Hidden Paradise

I've been yapping about this project in the animation-thread for too long, so here's the whole package in one. All I need to say, that this is an animation project, which I hope to be released someday by Studio Ghibli or an independent studio.

Background:

Eishi (12-14?) and Yoko (19-23?) are the main characters of the story. They live in a world that doesn't rotate at all, which makes harsh climates to the
opposite sites of the globe (dark side is frozen, while the Sun is burning the other side into a flaming desert). There is no apparent reason for this cause,
as if it had always been like this.

To survive in a cruel world like this, there isn't much to choose from; only the rising/setting point of the Sun is habitable for mankind to live. The biggest
problem is though, that there is no land on the border of the light and darkness. The solution is, as you could expect, quite unique.

The floating town
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/13629515/

In the middle of life and death exists a rotating citadel. Its foundations were built on a rocky island and now only this colossal structure exists on the
water level. The people who live there are very independent and require no trade, unless they wish to aid the foreigners. The reason for the rotation isn't
selfevident, actually there are multiple motives:

- It works as an enormous Sun watch, although not at the same principles as we know.

- The rotation creates an underwater vortex, which sucks water, minerals and recources trough the inner canal network for sorting.

- Clean water is available all around the town and after the 'cleansing' opertion, water runs down the walls as varying waterfalls.

- Creates a diurnal rhythm, which helps everyone to stay more energetic and healthy.

Before the rotation was finished, people evolved silver and golden scales onto themselves, because reaching this balanced refugee took some thousand years.

Today Floating town is the calmest place on Earth, and it's also downright a boring place to live in. Children and elderly people are more common there, after all adults are working long and hard, and sometimes even helping the others abroad. Nobody knows about the past, except the divine hiding in the sky. Rarely (every 5-10 years or so) some visitors come visiting there by boat, in hope for blessings. The town is known to bring luck to anyone who passes by.

The Protagonists:

Eishi (14):

Eishi has a silver scaled skin, so his roots are somewhere in the dark side of the world. He's also got deep eye-sockets and a black to silvery coloured back hair. He's relatively short for his age, but that doesn't really bother him.

The boy lived his early childhood in an orphanage. It's a bit mystery how he actually ended up there, nor does he recall of having any parents. He's a
good-natured person, though he has a tired and weary look on his face. It's mostly because of his tragical childhood, when he used to cry a lot. Living in
an orphanage was especially hard for him, since he was quite a sickly one back then.

Currently Eishi lives at Yoko's grandma's house, until he grows old enough to live in a homestead of his own. He works at the lower layer, in the harbor,
where he mostly assists old fishermen and cleans boats. As you could expect, his biggest dream for him would be to leave the floating town one day, and go sailing to the unknown.

(Trivia: there isn't any kind of currency in Floating town, just some strict regulations).

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Yoko (22):

Yoko has a golden scaled skin, and is related to the ones living in the light side of the world. Her face is extraordinary 'conglomerated', as she had a
face of a 16-year old child. Her golden hair is rather short and it glitters a bit.

Eishi's best friend, Yoko, lived a plentiful childhood, since her parents are part of the floating town's adminstration, and thus they receive some
privileges compared to the other residents. Her parents are absent for the most part of the time, and Yoko spends little time with them. Usually she assists
her grandma at the house, while she's seeing Eishi.

Yoko met Eishi in the orphanage, when she was babysitting its young residents, at the age of 12. That was the beginning of their dear friendship, although it was somewhat tragic. Eishi bewailed all day long his sad fate, until one day Yoko confronted him. Eishi had a fiever that day, nevertheless she helped him out of his misery, and from that day everything has been more or less calm.

(Trivia: the overall reason to have an orphanage in the floating town has to do with the cruel world of adults. It's not very rare to hear one's parents having died to a disease or coldness/heat.)

-------------------------------------------------

Important characters:

Formless (??):

Formless has no shape whatsoever, and is like a trapped soul without a shell. It consists of pure energy with consciousness, and those two factors are the basics for self-assertion. Formless is a being captived to a place and time and can only observe.

Formless can only wait for a shell to be taken. Shell can be any kind of non-organic materia, which this strange matter would then turn into an organic being. The morphing process itself is swift, but it takes some time for veins, muscles and organs to develop for optimal action.

Young Formless energy would be only passive materia, but the older they get, more they develop their own nature and goals. Yet, the ultimate purpose for Formless is to connect a link between the dead and alive.

The first confrontation to the Formless is, when the being "takes over" Eishi's flying lantern among thausands of other similar ones. This is naturally by no means a coincidence and is also the story's first turning-point.

(Trivia: The flying lanterns give hope for those who have recently passed away. The wind also tells omens to its sender. The early extinguishment of the candle brings bad omen, while the lantern's late setting on roary flames changes fate. Otherwise everything stays the same).

Themes:

Time - The story's world is literally timeless, and it gives a nice relaxed tone to the beginning of the plot. When the story starts to develop (characters move away from the floating town), "illusory time" appears out of nowhere. When the protagonists arrive to the northern lands, time stops again, as everything is more or less frozen.

Death - The northern permafrost and Eishi's weakening to a human state, bring death closer to the viewer's mind, as the story nears its end.

Despair & Hope - Eishi's and Yoko's journey is truly painful, but even at the darkest moment hope rises out of nowhere. Also the people of north show their determination to stay alive at the brink of extinction.

Homecoming - Eishi's true home is at north (that isn't the whole truth actually), while at the very end Yoko also reaches home (Floating town) with the aid of Formless.

Friendship - It's quite an obvious theme to have, after all Yoko and Eishi have a strong bond.

Symbolism & metaphors:

Hidden paradise - A metaphor of one's dreams' haven

Eishi - Hope and death

Yoko - Love and life (means "sun child" in Japanese)

Formless - Neutrality, alteration and immortality

Floating town - Timelessness, hope and sanctuary

Ocean - Life, constancy and timelessness

Northern lands - Despair and death

People of Permafrost - Hope and survival

STILL UNDER HEAVY CONSTRUCTION!

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Post last edited by Azhur on 07.10.2005, 04:24 AM.

CONTINUES...

Plot:

The plot is divided into three main acts. The scenes are quite detached right now, but I'll link them after I've finished em:

I. The Floating Town

- Eishi's dream sequence
- Eishi wakes up to the mirror, that reflects sunshine (awakening method)
- He cleans up some mouldered wooden boats and helps the elderly fishermen
- A scene at the marketplace, as it's too crowded for Eishi to find Yoko down there
- A scene of some infants swimming in the sea, while an old man is relaxing in a wooden mudbath
- A scene at the dying bed of the oldest residence in FT, grandma Suzu

- 1st turning point: grandma Suzu's funeral

* A scene of Yoko and Eishi making their own flying lanterns
* The people gather to the dark side of FT
* Suzu's body is put to sunk to the core of the FT into the dephts of Ocean
* The residents release their lanterns to make their ancestors accept Suzu's call to the afterworld

- 2nd turning point: At great heights Eishi's lantern is suddenly flaming multicolored (Formless takes control of his lantern)

* Yoko notices that Eishi's lantern is starting to fall to the Lower Harbor, and thus Eishi makes his way to there, Yoko following far behind
* Lantern lands to the bow of a legendary houseboat -> The risk that it would burn it down makes Eishi to fetch it
* Just as Eishi reaches the lantern, the candle inside extinguishes (formless leaves the lantern and takes hold of the ship) and he picks it up with
some annoyance on his face

- 3rd turning point: Suddenly the houseboat is starting to shake and it is becoming somewhat alive. Yoko also arrives to the boat and just when it's about
to leave, she goes onboard

II. The Formless Nave

- As the FT is starting to fade into the horizen, the protagonists try to solve out their current situation

III. The Eternal Permafrost

Landscapes:

Having said that I don't really have enough time or recources to make my own landscapes, I've taken some examples from deviantart. These show only the flesh of the story, so you have to wait for the core for now.

Floating Town

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/13629515/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/11672087/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/14458773/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/13576538/ (Dark Side)
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/15488841/

Formless Nave

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/15460303/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/14708271/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/14667863/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/11446268/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/16154809/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/16147192/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/13329065/


Eternal Permafrost

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/12064175/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/13706854/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/12588830/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/15553729/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/10475154/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/19931387/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/11643570/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/13933306/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/10913715/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/14917090/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/15471741/

A Screenplay Sample

"The story begins with a DREAM SEQUENCE. We see main character Eishi's P.O.V, as he flies trough the afternoon sky. Though the sun is still shining, it cannot be seen yet, since it’s behind thick clouds. They reflect purple color and it’s like the whole sky would be in flames. Only one distant sound echoes in the sky, THE SILENTLY BLOWING WIND. Slowly we move trough dense clouds and in the end reach a very deep one. For a moment we can only see dark greyish mist, but in the end the colossal sun reveals. It’s unreal huge and shines bright orange color, which is really disturbing. We still keep moving towards the fiery ball and keep accelerating in a considerate speed. Though we move trough the atmosphere until the space reached, the sun is still same sized. Finally the sun flares white light and

DISSOLVE TO

INT. EISHI'S ROOM – SUNRISE

INDETERMINATE WOODEN MACHINERY RUMBLING

The first impression of Eishi's room seems to be much like a medieval storeroom with bricked walls. It’s overall quite simplistic with one bed, a mirror, a worn-out closet and a table. Yet the room includes many objects here and there; rugged clothes hanging from a string, a wooden bucket filled with somewhat dirty water, ropes going trough the walls, a rusty bell on the table, torrid flowers on the window sill and an extinguished candle beside the bed.

The sun shine reflects from the window to the wall mirror and again straight to Eishi's eyes. He’s about to wake up in. He slowly stirs his eyes as the brightness disturbs him. Eishi rubs his eyes. He almost jumps off the bed and accidently overturns the candle. He swiftly picks up the wooden bucket.

CUT TO

A number of fast cuts: Eishi takes a shower by pumping water trough a wooden aqueduct into a bucket and pours water over himself. He cleans his teeth with a wetted piece of coral. He takes gloves from the string in his room and wooden shoes from his closet. Finally he takes a sip of an unknown drink from a mug and is about to leave the apartment. At the front door he hears SNORING (Yoko's grandma). Eishi HEAVES A SIGH and slowly opens the front door. Red light breathes in."

It may seem strange to talk about ending at this point, but this is one of the clearest ones in my mind.

The Ending

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/9933516/

Before the ending Yoko and Eishi got seperated, but at the very end they're back together. That particular house (again not my crafted) is Eishi's actual home. What the picture doesn't show that it's actually a modern house, though the story has been before set in a medieval world. Yoko and Eishi make their last bittersweet goodbyes.

This indicates that whole journey between Yoko and Eishi could have been only Eishi's imagination. Eishi might have actually been a normal kid gotten into a coma and he is about to pass away as an elder. The journey from Floating Town to Eternal Permafrost actually symbolizes his final expedition to confront death and to meet his already deceased parents. This is by no means the only interpretation. I myself found at least five different theories, which depart greatly from each others.

Yet after Eishi has entered the house, the story continues. Formless' latest form was a frozen statue -- now having completed his task (bring Eishi home) Formless finally gains an angelic form. Formed grabs depressed Yoko with him/her and flies back to Floating Town.

A long scene showing Yoko returning to FT with Formless help. Yoko's feelings vary between melancholy and sadness.

The floating town itself has stayed unchanged, but Yoko isn't herself anymore. She's developed into a more serious person. It's raining heavily in FT. A long distance shot showing Yoko crying to her grandma's shoulder (her parents are still absent).

Yoko is in Eishi's room and sits on his bed while glancing over the room. Rain pours heavily to the lone window. Yoko starts to rest on the bed and finally falls asleep.

Yoko's dream Sequence: compare to Eishi's dream sequence -- there are several differences.

- This time it's grim and raining
- Instead of going to the Sun she goes for the full Moon
- The dream continues in pitch blackness with these Eishi's whispered words:
"We'll meet again."

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The Character Gallery:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Azhur/YokoEishi3.jpg
Yoko and Eishi.. I'll say no more.

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/17143674/
An elder fisher

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/17497291/
Suzu on her dying bed

The ending titles:

As said before the Floating Town wanders all the same places where Eishi and Yoko visited trough generations. Finally Floating Town halts into a massive piece of ice and freezes into its position.

Hidden Paradise OST:

1.) Dream - Disturbance (Eishi's dream)
2.) Floating Sanctuary (First glimpse of FT)
3.) Order in Chaos (The routine life of FT)
4.) Sleep to the Stars (Suzu's dying bed)
5.) Levitating Hope (Sending of the flying lanterns)
6.) Epochal Event (Eishi and Yoko leave floating town)
7.) Formless Nave (A scene at the boat)
8.) A Bond is Made (Yoko remembers how she met Eishi)
9.) At the Middle of Aquatic Flora (A scene at the boat)
10.) Dusky Mills (Old mills in the mist)
10.) The Eternal Permafrost (Yoko and Eishi reaches the icy lands)
11.) The Singing Aurora (The northern lights turn the ambience to somewhat dreamlike)
12.) Heart of Night (Yoko and Eishi lost in the eternal darkness)
13.) A Glimpse of Light (An abandoned village middle of nowhere)
14.) The purpose Unveils (Eishi knows why he was brought to this forsaken land)
15.) Walk of Lifetime (Eishi leaves Yoko, since he knows that her place is at FT)
16.) Never Alone (Eishi and Yoko reunites)
17.) Hidden Paradise (Eishi and Yoko come to Hidden Paradise)
18.) Bittersweet Homecoming (Eishi returns home and Yoko also returns to FT with the aid of Formless)
19.) Dream - Calamity (Yoko's dream)
20.) Everlasting promise (Ending song during the travel of the FT)

The Everlasting Wait lyrics:

The glitter of ours
beyond sky and stars
sorrow to feel no more
the blossoming fields reveal
I may see you again

An echo carrying you by
bringing touch of our bond
closer and closer
to the all of kind
I must see you again

Paradise lurking in the dark
hidden from time and place
searching for you
for you to love
I see you again

The promise is fulfilled
You're dreaming no more
day falls to night
now always together
as I never see you again



STILL UNDER HEAVY CONSTRUCTION!

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Post last edited by Azhur on 04.17.2006, 06:46 AM.

The lyrics are quite nicely written. Even without the music it stands out as a nice piece of poem.

Wow you have even thought about the names of the tracks in the OST ... You seem to be a really well-organized person who thinks about everything thoroughly and makes detailed plans in advance . (Or maybe you have gone too fast... Better start with the image album first )

(P.S. just like the previous topic on making animation, this thread has been moved to the General Discussions )

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My light novel review blog: ラノなの！@ novel.co.nr

Wow, very well thought out! I'm impressed. I hope it gets animated. I would buy it.

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~Akarui Tsubasa~

quote:

---

Originally posted by shiawase
Wow, very well thought out! I'm impressed. I hope it gets animated. I would buy it.

---

Thanks for your support.

I've recently started writing the screenplay, but it comes even slower than Miyazaki's 0,5pages/day. Then again I'm as lazy as a totoro. Yet I've almost written 20 pages already ; the very beginning and the epilogue.

The beginning and especially the ending are now very different what you see here, more complex and bound together. The middle part is gonna drive me mad, but I'm still gonna crawl it trough, no matter what.

EDIT: Oh.. and I really, truly, honestly am depressed seeing Gedo Senki having so many similarities with HP's ambience.

I still remember the summer night spent at my grandma's three years ago, where I first discovered the floating town. The Sun never sets in the summertime at grandma's... talk about insomnia.

Well anyway I was mighty bored and couldn't definately get any sleep to speak of. Somehow my thoughts wandered into Ghibli, thus began thinking what kind of feature I would like to see.

The first version of HP was.. well.. what one could expect. A mish-mash of this and that.

It concentrated upon a boy (Julian), who had recently lost his sister (Jan). He went to visit his grandma and due to a typhoon of some sort, a portal opened upon another world. Filled with Dogpeople... yeah. Wrote 10 pages in english -- I suppose I could post it somewhere to download. It's nothing to be proud of though.

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Post last edited by Azhur on 04.14.2006, 05:40 PM.

whoa! I agree with shiawase. you have an unforgettable talent!!

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