Story Synopsis

(As posted originally during Viza617, Fall 09)

SYNOPSIS : KNIGHT ERRANT

CONCEPT :
The story focuses heavily on that good old staple of fantasy liturature, wherin a knight fights and slays a dragon/beast.  In an effort to be pseudo-futuristic, however, elements of the scene and characters are shown to be heavily stylised and mechanical - particularly the beast itself.   

STORY ACTION :
The initial (fantasy) scene is quite dark, showing the first appearances of the monster and knight in silhouette.  The monster appears first, making a great deal of fuss and thrashing about.  It is suggested that the monster is looking for a fight, ready to destroy anything that gets in its way.  The knight appears, pausing for dramatic effect before the monster spots him and attacks.  Although the monster throws itself around wildly, trying to seize the knight....we see him continue to dodge the attacks as he clambers over the beast, spinning bolts and valves and knocking pipe-fittings into place.  Finally, the beast manages to corner the knight and charges forward, its furnace roaring.  The knight promptly shuts a grate over the furnace, and the beast 'dies' down...the scene fading/blending to show that the monster is actually a monstrously large, ugly boiler, and the knight is but a humble janitor, ending on a quiet  humorous note as the knight/janitor silently acknowledges his completely-not-fictional-merely-enhanced-for-viewing-enjoyment victory and returns to his reading, confident that he will eventually be called upon to save the world again.

MOOD :
The story begins dark, more mysterious than scary, as the beast first approaches and transitions into loud explosions of intense actiony goodness when the knight enters the scene and the fight ensues.  The intensity builds and crescendos at the point where the beast is finally defeated/subdued, and the fantasy elements of the scene fade away to reveal themselves to be play-acting versions of real-life. The mood then lightens overall to show in a sort of dry humorous way that although the scene was essentially imaginary, Serious Business has indeed been accomplished and the protagonist sees himself as no less of a hero than if he had actually fought a dragon.

CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS :

- KNIGHT / MAN OF MAINTENANCE (FERDINAND) - who can get away with a lofty name like that because he takes complete pride in his job, and generally shows an excited, courageous attitude toward playing the hero, leaping into whatever situation presents itself, and finding the solution necessary to defeat the monster at hand, no matter how small.  Unlike Don Quixote, he knows perfectly well that he is tilting at windmills; he merely finds it more interesting to pretend that they are giants.  The Super Mario Bros. would probably be his heroes.  He looks rather like a skinny, mild-mannered twerp, even as an idealised/armoured knight, and fights the beast in a conservative manner by moving quickly around it and addressing small individual areas (fiddling with specific dials/gages/valves) instead of attacking it head-on with any display of strength.
    
- HYDRA / DRAGON-THING (BEASTLY BOILER) - is, in accordance with the story setting, an exaggeratedly intimidating and stylised monstrosity of turn-o-the-century engineering complete with pipes, tubes, dials, levels, gages, furnaces, and assorted valves that probably have something to do with heating the surrounding building. Mostly, however, these help it to be as noisy and troublesome as it possibly can.  It's pretty much the same thing when portrayed as a living, clanking dragon...only much more so.  Its body moves slowly, but its overall size, open flame and faster appendages render it threatening.

DIALOGUE :
None predicted, save for general roars/snorts from the monster, 'people sounds' of grunts and sighs as the protagonist moves in the real world, and knightly 'HYAAAAAAHGHS!" of fury when appropriate during his fantasy.

STORY SETTING :
The basement/HVAC room of a large commercial building, presumably a university or business firm.  Attire, equipment and machinery styles, and objects lying about may be used to suggest the time period is roughly 1910 in either America or Britain, albeit rather fictionalised.  The overall look of the story is meant to veer slightly into the realm of 'steampunk' (a genre which generally blends Victorian and industrial-era aesthetics with elements of Jules Verne-esqe science fiction and a sort of retro-futuristic quality where everything is powered by steam, Tesla coils, and Mad Frankensteinian Science! - intentionally puctuated by an exclamation to distinguish it from normal science).  Most lighting would be shadowy and dark to keep an element of drama throughout, and colours would be bold, but slightly brownish or desaturated to lend an old-timey sort of feel to the scene.