply for his brothers and sisters. His greatest fear is that his adventures may get them all eaten. So he tries to be as stealthy and careful as possible while on his adventures, which can be difficult due to his impulsive and careless nature.

Sproutling's desire to explore new things but simultaneously risking the chance of hurting himself and others reflects a struggle in my own life. I have Generalized Anxiety, and while I have learned to cope with a lot of it, social situations and new environments make me uneasy. But despite this, I still want to try to make new friends and see new things even if I get hurt or hurt others in the process.

Fun Fact: Because they process sunlight into sugars, Sproutlings have a bit of a natural sweet tooth and enjoy sugary drinks in small doses.

PART 2 - ATTRIBUTES: