Assignment #2 - Story Beats and Treatment Revised #1
A wounded deer is seen in the forest. Struggling to get up. Its leg is injured.
Maria passes by and notices the deer.Â
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.Â
The old lady puts her hand against her stomach.
Maria places her hand on the old lady’s shoulder and nods.Â
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.Â
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.Â
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.Â
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,Â
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.Â
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.
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.Â
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.Â
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.