SEGMENT 2 SCENE 2 - OSTEOID MICROENVIRONMENT

In absence of

circulatory turbulence,

breast neoplasms

can flourish

in the fertile

osteoid microenvironment.

An intimate relationship forms

between local and invasive cells.

The former nurtures

the progression and expansion

of the tumour,

and the latter encourages

the activation and proliferation

of local cells.

This vicious cycle

of uncontrolled growth

is what we know as

metastatic bone cancer.

Approximate run time: 30 seconds

In this segment, I plan to have the camera rotate around the factors released by both the osteoblasts and the cancer cells. At the moment, the osteoblasts and tumour mass scrolling across the screen is only a place holder. I will hopefully animate these soon to give you a better sense of what it is that I'm trying to achieve. Note too that the factors aren't yet included.

UPDATE 09/12/08

I have updated the video, and the factors have been included. I've also added some backgrounds etc, and the movements a smoothed a little.

Segment 2 Scene 2 - Microenvironment

SEGMENT 2 SCENE 1 - INTRODUCTION

Before the pain,

there are but a small

number of malignant cells.

Here, in a sinusoidal vessel,

the slow flow of blood,

lets them nest and settle.

This foothold,

marks the beginnings

of our chronic pathology.

Approximate run time: 22 seconds

This will be the true introduction to the film.

Segment 2 Scene 1

SEGMENT 1 SCENE 1 - PROLOGUE

Of the most excruciating pains,

the one induced by bone-colonizing

cancers rank among the top.

This experience may start

with a single cancer cell,

that breaks away from its origin,

enters the circulation,

and travels to a distant site.

This cell, like many others,

does not make it. But,

inevitably, some will,

such as these cells

traveling as an embolus,

as they so often do.

And, arriving at their destination,

initiate a series of events

that lead to a pain

that is as difficult to manage

as it is to endure.

Approximate run time: 44 seconds

This prologue section does not count towards the 5 minute limit. This will be completed separately as a side-project for one of my courses. The rest of the script will be confined to the 5 minute limit.

Segment 1 Scene 2 - Prologue

An outline

In my attempts to organize and reorganize my thoughts, I've come up with another outline of the project (Figure 1)... Here's how to read it:

On the right hand side, we have the major CONCEPTS or KEY MESSAGES that need to be addressed. These are written in black.

These point were then broken up into what I would call ARCS or STORY ARCS which are written in a gray.

The orange written points are then the SHOTS. Each line is an individual POINT or PROCESS placed underneath a major arc-subheading and arranged in a chronological order. The orange dotted lines that extend towards the left indicate that that particular shot will make its way into my storyboard (Again, because it's a 3-5 minute film, I could only select the points which I hope we have agreed were the most salient).

The blue words on the left - written 'intro', 'block', 'build', 'peak', and 'wrap' - are the BEATS of my film. As explained in a previous entry ("Beat Board"), beats represent the flow of a film or story. Traditionally, a total of 5 beats, no more no less, are illustrated in order to help focus the visual and narrative story. Working from these beats we can then break the story up into scenes (not labelled in this diagram) and into shots.

The shots with the dotted lines are here organized underneath the different beats. It's from this outline that I'm going to continue the development of the rest of my storyboard.

NOTE: My most recent entry, "Intro beats", the panels were expansions of my the conceptualization of my first beat seen in "Beat Board", the immediately preceding entry. In the context of THIS entry, the five panels from "Intro beats" find themselves situated between INTRO and BLOCK. I hope I haven't confused too many...

Figure 1. The blue-coloured words are

perhaps best understood as a film script

or storyboard's terminology for climax,

dénouement, etc.

Intro beats

For my next assignment, I was to expand upon Beat 01 from my previous entry, "Beat board". Basically, I was to do a mini-beat board of the intro.

Again, use 5 images to capture the main points and messages of the intro. Add a succinct sentence to each image.

We were also informed that these sentences... (I'm assuming a total of 25 sentences accompanying a total of 25 panels post-expansion of Beat 05) will become my script... I'm not sure how to feel about that (does that mean even LESS content?!? o_O...).

Anyways, here are the introductory beats (Intro 01-05):

Intro 01. "Cancers in the bone are most often

formed by metastatic emboli traveling in the

circulation, arriving via the sinusoids."

Intro 02. "The local osteoid environment

provides the tumour with a fertile ground for

growth."

Intro 03. "In turn, the tumour releases factors

that increase osteoblast activity and, more

importantly, osteoclastogenesis."

Intro 04. "The establishment of these

interactions begins a vicious downward

cycle."

Intro 05. "That is not only difficult to treat,

but very painful to experience."

Beat board

A beat board is essentially a visual summary and/or outline of an animation. It consists of 5 images; no more, no less. It is from a beat board that the story and plot is based and elaborated.

For my second assignment, I was to create a beat board of my project. I must say it was a difficult task. I had to decide, what the most important messages were. What are the key points? If I wanted the audience to take away something that could be summed up in 5 sentences, what would they be?

These were the 5 images (Beat 01-05) and short succinct descriptions that accompanied them:

Beat 01. Interactions are complex between

tumour and environment.

Beat 02. Osteoclasts expose nerves.

Beat 03. Nociceptors are stimulated by

chemical factors.

Beat 04. Immune factors and heat also

activate nociceptors.

Beat 05. Acidosis decreases threshold of

nociceptors.

After completing this exercise... I came to the conclusion that there is yet much more for me to refine in terms of script and story. For those who have been following, you might be wondering why I did not dedicate an entire beat to osteoclastogenesis. The reason I omitted this point is that while it is indeed a crucial part of the pathology, it contributes the least directly to pain sensation. I have resorted to alluding to it within Beat 02 that increases osteoclast resorption leads to nerves being exposed.

A realization. There is much more to be done. And the doing requires shaving, trimming, and essentially more removal of content... all in order to fit everything into a 3-5 (as everyone keeps reminding me) minute film. I do hope that this limit on the film will last only until mid-August 2010.

A metaphor

A new term is well underway, and so is my Interpretive Visualization course where we will be introduced to conventions of storyboarding and pre-production processes.

For our first assignment, we were to capture the essence of our project's message in under seven words. These words were chosen: Cancer initiates an intensifying triage of pains.

The essence or spirit of my message was then to be visualized as a metaphor in the form of a slide show containing 10-15 original photographs. Here, I present to you my slideshow as a narrated video, "The unruly victorious" (Video 1).

Caution to viewers: Before jumping to the play button, allow me to explain that the metphor seen here greatly differs from what may be expected given the style and even apparent metaphors in my previous entries. It was my opinion that this exercise was designed to get our creative juices running and does not necessarily indicate in anyway how my final product will look. I was at first intent on showing humans pillaging the earth of undeserved rewards; I would take photos reminiscent of Tolkien's descriptions of the great mines of the dwarven races. My hopes to capture my own Mine of Moria, were unfortunately cut short when I realized that there were no such location in the heart of Toronto... Thus I was left with only the option of creating a series of stills that were utterly anti-environmentalism, a complete 180º from my original ideas.

Video 1. The unruly victorious.

Quick guide:

Perfection = Homeostasis

Imperfection = Pain/Pathos

Man made structures = Bone

Organics/Plants = Cells

Weeds = Cancer

Gardener aka June = Immune cell

Leaves/foliage = Chemical factors