In order get into the campus he'd first enter with his valid student ID and then toss it to me, I'd then slip past security using his ID. I know that doesn't sound impressive but you got to understand my friend and I don't even look alike; best description is it would be like Mel Gibson trying to pass off as Danny Glover. After that he'd unlock the window in the stock room, I'd climb in and take what I need. It was some effort, but was it worth it? absolutely not, the only tablets they had was the cheap Wacom Bamboo, I don't recommend it even if you're starting out in digital art. Anyway a script and storyboard was as far as I got, but I wanted to share it with readers of my blog... all three of them.
ON 64 BIT STREET!
We open with the character select
screen for a 2D arcade fighting game. Player 1 highlights the first
character box; Aceas. Player 2 highlights a green
skinned savage character called Tonka; who resembles
Street Fighter’s Blanka. The character select screen explodes and
we see the battle stage with Aceas to the left corner
and Tonka to the right corner. The game announces
“READY!” and then “FIGHT!”
Vir: (off-screen) Yeah!
Yeah!
Aceas strikes with his sword
and trounces Tonka, sending him from one end of the
screen to the next. Orka groans in frustration.
Orka: (off-screen) hey!
Give me a chance to use my special!
Aceas halts in the middle of
the stage as Tonka jumps up and down, jerking
franticly.
Orka: (off-screen) come
on! Do the special move already!
Tonka crouches.
Orka: (off-screen)
argghhh!! Stand up!
Tonka jumps up and then turns
the other direction.
Orka: (off-screen) hit
him!
Tonka charges up energy for
his special attack and turns towards Aceas.
Orka: (off-screen) ah
yeah! You’re gonna get it now!
Tonka releases his special
attack, it’s a series of lightning bolts that fall from the top of
the screen and strike the ground. Aceas stays standing
as the strips of lightning rush past; each and every single one
missing him. The lightning comes back from Tonka’s
end of the screen and strikes him down instead.
Orka: (off-screen)
NNNOOO!
Vir: (off-screen) oh,
dude. Look how bad I got it. I got it so bad I’m totally just
standing there in disbelief. I think that attack gave me more health.
Orka: (off-screen) arrgghh!
Tonka is stunned and wobbles
left and right with stars flying over his head.
Vir: (off-screen) hey
watch my special. I call it-
Aceas jumps to the leftmost
edge of the screen and swings his sword, which fires out energy
blades much how Link does so in the Legend of Zelda. Tonka
is struck and falls to the ground as the word “FATAL ACIDENT!”
pops on screen.
Vir: (off-screen)
VIC-TORY! YEAH! YEAH!
Aceas strikes a pose as Tonka
lies unconscious. The game announces “ACEAS WINS!”
INT. LIVING ROOM
We now cut to a wide angle shot of
Vir and Orka sat on a couch holding the
game controllers. Orka throws a tantrum as Vir
does a Numa Numa celebration dance. Orka bounces over
to the console and proceeds to smash it in to pieces.
Vir: Orka!
Orka: struck by my own
lightning! Come on!
Vir: this is why we only play
single player games.
Orka: ah, who cares? The game
was broken anyway Vir.
Vir: it was not! You just suck
at beat ’em ups.
Orka: I’ll beat you up!
Vir: oh, yeah! Yeah!
Orka: you wanna fistful of
fives?
Orka raises his clenched
fist.
Vir: you don’t even have a
fistful of fives, you only have four fingers.
Orka: exactly! You have an
unfair advantage over me in video games, I’m missing the finger
that presses the A button.
Vir: pppfffttt. Why don’t we
try a game that doesn’t need buttons? We can use the motion sensor
Pee Pee remotes.
Orka: you’re on!
Vir and Orka
rummage through their toy box in search of a game.
Duncan enters.
Duncan: Vir, Orka.
Vir: hullo, Duncan!
Duncan kneel s down beside
Vir and Orka.
Duncan: what are you two up to
today?
Duncan picks up a baseball
bat from the toy box.
Duncan: baseball?
Duncan picks up a kite.
Duncan: or perhaps kite flying.
Vir: nah ah.
Duncan picks up a basketball.
Duncan: basketball?
Orka: nope.
Duncan picks up a fishing
rod.
Duncan: fishing?
Vir: no way.
Duncan holds up a snowboard.
Duncan: snowboarding?
Orka: not today.
Duncan: then what are you doing
today?
Vir: we’re gonna play Supah
Summer Sports Resort.
Duncan: in here?!
Vir: yeah! Yeah!
Duncan: how?
Orka: through the science of the
Pee Pee Entertainment System!
Orka holds up a tiny white
box. Duncan leans down to take a closer look. He then
shoots Vir and Orka a quizzical look.
Duncan: this tiny box allows you
to play games?
Orka: that’s right Duncan. We
can do boxing, racing, long jumping and swimming all on one disc.
Vir: that’s not all, we can
even do skydiving!
Duncan: skydiving?!
Orka: skydiving, yeah it’s
like the first level.
Duncan: incredible. You must
show me! Let’s go outside and see-
Vir: go outside?! No need, we
can do it all in here.
Duncan: that’s madness.
Skydiving in the living room?
Vir: let’s show him.
Orka: prepare to have your mind
blown.
Duncan is sat on the couch
with a stunned look on his face as Vir and Orka
stand in front of the TV moving their arms back and forth.
Vir: yes!!!!!!! I wins again.
Orka: no fair!
Vir: what do you think Duncan,
pretty amazing huh?
Duncan: that was...
Vir and Orka
shoot up anxious to hear Duncan’s opinion.
Duncan: the most pathetic thing
I have ever witnessed.
Vir and Orka
slump down in disappointment.
Duncan: that wasn’t boxing or
racing, and it most certainly wasn’t skydiving. You two should be
outside punching each other for real. I mean look at your guts.
Duncan pokes Vir
and Orka’s bellies which jiggle.
Duncan: some sun light and fresh
air would do you two good.
Duncan picks up Vir
and Orka and throws them out of the window.
EXT. MIDDLE OF THE STREET
Vir and Orka
bounce along the street like a ball making squeaking noises as they
hit the floor.
Duncan: here! If you’re stuck
for ideas use this.
Duncan throws a ball at Vir
and Orka. The ball hits Vir’s horn and
deflates over his head. Duncan looks on embarrassed.
EXT. SIDEWALK
Vir: what are we gonna do Orka?
I don’t wanna play on the streets. We might get hit by a car or a
horse or worse A DRAGON!
Orka: don’t be ridiculous. You
don’t get dragons in this kinda neighborhood. And we ain’t gonna
be playing on no streets or baseball.
Vir: then where and what are we
gonna play?
Orka: we’re still gonna play
Supah Rumble Brothers. And we’re still gonna be out of the living
room.
Vir: how?!
EXT. OUTSIDE ARCADE
Cut to a low angle shot of a
building with neon lights spelling out “ARCADE”. Vir
stands with his mouth open and his eyes glistening. Orka
is poised and composed as he strokes his claws against his chest fur.
Orka: yes sir, if you want the
best video gaming has to offer then 64 Bit Street is the place to be
at.
The street is littered with pixels,
floating boxes and battle menus.
Vir: we gotta go inside!
Vir runs towards the arcade
entrance but there is a puddle in front of him. Rather than jumping
over the puddle he steps in to it; and explodes in a similar fashion
to how Mega-man dies in the games.
Orka: what was THAT?!
Vir: you can’t touch the water
it kills you.
Orka: what?! That’s
impossible, what do they do if it rains?
Vir: no look, see.
Vir runs back in to the
puddle and once again explodes before being re-spawned next to Orka.
Vir: I told you.
Orka: maybe only you humans
can’t touch the water. But I’m Orka the blue ocean demon! I rule
the waters!
Orka arrogantly jumps in to
the water and explodes just like Vir. He re-spawns next
to Vir with a vexed expression.
Orka: this is ridiculous!
Vir: is that a bat?
A tiny bat swoops past Vir
and Orka exploding each of them as it makes physical
contact.
Orka: (as he explodes.) come on!
INT. ARCADE
Vir and Orka
are within the arcade playing on a retro arcade machine.
Vir: who knew you had to use a
password to get past that puddle level.
Vir and Orka
are playing the same 2D fighting game as before, when a large
muscular man decked out in blue spandex and armour notices them.
Captain Tron-man: hey, good
choice.
Vir and Orka
ignore Captain Tron-man, the only noise they make are
grunts as they play their game.
Captain Tron-man: who you guys
playing as?
Vir and Orka
don’t answer only concentrating on the game
Captain Tron-man: Tonka, he’s
terrible only a complete noob would wanna use him...Aceas! A baby
could win using him, he’s the most overpowered character in the
game; he requires no skill or talent at all. Just hold down the B
button and you’ve won.
Vir takes Captain
Tron-man’s advice and spams the B button, and just as
Captain Tron-man predicted he wins the fight.
Vir: ha! It worked.
Orka: again?! Seriously?!
Captain Tron-man: well-deserved
victory little man. But as I said before Aceas may be the strongest
character but he demands nothing from the gamer.
Vir: what?
Captain Tron-man: in other words
he plays the player. You wanna be a real Supah Rumble Brothers
champion then you must resist the urge to play as him.
Vir: but he’s the best
character, why would I wanna play as anybody else and he has a sword.
Captain Tron-man: ahh, youth of
today all they wanna do is kill each other with swords. Listen, you
wanna be a true master of Supah Rumble Brothers then there is only
one character to play as.
Vir: who?
We return to the character select
screen where we see the cursor highlighting Captain Tron-man’s
box.
Vir: (off-screen) that’s
you!
The battle stage loads and we see Captain Tron-man in all his 16-bit glory. Orka is once again playing as Tonka. Captain Tron-man fights like a pugilist and throws incredibly short punches, Tonka effortless defeats him in a matter of moments.
Vir: aaaaaaahhhhhhhh.
Orka laughs maniacally.
Vir: what was that? You suck
eggs!
Captain Tron-man: hey, you were
the one in control.
Vir: forget this Orka I’m
gonna play The Legend of Aceas, where you have no choice but to play
as Aceas.
Vir and Orka
move away from the arcade machine and head towards one of the other
machines.
Captain Tron-man steps in front of them
blocking their path.
Captain Tron-man: wait. Wouldn’t
you two rather play a different game?
Vir: no.
Orka: yes.
Captain Tron-man presents Vir
and Orka with a game.
Captain Tron-man: Captain
Tron-man!
Vir: they gave YOU your own
game?!
Captain Tron-man: they gave me
eight, plus spin-offs.
Orka holds up the game case
and inspects it.
Orka: box art is kinda
deceiving.
Orka holds up the box towards
the screen, where a close up shot shows us an illustration similar to
that; of the North American Mega-Man box art.
Vir: no way! I’m out. Orka
likes playing as lame characters.
Orka: I’d rather play as the
Dexter the Car Salesmen, and all you do in that game is meet your
quota!
Vir and Orka
walk away from Captain Tron-man, who leers at the two
as they walk with their backs to him.
Vir and Orka
are now at a different arcade machine playing The Legend of Aceas
which shares a similar aesthetic to A Link to the Past. Vir is
happily playing when the games switches to the Captain Tron-man 8
select screen.
Vir: hey! What’s going on?!
Captain Tron-man pokes his
head out from behind the arcade machine with a devious grin.
Orka: oh, it’s this loser
again.
Captain Tron-man: well it’s
already on, you guys might as well give it a try.
Vir: N.O. Spells no!
Orka: I think we should actually
play outside now.
Vir: yeah! Yeah!
Vir and Orka
exit.
EXT. STREETS
Vir and Orka
are walking along the streets when Captain Tron-man
appears right behind them. The two break in to a run and Captain
Tron-man gives chase.
Vir: stranger danger! Stranger
danger!
INT. KITCHEN
Captain Tron-man is sat at a
round table drinking coffee as he explains his dilemma to Duncan.
Captain Tron-man: I used to be
an international star. I had my own Saturday morning cartoon show,
you remember that?
Duncan struggles to remember
the era Captain Tron-man is referring to; the only
memories he can conjure up and we can hear are those of battles and
cries of pain. We zoom in on Duncan’s haunting blank
expression.
Duncan: nope.
Captain Tron-man: it’s these
new video games. Kids are spoilt nowadays. I remember when they used
to be happy with me jumping over a really high ledge. Now all they
wanna do is shoot at each other on their Call of Responsibility.
Duncan: what do you want from
them?
Captain Tron-man: I just want
them to want to remember me! I want them to play my games; I’m
feeling less and less relevant each day. Aceas doesn’t have that
problem! Everybody want to play as Aceas! I hate Aceas!
Duncan: well, you gotta remember
he was a historical figure and you’re a pop culture icon. It’s
the natural progression that some figures are replaced in popular
culture.
Captain Tron-man: I suppose
you’re right, I really am past my prime. I guess I just wanted to
be idolised again.
Duncan: hey as long as one
person still remembers you, that’s more than enough.
Captain Tron-man smiles as he
stands up and heads for the door.
Captain Tron-man: maybe you’re
right Duncan…if only such a person existed.
Duncan: oh, and Captain
Tron-man...
Captain Tron-man: yes.
Duncan: stay away from children.
Captain Tron-man: so they keep
telling me.
EXT. STREET INFORNT OF BLOCK OF
HOUSES
Vir and Orka
are hiding behind a set of trash cans.
Vir: is he still following us?
Orka: actually I think we’re
following him now. This is where he lives.
Captain Tron-man comes in to
view about to put his key through the door when his name is called
out from above by his landlord; Mr. Frog a hand puppet
wearing a Hawaiian shirt.
Mr. Frog: yo! Tron-hole! Where’s
this week’s rent? And last weeks, and the week before that.
Captain Tron-man: I’ll have
it. I just need a little more time.
Mr. Frog: and I just need a
little more patience.
Captain Tron-man: you have
plenty of patience Mr. Frog.
Mr. Frog: oh, really? Would a
patient man do this?
Mr. Frog proceeds to pour
cloths out the window. He laughs maniacally as the clothes fall on
top of
Captain Tron-man. He walks away
although Mr. Frog can still be heard in the distance.
Mr. Frog: you have been evicted!
Mr. Frog laughs.
Mr. Frog: oh, those are my
clothes.
Vir and Orka
are still hidden behind the trash cans, wearing an expression of
pity.
INT. ARCADE
Captain Tron-man is back
inside the arcade sulking as he plays Supah Rumble Brothers, Vir
and
Orka then suddenly pop up beside him.
Vir: mind if we play?
Captain Tron-man is
speechless.
Orka: who you gonna play as Vir?
Vir: who else.
The character select screen comes in
to shot and we see Vir choose Captain Tron-man.
Captain Tron-man is so touched by this gesture his eyes
begin to swell with tears.
Captain Tron-man: thank you.
The character select screen is shown
again and we see Captain Tron-man’s choice of
character which is none other than Aceas. Vir
shoots him a crossed look.
Captain Tron-man: what? He has a
sword.
THE END
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