This is coming along. Just a few things from us.
1. EXt. Dry pond -- DAY
Open on MZ. MOLE, ELINOR, OLIVE,
ARI
and KIDS (as necessary). The kids are spread out, looking for something in different directions. The sun is overhead and it is hot.
Mz
. Mole is carrying a bag.
Elinor
I think it was that way
.
ari
I’m pretty sure it was over there
.
Olive stands staring at an empty space between a tree and a large rock.
Olive
Where
did it go?
Mz. Mole
Now just what are you all looking for?
The kids gather around Olive. Olive holds up a large picture
.
ANGLE ON: the picture is in full frame, we see the same tree and rock with a pond, surrounded by lush green plants, dragonflies and frogs. The picture also has the kids sitting by the edge with their feet in the pond.
Olive
This really
neat pond
we saw the
last time we were here.
The picture is pulled down to reveal the same scene but with no pond and just some dried plants
OLIVE (CONT’D)
But now it’s gone!!
Might be better as “And what happens a lot in the spring?”
Mz. MOLE
Oh,
that IS
a neat
pond
!
But it’s also
a
SPRING-TIME
pond.
And what is it like
in
the spring?
Ari
It rains a LOT!
Could make this clearer with “But now it’s SUMMER and there isn’t much rain so the pond is all dried up.”
Elinor
But now it's SUMMER.
.
and the pond is all
dried up
, is that it?
MZ. MOLE
That’s right.
ArI
But
there
were
so many little creatures
living in
the pond. What happened to them
?
MZ. MOLE
Those critters have
some very clever
ways to survive
.
Let’s read about
one of my favorites,
called
Daphnia.
Mz
. Mole pulls out a book
from her bag
and opens to a picture of a pond
2.
EXT
.
IMAGE OF
Pond
IN BOOK
CROSS/SECTION:
We see daphnia bobbing in the
water, they are quite small.
Would we be able to see this with the naked eye? We think it's OK but it would be good to have some sort of transition from this cross section to the magnifying glass view to help with perspective.
ElINOR
Look how they bounce up and down
!
Mz
. Mole turns the page and a magnifying glass shows a Daphnia close up, with really tiny Daphnia clinging to her back. (Or
Mz
. Mole can us a magnifying glass. Some books have these attached by a string)
Olive
I think those are her
babies on
her
back.
We see little daphnia pop out from the clear carapace of the mother, they then bob alongside her.
Mz
. Mole turns the page a few times and the
level of the pond drops
down
with each turn.
OlIVE (CONT'D)
Oh no, their pond is drying up! We should warn them.
We are a little confused here and our viewers might be as well because the animation directions say that the Daphnia has 2 eggs on her back, but at Line 14, they had just popped out. Is this a different Daphnia with new eggs?
MZ. MOLE
Not to worry,
when
the momma daphnia
senses
the
water is disappearing
she makes a
special
case
that keeps her eggs safe as the pond dries up.
The Daphnia has two eggs on her back but then her back develops a hard brown case. We see the egg case fall off the Daphnia’s back, the daphnia swims away as the case falls to the bottom of the pond.
Pages Turn and we
see the level of the pond drop until there is just dry dirt with a brown egg case resting on it.
ElINOR
Don’t
they
need water?
MZ. MOLE
Helps to add “if they are” – “But if they are in their special case….”
They do
.
But
in their special case
they can wait for
the spring rains
to
fill up the pond
again. Then
,
pop!
Out come the new little daphnia
We see rain fill the water level back up. We zoom in closer to the brown egg case at the bottom. When
Mz
. Mole says “pop!” Two little daphnia pop out of the case and start bobbing around.
“They’re back!” is confusing because they didn’t go anywhere. Maybe just “There they are!” and then adjust Line 20 to follow if necessary.
OliVE
They’re back!
MZ. MOLE
Indeed they are!
Nature has a lot of clever tricks to help pond creatures survive the summer.
3. EXT. pond -- DAY
The kids are sitting around the dried area, looking hot and tired, except for Olive who is next to
Mz
. Mole
Olive
So there’s a whole pond here just waiting for water
to bring
it back to life?
MZ. MOLE
That’s right! A little like your friends over there
.
Mz
. Mole smiles and winks at Olive and
pulls
a jug of
water out of her bag
.
Olive smiles, puts her trunk in the water, sucks it up and then sprays it in the air. The water falls on the other kids and they start <GIGGLING AND LAUGHING> and running around
Video of swimming:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rOCjjD29SY
3rOCjjD29SY
MZ
https:
watch?v
www.youtube.com
ELINOR WONDERS WHY
EWW
Interstitial 122
Mz
. Mole Story Time:
Daphnia
By Matt
Giorgianni
Follows: Frozen Fish - When the pond freezes, Elinor and her friends become worried about how the fish who live there can survive the winter. With Farmer Bear's help they learn they're fine, resting in the cold water beneath the ice
Curriculum: The kids learn about Daphnia, the cute little water flea, that lives in ponds that dry up. They have special eggs which dry out and wait until the rains and streams fill the pond back up, only then do they hatch.
LS4
. Understand that all animals and plants have a life cycle, can reproduce, and change and grow over time:
LS5
. Begin to understand that animals and plants depend on other living things and nonliving things in the environment to meet some of their needs:?
FIRST DRAFT: September 8, 2019
SECOND DRAFT: September 27th, 2019
El
(V.O.)
(O.S.)
(O.C.)
(CONT'D)
(SUBTITLE)
Int
Ext
I/E
Day
Night
Afternoon
Morning
Evening
Later
Moments Later
Continuous
The Next Day
Cut To:
Fade In:
Fade Out.
Fade To:
Dissolve To:
Back To:
Match Cut To:
Jump Cut To:
Fade To Black.