WorldBuilding
In our senior year English class, we established the foundation for the Narrative 2 Unit. This unit’s concepts were later enriched by insights from Digital Media and Design. After delving into Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower and exploring its world, we began our own creative journey of world-building.
Narrative Treatment
The worldbuilding project commenced with the freedom to explore any concept we found intriguing and desired to delve deeper into. Following a collaborative brainstorming session, we grouped ourselves and commenced refining our ideas. The initial phase of this endeavor involved crafting a treatment—a concise pitch outlining a film or television concept.
Research Essay
The next stage of the project focused on academic writing, where I transitioned from crafting my treatment to brainstorming themes and messages, and researching topics related to the underage vaping crisis in high schools. This topic resonated deeply with me, prompting a strong sense of passion, as it addresses a pressing issue affecting many young individuals. My research essay explored the impact of vaping on high school students, including the role of marketing strategies, lack of regulation, and potential health consequences. Through this work, I aimed to raise awareness and advocate for measures to address this critical issue.
Pitch Presentation
The culmination of the worldbuilding project involved presenting our narrative story idea to the class. Opting for a big blockbuster movie approach, my partner and I pitched our concept as if the class were Netflix producers. Our presentation featured a slide deck created with Google Slides, showcasing original character art and unique movie posters, among other media components.
Characters
R.C. Chambers– The main protagonist, a pharmacist, has BP. Came to San Francisco during the gold rush but arrived too late. Ended up using his medical background to set up a pharmacy for the early residents. Moves into an apartment with the Bourne Family nearby to the Pharmacy. He has a partner- Mrs. Wu who works in the pharmacy with him to serve the people of SF. While not working, R.C. spends most of his time at the Midnight Lotus, a local opium den in his neighborhood. R.C. Is middle-aged, maybe 40/45, with brown hair, and clean clothes and he looks hygienic. As his addiction progresses, his physical appearance looks worse and less kept.
Ms. Wu- works at the pharmacy with R.C. Chambers, her love interest, and victim, she was in her late to mid-70s when she came to the U.S, She is always in clean “old person” clothes she doesn’t like to stand out in a crowd as most of the colors that she wears are always muted But most of the time at work she’s wearing a Dr.Jacket/ Lab Coat, but she always looks put together, The only relationship that she has to the main character R.C. is through work, as they work in the same office space but don’t tend to interact outside of work, except when they see each other walking through the halls of their apartment building, Miss Wu is a kind light hearted person upfront but she’s an independent woman alone in the newly san francisco so she has an edge on her, to never double cross Miss. Wu, Miss. Wu lives a routine lifestyle where she wakes up and heads down to work Monday- Friday, and on the weekends she loves to hang out with her cat and goes on walks.
Viper- The front desk operator of the Opium Den(The Midnight Lotus) that Chamber’s frequents. This character will act as a 3rd party perspective for when the narrator is on an opium trip. The middle-aged character, male, has a scruffy look from too many late nights at the Midnight Lotus. Standoffish personality but helpful to the characters when they interact.
Mr/Mrs. Bourne- The neighbors of Chambers who will somehow become a part of the brutal murders. The Bourne family moved to San Francisco to set up a shop for the miners but got there too late. They are overly nosey when it comes to R.C. Chambers and his pharmacy. The husband is a banker at Wells Fargo. The wife stays in the house and watches the kids due to the crime and unsafe nature of the city.