Story Board

Here is the storyboard. Drawing isn't my strong point but the pictures give an indication of the shots involved in the sequence.

Moonphase
Accompanied by narration and additional animation

Reading the vellum
Accompanied by narration and additional animation

Approaching the megalith
Accompanied by narration and additional animation

Arrive at megalith

Implant cane into ground


Finsih implanting cane into ground [Close-Up]


Walk over to Megalith


Touch Megalith


Touch Megalith [Close-Up]


Handprints Glow [Continued from previous shot]


Step back from megalith


Part the clouds


Walk behind the cane


Summon the energy to make the tree grow


Foliage continues to grow [Close-Up]


Leaves begin to sprout [Close-Up]


Continue growing folliage


Has doubts and loses concentration [Close-Up]


Tree wilts


Megalith has shrunk to stone


Megalith-stone in grass [Close-Up]


Pick up megalith-stone


Examine megalith-stone [Close-Up]

Retrieve Cane


Leave
Accompanied by narration

Synopsis

I wrote a story for the sequence but it seemed a bit "heavy" so I've written a synopsis in a more simple form of English. So here is the story which I've titled "Inspirit"


Inspirit Synopsis

The story begins when the protagonist is a young child. During his younger years the protagonist’s grandfather entertains him with tales from a culture he once belonged, done in a similar manner to how a tribal elder conveys the lore of that tribe’s previous generations. The tales would be considered “fantastical” by a modern “western” society perception, yet as a small child the protagonist lacks the need for scientific validity and is uninhibited by cynicism, so the tales have a profound effect on him. Occasionally his grandfather told the stories in front of a gigantic stone where he claimed miraculous feats were performed, although the place only revealed itself to those who truly believed it could exist.

Eventually the grandfather dies but before doing so he bestows the cane upon the protagonist and leaves him the omega of his grandfather’s culture, which not even his parents believe in. The cane isn’t magical in a supernatural sense, rather, it represents the bond between the protagonist and his grandfather, so it has a sentimental value that makes it powerful.

By the time the protagonist has become an adolescent the tales have become increasingly repressed by modern influences. Like most in society he’s been exposed to various forms of influences telling him what he should think resulting in an inadvertent loss of faith in his grandfather’s practices, but not because he wants this but because it’s what society subconsciously dictates.

Several years later the protagonist is cleaning the attic and discovers a chest full of his grandfather’s belongings, inside it he discovers the instructions to perform one of the miraculous feats. The discovery acts as a catalyst that opens a repository of repressed memories thus enabling him to regain some of his childhood belief. Now enthused the protagonist decides to attempt the feat although he doesn’t really understand what it does, regardless he gathers his grandfather’s cane and heads to the field where the gigantic rock is located.

Following the instructions he clears the clouds from the sky to enable the moonlight to shine down upon the stone. The celestial energy charges the stone and once “in tune” by placing his palms firmly upon its surface the protagonist can yield its power

Next he plants the cane into the ground and through heavy concentration summons energy from the stone causing the cane to sprout foliage. He has brief success but soon doubts what he’s doing causing everything to come undone. The cane returns to its original state and he discovers the gigantic stone is now tiny. He retrieves it and returns home wondering whether he made a mistake in his performance or whether just imagined everything.

Crumpled Grass

Today I shall address a comment made by a fellow who calls himself ImperialScouts:

[...]The only exception is that the grass doesn't get crumpled upon, but I can't blame anyone for not being able to succesfully do that.

Crumble grass wouldn't be that hard to achieve. The reason why I didn't add any disturbance when the feet hit the ground is because the location in the background plate is a well grazed field. So in other words cattle have chewed the grass right down to its roots and compacted the soil making it quite solid. So the only way to "crumble" the surface would be to apply force with something heavy, a lot heavier than Guy anyway.

However, if the ground were softer and the grass were longer it would be quite simple to add this crumbling you write of.

1. Open up the background plate in a program like Photoshop and isolating the area where the feet hit the ground.
   
2. Draw a change on the ground (like disturbed dirt or slight grass crumbling) when the foot comes in contact then export it as a new image.
   
3. Repeat the process every time the foot hits the ground.
   
4. Take sequence of images in the video editing program and place them in the exact position beneath the feet in order of least changed to most changed.

That should get you an artificial result, but nothing beats the real thing!