Agloe is the working title of a pre-production package that revolves around two artists who accomplish more when combining their styles than when working independently. We are creating a story, beat board, concept models, and a set of environment mood boards and references; the goal is to create a design document that gives enough inspiration for the next team to build a film, without being so prescriptive that the specific members of that team feel they can match the project to their skills and needs.

The Story

Cassie and Hans are two artists that share a studio work space. They stand side by side, each creating their own vastly different work, yet neither comments on the other because of the curtain between them. One day Cassie knocks into the curtain and for the first time sees what Hans has been working on. She loves it, and is inspired to try to communicate with him, but is repeatedly shut down. After being rejected numerous times, she is about to give up entirely when she hears shouting and sees him throwing away the painting she admired. She rescues it from the trash, examines it, and decides to take it back to her studio. When Hans learns that she took his work, he is furious… until he sees that she has contributed to it. Their combined styles together on the painting is beautiful to him. From then on, the two collaborate, a curtain no longer dividing them.

Establishing the Characters

Cassie

We imagine Cassie as a very impulsive, expressive, and vibrant person. What she lacks in height she makes up for in enthusiasm. Her artistic style reflects this; her canvases (as well as her side of the room) are completely covered in splatter. When designing her style, we wanted her to wear comfortable, loose clothing that lets her be mobile and, more importantly, lets her get messy without too much concern.

Hans

Hans, in contrast to Cassie, seems like a man who is very uncomfortable in his own skin. He expresses it through awkward expressions, not-quite-fitting clothes, and a particular slouch. He is all angles, reminiscent of a teenager who went through puberty too quickly.

Creating the Environment

Because Agloe is meant to be no more than a three minute piece, each frame has to tell something about who Hans and Cassie are as people. Therefore, we really wanted their sides of the room to do as much exposition as Hans and Cassie themselves. The loft itself is worn and a little run down, indicating that the two of them are probably renting the space together and that neither is particularly wealthy or successful. Hans’ side of the room is both orderly and dull. He likes to keep his space muted, uncolored, and organized. Much like his paintings, everything is incredibly precise. Cassie’s side, on the other hand, is all about having any and every emotion echoed in every color, prop

Evolving the Art

As stated above, Cassie’s style is all about emotional freedom. She is aware of the impact between organized geometry and free-wheeling splatter, and her work attempts to examine their contrast. Her colors are bright and bombastic, and her execution is both careful and chaotic. However, because she is all noisy in her work, the quiet of the lines and shapes beneath the splatter do not provide adequate balance.

 Hans is incredibly fastidious in his work. He sees beauty in precise and realistic replication. When creating these works, we imagined him with his face close to the canvas, squinting to get just the perfect angle on the brush. Although his paintings are striking in design, they seem very strict beside Cassie’s work.

Only by combining their styles – Hans’ structure beside Cassie’s chaos – does the work feel complete.