---Introduction (100)---

My story is an Edwardian Whodunit cantered around a debutante, named Purdie, whose parents are
held hostage by their doppelgangers, and then try to murder her. Purdie is found in the forest by a
huntress, named Meridith, who cares for the local foxes and regards them as family. Unfortunately,
the upper classes have a sport called Fox Hunting which has killed many of Meridith’s foxes. Meridith
tries to save their lives, but she can only do so much.

Purdie and Meridith bond and a romance blooms as Purdie is recovering from her almost-murder.
They share their stories, problems and talents. Once Purdie is fully healed, the two strike a deal:
Purdie offers Meridith means to help her foxes while Meridith offers Purdie help to save her parents.

---Section 1 (300/350)---

> ---Part 1: Story and Contextuality---

I have chosen to set the story in Edwardian Britain for a few reasons, but mainly it is because of my
love for periodic settings. I think it can make things narratively interesting, or at least add appealing
periodic aesthetics to the visuals, atmosphere, and overall feel of the project. However, rooting the
story in Edwardian Britain creates a conflict of Reality vs Artistic Liberty.

For the sake of making the story more entertaining, giving the female protagonists more of an
agency than they realistically would have had is imperative. The major inaccuracy would be the
lesbian romance subplot. Not that LGBTQA+ romances didn’t exist, more the likelihood of the ending
being peachy-keen would be unlikely at best. Nevertheless, I wanted a story that modern audiences
would get something out of, and an Edwardian Lesbian Whodunit is one way of going about it.

I spent some time looking into the culture, practices and history of debutantes so that I am fully
aware of Purdie's limitations, her responsibilities and what is overall expected of her. I also
researched fox hunting to ensure I have my information correct. I've briefly looked at the suffragette
movement in the Edwardian era specifically, only because it's not of major importance to the overall
narrative, but I'd still like to be accurate. Finally, I researched the history of The Secret Service
Bureau, realising that I'd have to shift some dates around to make it accurate the real-life history.

The story would inherently be drawing from British culture regardless of when and where it is set,
with me being British myself and will ultimately be drawing from my own perspective, consciously or
unconsciously. Nevertheless, the story is ultimately set in Britain and therefore would include a lot of
British culture, subcultures and contexts unique to British citizens. However, with it being written in
2018 by a 23/24-year-old, this means that there will be a lot of creative liberties taken to appeal
more to modern audiences as the story will automatically be very modern in its telling because our
morals and values have changed.

> Animators, Artists, Filmmakers:

---Part 2: Creative Influences---

I grew up with an avid interest in puzzle-solving mystery games, primarily the Nancy Drew (1998 –
present) series, and I was introduced to detective/mystery/crime TV series early on such as: Randall
and Hopkirk [Deceased] (1969 - 1971), The Champions (1968 – 1969), The New Avengers (1976 –
1977), Columbo (1971 – 2003) and Monk (2002 – 2009). This was something I loved so much that at
one point, I wanted nothing more than to be a detective.

More recently, I have been reading mystery/crime books including The Sinclair's Mysteries series by
Katherine Woodfine, the Harper Connelly series by Charlaine Harris and The Scandalous Sisterhood
of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry.

In terms of visuals, I would like the film to look more like a mixture between: The Illusionist (2010)
and The Iron Giant (1999). I particularly love the style of alessiajontrunfio on Tumblr, especially her
choice of colour pallets.
Some characters are based, in part, off people I have known in real life, but I made sure to also make
them their own. William, for example, is based upon one of my closest friends, Sean, my childhood
best friend, William, and various fictional characters mainly including a fan rendition of James Potter
in a Harry Potter fanfiction. I unfortunately cannot remember which one, but it’s probably Casting
Moonshadows by Moonsign. Meridith is, in part, based off a girl I knew at school, Katie. She is also
inspired by the robber girl from The Snow Queen (1957). Purdie is like a mix of Sophie from The
Sinclair's Mysteries series by Katherine Woodfine and my friend Amy.

Truthfully, I wasn’t thinking of any specific directors, but I did mainly use the Fantastic Beasts and
Where to Find Them (2016) script to help me write it. If I had to choose influential directors, though,
I could say Robert Zemeckis: Back to the Future (1985); Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) and Rich
Moore: Zootopia (2016); Wreck-It Ralph (2012).

---Section 2 (300/350)---

>---Part 1: Discussion of Story Concept and Characters---

The story evolved from the "two characters meet in a forest" exercise I did in class. One of the
characters, who I later named Purdie, had been wounded for reasons unknown, and the other
character, later Meridith, was a mysterious forest-woman. To develop the story further, I first
backtracked from there and asked myself a series of questions. Mostly "why", "how" and "who". I
ended up with an Edwardian whodunit mystery story.

While I was refining parts of the story, I moved onto character development. I created an Internal
Conflict vs External Conflict list to dig deeper into the issues of the characters and ways the story can
challenge or deal with. For Purdie, her internal conflict is wanting her own career, and not be tied
into the responsibility of married life and child bearing so soon. Her external conflict is how her
parents have been taken hostage, and that their doppelgangers had kidnapped Purdie and left her
for dead in a forest.

For Meridith, her internal conflict is how she feels powerless to stop fox hunting, something which
affects those closest to her. She also feels lonely after the tragic death of her family, and with only
the foxes for company. Her external conflicts are saving the lives of her foxes, and helping Purdie
save her parents.

One of the major issues I faced with coming up with a reason why Meridith would help Purdie. I
solved that by looking at their similarities: each have skills and connections the other does not, but
what the other needs. Meridith has the survival and tracking skills necessary for the journey, and
Purdie has the wealth and connections necessary for the welfare of Meridith’s foxes. So, they strike
a deal: Meridith helps Purdie save her parents, and Purdie helps save the foxes.

I also created Hobbies and Interests lists, and a Weaknesses and Faults list to further flesh out the
protagonists. I used all of this to help me further develop the story because each decision would
further it along in different ways, such as Purdie’s decision to fake fainting to get across the hall
quicker.

Other characters were added when they became necessary: Aunty Edith, who mainly serves as a Red
Herring, but also as a foil to Purdie’s character at the beginning of the story. William was added so
Purdie would have somebody she trusts to fake-faint-on, but also to be somebody who would
indefinitely notice her missing. At the climax of the film, I’d like William and his crush, Wilough, to be
involved.

> ---Part 2: The Creative Matrix---

The internal struggles of the two main characters is their freedom. Meridith has the choice of what
to do with her own time, the freedom to choose where she would like to go, and the freedom to
make her own decisions. However, she lacks money, opportunities and power to do what she would
like in life. On the other hand, Purdie was born into wealthy society. She has privilege and money,
and therefore she will live comfortably for the rest of her life. However, the society she was born
means she lacks the freedom to choose how she would like to live her own life. It dictates what she’s
allowed to do, not allowed to do, and how to do it.

The external struggle for the main characters is to save their families. For Purdie, it is the threat of
The Doppelgangers, and for Meridith, it is the fox hunters. Therefore, I believe that the main themes
of the story are: Freedom and ELEPHANT

The genre of the film would be Mystery/Adventure/Crime with Romance/Friendship as subplots. The
subplots consist of romance between: Purdie and Meridith; William and Wilough, and friendship
between: Purdie and William; William, Purdie, Meridith and Wilough as a group. I want a a target
audience of around 8 – 14. The dark tone of the film would hopefully be more on PG level than
anything, perhaps similar in tone to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004). I’m hoping a
comedic tone would come through in places, particularly the fainting scene and Purdie’s
conversation with William afterwards. The overall tone of the story, being told from Purdie’s
viewpoint, would be defiant and, hopefully, mysterious.
Section 2: Discussion of story concept, genre,

character, script. Refs could include

Philip Parker, Paul Wells,

Creative Matrix/Animaion Matrix = 300/350

Conclusion = 100

While my story has a historical setting, I am confident that there’s plenty for contemporary
audiences to appreciate: The Edwardian setting is mainly used for aesthetic purposes as opposed to
being strictly accurate within history, but also used to give automatic conflicts to the main
characters: class and social expectations. The romance between the two leads, Purdie and Meridith,
would contribute towards a much-needed gap of positive LGBTQA+ representation within media,
and not be used as comedic stereotypes or be butt of homophobic jokes.

I want to be able to balance a story with both a mystery/crime with a dark tone to it but balanced
with a romance/adventure with a comedic tone. My first point of reference for this is the Harry
Potter series which I think works especially well within the books.