Took me about 2 weeks to model the room environment and hallways. I downloaded the drawers, closet, bed and doors but I modelled everything else in the scene. Next up: the doll and teddy bear.

Made a couple of changes to the storyboard:

starts with a rocking chair and teddy bear in the background

as she looks to the camera, a hint of the goo is seen in the corner of her eyes

when she takes her first steps, two drops of goo drip off and also a creepy abandoned doll is seen under the bed

in the flashback, she will be wearing a paper mask that is composited by magazine cut outs of faces. This scene will be pitch black with only the mannequin illuminated. EDIT: by that I mean how it is in this picture:

a man’s hand will reach out from the darkness and grab her shoulder, which she will struggle off

the camera will flip to her profile, where she notices something on the floor and bends down to pick it up. Zoom in to see it is the abandoned doll that was under the bed.

the camera will zoom out to see her carrying the doll into the hallway

Part one after the cut:

Things I need to construct/gather:

Mannequin: rigged, blinkable eyes

Bedroom: doors, walls, bed, vanity, cot, rocking chair, light

Hallways

Objects: doll, teddy bear

A lot of creepy old portraits

After lots and lots of thinking, scribbling (and procrastinating), I think I have devised a story that interprets the song and will also be suitable in terms of style. The following is the basic story of my video:

There are a couple of places which I have yet to figure out. (And towards the end, I kinda got bored with drawing…)

Major technical problems to solve: THE GOO, THE PLASTIC DECAYING

EDIT: I recieved many useful ideas in studio:

in the flashback, the use of cut out paper masks, to eliminate the need for a hyper realistic model or real life actors

the goo could spurt out and consume the camera to transition from the hallway to the desolate, barren environment

the goo could be hinted much earlier in the video

objects spread throughout, to hint metaphorically the journey of life she is taking

The concept was inspired by a set of illustrations by Tamara Shopsin. I’ve expanded the first image concept she did for The Walrus into a whole short reel of images that play on the idea of a pair of phrases or words that sound the same, but mean something completely different. For example:

Bird flew – bird flu

Right wing – write wing

Rubbish waste – rubbish waist

Eyesight – I cite

I heard – I herd

To pray – To prey

You fall – Ewe fall

Etc.

Some more homophones here:
http://www.crazysquirrel.com/stuff/same-sound.jspx
http://www.bifroest.demon.co.uk/misc/homophones-list.html