Makiling

Revised story - Maria unknowingly harms the father and draws back her powers and lets them go. She feels horrified from her actions and proceeds to bury her deer friend.

New style frame (will have motion)

Additional style inspirations

“Chaos in Space” - Sonic Animation - Tyson Hesse

Character Turnaround for Maria (Before and after)

Assignment #2 - Story Beats and Treatment Revised

Story Beats:

        Act 1

A wounded deer is seen in the forest. Struggling to get up. Its leg is injured.

Maria passes by and notices the deer.

She kneels down and heals the deer.

The deer grows golden antlers as a result of the healing and nudges closer to Maria.

Maria is glad and the deer decides to follow her. They make their way down the pathway.

They arrive at the town’s market. She starts looking around. The deer is curious too.

A farmer looks over and calls Maria’s attention. 

His carabao is sick and needs to be healed.

Maria lays her hand and closes her eyes.

The carabao has been miraculously healed. Then the farmer thanks her.

Maria smiles and waves goodbye.

She continues to walk through the village until she makes it back to the path back home.

A mysterious duo observe Maria’s movements. 

Act 2

When they arrive, night falls and it’s time for Maria and the deer to turn in.

She gestures that the deer must go home.

As they part ways, two figures begin roaming the shadows.

The father starts pointing towards the deer.

The father begins drawing his arrow and aims towards the deer walking away.

As Maria is about to settle, she hears a shriek from outside.

Fear consumes her and she runs outside.

She sees her deer friend collapse to the ground. 

She runs towards her friend and sobs uncontrollably.

In a fit of rage, she unknowingly strangles the father’s body with vines, slowly crushing him. 

Her focus shifts as she starts hearing the cries of Isagani and his father struggling. 

She lets him go and the two hunters make their escape.

Isagani, as he’s running, notices Maria’s pain and starts feeling guilty for his father’s actions. 

Maria horrified with her own actions falls down on the ground.

She proceeds to dig a burial for her deer friend, sobbing as she does this.

Act 3

A montage plays. As Marias tears fall, the rivers around the village dry up.

The land is dry; plants and crops are dying.

Villagers are praying and begging.

Isagani sees what’s happening and is overridden with guilt.

As he’s about to walk away, he sees a glimmer of color in the corner of his eye. A sapling.

He uproots the sapling.

He runs up the same pathway and faces many obstacles.

He struggles to make it up the pathway. But moves forward.

He runs up to see Maria, who turns just to see him run towards her.

She moves, ready to attack the hunter.

The hunter begins to kneel down and offers the sapling to her by planting it.

Maria is hesitant at first. She notices that the man is on the same spot where the deer was wounded and sees a parallel between the two.

She approaches him and reaches her hand out. Rain falls down from her palm.

This causes a massive golden tree, that resembles the deer’s antlers, sprouts up and splits the dark gray skies. 

The area has been restored to its full glory.

The hunter looks around him and is amazed.

He looks at Maria, who is just smiling.

Maria looks at him then she nods and walks further into the forest. 

She finds a silent place where she sleeps.

We see the shape of a woman forming on the mountain. 

Story Treatment:

The story begins with a deer struggling to get up with a wounded leg. Maria Makiling, the goddess who protects the mountain, notices the poor creature and helps it out. With her powers, she can heal animals and all sorts of animals. She is connected to nature itself. The deer is no longer injured and is happily walking around Maria. The deer decides to accompany Maria wherever she went. They arrive in the village market. Maria looks around curiously and so does the deer. A farmer calls Maria’s attention and gestures to his carabao that it isn’t feeling well. She nods and lays her palm against the carabao and a warm glow appears. Miraculously, the carabao is healed and the farmer thanks her. She waves goodbye to the farmer and continues making her way down the path back home, with her companion following alongside her. Unknowingly, two men begin observing Maria and her deer. 

Maria is now back home. She notices that it was almost evening.She pets her deer gesturing for it to go home. They part ways and the hunters, a father and son, are now preparing for their attack. The father points his finger towards the deer, and his son (Isagani) nods in affirmation. The father draws his bow and aims towards the deer. We cut back to Maria who is almost done settling down until she hears a loud shriek. A chill runs through her spine and she runs out of her home. She sees the silhouette of her deer friend collapsing on the ground. She runs towards and starts sobbing. In a fit of rage, she unknowingly calls vines that begins strangling the father. Her focus changes, once she hears Isagani yelling and the father’s struggles. She releases them and they make their escape. Isagani, as he’s running, notices Maria’s pain and starts feeling guilty for his father’s actions. She begins burying her deer friend.

In a montage, with Maria’s continuous tears, the rivers around the begin to dry up. The plants all around start to wither. The land is now experiencing drought and there are no more crops to harvest. The people are praying and begging for forgiveness from the goddess. Isagani passes by, filled with regret of his and his father’s actions. He tries to walk away from everything until he sees a glimmer of light at the corner of his eye. He sees a lone sapling. He runs towards it and uproots it. He looks up at the mountain and runs. He goes through many obstacles, battling hunger and thirst. But he moves forward and reaches Maria. The goddess notices his presence and starts to attack but the hunter kneels down and offers the sapling. Maria is hesitant at first. She notices that the man is on the same spot where the deer was wounded and sees a parallel between the two. She approaches him and reaches her hand out. Rain falls down from her palm. A massive golden tree grows as a result of this, similar to the deer’s golden antlers. All life in nature has been restored and filled with a golden glow. The hunter is amazed and looks at Maria. Maria nods at him from a distance and she begins to walk away to look for a place to sleep. Then we see the figure of a lady on the mountain. 

Updates on the stories:

Once Maria heals the deer it grows golden antlers.

The deer is now based on the Visayan Spotted deer. Known now as a rare species of deer and is not much larger than a dog. It has become a victim of huntings.

Maria buries the deer into the soil, which is where they will plant the plant together.

The tree will have golden branches much similar to the deer’s antlers.

The deer’s death is going to happen behind the scenes. SFX driven. Looking into Kerchak and Kala’s Baby’s death scene from Tarzan.

There are no longer 3 Hunters, but now only 2. A father and a son.  

The Father is somewhat of a trophy hunter who wants his son to follow in his footsteps. Has high expectations for his son.

The Son (Isagani) is not as thrilled to the idea of hunting but still wants to make his father’s approval. He is the one who kills the deer in the end but feels terribly in the end. 

Maria turns their weapons into plants. Rather than turning the one hunter into a stump. This causes them to run away but Isagani lingers on witnessing Maria’s sorrow.

After the ending, the Isagani leaves and Maria lies down next to the tree and we transition to the mountain looking like a figure of a woman. 

Style Frames Ver. 1.0

Deer:

A very cheerful and bubbly young fawn who has been around the forest for some time and has been curious with the actions of Maria Makiling. One day it injures its leg because it tripped then is healed by Maria. It starts to follow Maria around and join her in her activities.

Old Woman:

A less fortunate old woman who has been having trouble getting any work done to buy food. She lives alone but is very patient and counts all her blessings. However, one day she runs out of food and her old body has not allowed her to go out and work. She just so happen to pass by Maria Makiling and begs her for food. Maria, because of her kindness, happily obliges. The old woman is forever grateful to Maria.

Villagers:

Occupants of the village that resides near Mount Makiling. Each person playing an important role for the success of the town.

Mount Makiling: It is a dormant volcano located on the border of Laguna and Batangas in the Philippines. The mountain’s formation has similarities to the figure of a woman. It is the home to a town full of people and it is lush with greenery and vegetation. There is a wide area that is used for crops and rice fields where farmers work all day long. The people enjoy the fruits of their labor and thank the goddess for giving them fertile land.  

Marketplace (Palengke): One of the central areas of the village. It tends to be a busy place because this is where most people purchase their products. Each seller has a stall and they showcase their products out in the open to entice their customers. Maria frequently visits this place a lot and the local townsfolk are very fond of her company. This is where Maria will come across a poor old lady whom she helps out.

Maria’s Hut: Into the mountain’s forest is where Maria’s home is located. As a mountain goddess, she finds her serenity in the mountains through its foliage and fauna. It is a simple hut with wooden walls and a straw roof. This is where we see Maria meet a deer who is in need of help and her encounter with the hunters who intrude her home.

“Rapunzle’s Tangled Adventure (2017-)”

“Are Your Ready Miraitowa? | Olympic Games Tokyo 2020”

Story Beats:

         Act 1

A wounded deer is seen in the forest. Struggling to get up. Its leg is injured.

Maria passes by and notices the deer. 

She kneels down and heals the deer. The deer is now active and healthy! The deer nudges its head against her leg.

Maria is glad and the deer decides to follow her. They make their way down the pathway.

They arrive at the town’s market. She starts looking around. The deer is curious too.

An old lady approaches her with an empty basket in hand. 

The old lady puts her hand against her stomach.

Maria places her hand on the old lady’s shoulder and nods. 

She grabs the basket. Waves her hands then suddenly vegetables appear. She returns the basket to the old lady.

The old lady is amazed and bows her head as a thank you.

Maria smiles and waves goodbye. 

She continues to walk through the village until she makes it back to the path they originated from.

A mysterious group of hunters watches her from a distance. Act 2

We now see Maria watering the flowers around her home.

The deer starts playing around and jumping.

Maria giggles and plays as well.

The sun goes down and it's time for Maria to turn in.

She gestures that the deer must go home. By touching each other's foreheads.

As they part ways, a group of people begins roaming the shadows.

One of the hunters draws his arrow and aims towards the deer walking away.

As Maria is about to settle, she hears a shriek from outside. 

Fear consumes her and she runs outside.

She sees the flowers around her destroyed and spots the hunters off into the distance. Most importantly, she sees the fallen body of her deer friend.

In a fit of rage, she destroys the weapons the two hunters held.

Now unarmed, the two hunters run.

The last remaining hunter had hidden behind the bushes continued to observe her.

Maria breathes heavily and all her tears fall. 

She kneels down and hugs her friend.

The hunter watches and slowly becomes frustrated with himself but brushes it off and makes an attempt to run away.

Maria hears a sound and makes eye contact with the last hunter before he makes his escape. Act 3

A montage plays. As Marias tears fall, the rivers around the village dry up.

Plants and crops are dying.

Villagers are praying and begging.

The hunter sees what's happening and is overridden with guilt.

He breaks his bow and throws it on the ground.

As he’s about to walk away, he sees a glimmer of color in the corner of his eye. A sapling.

He uproots the sapling and makes a decision to go and see Maria.

He runs up the same pathway and faces many obstacles.

Without having any food or drink for a while, he struggles to make it up the pathway. But moves forward.

He runs up to see Maria, who turns just to see him run towards her.

She moves, ready to attack the hunter, 

The hunter begins to kneel down and offers the sapling to her by planting it.

Maria is hesitant at first. She notices that the man is on the same spot where the deer was wounded and sees a parallel between the two.

She approaches him and reaches her hand out. Rain falls down from her palm.

This causes a massive tree to sprout up as a result. 

Flowers sprout out from beneath the hunter’s body.

The area has been restored to its full glory.

The hunter looks around him and is amazed. It feels like a weight has been lifted off.

He looks at Maria, who is just smiling.

Maria looks at him then she nods.

We see both of them acknowledge one another.

Story Treatment:

The story begins with a deer struggling to get up with a wounded leg. Maria Makiling, the goddess who protects the mountain, notices the poor creature and helps it out. With her powers, she can heal animals and all sorts of animals. She is connected to nature itself. The deer is no longer injured and is happily walking around Maria. The deer decides to accompany Maria wherever she went. They arrive in the village market. Maria looks around curiously and so does the deer. While she’s walking, an old lady approaches her with an empty basket on hand. She puts her hand in her stomach, gesturing that she is hungry. Maria puts her hand on her shoulder and nods. She grabs the basket and waves her hands around it. Vegetables begin to appear, a full bountiful harvest. The lady is amazed and graciously takes the basket. She bows her head down as a thank you to Maria. She waves goodbye to the old lady and continues making her way down the path, with her companion following alongside her. In the background, unknown to Maria, a group of hunters follows right behind her. 

Maria is now back home. The deer is cheerfully playing around the area. Maria laughs and she’s enjoying their time together. However, she notices that it was almost evening. She kneels down in front of the deer and she lays her forehead against the deer’s. Telling it to go home and they can play again tomorrow and so they part ways. The hunters are now preparing for their attack. One of them, an archer, aims their bow towards the deer. We cut back to Maria who is almost done settling down until she hears a loud shriek. A chill runs through her spine and she runs out of her home. She sees the hunters approaching her home. Right next to them, the body of her deer companion. In a fit of rage, she renders her opponents useless by turning them into trees. The third hunter manages to stay hidden all throughout and continues to observe Maria. She kneels down and is crying and her tears aren’t stopping. The hunter starts feeling bad for Maria and frustrated with himself. He attempts to leave but steps on a branch, and makes eye contact with Maria, eyes still full of sadness. With this he makes his full escape. 

With Maria’s continuous tears, the rivers around the begin to dry up. The plants all around start to wither. The land is now experiencing drought and there are no more crops to harvest. The people are praying and begging for forgiveness from the goddess. The hunter passes by, filled with regret that this was the cause of his actions. He breaks the bow he used. He tries to walk away from everything until he sees a glimmer of light at the corner of his eye. He sees a lone sapling. He runs towards it and uproots it. He looks up at the mountain and decides to go to Maria. He goes through many obstacles, battling hunger and thirst. But he moves forward and reaches Maria. The goddess notices his presence and starts to attack but the hunter kneels down and offers the sapling. Maria is hesitant at first. She notices that the man is on the same spot where the deer was wounded and sees a parallel between the two. She approaches him and reaches her hand out. Rain falls down from her palm. A massive tree grows as a result of this. All life in nature has been restored. The hunter is amazed and looks at Maria. Maria nods at him from a distance. They have now acknowledged each other as people.

Maria Makiling

She protects the mountain and its inhabitants. She is very kind to the people of her village. However, she stands to lose the trust she has in humanity once it is revealed that they have wronged her. She becomes defensive in order to protect her surroundings. As she has been betrayed by the people she thought she could trust, she becomes overwhelmed with her emotions. After things resolve, it has resulted in her keeping her distance from people while continuing to stay fair and just. 

Flaws: Too trusting, naive, oblivious, defensiveness, over-emotional Strengths: Compassionate, forgiving, kind, generous, curious, loving, fair Hates: Deceitful people, violence Loves: Animals, plants, trees Fears: Weapons, destruction, animal cruelty Dreams: A peaceful world Secrets: None. She’s an open person. Celebrity look-alike: Liza Soberano (Filipino Actress)

Hunter - Isagani

He becomes a part of a group of hunters whose goal was to try to attack Maria. He does not really think of it too much, the group wanted him because he was a skilled archer. He thinks that act killing was thrilling, up until he saw Maria grieve over the loss of a friend. What they stand to lose is his own humanity if he does not feel the urgency to correct his wrongs. The events he goes through is a wake-up call to see if he wants to live with the guilt of his actions or to stand up and do something about it.

Flaws: Cruelty, delusion, careless, traitor Strengths: Intelligent, independent, confident, bravery, persistence, perseverance Hates: Injustice, himself for not realizing his own actions Loves: Food, people, archery, working out, playing games Fears: Losing everything Dreams: To be a better person Secrets: Hunts forest wildlife for sport 

Celebrity look-alike (maybe) - Xian Lim (Filipino actor)

Story Beats:

          Act 1

Busy crowd in a market

A girl walks down the hill

Groups of people greet the girl

An old woman approaches the girl

The old woman shows the girl her empty basket/food stand.

The girl nods

The girl takes the basket

The girl waves her hands

Food appears in the basket 

The old woman bows her head and brings her hands together.

The crowd gasps 

A group of people wielding tools walks behind the crowd. Act 2

The girl is asleep inside a hut.

The group of people move out of the bushes.

The group of people violently hack and slash the environment. 

One person chops down a tree

One person shoots down an animal 

The environment is now in a disarray.

The girl wakes up

The girl rushes out of the hut

The girl watches the people destroy the land (this could be omitted)

The girl raises her hands and waves them

Plants wrap the person’s tools 

Person lets go of the weapons

Plants wrap the two of the people’s tools 

The two people let go of the weapon (continued...)

The two people proceed to run away taking any valuables with them. 

The girl breathes heavily

The girl collapses on the ground

The girl cries

The last person is left behind and observes the girl.

The last person leaves the area Act 3

Groups of people praying in front of the forest. 

One person watches the people praying and clenches their fist

Off the distance, the person notices something

A seedling is what they see

They run towards it 

They uproot it off the ground

They run towards the forest

The person slips

The person struggles but gets right back up

The person finds the girl

The girl notices and quickly raises her hand.

The person kneels down offers the seedling.

The girl approaches slowly.

The person begins to plant the seedling.

The person bows down and remains under the storm

The girl kneels down

The girl waves her hands around the seedling.

A huge tree sprouts from it

The storm dissipates causing the sun to shine through.

The person looks around with eyes wide open.

The mountain village flourishes with life.

The villagers rejoice and cheer.

The person sobs in relief.

The girl sits next to the person.

The girl lays her hand on the person’s shoulder.

They both look at each other and smile.

Story Treatment:

A goddess named Maria Makiling is the guardian of a mountain village in Laguna, Batangas. She is a neighborly goddess who often visits the people of the village and helps them whenever they need it. Maria provides the people’s needs and offers them bountiful produce. During one of her visits, an old lady approaches her and shows an empty basket with a sad expression on her face. Before the old lady could even speak, Maria nods her head and takes the basket. She waves her hands and conjures up enough food for the old lady. The old lady is shocked and gracefully gives thanks to the goddess. The rest of the villagers watch in awe and admire the goddess. In the background, a group of people witnesses the events happening before their eyes, various tools in hand. 

The day has ended and the goddess has returned to her hut to rest. The group of people now revealed as hunters are sneaking around the area. They grab their tools and on their count, begin destroying and cutting all the vegetation and trees. The goddess hears the commotion and rushes out of her home only to see what is going on. She uses her powers in order to render their weapons useless, turning them into plants and the like. The hunters proceed to run away, realizing that their plans were foiled. Maria collapses on the ground, sobbing, and is devastated. A hunter is left behind and witnesses Maria’s grief. They find it hard to watch, maybe even feel guilty, but they brush it off and quickly leave the scene.  

Days have passed and with Makiling’s grief came a storm, a neverending storm. Everyone in the village is suffering and it has become difficult to gather food and water under these conditions. As the rest of the villages pray and ask for forgiveness to the goddess, the one hunter knows why this is happening. They notice something towards the mountains, a seedling. They approach and uproot the seedling very quickly, then run into the forest where the goddess lived. The lone hunter runs while protecting the seedling. Due to the harsh rains, the hunter slips but musters up all the strength to get up and carry on. They manage to find the goddess, who is on the offense to any more mortals who appear in front of her. She raises her hand attempting to attack the hunter, but the hunter reveals the seedling. The goddess stops and approaches slowly. The hunter kneels down and carefully plants it. The hunter bows their head and remains under the storm. The goddess, impressed with the hunter’s efforts, kneels down and waves her hands around the seedling. Through this, a giant tree sprouted from the seedling which split the storm revealing the sun. The hunter looks at the spectacle in awe. The life of the land is restored and the people of the village rejoice. The hunter sobs in relief, still sitting on the ground. Maria sits right next to the hunter and puts her hand on the hunter’s shoulder giving the hunter a smile. The hunter returns the smile, thankful after having felt so guilty.

Theme: I personally am fascinated with mythologies but for this project, I wanted to focus on the ones from my home country, the Philippines. I want to showcase one of the most popular mythological stories that I have heard of as a child called, Maria Makiling. The Philippines has a lot of folktales centered around the formation of mountains, and the story is based on one of them. It showcases the importance of showing respect to nature and the environment. When I was growing up, we were brought up to love and respect one another but that would not be the case for some people. For this project, I’d like to focus on the overall theme of love and how it can be expressed in different ways, positively and negatively. 

Logline: A kindhearted goddess protects and guards a mountain village until a group of hunters takes advantage of her generosity.