What it is:
Short animated film/video to be shown at youth oriented Christian
outreach services.
Target Audience:
Non-believer teens to twenty-somethings. Those that may be resistant to traditional Christian doctrine. The audience perspective is assumed to be
that of ones who perceive themselves as having been adversely “affected”
by their parents, authority, society etc. leading to a self centered victimhood.
Goal:
The Gospel and its traditional parables was written to an agrarian culture.
We will tell the parable of the seeds in a different way. The hope is that the target audience will be somewhat receptive to an abstraction that
provokes thought.
The film will be an animated modern metaphor of the sower
from Matthew 13.
Through an abstract analogy, we will show them how dire their
current course is. How it leads inevitably to death and an empty eternity.
So, when they encounter the name of Jesus, as they will when they view this film, how will they react? We want to make them aware that accepting the name of Jesus will change their lives in this world and the next.
After we get them to identify with situations and characters depicting the
types of soil from the parables, we want to leave the viewer with the question: “What kind of soil am I in today’s world? And who is this Jesus that changes?”
The film does not directly elucidate Christian doctrine in the traditional way
(explaining the saving grace of the Blood of the Cross, or who Jesus is in history, or why atonement is needed). Using some obvious but strong metaphors, it presents the fact that in an increasingly distracting world,
Jesus will change your fate in it and for eternity.
The greater purpose of the presentation is to spur curiosity and investigation into Christ’s saving message, not to explain what the message is
or even whom the person of Christ is.
Vehicle:
An animated CGI short (estimated 8-10 minute) depicting common human experiences in an abstract way. We want to create a “think piece” that will stir the mind and let the Holy Spirit do the rest.
Explanation will be the responsibility of the follow up ministry (yet to be outlined) to drive home the Scriptural message. Many opportunities for discussion will naturally proceed.
Plot Outline:
The audience sees through the eyes of an “alien” explorer piloting
some sort of craft through a strange world. We watch from his craft and through his 2 drones as they follow the experiences of multiple characters on their journey flying though life. It will become obvious that the wold he is exploring is our human existence.
The characters we follow are based on the Biblical soils in both humorous
and tragic ways that mirror a modern non-believer’s experience.
The world is a grey place, in fact the entire setting is in shades of
black and white.
Color is used only to accent our Spirit. The human characters start in color
and gradually turn grey as they fly through the world. The only dialog
between characters consists of variations and inflections of “blah, blah, blah” and the spoken Word “Jesus”. The contrast of gibberish to the spoken name
of “Jesus” will be stark for impact. The Word, “Jesus” brings color back into grey characters and changes their direction.
As the human characters experience transformation, so does the alien transition from that of a safely detached observer to one being physically affected by what he observes. This interaction causes the explorer to have to make life changing decisions to survive. The viewing audience, as casual observer, identifying itself from the point of view of the alien, will in turn be drawn into the decision making process.
Here’s an excerpt from “Nine-Act Screenplay Structure” by David Siegel:
“Act 0: Someone Toils Long Into the Night
A good story is a train wreck. A good train wreck involves two well-built trains speeding toward each other from far away.
The farther away, the more spectacular the impact. Time is the basis of legitimate conflict. One thing most money-making films have in common is a good bad guy, and good bad guys are not made overnight. In fact, the nemesis is rarely under
35 years old. Of the 200 top-grossing films of all time, 190+ have at least ten years of brewing conflict before the film opens. In all cases it is the nemesis (and sometimes also the protagonist) who has been working steadily for years and years, getting ready to execute the big plan. There may be centuries of turmoil and vested interests (prehistory), but the Nemesis is always a self-appointed individual. In E.T., Keys has been looking for an extra-terrestrial all his life. In The Godfather, the other families have been running drugs for many years – it’s too late to stay out.
Often, a seminal incident happened ten years ago to spark the conflict. In Batman, The Joker killed Bruce Wayne’s parents during a routine holdup. This started both The Joker and Batman on their inevitable collision course.
What to look for: The distinction between backstory and biography. Make sure to distinguish between prehistory – the general background of the place and time, biographies – personal histories that add dimension to the characters, and the true backstory–which plants and sows the seeds of conflict……..”
ACT 0
Decide what works for your characters? What doesn’t? What is the context of the story? Define your main character’s emotional intelligence as they navigate a world in flux they don’t fully understand. This is the pre-story before you start writing. How did the main character get to the place that the story begins?
ACT 1
Establish the opening image of the universe the main characters are stepping into. Who are we encountering and what matters to them right now? What are their concerns, conflicts and mode of action?
ACT 2
There is a change to the natural order of the main character’s schema. Something bad happens (inciting incident) and their energy drops. Something valuable it taken away. The main character experiences fear in learning to deal with the unfamiliar, so initial resistance ensues. What does your main character need to get them through the challenge? They either don’t know how or don’t want to act.
ACT 3
We don’t normally step into change, so our energy levels drop even more. Pain is our resistance to change and growth. We are creatures of habit no matter how damaging our behavior is. The main character experiences 3 bumps and a final push before they hit the critical velocity required for them to catapult them into their journey.
ACT 4
A further push to overcome further resistance and obstacles.
ACT 5
The main character gets lost. They chose the right goal for the wrong reason or the wrong goal for the right reason. They must decide what really matters and get back on track.
ACT 6
The main character must redefine their goal or strategy. They need to ask the right questions at the right time. Nothing has meaning or power outside the context of the main character’s goal.
ACT 7
The character now knows what they need to do. They’ve made the right choice to proceed with the unfamiliar with confidence but without all the necessary skills and knowledge.
ACT 8
The climax. The crescendo. The fledgling new character emerges and progresses into their new world awaiting their new adventure.
History:
The Devil has battled God since time began. God has already defeated the Devil in Christ Jesus’ sacrifice millennia ago. From God’s point of view, outside of time, the battle is over, but inside of time it is a constant struggle between God’s good desire for us and Evil (the Devil’s influence and our flesh).
Humanity is on a perpetual, unstoppable, inevitably LITERAL fall toward death (one per customer) from birth. The
Devil/Evil’s MAIN function is to destroy God’s creation. The best way is to get us to deny the Devil’s existence.
To this point, Evil hides itself in neither black nor white but gray. The gray, “BLAH” machinery keeps pulling us toward death. Evil keeps us from God’s spiritual buoyancy during our lives and ultimately from recognizing our Saving Grace before death. The gray BLAH world is full of distraction. It steals our light and color and draws us blindly to our death. The one thing that can slow our fall and give us hope and purpose is to embrace Jesus. Who will embrace Jesus or won’t is what this story is about. Ultimately the audience is challenged to see who they are in this scheme.
Our movie is set against a cloudy sky, providing a murky backdrop to a fast-paced and interesting foreground story. Each element has the purpose of disguising our hero-less fate..
Jesus, the ultimate hero, comes to each character as “The Word,” after each character’s plight is revealed to them. The characters encounter The Word like a modern day version of the “Sower and the Seeds” parable.
In BlahBlahBlah, there are traditional characters and some that are less conventional, but all are equally important.
1. The Blah – The world we have constructed for our movie is an active character; The Blah. Like the Evil One it represents, The Blah is rendered solely in gray tones. The Blah is permeated with clouds and mist, obscuring our vision. This numbing grayness sucks the color out of each of the human characters as it buffets them to and fro. It introduces “things” to distract but never stops pulling our characters to their inevitable consequence. This distraction is what shapes them into the “Rocky Soil Girl,” the “Weedy Soil Guy” and the “Hard Path Guy.” The Blah constantly hides its malevolence.
2. The Alien Explorer – The audience literally experiences the movie through the eyes of The Alien Explorer (The AE). The AE is on a mission to find “life” and observe it. The AE has been on this mission for a long time. The AE is safely detached in his craft as he observes the world electronically from the bridge. The AE has probes to gather data and survey close to the action so that safe distance can be maintained… at least that’s the plan that has served him in the past. We see this all through the navigation screens of the alien’s craft as The AE explores The Blah.
The screen of The AE’s craft acts as an intelligent guide while encountering the various characters. It directs important features, both comedic and tragic. It serves a dual purpose as the alter ego of The AE. The AE is the audience proxy..
3. Probe 1 – There are 2 “Probes” which are associated with The AE: Probe 1 (P1) and Probe 2 (P2). Both have “cloaking” technology which keeps them invisible to the world that they are observing.
P1 is a robot-tracking drone in the general shape of an expressive eyeball. Its character is bold and bravely interactive with the world it encounters. Its main purpose to The AE is to get close to potentially dangerous situations, transmitting data and video while The AE keeps a safe distance. It is an impish character that has a tendency to poke a little too close to the action.
4. Probe 2 – P2 has a sleeker design and is a faster unit. Because of its larger range, it provides a wider context and time frame, traveling ahead of and behind The AE. Its camera is a wide angle lens.
Each probe character has its own personality exemplified in their construction/function. They are both curious but exhibit timidity or boldness accordingly. They are acting as an extension of the curiosity/fear of the audience.
5. The Path Guy (The PG) – The PG is the first “human” character that The AE encounters. We follow him from color-full “birth” to color-diminishing youth as he transforms into the gradual gray of The Blah, all the way to his marriage. He flies through The Blah at startling speed. He is the first “Flyer” that The AE must keep up with to observe. We see him rapidly transition through the stages of his life, losing his color as he progresses, illustrating the subtlety with which The Blah and its distractions creep into his life.
The comedic technique used will illustrate in patterns of experience and reaction what should be familiar to the audience. It will reinforce a common impression that humans are just a “victim of circumstance.” That “stuff-happens-to-us” feeling that the young audience can relate to naturally. The PG’s segment establishes the mechanics of the interaction between The Blah and humanity.
How The PG responds to his time in The Blah is based on The Word sewn along the well-worn path in the parable. The Word does not penetrate this hardened character. To The PG, He’s seen it all and Jesus is just another distraction and other distractions are more fun.
6. The Girl – The PG, in puberty, discovers “The Girl.” She is the archetypal female object of pursuit. She takes on a number of forms/costumes as The PG pursues.
7. The Nurse – When The PG is in the midst of a near deadly crisis he encounters The Nurse. She is the first person to introduce “The Word” to The PG. She is a “Floater.” A Floater is a character who is able to change direction and slow the rate of their fall. Floaters possess agency.
8. Jesus – “The Word”…. LITERALLY the word Jesus. The spoken word of His name by a “Floater” brings color/light back into the gray, Blah-effected characters. Jesus transforms the Flyer to a Floater when fully received, even if it is only temporarily as the characters encounter Him.
The person Jesus is never shown, yet Jesus is The Hero of our story. The Word “Jesus” is the mechanism for being redirected, like a parachute is to a person hurtling through the sky..
9. Rocky Soil Girl – The RSG is a “flyer” who when introduced is already fully gray, entirely wrapped up in distraction. The Blah has already done its work on her. Jesus is introduced from a book that she encounters as it flies by. When recognition comes that she is actually falling to her death, she is enlightened temporarily, but there is no sustaining desire. Jesus eventually becomes distorted and unfocused as the reason that stopped her falling.
How The RSG responds to her time in The Blah is based on a seed sown in rocky soil in the parable. She’s open to The Word but after a while (because her roots don’t deeply penetrate the soil), she weakens and can’t hold on..
10. Weedy Soil Guy – The WSG is a flyer, all wrapped up in Blah-brand, gray things; clothes, car, gaming equipment, trendy items, etc.
How The WSG responds to his time in The Blah is based on a seed sown in weed filled soil in the parable. He hears The Word, finds temporary color and peaceful float but his attention is choked off by all the STUFF. He resumes trying to grab it all, turning his back on The Word..
11. Death Plane – The DP is part of The Blah. It is a geometric plane composed of Blah debris. It separates the gray, Blah life from color-filled Eternity.
11. Good Soil Girl – The GSG is a gray flyer who hears Jesus and embraces The Word. She shows how it works, producing results and saving others; even perhaps The AE craft and ultimately the audience.
How The GSG responds to her time in The Blah is based on a seed sown in fertile soil in the parable. She hears The Word, finds temporary color and peaceful float and then decides to hold it close to her heart. She becomes a colorful floater and a mechanism that spreads the ability to float to others.
11. Fliers and Floaters – Multitudes of fliers who fly and the few floaters who float to reach the fliers..
The movie opens with a highly color-saturated, dreamlike image; amorphous shapes, dreamy soundscape. The dream state is interrupted by a faint alarm that gets louder as the audience blinks into woke mode. The audience enters the world, through the eyes of an Alien Explorer harshly jolted awake into the grey. We are at the command deck of some sort of craft viewing the navigation screen as it sounds an alarm of its find. Like a reverse Wizard of Oz, in this Kansas vs Oz scene, we find the alien world composed strictly in shades of gray. The AE is searching for color. The navigation screen shows us that the craft is surveying some mottled gray surface that looks like a cross between a microscopic view of human skin and the ocean floor, when up bubbles what looks like a blister of color. The blister grows from gray to a glowing pink. It bursts, sending its contents hurtling toward The AE craft. The “colorful projectile life form” grazes the craft and shoots into the cloudy sky. The AE spins to track it and, as if pursuing a missile, the craft launches two probes to speed alongside and get a better look.
As The AE pursues the life form, we discover that it in fact is a newborn baby boy; a colorful cherubic human baby hurtling through the gray sky. We follow through the eyes of the two Probes, in cloaked/stealth mode. Time is seemingly compressed, as we observe the human age through growth stage changes in rapid transitions from birth to manhood. We see how The PG (The Path Guy) becomes well worn by The Blah.
Throughout the movie all the characters and objects are seen as flying through the sky, wind flapping and clouds passing. EVERYTHING is rendered in grayscale. To keep the focus on character’s reaction there is no familiar setting (Rooms, roads, sports fields, etc.) to set the characters in as they fly through the air of The Blah. The pertinent objects/props and characters fly on screen and off screen as needed, thereby keeping the attention on the important interactions. All dialog in any interactions is presented as gibberish; “blah, blah, blah”. The ideas communicated between characters are implied through intonation. Clever “Blah” sound effects are injected where needed.
In the course of following this flying human, we see him encounter all that the gray Blah offers. When The PG is a baby, he has a lively pink glow, yet slowly fades to gray as he grows into a man.
Roll over to view
It creates a sense of foreboding; that something bad is happening. The PG becomes alternately excited then bored with the gray things that the Blah floats by one to the next; toys, sports, video games, the next new thing, etc.
Eventually he discovers The Girl (or variations thereof), tries to make a worldly impression and, failing to do so, becomes disillusioned and reckless.
Probe 1 continually gets closer and closer to the subject (The PG), bringing the audience along. In this first sequence Probe1 establishes itself as an impish comic foil. Although invisible to the world it is observing, we discover that Probe 1 CAN be physically affected by it. Collisions can happen.
The PG eventually ends up in a serious car accident that also causes the destruction of Probe 1. The AE’s perspective is now diminished ever so slightly and a funny character is lost. It’s actually the second reminder that The AE is not a totally removed observer in The Blah, as The AE craft was bumped in the “blister bursting” scene where the chase began.
We pan the aftermath of the wreckage of the car accident through the camera of Probe 2. We find The PG on life support lying in a hospital bed. He is totally gray by now and his features are fading. The remaining Probe 2 is moved into an uncomfortably forward position examining The PG’s near lifeless body, as the heart monitor intones blah…blah…blah.
Bump1
The PG is in a dangerous situation that should be familiar to the audience, even as an abstraction. He might not be aware of it but the audience is, instinctively. As Probe 2 scans the Path Guy’s fully gray, pallid face in a tight shot, a shock of full-color hand comes into frame caressing his face. The second shock is a gentle voice speaking The Word, “Jesus.” We are introducing vibrant color into a now fully greyscale scene and the sole spoken word in the movie; “Jesus”.
It’s The Nurse. Her hand sweeps life and color back into The PG. This is a JARRING moment! Until this moment, all the dialog has only been gibberish intonations of “blah, blah, blah” and by now the scenes and characters have become full grayscale. As a cross shaped “Jesus” glow surrounds him, the relentless wind ceases. The PG’s cheeks have a lively colorful glow, his hair has stopped blowing and as he opens his now colorful eyes he mouths the word “Jesus.”
The colorful Nurse by his side leaves the scene. He sits up in the hospital bed, notices the peace and calm, and begins saying “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus….” slowly at first, over and over again, until it loses its meaning. It very quickly becomes like the gibberish “blah, blah, blah” before. He gets to his feet, changes clothes, and tap-dances to a recognizable worship song; “Blah, blah, blah” for lyrics. He is exemplifying the same pattern of enthusiastic embrace followed by banality (which was shown before as he was growing up). The PG, while now pontificating “blah, blah, blah” with the wind picking up, puts on dark shades to face the wind and The Girl literally falls into his arms, and off they zoom to chase the things that The Blah always pops out of the grey mist. They disappear into the distance with Probe 2 in pursuit.
Unable to keep up even with the speedy Probe 2, The AE slows to a relative stop watching through the Probe 2 camera. Eventually even Probe 2 cannot keep up so The AE calls back Probe 2.
How The PG responds to his time in The Blah is based on The Word sewn along the well-worn path in the parable. He has been cycling through the same process of excitement and meaninglessness throughout his life. Jesus just bounces off like everything else. The Word does not penetrate. To The PG other distractions are more fun.
Each character sequence will be quick, funny, familiar and interesting. We want to leave the audience with the desire to see more of each character, and to eventually identify with them.
Bump 2
Just as Probe 2 gets back to The AE, on screen, Rocky Soil Girl (RSG) flies by all wrapped up in teen girl stuff. The AE follows with Probe 2. We find her fully gray at the onset. The PG previously showed us the process that turns people gray. The audience now generally understands how she got this way. RSG is speeding by talking “blah blah blah” on the cell phone, preening for selfies and completely wrapped up in herself. She is all frantic movement and excess energy, wind whipping her hair, distracted by all manner of stuff floating by. At one point she spots a pretty, colorful book amongst all the gray stuff in her orbit. She opens it and “Jesus” is spoken. The cross-shaped light brings a colorful glow into the girl’s face. As we saw before with The PG, the wind stops and peace comes upon her as Probe 2 gets closer. She lets go of all her accessories but they are still flying with her as they float along, carried by the same momentum.
She looks at the book intently and then fearfully, for the first time, toward the unknown that she has been flying toward and she grabs the colorful book tightly. She goes back and forth alternately opening the book and experiencing peace and color, closing it and continuing to fly slightly faster. She seems attracted to the light in a very surface way; as a mere novelty. As other pretty but gray books come by, each one prettier than the last (although we notice that NONE in color) she begins to collect the books, looking to recreate that initial feeling of peace. She continually opens the books, looking for the same reaction, and places them under her arm in her grasp. With so many books in hand, the “Jesus” book eventually pops out. Off she speeds into the distance carried downstream into the mist, surrounded by her books.
RSG is open to The Word but after a while because her roots don’t go deeply into it, she weakens and can’t hold on. When recognition comes, she is enlightened temporarily, but there is no sustained desire. The Jesus drive eventually becomes distorted and diluted as she continues to collect the books.
Bump 3
Probe 2 turns its camera lens to look at the girl as she disappears, and then back to The AE, as if shrugging “what’s up with that?” The AE is reluctant to follow. All of a sudden, speeding by in a blur, something large passes close to Probe 2, leaving it spinning in the wake AND The AE craft shakes. A trail of garbage follows and The AE, determined to investigate, speeds after.
As Probe 2 catches up we see that it’s the Weedy Soil Guy (WSG). He is sitting on a couch with all the trappings; beer, pizza, vid game, electronics and Blah brands are everywhere. He’s the ultimate couch dweller. He’s a flying mess. While he channel surfs or YouTube wormholes, “Jesus” is introduced via the laptop, iPhone or TV.
All movement stops, freeze-frame or super slow-mo, and becomes brightly colorful and peaceful. Hotly pursuing, The AE craft actually passes by like the coyote chasing the roadrunner. The AE backs up to get a better look. We see The WSG examining his colorfulness and slowly but surely darting his eyes beyond toward the increasing dark ahead. He feels the wind return, slowly loses color, as he resumes channel surfing, changes the music etc., trying to re-create the peacefulness he felt. Wrapped up in The Blah he again speeds off. This time The AE and Probe 2 are in determined pursuit. As The WSG, with all his stuff, accelerates into the distance shrinking to just a dot, suddenly the dot appears to explode, stuff going everywhere. The stuff spreads out like a bug on a windshield, frozen in space, the sound of the collision reaches us a bit after impact (another Wile E. Coyote reference).
The AE, totally intrigued, sends ahead Probe 2 which finally reaches the Weedy Soil Guy pile of stuff, splattered on an invisible barrier. As it approaches the TV, audio/video/computer equipment, and all the other electronic rubbish, suspended in place, Probe 2 goes in and amongst the debris to better examine the phenomenon. The AE’s command screen switches to the Probe 2 view, which is zoomed in on the scattered objects. As it comes around a piece of equipment, which is all intact, like a tight view of one asteroid-like particle of Saturn’s rings, Probe 2 reveals a grimacing face frozen in horror. It’s The WSG, with eyes wide open and a horrified expression on his face.
Probe 2 pulls back, sensing danger. The AE finally arrives, still staying at a safe distance; he observes the body of The WSG, all scrunched up, clutching his iBlahd or some other Blah brand item.
In pursuit of more information about why all these things have been frozen in space, and in continuance of its original goal to seek colorful life, curiosity drives The AE to take a closer look than ever before. As The AE craft takes a sweeping look at the scattered stuff, the motion sensor danger signal goes off on screen. The navigation screen of The AE craft begins to emit other warnings, but The AE is wrapped up in this new discovery.
This is building a sense of real world danger for The AE.
Faintly in the distance we begin to hear a girl’s voice “blah-ing” nervously like she is counting. It is getting louder. The AE craft whirls away from the invisible barrier wall to see what is approaching and focuses on a massive pile of books hurtling toward the invisible splattered wall. It crashes nearby with a screen-shaking intensity, books sliding everywhere along the invisible wall of the barrier, right next to Weedy Soil Guy. We recognize that it is Rocky Soil Girl, but as an older lady. When last we saw her she was pursuing books. (She has some distinguishing details to clearly identify her many years later.) Shaken but still curious, timidly, The AE craft approaches her. We witness that same frozen grimace as Weedy Soil Guy. At that moment the alarms go off again, this time even more frantically.
Unsteadily The AE turns the craft again, away from the debris and wreckage to see a massive group of objects hurtling toward it. Realizing that they are now in real danger, The AE and Probe 2 take evasive action. With houses, cars, factories (big stuff) slamming into the invisible barrier, the impact causes the pane of debris to pulse outward like a wave; The AE and Probe 2 narrowly avoid being crushed. The AE rapidly accelerates out of the way as they move along the gathered wreckage & debris caught by the barrier.
As it quiets down again, Probe 2 reexamines the now nearly endless plane of debris. One last piece approaches the invisible barrier. Probe 2 turns to look, and we realize it cannot avoid being hit by this piece. “Oh no…” The screen goes black like a video camera hit by a baseball. The view switches back to The AE’s on board camera and we see the large statue which has crushed Probe 2. It is a statue of The PG (Path Guy) looking all heroic, just as some bird droppings splat on the statue’s face (I know, I didn’t see a bird either). We see PG’s accumulated wealth and fame in its final context: a vast pile of stuff spread out on the debris plane. Why is all this junk flying into this invisible barrier? What is it?
Since the bulk of the movie takes place in mid-air, until this point all The AE camera angles have supported the notion that all objects and characters were flying through the air from stage right to stage left. The barrier debris wall is stage left and the probe and The AE craft perceive it as a wall.
The AE screen begins to tilt a few degrees at a time as it moves along the plane amongst the debris. As there are no more probes to augment The AE’s vision, we are left with the single AE craft camera angle and we begin to perceive the debris plane more akin to how The AE craft had viewed the ground in the beginning. The AE is skimming the surface, up and down over all the debris. In the distance along the gray, now darkening ground plane of debris, a colorful beam of light shines outward.
The AE approaches the source of the beam.
The debris plane is now so dense that for all practical purposes it is the ground. When the angle changes, there is now a strong sense of gravity. The angle from which The AE craft scans is fully turned ninety degrees from where it was when the first character (PG) hit. The debris wall is now perceived as down and we realize that the the objects careening toward it are actually falling! The invisible wall has drawn all this stuff to it like gravity draws objects to earth.
From a cautious distance above, The AE watches as the debris parts in the shape of a cross, the powerful light streaming out like headlights on a foggy night. The view is now as if the light is coming from a hole in the ground below it, since there is a sufficient amount of stuff caught in the plane to imply solid ground. In the distance at the very end of the light beam is a person with arms stretched out to the side, colorfully glowing, peacefully floating, approaching the plane. The AE moves along the beam away from the source and closer to the person floating down. He follows alongside and takes a lingering look at the person with a smile on her face. It’s The Nurse from Act 3, glowingly colorful, who first introduced The Word “Jesus” to PG. We follow her down to the light source in the debris plane. We watch her float through the debris and beyond into the light as the junk closes behind her and snuffs out the light beam. The audience is left in the gray darkness as The AE camera re-adjusts to the low light.
The quiet bliss is shattered by a series of impacts on the ground plane which shake The AE craft. The AE quickly pilots the craft to what is now skyward away from the danger. The sky is dark, foreboding and stormy but the experience at the debris plane spells certain destruction.
In the distance through the mist, slow motion lightning bolts cross the sky. They reveal what looks like large raindrops. As they accelerate toward the ground we see that it’s really a multitude of hurtling bodies raining down toward the debris filled ground. A cacophony of “Blah, blah, blah” all crashing to the ground plane.
Taking evasive action, The AE flies upward, zig-zagging rapidly through the falling bodies. The true nature of existence in The Blah is revealed. Flying is actually falling, ultimately falling to death; a consequence mandated to all…. well, not all. The AE realizes it must get as far away from this death as possible. In the distance another slow motion lightning bolt crosses the sky.
A pop-up playback of “The Nurse floater pushing through the death plane” plays on a small window on the main screen. Another slow-mo lightning bolt flashes. This time it is accompanied by a deeply resonant sounding, yet whispered, word “Jesus”. Still moving through the sky by flying upstream through the fallers and their blah-ing voices, The AE craft gets buffeted by the people as they pass. Finally the audience gets the notion that the Blah world is now affecting the craft directly. As what looks like a low power warning light goes off, on screen, The AE losing power, struggles to avoid the people as the fallers become less dense. The AE slows down in relative temporary safety.
For a moment The AE is seemingly out of danger. A group of other girls, locked arm in arm, laughing and giggling, seems to be floating next to The AE. But they are falling… and so is The AE!
A few yards away he sees a floating, colorful young girl. The AE follows as she floats toward them and comes alongside and reaches out, taps one of the girls on the shoulder, points toward the dark below and turns, face to face and says “Jesus”. The touched girl turns her attention from the group who are all facing downward, toward certain death.
This is when we meet the Good Soil Girl (GSG). After she is touched, GSG lets go of her friends, startled at the recognition of her plight. Good Soil Girl changes color and begins to glow as the other girls continue on in grayness. The AE powers upward to where the GSG is. Since a sense of falling has been established, we peer precariously downward. The GSG character is different from the others’. The glow has moved from her head to her heart and she continues to float in peace, sustained from falling rapidly.
Losing power, The AE struggles to come alongside the GSG. We watch her purposefully pursue fallers, reaching out, touching them, speaking The Word, “Jesus” as each are changed to full-color floaters. A chain reaction is revealed one to another as the former fallers become floaters and glow with light. The AE observes that the slow motion lightning seen previously from afar is really the directional transformation of people from falling to floating; lighting the way for those that embrace Jesus. The enlightening moves through the rain/ fallers, culling out from the fallers a growing lightning vine of colorful floaters, hand in hand. Other “Lightening” strikes in the distance.
With rapidly diminishing power, the buffeted AE craft is in need of some repair. The AE craft navigation desk is now strewn with broken stuff from the rough ride and alarms are increasing. It begins to sputter and shake, struggling to float.
The AE is now at a decision point. An “enlightening” bolt originating from afar approaches. The point of view swings downward, then to the coming light and downward and back to the light chain as the AE weighs the two options as the bold light approaches. On-screen analysis suggests that death can be avoided by contact with Jesus/The Light. Reaching out to be saved from falling, The AE uncloaks from stealth mode to get more power and haltingly moves toward the path of the coming light. Like lightning, the chain moves in unpredictable ways, making the maneuver to its path precarious. Since The AE craft is now un-cloaked, a floater notices The AE and floats toward it. It seems that hope exists for a reprieve from falling, as the power is drained completely. Some on-screen notification is blinking: contact has been made, and a rescue is imminent.
Just as the floater approaches, a crushing blow blindsides The AE craft. Out of focus at first, static-filled from the impact, a close up of a face at arm’s length, spewing “blahblahblah” is on screen. The AE is locked in a death spiral, with a speeding faller speaking casual “blahblahblah”. The visual is of the dark death plane followed by the light of the floater chain, in increasing frequency as he/we spin/fall to death. The screen blacks out, you hear the wind whistling and then “The End” comes up. Followed by a question mark. It fades to the call to action: “Time to Choose.”