[XKAT ORIGINALS]
NORMSDAY
LOGLINE : On the eve of the apocalypse that he has predicted but no one believes in, NORM seizes his final chance at making his mark on the universe, popping the perfect bag of popcorn!
FORMAT : Live Action Short Film
Once upon a time, this guy wanted to be someone.
So, he moved to the only city in the world that will rip a person apart to make them whole. Don’t get me wrong, his failures have been BIG, sensational and oh-so-fashionable, but then again, so are his dreams.
Things haven’t quite worked out as NORM had intended, but just like any New Yorker sprinting to catch that last express train home, risking death for your dreams is just called Tuesday.
[OUR HERO]
MEET NORM
Meet the Dog who’s about to have His day.
Norm is a not-so-subtle genius who’s worked the numbers & predicted the exact moment that the world is scheduled to end. He’s sure of himself and his discoveries, but doesn’t quite understand that human relationships are not an assembly of equations. He’s stubborn, brilliant and sometimes too cocky for his own good.
One thing Norm could have never predicted is that his crucible, THE soul-defining moment of his life, is about to occur while attempting to pop the perfect bag of microwave popcorn as he sits around and waits for the world to end. He’s planned everything to the letter. Everything, well, except for the fact that he’s a living, breathing, feeling being and sometimes that grumble in your stomach is just enough to remember you’re alive.
That’s just par for the course for our guy, Norm.
But don’t go feeling too bad for him just yet. Norm hasn’t exactly been a passive participant in his own self deletion. While desperately trying to be the person he thinks the world wants him to be, Norm has sliced himself up into so many pieces that all we’re left with is a bag of spare parts. In his excruciating attempt to stand out, Norm has actually rendered himself invisible. And if I’m being honest, he might like being alone a little too much for his own good.
After all, it’s safe here all alone — until it isn’t…
[THE STORY]
SYNOPSIS
NORM is a not-so-subtle genius, an aloof outcast, who has calculated (to the day) the exact end of the world.
That day is TODAY.
After his final warning to polite society is snarkily rejected, he sets out to enjoy these final hours on his terms, with everything planned to the letter. It should be perfect. After all, he has every moment calculated.
He buys a street dog, a humble final meal & prepares to head home, but it’s not long before Norm’s perfect plan of dying in peace begins to crumble! He’s met and assaulted by a flock of flamingo-humans blissfully unaware of their soon-to-be demise. He epically loses a game of 1-on-1 with a street trash can despite his clear advantage of having arms. NYC has a way of giving you what you need even when you don’t want it.
Storming back to his apartment with a mustard soaked top-sheet and believing that the universe wouldn’t even let him die on his own terms, Norm has no idea that the most important triumph still lies before him…
All alone in his apartment, Norm embarks on his final bid for triumph & acceptance — POPPING THE PERFECT BAG OF MICROWAVE POPCORN.
[MOOD + TONE]
THE WORLD
NYC YOU SAUCY THANG, YOU
This is the place and there is no other place for this story. All hail the city that chews us up, spits us out, and allows us to air our dirty laundry all over her streets.
In our film, the streets of Lower Manhattan and the experiences Norm has on them are the inciting forces for his ultimate demise-rebirth. He has burrowed himself into an echo chamber and these streets are the only thing that keep him in check. As any New Yorker knows, a whole lot can happen on a simple walk home.
No cookie cutter shots of our girl for this film — New York will be painted in swaths of color, surrealist expressions, abstract shapes, the liberal use of tableau and extreme high and low angles. People will be shape-makers and inanimate objects are conversationalists — the whole city joins the battle as it fights to keep one of her sons alive.
VIBES
Camp // The Absurd // Surrealism // Inside-Outside // Me vs. Me // New York // Dark Comedy // Colorful // Grit ‘n Glam
[STORYBOARDS]
AT A GLANCE
SCENE ONE
EXT. NEW YORK CITY STREETS OFFICE BUILDING - DAY
Outside a towering office building, crisp FOLDER in hand stands NORM. He's tall, handsome - and trying hard to be - donning a pristinely tailored suit and an air of earned 'I told you so' confidence as he screams at the sky with lightning in his eyes.
He flips open the folder and zeros in on the top page where a snarky POST-IT note reads "Square the Circle, Norm and then we can ...circle back" A winking smiley face on the note taunts him with the cringe-worthy sentiment. His smirk is quickly wiped as we reveal a tiny GLOB OF INK from the smiley face has spilled from the POST-IT onto the crisp DOCUMENT.
Norm stares at the GLOB. The glob stares back.
[A NOTE FROM KAT]
A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR
BEEP BEEP BOOP
[WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT]
THEMES
Individual vs. Self // Individual vs. Society // Identity // Who you are when no one is looking // Self-acceptance
[CAST + CREW]
MEET THE CREATIVE TEAM
CAST
CREATIVE LEADS
