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SANCTUARY - SCRIPT - 4.9

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Sanctuary synopsis

Sanctuary is a re-mixable live action graphic novel. In the near future, Blake is a sixteen year old girl in small town Australia. In the space of 24 hours she goes from being an unruly school kid to one of the State’s Most Wanted. After witnessing the death of her father, Daniel, she adopts his legacy in a way he would never have imagined.

Blake vs Daniel

A teenage girl is traumatised by seeing her father killed, convinced that she is responsible for his death, and plagued by guilt that they parted on bad terms.

The Activists vs The State

Someone in government has devised a plan to discredit a group of activists by framing them as terrorists and implicating them in the destruction of a wildlife sanctuary.

The Real vs The Virtual

The development of Virtual worlds in 2012 is accelerating at the expense of the real world

4.1 released

The latest version of the script - minor updates.

Plain text

Final Draft

RTF

Hacker etiquette

Two perspectives on online culture

How To Ask Questions The Smart Way by Eric Raymond

vs

The freenode channel guidelines.

Russell Crowe for Daniel

Russell Crowe's agent:

George Freeman
gfreeman@wma.com
One William Morris Place
Beverly Hills, CA 90212 USA
Tel: 310-859-4000 Fax: 310-859-4462, 310-859-4262
Web: http://www.wma.com/

SANCTUARY script 4.0

Not for circulation.

Final Draft

PDF

Plain text

BATMAN origin story

The original 12-cell origin story for Batman, a classic superhero

Retina projection for Blake's glasses

BBC NEWS | Technology | 'Laser vision' offers new insights

I've been wondering how Blake could get away with using her RIG in class and perhaps the answer is that she isn't. Instead she could be using one of these jobbies in her spectacle lenses, pointing backwards. Freaky...

Australian authoritarism

Australian police state as fiction?

POLICE used capsicum spray on students yesterday to quell protests over rising university fees as rallies across the nation turned violent.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9148817%255E12332,00.html

Paper on "key characteristics" of Australian authoritarianism.
http://thequality.com/people/michela/weblog/archives/000683.html#000683

Classroom presentation

What are classmates looking at?

Where is Blake giving presnetaiotn?

What is the interface?

WHat is her subject matter?

What is her attitude to the subject matter?

Bat echoes used as virtual reality guide

Wa hey! There's a precedent for nano-bats. A scientist has been using bat echo-location in VR.

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994165

Calga Springs sanctuary

Newsletter and bird list of the Calga Springs wildlife sanctuary north of Sydney. I shot some good bush there in January. The cicadas were on a seven year high volume.

http://thequality.com/flics/10weeks/blog/archives/docs/Volume1-2004.pdf

http://thequality.com/flics/10weeks/blog/archives/docs/calga bird species list.pdf

SANCTUARY - new script breakdown

http://thequality.com/flics/10weeks/blog/archives/docs/20040204_sanctuary.fdr

AK and I made some good progress today on this.

EXT. BUSH - NIGHT

State troops set a trap for the activists.

INT. ACTIVIST HQ - NIGHT

Activists do their virtual reconnaissance of the State.
There is too much information on-screen, not enough
intelligence. Mark asks Jon if he is going to ask his
brother Daniel for help. Jon says no.

INT. HOME - NIGHT

Jon has asked Daniel but Daniel says "No way. I have a
family to think of now." A family portrait hangs in view.

EXT. BUSH (VIRTUAL WORLD) - DAY

Straight laced and serious Blake is giving a class
presentation on State fauna and flora from within a virtual
bush environment. She's a natural. She adeptly manipulates
the view, sliding a tree out of the way to reveal a rare
wallaby in a clearing.

INT. CLASSROOM - DAY

Neat rows of students sit attentive as Blake up the front,
controls her presentation with body language. Her avatar
(within the virtual bush environment) is projected behind
her. A pair of boys snigger up the back of the room as they
call up Daniel's State prison record. Blake is thrown as
her dad's image comes up on her touchpad. She tries to
continue the talk while trying to clear the image. She
accidently sends Dad's image to the big screen behind her.
The class roars with laughter at her distress.

INT. STATE REGISTRY (VIRTUAL WORLD) - DAY

Blake hacks the school's data warehouse, a cavernous array
of disorganised filing cabinets and folders, destroying all
the references she can find on her dad. Her software agent
stick figure sidekick CD questions her motives. This is
most unlike her. A shadowy figure challenges Blake. She is
busted.

INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT

Dad rampages through Blake's messy bedroom confiscating
cables, cameras and misc. hardware. She's suspended so
she's grounded. No more Net acess. Blake accuses Dad of it
all being his fault. He's the ex-con.
Dad dismisses her defensively. "You don't know what you're
talking about. Maybe you will when you're older."

INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT

Blake sneaks out of her bedroom.

INT. OFFICE - NIGHT

Blake hacks Dad's old PC squinting and fumbling with the
mouse, clearly showing her frustration with 90s tech.

INSERT. STATE FILES ON ACTIVISTS

INSERT. STATE MAPS SHOWING TROOP ACTIVITY

INSERT. WORKSPACE

CD coaxes Blake to log off but then accidently uncovers the
plan to commence logging of the sanctuary tomorrow.
"Smokin'!"

INSERT. STATE MEMO ON PLANS FOR BARGO

CD asks if Blake is going to blow the whistle. She says
they would never listen to me.

INT. ACTIVIST HQ - NIGHT

A mushroom cloud erupts on the tactical map of the State. A
myriad panicked voices. They've being hacked. Jon calms the
group down and points at the new incriminating information
spilling out of Bargo.

EXT. BUSH - DAY

The activists enter the sanctuary cautiously. No activity.
They come across the smoking remains of a logging vehicle.
Something's wrong.

INT. BEDROOM - DAY

Dad's voice "Have a good day love. Bye." Door slams.
Blake's eyes open.

INT. OFFICE - DAY

Back at Dad's PC. More scanning. Oh shit.

EXT. BUSH - DAY

Come out into the open and put your hands in the air. It's
a trap. Run! The activists flee.

The nano-bats awaken and scatter to the wind in a vain
effort to record the massacre. One by one they are shot
down.

Jon is chased down by a dog with a visor for eyes. The
troopers close in on him as he's mauled.

INT. OFFICE - DAY

Blake watches a low bandwidth nano-bat cam video stream in
tears.

EXT. BUSH - DAY

Blake stumbles awkwardly through the bush in the aftermath
of the battle. She forgets it's real, trying to move a tree
aside with a palm-press.

INT. CLASSROOM - DAY

Blake blends in with the rest of the class as the teacher
relates the day's lesson on the virtues of the State. A
trading-floor-style newsticker begins scrolling a
newsflash. The teacher gestures for the big screen to come
on.

INSERT. NEWSFLASH

The children are warned to be vigilent for terrorist
suspects still at-large after a catastrophic systems
collapse in the Bargo region. Blade, a strikingly athletic
thirtysomething, and CD are the suspects.

INT. CLASSROOM - DAY

Blake's steely gaze behind glasses.

Australian Conservation Society

Real activists in Aus write:

Hi ACF Supporters

Right now, ACF needs your support to put a stop to a disturbing new chapter in the ongoing fight to save the Tasmanian wilderness.

In Tasmanian old growth forests, trees too big to be sawn are being demolished with explosives. 500-year old trees are literally blown up in a second. Then, after clearing the site, to remove native wildlife from the plantation area carrots are distributed. Once the starving animals start to enjoy this sweet new treat it is then laced with 1080 - a deadly poison that attacks the nervous system and kills animals slowly. The recovering flora is destroyed using herbicides.

This month on the ACF website we have an in-depth look at the destruction of forests in Tasmania, and explain what you can do to help. Plus, there's the debate on the US-Australia Free Trade Agreement, and much more.

Information Warfare - aka the fog of war

See my blog on The Fog of War for a neat summary of information warfare (albeit spoilers for the film).

Australian wilderness activism

The Wilderness Society | Rainforest society gold mining protest | GUNNS Ltd. (largest logging company)

NSW Student activist mailing list archives

10weeks script v9

For version 9, please follow this link.

Offer any comments you may have on the script via this entry.

XML

Two XML applications in SANCTUARY:

1) mix - machine readible description of the cinematic experience (SMIL?)
2) flic - "flexible light interactive content", the bits you can replace and share (RDF-encoded binaries)

SANCTUARY v2.1

The latest version of SANCTUARY, the re-mixable short film, based on 10weeks.

Download file

RIG ball

A cross between Rugby Union, Rollerball and Gladiators played by trolls.

Played in the Cityscape stadium, RIGball is played by avatars that break apart on big hits and have their bits and pieces reassemble on-field as a form of time penalty (see AD&D troll regeneration behavior).

The worlds

• The Real
  
  Australia 2016. The State comprises the old states of New South Wales and
  the ACT. The town of Bargo, where the real world scenes are set, is half-way
  between Canberra and Sydney.


• The Sims
  
  The virtual worlds (or simulations) that support RIG technology thus the mind-machine
  interface.
  
  
  
  • Cityscape
    
    The virtual world marketed by the State as a global tourist and business
    destination. A high gloss replica of Sydney's Olympic Stadium (and the
    game of RIGBall) is as the drawcard
  
  
  • Kerela
    
    Blake's virtual replica of the Australian outback. A place she uses for
    meditation and solace.
  
  
  • Interlink
    
    The prison facility providing mental resources to sims
  
  
  • Tomb
    
    Part of a Jurassic Park-style interactive cinema theme virtual theme park.
  
  
  • Racer
    
    A Wipeout-style virtual racing/gambling simulation akin to dog racing.
  
  
  
  

Rules of the world(s)

• The State has been in power for many years.
• There is corruption within the Department of the Environment and Network Resources (DENR). Authority figures are misusing their power.
• Most real and virtual space is monitored by tracking devices like close-circuit cameras, motion sensors, and heat sensors.
• Activists use existing surveillance technology to watch the watchers (Little Brother syndrome).
• The story is set just after the RIG, mind-machine interface technology (Reactive Interface Grid), has begun to be used.
  • The RIG consists of Network, Interface and Engine components
    • The Network component lets RIG hardware "see" the world by accessing networked sensors and Net data
    • The Engine component generates sensory output for the user in the form of signals, often floating screen panels
    • The Interface component sends signals to the brain of the user
  • Floating panels of information indicate the perspective of a virtual world. A virtual world perspective can be scaled up and down by users, from photo-realistic to simple blocks
  • RIG users often use body language to customise use of the RIG (e.g.docking floating panels on forearm, physical gestures)
  • State Troopers (DENR special forces) are early RIG adopters. Their gear allows them to exist in reality and in a virtual world (artificial location or augmented view of reality) at the same time.
  • State dogs (controlled by Troopers) have been surgically modified to include RIG hardware and control mechanisms.
  • Blake is an early adopter, encouraged by Dad who has set up a basic RIG in her bedroom
  • The RIG is not permitted in classrooms hence Blake sneaks in a portable RIG device
  • The philosophy behind the RIG is that you don't look at machines, they look at you
• The State has developed the ability to access minds, and trap minds, of people using a tourist (virtual) world - Cityscape. This is not yet public knowledge.
• The State promotes the virtual world at the expense of the real. Urban sprawl is decimating bushland.
• The State has no official opposition. Vocal critics are labelled terrorists
• Online, by law, your avatar must resemble your physical self
• Software agents (or bots) that masquerade as avatars are illegal.
• Access to Australian virtual space through a system of privileges collectively known as OPS (Operator Privileges)
• Virtual space is divided into
  • private space (like the spaces belonging to the Chief and Blade)
  • public space (like Cityscape, Kerela)

Self-documenting system

Note to coders,

As you’re writing, think about what console messages you need and make sure that there is a public interface to any debug write type stuff you’re doing. Thinking more about the State perspective on the story and it may make narrative sense to reveal the inner workings of the interactive product as window dressing. Will certainly save script-writing. Also thinking about self-documenting the codebase for the final release from the perspective of CD, kinda like a cheeky perl pod file. He’s written in perl in the script anyway…

Story new bits

New stuff waiting to go in for the next script.

The crowds want more motivation. They just can't understand that a little girl like Blake could be so full on against the State. They don't get it. Neither does Blake. She's a confused kid.

Jon is Uncle Jon, Dad's younger brother. Mark may be female, I don't know. Either way, Blake is very jealous. That should be her down there helping Jon fight back against the troopers. One more thing, the activists are being framed. Not content with destroying the last natural bushland in the State, the troopers have been instructed by the Chief to plant the story that this was a terrorist action. The destroyed bush is being rearranged so that it looks as if the activists had blown several vehicles. In fact there was no such action.

Something happens at the end of the film that is not planned for by Blake and certainly not planned by Axel.

The Chief demonstrates his all pervasive power online by dredging up memories of Blake masterbating in her bedroom.

Reviews from Zoetrope

Six reviews from the Zopetrope virtual studio.

Download file

Feature Film synopsis

In the near future, a riot girl hacker must escape from a secret online mental prison run by the State before her real identity is discovered and her family comes to harm.

Blake, an intense sixteen year old girl in small town Australia, becomes determined to join a David and Goliath struggle against the State following the bloody outcome of a protest. In particular, she becomes obsessed with the downfall of the State’s charismatic ruler, ‘The Chief’. Although wishing to be taken seriously by the local activists, they consider her too young to get involved and her crush on one of their number, does nothing for her credibility.

Online however it is a different story….

Blake is a hacker who uses the next generation of virtual reality technology, stolen from her unsuspecting father’s research work as Professor of Information Warfare. In the guise of an older super-heroine named Blade, she is able to cause considerable embarrassment to the Chief. With her crude software agent companion CD, (the Customised Dude), she hacks into Cityscape, a virtual city modelled on the State’s capital, from where the Chief rules. Denouncing him as a murderer and running riot, whilst managing to evade capture, Blake makes the Chief as obsessed with her as she is with him. After discovering that the Chief is experimenting on the State prison population by holding minds captive online in Cityscape, Blade and CD are spotted and she is trapped. Back in the real world, Blake falls into a coma.

From this point on, it is a race against time for Blake/Blade to stop the Chief in his bid for world domination before her mind is lost forever in Cityscape, or her true identity is discovered in the real world. Helping her is Axel, the longest survivor of the Cityscape ‘headbin’, the record being ten weeks. He's also the subject of her schoolgirl crush. Together, they play a deadly game of cat and mouse with the Chief finally trapping him back in his real body – that of an infirm old man – and leaving Cityscape in the capable control of CD. Blade and Axel bid farewell to Cityscape and arrange to meet in the flesh. Back in the real world, Blake wakes, and smiles.

Log line

In the near future, a riot girl hacker must escape from a secret online mental prison run by the State before her real identity is discovered and her family comes to harm.

Premise

Knowledge of self leads to freedom.

Original treatment

This is the original treatment written November 1996 in Sydney for the Brilliant Digital interactive movie competition and subsequently sold to the company on winning the competition. I signed with BDE to deliver a feature-length interactive screenplay and technical specification in February 1997.

ten weeks in the headbin - a multi-path movie treatment

All rights to the project and associated IPR was regained in 2002.