NEW CONCEPT!

Kevin came up with a really fantastic concept. At this point we're running with this as our spring board idea. Please come to class with as few sketches and blockouts/Silhouettes of what you think parts of this should look like, or props that would fit in here!

Setting: Think grand canyon, huge craggy cliffs with gnarled trees growing from the crevices almost horizontally. Water lines on the cliffs that show that the raging river thousands of feet below used to run a lot higher.

Story: Ages ago a caravan of merchant ships loaded with goods to trade in this foreign land ran aground in the rapids. Survivors began to live in the only shelter they had available to them, the wreckage of their ships (very Moroccan look to them). These ships were loaded with goods for trade so they were able to get by on salvaged trade goods and fish from the river.

Since then ages have passed and the river has lowered and cut deeper into the canyon leaving the survivors suspended thousands of feet up the cliff face on the remains of their ships now deeply wedged into the walls on both sides of the canyon. Rope bridges made from the ropes that used to support the ship sails connect the different ship remains and run through the trees that have sprouted out of the crevices in the cliff wall. Because of the limited space the dwellers have created structures to live in within the trees. These structures are completely crafted from the pieces of the caravan ships which were very ornamental, giving the tree city a very Moroccan feel to it. Ladders and pulley systems lead down to the river that the dwellers still depend on for fish and fresh water.

The city has began to thrive as a trading hub and has developed trade relations with the outside world. With most of the current dwellers being born in the cliff city they have never known life in the outside world and see no reason to relocate to a more traditional locale.

Pluses with this scenario:

- The city being built from pieces of the ship will be very Moroccan, have interesting structures, and also be very modular

-Will make great use of vertical space with an interesting color pallets(earthy and green with the bright patterns of Moroccan culture

-Creates that element of "why are these ships stuck in the cliff-side thousands of miles above the river, I want to know more"

-Technically easier to pull off than our previous concept while still being original

-Cliffs and trees casting shadows will create a very appealing visual piece

-Looking at Moroccan structures that have a very middle eastern feel, the whole Arab trader image would fit well with the scene meshing the story with the art style