InsideOUT: Scene Breakdown

Terri Wright
Terri Wright
Terri Ayanna Wright, is a professional dancer, choreographer, and teacher based in New York City. She came to Parsons as a means of finding unique ways of bringing dance into digital space. She is excited to continue expanding on her story-telling capabilities as a video editor, through the marriage of dance, film, and visual effects.
Thesis Faculty
Aya Karpinska
Louisa Campbell
Katherine Moriwaki
Andrew Zornoza

InsideOUT is a speculative fiction-based short dance film. It tells the story of a distressed woman finding solace after encountering her anthropomorphized subconscious. As the dancer, choreographer, director, & editor, my aim is to combine live action with visual effects to share a self-portrait in motion – the film reflecting my southern black heritage and my spirituality rooted in Afroasiatic traditions. This work is also the culmination of a production pipeline that imposes 3D camera tracking on motion-captured rigs as a previsualization tool. Below in my scene breakdown, you’ll find brief descriptions of each scene, including my choreography notated by 8 counts (in the place of dialogue), and the timestamp in the music (December in New York by Bill Laurance). An * next to an 8-count (ex. *11-8) is my way of notating a significant change in the music (ex. At the 11th 8-count, 31 seconds in the track, the sound becomes more consonant/hopeful).

SCENE BREAKDOWN
1. INT. MESSY APARTMENT HALLWAY/ROOM – DAY

WOMAN

Woman beats herself up against a wall inside of her apartment, in turbulent distress. She is home alone. Time period is uncertain. Could be the 70-80s based on lighting choices, style of furniture, and clothing. Room is full of dusty knickknacks and random pieces of furniture. Some pieces are covered by white sheets. Some are not. Room is dimly lit by sunlight coming from a window. The sun’s light is also revealing the dust particles in the air.

1-8: slow heavy turns against wall
2-8: repeat

CUT TO:

2. INT. ABANDONED ROOM IN WAREHOUSE – DAY

WOMAN

Still in turbulent distress, woman turns corner to enter larger room from a narrow hallway. Room is full of dusty knickknacks and random pieces of furniture. Some pieces are covered by white sheets. Some are not. Room is dimly lit by sunlight coming from a window. The sun’s light is also revealing the dust particles in the air. One of the random objects in this space includes a life-size spinning doll, like a broken-down ballerina in a jewelry box. It’s spinning slowly and aimlessly in the background, like someone forgot to turn it off, however many ages ago.

3-8: speed turns up in space along the diagonal
4-8: repeat & stop abruptly
(13 seconds)
*5-8: arms accent the music, gesturing “out-in-out-double in”
6-8: leg running in place slow
7-8: speeds up and becomes frantic
(23 seconds)
*8-8: cont’d, ends abruptly with arched back
9-8: cont’d, arms/body curls in
10-8: cont’d,slow turns

WOMAN

Woman continues to battle with internal demons, when suddenly a beam of light (not from the window) landing on her catches her attention. She tries to go back to her internal battle, but the light keeps pulling her out of it. She is drawn towards the light, moving closer to the source. She realizes it is coming from the life-size spinning doll. There is a sign nearby that instructs to touch the doll’s forehead. The woman complies. The doll comes to life.

(31 seconds)
*11-8: left arm is opened, repeat & then the right arm
12-8: retreat
13-8: both are opened
(40 seconds)
*14-8: notice the ancestor doll
15-8: walking towards doll
(47 seconds)
*16-8: walking towards doll
17-8: walking towards doll
(54 seconds)
*18-8: woman touches forehead
19-8: ancestor unfolds, tingles
20-8: woman looks on, perplexed

ANCESTOR

Ancestor doll comes to life slowly, with slow butoh movements. The woman is curious, as their movements tend to reflect each other. They acknowledge each other’s presence. A mutual respect is established.

(1:03)
*21-8: ancestors feet slowly come down with Butoh-like gestures
22-8: cont’d
23-8: cont’d
(1:13)
*24-8: eyes meet, forward/back chest
25-8: take step forward/back
26-8: cont’d
(1:22)
*27-8: another step
28-8: cont’d
29-8: bow
30-8: bow

WOMAN and ANCESTOR

They further explore how similar they are. There is an inquisitive energy in the air. Also somewhat skeptical. What are you? Who are you? Where did you come from? A whimsical curiosity.

(1:35)
*31-8: up/down/up/break/turn
32-8: rond de jambe passé over pivot
33-8: head roll, foot up leg, turn
34-8: shoulder s curve,sneaky fosse
(1:48)
*35-8: rendez vous, cut to front
36-8: attitude, stretch out
(1:55)
*37-8: mirror hands and arms
38-8: mirror hands and arms

WOMAN

Woman throws herself/is drawn back into her turbulent distress. She shrinks back into her own depression/self-loathing. Throws herself into a tizzy. The ancestor doll observes her, concerned.

(2:00)
*39-8: out of control turns
40-8: out of control turns
41-8: to the floor
42-8: standing and still turning

ANCESTOR

Ancestor doll swoops in and stops the woman from continuing into her tizzy. She calms her down, encourages her to breathe.

(2:13)
*43-8: ancestor grabs woman
44-8: cont’d
45-8: woman cont’d to twitch/adjust
46-8: ancestor tightens grip
(2:27)
*47-8: shoulders down, head stop
48-8: dramatics simmer
49-9: arms unfolded, stand tall
(2:36)
*50-8: three breath implications

ANCESTOR

Ancestor doll expresses to the woman a number of things: 1. everything will be ok; 2. you are not alone; 3. you have to lift your head up high, always, for you are the lineage of royalty; 4. your black is beautiful, it is complex, it is powerful in that complexity; 5. any answer you seek is inside of yourself. I live inside of you.

(2:39)
*51-8: palms flip front/back/front/back
52-8: elbows out expand
53-8: cut and push through
54-8: break, mess around, cut under
(rep 2:52)
*55-8: foot flex turns land in second
56-8: pleading in second, resolve in parallel
57-8: third eye, developé arabesque, resolve in second
58-8: address the present, return to past (with gesture)
(3:05)
*59-8: past through chest, return to present
60-8: return with pride, resilience, ease
(3:11)
*61-8: melt leading w/ pelvis
62-8: repeat

WOMAN and ANCESTOR

They rejoice together in this newfound revelation. They celebrate their connection. And the two become one.

(3:18)
*63-8: ancestor gathers woman
64-8: repeat earlier sequence: up/down/up/break/turn/rond de jambe
65-8: ancestor gestures towards woman to follow, steps into fan
66-8: pivot, head up
(3:31)
*67-8: foot up leg run to corner
68-8: leap, chugs back, up/side/side
(3:37)
*69-8: flick, & developé side
70-8: step to it, twitch, run & jump
(3:44)
*71-8: fast turns again, celebratory
72-8: cont’d
73-8: they become one
74-8: woman turns alone
*75-8: she resolves alone

WOMAN

Woman comes back to reality, makes sense of where she is in space. She is no longer depressed. Her inner conflict becomes resolved.

(4:00)
*76-8: looks around
77-8: woman notices ancestor is no longer where she once was
78-8: cont’d
(4:09)
*79-8: repeat ancestor solo: palms
80-8: repeat: elbow out expand
81-8: repeat: break, mess around, cut under
(4:19)
*82-8: repeat: pleading in second, resolve in parallel
83-8: repeat: third eye, developé arabesque, resolve in second
(4:26)
*84-8: repeat: past through chest,
return to present (with gesture)
(4:29)
*85-8: turning slowly to the door

CUT TO:

3. INT. MESSY APARTMENT/HALLWAY/ROOM – DAY

86-8: cont’d out hallway
87-8: cont’d to front door
88-8: leave apartment, lights out

two figures (same person dressed to represent two different people). They are facing into eachother. One set of their palms are mirroring each other. The ancestral fiigure (in white on the left) is holding a white light in her other palm

Terri Wright
Terri Ayanna Wright, is a professional dancer, choreographer, and teacher based in New York City. She came to Parsons as a means of finding unique ways of bringing dance into digital space. She is excited to continue expanding on her story-telling capabilities as a video editor, through the marriage of dance, film, and visual effects.
Thesis Faculty
Aya Karpinska
Louisa Campbell
Katherine Moriwaki
Andrew Zornoza