The goal for this unit in English was to create a unique world entirely from scratch and develop a story that takes place in this world. Instead of writing an ordinary narrative story, we wrote it in the form of a narrative treatment, which provides a holistic overview of the world, characters, and the plot itself. After completing this story, we wrote a research paper on a theme in our story that can be connected to current events.
This unit helped me to grow creatively. Coming up with a comprehensive and fictional world is challenging, yet extremely fun. I also found the process of connecting a fictional story to current events through the research paper to be valuable.
Presentation Video
Narrative Treatment
Logline
When a faction of the powerful Coalition captures a group of jungle dwellers, a former Coalition member and hunter embarks on a harrowing mission to free his people.
Characters
Cameron is a member of the Southern jungle group (Southerners). He is a 27 year old American. Due to the warm climate, he wears cargo pants cut off at the knee and boots, a dirty short-sleeved tee-shirt, and a backpack. On Earth, he was a frequent hunter and had moderate weaponry training. He carries with him a 1911 pistol with one clip (7 rounds). Cameron is a self-preservationist, as he figures the only way to survive in the new environment that is Earthfall is to do whatever it takes to live. This trait led Cameron to join The Coalition upon his arrival on Earthfall, where he served under Blake’s command, committing horrific acts to stay with the group. At a certain point, Cameron decides enough is enough and escapes the Coalition to live with the Southerners. Later, he is forced to confront and overcome his trait of being a self-preservationist to save the Westerner child.
Blake is a general of The Coalition, the militarized group that enslaves the Southerners for personal gain once they realize the Southerners are living on immensely fertile soil. Blake was an Australian Special Forces soldier, earning him both the respect and fear of his fellow Coalition members. This allowed Blake to gain a high status amongst The Coalition, promoting him to be the general that Cameron once followed. He was given control over the faction that attacks the Southerners, and later searches for the Westerners. Blake lives by similar beliefs as Cameron, believing that to survive on Earthfall one must do whatever is necessary, leading Blake to be a ruthless and brutal leader, utilizing methods such as public execution. Blake wears khaki shorts, a tee-shirt, a military backpack, and a holster on his side. He carries an HK416 assault rifle and a P320 pistol in the holster (both common for Australian special forces).
Jürgen is the leader of the Western jungle group (Westerners). He was a German Lawyer prior to the evacuation of Earth, giving him the reasoning and level-headedness to run the Westerners. As a lawyer, Jürgen stood up for those who did not have a voice as a defense attorney. Very much unlike Cameron, he will do whatever he can to help others and stand against oppression, making him a brave and compassionate leader. Jürgen wears a dirty white dress shirt with rolled up sleeves, and dress pants rolled to the knee. He also wears sandals that were converted from dress shoes. He carries a kitchen knife strapped to his leg with twine from the environment.
Overview
After a mass evacuation of Earth, the lucky few that escaped landed on a planet they call Earthfall. Once there, the remaining population split off into groups and spread throughout the new world, a tropical island. Cameron and his group moved into the Southern jungles of Earthfall and thrived off of the agricultural land available to them.
One night a year and a half later, Cameron witnesses a Western jungle dweller burn farmland belonging to The Coalition, a militarized group that had knowledge of the planet before the evacuation. The next morning the Coalition attacks and enslaves the Southerners for their land, assuming they were the arsons.
Cameron is forced to track down and capture the Westerner with the aid of a squad of Coalition members. After a treacherous journey, Cameron has to make a hard decision: let the Coalition slaughter the Western village, or put his people at risk and save innocent lives. Cameron helps the Westerns fight off the squad of Coalition members. Once they are safe, the leader of the Westerns, Jürgen, offers to help Cameron save his people.
After crafting a plan, and traveling back to the Southern land, Cameron, with the help of the Westerns, frees his people and steals The Coalition’s supplies. When the Southerners arrive at the Western land, they see that the Westerns have gathered other groups from around Earthfall to combat The Coalition.
Act-By-Act Description
ACT I
It has been a year and a half since Earth was invaded and destroyed. The surviving humans evacuated on ships and settled on Earthfall,a planet that resembles Earth in many ways, like its atmosphere. The majority of its surface is water, with a single cluster of islands that are mainly composed of jungle and desert.
A group of ex-militants quickly banded together to establish themselves as a superpower on Earthfall shortly after arrival. This group, The Coalition, had prior knowledge of the topography of this planet, so they knew that settling on the east part of the main island was the most ideal because of the arable land. They were able to do this without competition because of their great strength and weapons. Since they didn’t allow anyone else to live near them, the remaining people made various groups amongst themselves and scattered across Earthfall to settle. Two different groups formed in the jungle, the Westerners and Southerners.
One night, Cameron descends from his treehouse in the Southerner village to use the restroom at night. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a figure moving through the trees illuminated by the moonlight. It stops for a second and looks at Cameron, and he realizes it’s a Westerner carrying what looks to be a can of gasoline. Cameron lifts his arms up to motion that he isn’t a threat and didn’t see anything. The Westerner continues on.
Just before the sun has risen, Cameron is awoken by the sound of a gunshot echoing throughout the village. He instinctively reaches for his pistol from under the mattress, which he stole from The Coalition when he escaped their ranks. He quickly stops himself because he realizes that these gunshots could only mean The Coalition is nearby, since nobody else on Earthfall has access to guns. Fighting would be pointless. He peers out of his treehouse and sees around 50 men storming into the clearing below, bearing flashlights and guns. Cameron’s suspicions that they are Coalition members are quickly confirmed. They order everybody to come down from their treehouses and line everyone up in the clearing on their knees.
Cameron suspects that this has something to do with the person he saw last night, and he’s right. The leader announces that the farmland outside a coastal Coalition fort was burnt to the ground the night prior, and they suspect the Southerners have something to do with it. He also says they will be taking the Southerner farmland for themselves while enslaving the people. They demand the name of the arsonist, but silence fills the air. Cameron recognizes the man speaking, his old general Blake, a ruthless and violent leader. He grabs a man, about 40 years old, from the front of the group of Southerners, and threatens to kill him if they continue being silent. Cameron remains silent, paralyzed by the fear of what Blake is capable of. When nobody talks, Blake kills the man. Another person from the front is grabbed, and when he is about to be killed, Cameron caves in and says that he saw someone last night and he knows it was a Westerner. Cameron can tell that Blake immediately recognizes his voice from the sinister smile that crosses his face.
Cameron is pulled aside by Blake who explains that he knows Cameron’s potential as a former hunter and Coalition member, skills that would be useful in finding the culprit. If he does so successfully, the Southerners will be spared. Cameron obliges, even though he doesn’t want to associate himself with The Coalition ever again. After some quick preparation, heads out with Blake and 13 other Coalition members to find the culprit.
ACT II
It is hours later, and Cameron has been trudging through the jungle with Blake and his men. He checks his waistband to make sure his pistol is still out of sight. Nobody knows he has it. He then thinks about how beautiful all of the trees would be if he were under other circumstances.
The next day, just before arriving at the Westerner camp, the group is stopped by a Westerner patrol. The few men look a little uneasy because they know they are heavily outarmed. Despite this, they still tell Blake and the group to turn around and leave. Cameron forces himself to look away as The Coalition guns down the patrol. Even though he used to be a hunter on Earth, shooting men is nothing like shooting animals. Blake orders 10 men to fan out and search the nearby area for other patrols. Cameron, Blake, and three other Coalition members enter the Westerner camp. They round everyone up in the center while Cameron nervously hangs out in the back. As everybody is moving, he recognizes the person he saw those few nights prior. But in the broad daylight, he realizes that he’s just a kid, no older than 13. Cameron’s palms become sweaty because he knows he can’t let them kill the kid, but he also wants his own people to be freed. He tries to negotiate with Blake, arguing that they can’t kill a kid. A fight breaks out between the two, and Cameron is shoved to the ground. He lands hard on his back and is dazed for a second, then sees Blake standing over him with his gun pointed at his head. Cameron pulls his 1911 from his waistband while rolling to the side and shoots Blake and two of his men, catching them off guard. Blake’s last man is able to get a shot off at Cameron but misses, allowing Cameron to shoot him too.
Cameron stands there for a moment, not being able to comprehend what he has just done. Avoiding acts like this was why he left The Coalition in the first place, yet he ended up in this position anyways. He realizes that the 10 men Blake sent to search for other patrols will be here any moment and turns to all of the Westerners who are still gathered in the center of the village. He announces this information to them, and a man who introduces himself as Jürgen comes up to Cameron and thanks him for not giving the kid up. Jürgen says that he and his men will help Cameron fight the remainder of Blake’s men. He reveals that this part of the jungle is home to a plant that produces poisonous sap, which they have coated their spears and blow darts with.
Jürgen orders everyone back up to their treehouses. When Blake’s men enter the camp, they see his body there and go check on him. While they are distracted, the Westerners rain down their poisonous spears and blow darts onto the Coalition members. Cameron, Jürgen, and some other men go down and arm themselves with the guns and ammo from the fallen Coalition members. Cameron explains his situation to Jürgen, asking him for help to free the Southerners. At first, Jürgen is uneasy about this, but he realizes that he is in too deep to back out now, considering he and his people just killed many Coalition members. Cameron explains to Jürgen the layout of the Southerner camp and how many Coalition members are still there.
Act III
Cameron and 5 other men gather supplies and get ready to head back to the Southernern land. They decide they will need to take a quiet approach as the Southerner land is heavily guarded and with their limited numbers, they don’t stand a chance in an all out firefight. They pack bags full of poisoned darts along with rags and bottles of the poison. Before they leave, Jürgen pulls Cameron aside. He tells him that over the next few days, the Westerners are going to get in contact with other known groups and try to raise an army to combat The Coalition. Jürgen is confident in this plan as The Coalition has proven to be a threat with little interest in peace.
Cameron and the 5 others make their way to the Southerner land, conceiving their plan as they go. They make a stop for the night and arrive at their destination late the next day. They camp out in a system of caves a mile out from the Southerner village. As they wait, the 6 men discuss their backgrounds from before the evacuation and the things they miss most. When night falls, they move out.
Cameron walks out into the clearing, holding one of the Westerners, Julius, at gunpoint in front of him. He alerts the attention of one of the night watchers who calls the other night watchers over. Once the men have gathered around Cameron, they rejoiced at first to have supposedly caught the man who burnt their land, however, they quickly turn to ask about Blake and the other Coalition members. Right as they start to raise suspicions, a flurry of darts fly from the tree line, poisoning and killing all of The Coalition members.
With the plan in action, the 6 men sneak through the clearing towards the wood structure acting as the temporary sleeping quarters. Before entering, they dip their rags in the poison and enter. Once they have killed The Coalition members they turn their focus to the enslaved Southerners. After checking a few tree houses and realizing the Southerners must have been relocated due to the attack a few days prior, the group checks the main shelter that once housed the reserve food supply. The entirety of the Southerners was asleep in the cramped space. Cameron wakes the Southerners up and tells them the situation. He instructs them back to their treehouses for the night and tells them to regroup in the morning by The Coalition’s sleeping quarters.
In the morning the large group scavenges what they can from the sleeping quarters and they start their journey back to the Westerner land. When they arrive the next day, Cameron is surprised to see a large force in the Western village. Jürgen greets Cameron and his returning men, as well as addresses the large group of Southerners. Jürgen informs Cameron that in the past few days, they had gathered a mass of Earthfall groups to band together in an effort to stop the threat of The Coalition for good.