Monday 30 January 2012

Unit Four Initial Thoughts

So, my three elements are a space station, a skipping rope and a butterfly hunter. Three seemingly incongruous elements, so this'll be interesting.

Space Station
I'm seeing three major 'types' of space station for use in this;
- Residential space station
- Research space station
- Military space station
Which one I choose will largely depend on the story, but my personal tastes (which will be overridden if they conflict with the story) lean towards the military station because military sci-fi is best sci-fi.

Skipping Rope
The most awkward element, this one will probably be used as some indicator of the presence of children. Alternately, it could be a fitness skipping rope, or even an 'accidental' skipping rope, i.e. something that must be repeatedly jumped over but isn't actually a skipping rope.

Butterfly Hunter
This is what interests me the most, because the concept of a butterfly hunter is so vast. The 'hunter' element is simple - it simply refers to someone seeking something. However, the butterfly bit is what's so interesting.

Butterfly as literal butterfly
The literal butterfly is the most obvious route - a small winged insect. Perhaps it's from the station's agriculture department as a pollinator, because nobody wants to pollinate plants by hand with a toothbrush, or a strange specimen from a distant world that catches the eye of an entomologist.

Butterfly as monster/threat
The monstrous butterfly is another fairly obvious option - think Alien meets Perdido Street Station. One idea I'm toying with is a butterfly-esque monster that is the physical embodiment of despair, driving people to suicide by its mere presence. The skipping rope would become a noose, and the butterfly's effects could be used to explore the hunter's psyche.

Butterfly as MacGuffin
The hunter needs that butterfly, and they need it fast. Perhaps it's been genetically engineered to produce an enzyme crucial to medicine, or maybe it's a priceless, one-of-a-kind specimen. Whatever it is, it's got out of containment and a wild butterfly hunt begins.

Butterfly as symbol
Butterflies are powerful symbols - of innocent childhood days spent chasing them, of personal transformation, of hope, of rebirth. The hunter could be seeking what the butterfly represents, not the butterfly itself - sort of like the blue bird of happiness from K-Pax.

1 comment:

  1. Hey Meg,

    I said I'd get round to finally posting which would sadly have to inevitably come after my post. Anyway onto your post!

    Firstly regarding space stations, are there not such things as Mining stations aswell? Kind of thinking alien here. I'd be inclined to prefer the residential and research stations, I dont think Military fits a skipping rope.

    Regarding your skipping rope I am not sure here... I remember saying before I think it would be best identified as an ancient relic from a forgotten time maybe in a musium of the before time or something.

    I think the idea of the props is for them to be physical props i.e. something that you jump over multiple times might not work for the brief. This is something we probably need to clarify. As I said to you in my case I want catipult to be determined as a verb not a noun but I am not sure if I can do that as the items we drew from the box were termed as "props".

    I like the idea of the butterfly being the literal term of a butterfly that may have hatched from an ancient cocoon or something. I dont think the monster threat angle works here specifically because the skipping rope/space facility doesnt feel right. Plus the idea of a monstrous butterfly I don't know it just doesnt feel right lol I could be wrong. The butterfly as a symbol is also a good idea, I like the idea of the macguffin but I prefer the other two.

    Hope that helps for now Meg.
    Let me know if you wanna discuss it later :)

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