Matte Painting/Photo Manipulation and Premise by Nathan Chisholm.
THE TIME HAS COME
It has been over 300 years since Sir Lloyd Augustus established the city, and the millions of occupants have been suffering greatly under the oppressive rule of a fiercely controlling and ruthless government. For most of the population, any hope of freedom seems impossible. But now something changes; the face of the ancient clocktower, which has glowed green for the past 300 years, suddenly glows orange! This stirs the whole city; many rumours had previously circulated concerning the significance of the clocktower, but this now causes everyone to seek the true explanation.
Due to the dense cloud and smog that regularly covers the city, the change is not immediately obvious to everyone, but those in the surrounding superstructures notice almost immediately, and word quickly spreads. Matalas hears the news while working in the food processing factory, and drops everything as soon as possible to get to his favourite place; through a broken trapdoor near his quarters, up to a ledge of the building's roof. From here he has an excellent vantage point of the clocktower and giant sundial. All the tales that he had previously heard about them from his grandparents flood through his mind as he stares at the glowing orange face of the clock; excitement and apprehension fill him as he begins to consider what this may mean.
From what he had heard, from the ancient tales told occasionally in secret; when Dr Augustus established the city, he set up a highly advanced mechanism which would evaluate the city hundreds of years later. It would execute justice on behalf of the oppressed people if it judged the city condition to be unacceptable, by giving them full ownership of land and resources and establishing a new government. No one knew what methods it was created by or how it worked, and even he had considered it a myth until now; but now glimmer of hope is revealed, a hope of freedom!
Soon he and his two close friends, Uudish and Mulik, are all on the ledge, discussing how they can go about finding the truth behind the tales, and ensuring the judgement goes ahead; as they know the government will do anything it can to retain it's power.
The matte painting is intended to communicate to the viewer the sense of sorrow, of fearful apprehension, and of change.
It has been over 300 years since Sir Lloyd Augustus established the city, and the millions of occupants have been suffering greatly under the oppressive rule of a fiercely controlling and ruthless government. For most of the population, any hope of freedom seems impossible. But now something changes; the face of the ancient clocktower, which has glowed green for the past 300 years, suddenly glows orange! This stirs the whole city; many rumours had previously circulated concerning the significance of the clocktower, but this now causes everyone to seek the true explanation.
Due to the dense cloud and smog that regularly covers the city, the change is not immediately obvious to everyone, but those in the surrounding superstructures notice almost immediately, and word quickly spreads. Matalas hears the news while working in the food processing factory, and drops everything as soon as possible to get to his favourite place; through a broken trapdoor near his quarters, up to a ledge of the building's roof. From here he has an excellent vantage point of the clocktower and giant sundial. All the tales that he had previously heard about them from his grandparents flood through his mind as he stares at the glowing orange face of the clock; excitement and apprehension fill him as he begins to consider what this may mean.
From what he had heard, from the ancient tales told occasionally in secret; when Dr Augustus established the city, he set up a highly advanced mechanism which would evaluate the city hundreds of years later. It would execute justice on behalf of the oppressed people if it judged the city condition to be unacceptable, by giving them full ownership of land and resources and establishing a new government. No one knew what methods it was created by or how it worked, and even he had considered it a myth until now; but now glimmer of hope is revealed, a hope of freedom!
Soon he and his two close friends, Uudish and Mulik, are all on the ledge, discussing how they can go about finding the truth behind the tales, and ensuring the judgement goes ahead; as they know the government will do anything it can to retain it's power.
The matte painting is intended to communicate to the viewer the sense of sorrow, of fearful apprehension, and of change.
Major Characters
· Matalas: Keen/sharp/alert/shrewd (Filipino word)
This is the main character, through whom we learn of the meaning behind the clocks and their implications, and who we follow in his exploits.
· Uudishimulik: (Uudish) Inquisitive/curious/nosy (Estonian word)
He is a close friend of Matalas, who is guaranteed to grab any chance of adventure, which lands him in trouble but also enables him to discover unexpected things.
· Mulik: Pensive/Observant/thoughtful (Estonian word)
An elderly, retired man who has a lot of wisdom, tact and questionable skills due to his (concealed) past.
· Tagapagsumbong: Informer/spy (Filipino word) (Tagapag: dog)
A person the government hires to investigate things that are being hidden from them, who finds out about the activities of the team of three, and vehemently opposes them.
(Although not based on any previous kingdoms or governments, the situation in the story may bear similarity to real situations in the past. Notwithstanding, the theme of Justice is the point of this story, not the bringing down of any particular government or people. The languages of the names were solely chosen because I liked the way that they sounded.)
(Please inform me if the names used have any alternative meaning that is not intended. Also note that the 'u' with two dots above it had to be changed to 'u' for this text editor.)
- Nathan Chisholm -2010- Lifeway College -
· Matalas: Keen/sharp/alert/shrewd (Filipino word)
This is the main character, through whom we learn of the meaning behind the clocks and their implications, and who we follow in his exploits.
· Uudishimulik: (Uudish) Inquisitive/curious/nosy (Estonian word)
He is a close friend of Matalas, who is guaranteed to grab any chance of adventure, which lands him in trouble but also enables him to discover unexpected things.
· Mulik: Pensive/Observant/thoughtful (Estonian word)
An elderly, retired man who has a lot of wisdom, tact and questionable skills due to his (concealed) past.
· Tagapagsumbong: Informer/spy (Filipino word) (Tagapag: dog)
A person the government hires to investigate things that are being hidden from them, who finds out about the activities of the team of three, and vehemently opposes them.
(Although not based on any previous kingdoms or governments, the situation in the story may bear similarity to real situations in the past. Notwithstanding, the theme of Justice is the point of this story, not the bringing down of any particular government or people. The languages of the names were solely chosen because I liked the way that they sounded.)
(Please inform me if the names used have any alternative meaning that is not intended. Also note that the 'u' with two dots above it had to be changed to 'u' for this text editor.)
- Nathan Chisholm -2010- Lifeway College -
