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What would you do if you knew you couldn’t be caught?
Australia is stunned by the events of Day One.
Seven billion people have succumbed to an indescribable terror.
Contact with the world is lost.
A day before, the Australian people voted for change of government but that was then and this is now and now, the Prime Minister refuses to concede.
On the very day the lights go out in the rest of the world, the light of democracy goes out in Australia.
The Prime Minister proclaims, “This is no accident. This is a weapon of mass destruction and the terrorists responsible will be made to pay.”
The proposition is deemed incredulous by journalists.
“Five minutes ago, we were being told that humanity’s carbon output couldn’t possibly have an impact on global temperatures, now the very same people are telling us that Middle Eastern Terrorists have managed to orchestrate and deliver a weapon of mass destruction from the cosmos that’s wiped out seven billion people.”
Shock-jock, AM radio personalities along with conservative backed media launch an all-out attack on the doubters.
“This kind of person is un-Australian. Their actions support terrorism and the Prime Minister is right to bring them to heel.”
Protests follow, riot police are deployed, journalists are detained and rendition becomes a constant threat.
With nothing to stop her, the leader of the nation seizes on the opportunity to enshrine her power using the police, security forces and military to force capitulation.
When a major protest rally is organised, a mysterious terrorist attack kills thousands and destroys a national icon, shocking the nation into submission.
Martial law is introduced but focused on one minority group. Raids, seizure of assets, detainment and racial profiling become the norm.
The terror state is borne.
Just over the horizon a flood of refugees, fleeing the events of Day One, is making their way to Australia. Whilst the Government focuses on securing absolute power, a new and far greater threat is coming.
The world post Day One
At the beginning of the series we can only see the world through the perspective of the survivors in Australasia.
What happened to the rest of the world?
Rumours spread quickly. Panic is contagious.
What if it arrives here?
A terrified populace is easy to manipulate. Tapping into an existing prejudice enables a ruthless leader to attribute blame, seize power and divide and conquer.
Have your say
View Part One
View Part Two
View Part Three
Theme
The events in Australasia following Day One argue for everything Nero has prophesised about humanity.
‘Humanity is more than capable of manifesting every evil imaginable without my encouragement. It is not worthy to inherit the kingdom.’
The opposing argument starts with a reluctant hero taking a stand.
Just like humanity, Toowyn must prove himself worthy by taking action, regardless of the cost, not because he is a fan of the persecuted but because it defines our humanity to act on the behalf of those who cannot stand alone.
So, theme wise, there are two positions;
1. Those who believe they are ‘Born to rule’ and apply their privilege ruthlessly to secure that power
2. Those who believe that to lead, is to serve and service requires sacrifice
The Australian leader represents a perspective of an entitled few that is mirrored throughout the series.
Toowyn is the argument against.
So what is our theme?
Perhaps the theme can begin to be described as, ‘How should great leaders, lead and what dialogue or relationship should they have with the people they lead?’
The moral question is, ‘What would you do if you knew you couldn’t be caught or what would you do if you had absolute power?’
Message
What is the message?
The message is often described as the third way. The place between the two positions that the protagonist arrives at after their journey.
Perhaps for Toowyn and for all who would choose to lead, service and sacrifice will require some dark choices but as per Nietzsche’s quote, ’When you look into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you’, we must be careful not to become the monsters we fight.
Toowyn’s journey throughout each of the series sees him make some confronting choices and holding on to his humanity will be no easy job.
Pinterest ‘Look books’
Part Four of the Series Bible was meant to introduce many of our new characters however to keep it simple we will create new pages to introduce them, one by one. In the meantime you can view our Pinterest visual reference pages. These are a simple version of a ‘Look book’, describing the character, their tone, a look, casting suggestions and other relevant content.
Check-out these three.
Kaiden
Namara
Kristoff Schleed – ‘Nero’
Got a casting suggestion for these characters? Want to put yourself forward? You can request to be added to the Pinners’ list by sending your email to the Head of Development.
We’ll also create one page to serve them all, yes one page with links to all parts of the Series Bible and much more so our new team members can better track the big picture of the story.
Our next project is the Title Fight, a contest with hard candy! Ja Ja, cash, prizes and points to pay those who enter and win first, second and third prize. We seek a new title for TV series of ‘Journey of the Seeds’ and you can enter.
Don’t leave without sharing your view on Part Four by voting in our Poll or by commenting in the Comments section below. Your view helps shape our story.
The first five to answer our poll receive 25 Leaderboard points each. The first five to add substantial comments in the Comments section below receive 50 Leaderboard points each.
Begin
This entry was posted on Monday, October 27th, 2014 at 3:51 pm
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Tags: Alex Soliven, casting, contact, Daniel Garcia, David Steinhoff, Day one, donate, fantasy, gaspard ulliel, Janet Shay, join, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Journey of the seeds, Journey of the seeds the movie, Kaiden, Kristoff Schleed, mads mikkelsen, message, Namara, Natalia Blajievskaya, Nero, pinterest, poll, Presence Films, Robin Padilla, series bible, Series Bible - Part Four, Seth Flynn, supernatural, theme, title fight, Toowyn, Yasmine Van Wilt, yvonne strahovski
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How long could Australia survive if fuel supplies dried up?
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2014/s4121593.htm
There’s a link under that question but in my browser it’s the same colour as the background hence invisible.
There will also be a struggle for resources. Energy could be for oil and trying out renewable sources of energy.
That’s an interesting Q.
We have adequate food whilst there is order but we don’t have speciality food such as baby powder which is now all imported.
I just watched the video on this. 91% of our oil is imported. Well that is a dead bang stop to the economy right there and an episode. Sending a team over to an oil refinery or to a shipping port to get oil and having them never return. Excellent work DN
I had a similar reaction to Rod reading this. We usually think of fascism fabricating or exaggerating external threats in order to inspire compliance. But in this case the external threat is real and enormous so those interested in power seem to be missing the point and they’re overly excited about inheriting a possible ruin.
That said, I think these elements can be present and I see why they need to be there to support the parallel universe story. It might just a be a problem of emphasis for writers to solve.
Yes, these observations have really shifted at least the timeline.
Post Day One there is shock then panic then the fear it may arrive here. Refugees fleeing the event of Day one represent another element but ultimately when things begin to take shape there is the opportunity to blame it on someone.
So sequence is perhaps the key.
From a more general perspective from the public who don’t care much about politics:
Chaos Priorities = Survival > Order
I think once Day One goes down, the internet and media would go crazy and since even the government and other organizations have no idea what’s going on, they’d want to try to calm people down to assess the situation. Everything’s open and people will witness how everyone else is taken over. At this point they won’t really care about authority and any form of authority will not have any power. It’ll be chaos. Everyone in Australia thinks it’s only a matter of time before it gets to them. But it doesn’t so everyone settles down to a certain degree but most people stay paranoid. When the fear of the unknown sets in, they can be easily manipulated by opinion and different factions. Government being the largest power and influence.
The government re-establishing control would then take more drastic measures but it won’t happen in a day. They will be forced to make harsh but righteous decisions. That’s how it turns into a terror state. Strike fear into the hearts and minds of people only because it’s necessary. It might take months to re-establish some form of order.
With that said, some people are power hungry or are just plain sadistic but for the most part, the government and the minor separatist factions believe on different things for the good of the people. Some more extreme but effective all because it’s necessary.
At some point this mysterious motherf*3
That’s an excellent POV on it.
Fear is contagion. Contagion grows.
The fear that it will come here.
The fear of not knowing what it is.
Govt caught in the cross-hairs.
Govt appears to take action to restore the situation but where contemporary capitalism meets reality, the truth revealed shows us exposed.
In the meantime, the anarchy factor sees opportunists rule on the streets.
Even if the govt is oppressive and are then overthrown,what comes next could be worse.
Nice work.
How it could be worse is where the fun story’s at.
“Cool story brooo….” -Lucky
Forgive the intrusion. I like where everything is heading, but I have some commentary in regards to part 4 to offer. My comments come under this banner:
‘Connectivity and what happens when contemporary capitalism meets reality.’
* I find the premise of 7 billion people being wiped out – in whatever form is chosen – and then Australian society staying normal enough for an ‘Emperor Palpatine’ type maneuver to take place (which in and off itself is not an issue as a plot point in a story), as though we all just sat there and watched, and everyone just got up the next day, did their jobs, the journo’s did their job (there was a job to go to?), everything just ‘functioned’ normally enough (was their no panic?) , for that particular kind of ‘terror state’ to evolve- really implausible.
The ramifications of 7 billion people dying, disappearing, becoming not human, or non contributors means the world would stop functioning in a heart beat. Stock market would disappear in an instant. Everything that held value, or determined station in life- would be worth nothing. Resources would immediately become scarce because there would be an inherent fear and uncertainty of where things would come from (isn’t this becoming more and more the case already?). There would be a run on water, on food, on all the basic necessities. Where would our fuel come from? Where would our gas come from? What would happen to technology? What would happen to the internet? Who keeps the servers running over there which we use in some way here? And if contact is lost with everyone else as the bible suggests – that has implications on our ability to communicate with each other, here, as well.
* You’re trying to suggest a government would have a reasonable population, not in terms of political dissidents or protesters, but in terms of a recognisable society that had retained structure to it to control in the first place in that particular fashion- that just wouldn’t be the case in my opinion. The government in itself a) has to survive the impact of 7billion people dying in and of itself – without individuals succumbing to fear, or being ‘human’ when their money in an instant holds no value and b) they would then have to convince the armed forces that this is a manageable situation. (how would Australian armed forces retain their own infrastructure?)
* The likelihood is that society would fracture into pockets (whatever those pockets might be) of communities trying to attain resources that can support their population levels. Yes – it is possible that the government would stay in tact and operational – to an extent. But- whatever forces and structure they retained would have to fight to establish a way of life again. The idea of a subversive government, or terrorist attacks, seems somewhat irrelevant in a world where 7billion people just disappeared, so to speak. Once again – the impact of that many people disappearing – what does actually mean to the world? What does a reference to being un-Australian even mean, if Australians have no one else left to relate to?
* What is actually at stake here? I’m reading a story that is implying an Orwellian future, and I don’t disagree with that as a contemporary allegory, however an Orwellian future where our rights and civil liberties have been removed in a fashion where we accept it and even ask for it, implies that there is a stable environment for which a population can function in. If 7 billion people go – society will fundamentally alter in a way that is almost unbelievable and inconceivable (or is it?), but you only have to look to Africa, and parts of the middle east- heck – look at America where 1 in 6 people per year will run out of food and need to be helped by one of the 50,000 organisations set up to feed people – look at how just the thought of not having something you need to live affects people. What happens when a Tsunami hits a Japanese power plant? Or when the threat of Ebola hits home? Stock markets change, people change. What will a prime minister have absolute power over? How does law and order, and the desire and purpose of life in a capitalist economy influenced by the west- survive?
* I think the story needs to be far more drastic in regards to what would happen should an event like that actually take place. What is a terror state? What is the potential of ‘that’ in the world you are describing after the events of day one? To me it seems like the version of this terror state outcome is not a natural conclusion given the actual circumstances.
Loving where this is heading.
RB,
I believe this is excellent coverage of the issue.
You headed it- ‘Connectivity and what happens when contemporary capitalism meets reality.’
The impact of such an event would see a rapid decay of society. Yet, where there is cooperation, we could restore and enhance our society… but will we?
This is an opportunity to contrast two worlds, Australia and NZ. Have the NZ reaction be completely different to the Australian one.
In short, integrating into story, the decay of society, poor management and a grab for power leading to a collapse into a fascist style state is very interesting. Getting the elements right, focusing on the drama and finding interesting theatres of conflict and interesting conflicting values and characters is the great challenge.
NIce work RB
Could a leader fool people enough to allow them to seize total control? Absolutely. History is full of such tactics. George W used something similar to start the second Gulf War, which wasn’t to grant him absolute power, but to make he and his mates billions.
Thanks CD. Now, is there anyone to dispute the position?
You can’t fool all of the people all of the time.
The masses would be easy to fool. One mention of the T-word and people go nuts. =P
The interesting part is how people who can’t be fooled would react. Some would care enough to tell the people and struggle to make their voices heard.
Sorry we ran out of REPLY slots, (Max five) and yes we still have GREY text, the system is integrated. Shift one you get it elsewhere. Sorry again.
Re the links, yes, I wasn’t thinking hi-jinx for the Journos but let’s keep Russell as a potential range we could go to.
Care to share any more detail?
Using the word “Terrorism” to herd and distract people through media. Either it’s true or not, we could control how severe it is in a fictional world.
I’m thinking someone a lot like Russel Brand would make one “Very Lucky” character. (But that’s for later)
We could then blow it out into ridiculous proportions:
http://youtu.be/ALEaAAU3KAE
Based on reality or not, it can be very entertaining.
Kaiden would also looove calling out all the BS..
BTW Craig.. Links still in gray. =P