SHEENA,
THE JUNGLE QUEEN
Series
bible
For
Directors
and Writers
BACKSTORY
Sheena’s
parents were archeologists. In 1979,
they took their five-year-old daughter, then named Cheryl, with them to Africa
to an area called the LaMistas, deep and dark, hardly touched by
Europeans. Her parents were looking for
a lost civilization called the Kaya.
While searching an old cavern, a collapse of the roof killed the parents
but, miraculously, allowed little Cheryl to escape. For days, she stayed in the outer cavern, expecting her parents
to return. They didn’t. Eventually hunger took over and Cheryl
wandered out into the sunlight, into the savage veldt of Africa. Her cries were soon answered by other cries,
from another hungry child. In this
case, it was a lion cub that had separated from her mother. Cheryl and the cub found each other and
bonded. But they were both being
stalked by a large male lion, a rogue.
He was looking for a mate and, realizing that lionesses do not mate
while they have a litter, he was intent on killing all the cubs of this
particular lioness. The cub with Cheryl
was the last. Just as he pounced, the
mother lioness intervenes and drives off the male lion. Turning to her cub, she discovers Cheryl
holding onto her. Having lost all her
cubs except this one, the lioness quickly takes Cheryl as her own. Heavy with milk, she feeds them both.
Cheryl spends several days with the lioness
and her cub, again bonding with them.
But the lioness keeps them moving, heading toward something or somewhere. Cheryl doesn’t understand or care. She has a family. Eventually, this trip takes them outside the LaMistas to a nearby
village. The lioness is careful to
avoid the villagers as it approaches a particular hut. Pawing at the outside of the hut, she takes
them inside where we find Kali. Kali is
a shamaness, a revered person of her tribe.
Kali sees the lioness and doesn’t look frightened or even alarmed. She greets her warmly and starts when Cheryl
enters the hut. Kali has tears in her
eyes as she sees the young girl. Kali
looks at the lioness and says, “Yes.
She is Kaya. She is one of
ours. I will teach her the ways of our
people.”
And so begins our legend.
THE LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN ONE
Throughout Africa, there is the Legend of the
Golden One. The powerful, ferocious,
half-human, half-animal that protects the LaMistas with deadly force. The last of her kind, it is rumored that
this creature is seven feet tall, has jagged teeth and the strength of an
elephant. In fact, the rotting carcasses
of powerful lions have been found, killed, obviously, by this strange
beast. Who could have guessed that this
creature called the Golden One is a lean, beautiful, blonde American woman? But, as with any legend, there is some grain
of truth.
Kali is the last of the people known as the
Kaya. The very people that Sheena’s
parents were looking for. The Kaya were
considered the Protectors of the Land.
They were one with the animals and lived in harmony and peace. But when tragedy struck and all the Kaya
were “destroyed”, save Kali and her husband, it seemed the time of the Kaya had
come to an end. Kali’s husband soon met
a similar fate and Kali was left alone.
When Cheryl/Sheena appears, Kali immediately sees her relationship with
the animals. Kali senses a power from
this child and realizes that being Kaya is not a matter of a genetic
relationship. It is something that is
given by the Provider. Kali took her in
and named her Sh’ay’na, which in Kali’s ancient tongue means “Eyes of the
Future”. Being five years old, the best
the child could say was “Sheena”. The
name stayed with her in that form.
As Sheena is
in a contemporary setting, the Africa of our stories is the modern Africa. Without going into a history lesson, Africa
represents every conflict that has plagued mankind in recorded history. Africa has seen it all, from petty tribal
wars to the rise of some of the greatest civilizations known to exist. Even with the coming and going of Carthage
and the Egyptian Empire, Africa had few conflicts in its central and southern
regions. All that changed with the
coming of the Europeans and colonization.
With the drawing of National Boundaries and the prohibition of tribal
loyalties, Africa has become a hodgepodge of wars, conflicts and exploitation.
MALTAKA
The country that Sheena is located in is
called MALTAKA, a tribute to a
pacifist leader named Taka who, Ghandi style, tried to throw off the British
yoke. He was assassinated and
mercifully wasn’t there to see his beloved country thrown into a vicious and
bloody civil war. Eventually, the
leader of the rebels, a man named N’Gama, managed a victory and control of the
new nation. Unfortunately, his style of leadership has lead to instability in
the nation, exploitation by fortune seekers, political battles with the
adjoining countries, and the slow diminishment of those lands that are still at
peace. This, of course, brings our
heroine into direct conflict with those who would take advantage of her land,
animals and people. Whether she is
battling the effects of corporate progress or the revolutionaries using her
land as training ground for their special forces, Sheena has many adventures
awaiting her.
Sheena is
best described as exotic, sexy, fantastic, ferocious, passionate, a quiet
warrior from three distinct worlds. The
world of Kali and her African heritage; the world of the animals and their
domain; and the world of her parents, America.
When Sheena reached the age of twelve, she began to ask questions of
Kali. Questions about her background
and origins. Kali didn’t lie to her and
told her what she knew about her parents, which was very little. Kali had seen both of them when they had
passed through her village on their way to the LaMistas. Intrigued, Sheena finally went to the cave
where her parents had died. It took her
five days to dig through the years old rubble, but with the help of some of her
animal friends, she finally broke through.
On the other side she found precious little remaining of her
parents. Among the items she found were
an old military style watch belonging to her father and a partially destroyed
passport with half the photo of a beautiful woman, her mother. Taking these and two crates of assorted
camping items, she resealed the cave and made her own memorial. These mementos she took to her cavern home
behind the waterfall lagoon. They are
her only link to her past. Sheena
desperately wishes she knew more about her parents. In Kali, she has her surrogate mother. But in her natural search for a father, she has created one in
her mind. A man who is strong,
charismatic, gentle when need be, and with just a bit of an edge to handle
anything. Whether or not her father
really was like that, it’s what she would hope he was.
Growing up in a jungle paradise made Sheena a
very unique person. Kali didn’t require
Sheena to stay in the village and, in fact, encouraged her curiosity about the
jungle and her surroundings. Her
closest friend in these explorations was Shabetha, the lion cub she had met in
her wanderings. Shabetha, growing as
Sheena did, accompanied her almost everywhere.
Certainly not as a pet, Shabetha was the only other family that Sheena
knew besides Kali. As Sheena grew, she
became accustomed to the law of the jungle.
It was fair and the lines between right and wrong were clearly defined.
Eventually, though, her explorations brought
her up against the changing landscape of her land. She encountered a group of mercenaries hired by the government to
“relocate” a village. Being fourteen at
the time, there was little she could do to directly oppose them. But she saw the cruelty and disregard these
outsiders had for her land and the people here. For the first time, Sheena felt a darkness stir inside herself
toward these men. Returning to Kali,
she wouldn’t let go of the feeling inside her.
Kali told her about anger. She
told her about the type of men they were and the things they wanted. Almost reluctantly, Kali told Sheena about
the world and what it had become.
Sheena was appalled. The Law of
the Jungle was so simple and fair. But,
as Kali explained, her world was slowly being pressed in by the world of
Men. Sheena ran off into the woods and
didn’t return for two months. In that
time, she considered all she had seen, she set out to see more, she studied
these people and their ways.
She traveled to the edges of the jungle to
peer into their world. And when she
returned, she was no longer the inquisitive little girl. She was now a Warrior with a purpose,
determined to fight this new “enemy” whenever it came, wherever it appeared,
and no matter what disguise it used.
Sadly, Kali allowed her to follow her path,
secretly proud of her conviction, but worried about her safety. Consequently, Kali encouraged Sheena to
learn all she could about the world.
When Kali could, she would provide books and newspapers. She taught Sheena to read in her native
tongue, English. Sheena’s prize
possession was a HAM radio. Sheena was a
good student. She not only learned of
the world outside, she allowed herself to become part of it. Much like the Cro-Magnon Man of prehistory,
if you put her in modern clothes at a banquet, you would never know the
difference. The fact that she would carry
in the bloody carcass of the main course over her shoulder might be a giveaway
that she was a bit different, though.
We pick up our story and our series several
years later, when Sheena is in her early twenties. She has created and embellished this Legend of the Golden One,
allowing the fears of the outsiders to build a more effective barrier than
force could ever do. When people
venture too close to her land, she reacts.
The stories of these interactions have filtered out and add to the lore
of the LaMistas. It is a strange and
dangerous land protected by a mysterious creature that allows few to escape.
In contrast to the fierce warrior that she has
become, Sheena’s relationship with Kali is still very much like a daughter to
her mother. Any question Sheena has,
Kali has an answer for. Or, rather,
Kali has a way of asking her another question in response. This is maddening sometimes for Sheena, but
she understands why Kali does it. A bit
of her own pride keeps her from asking Kali too many questions, intent on
finding answers on her own.
Sheena’s relationship with the animals in the
jungle is very important. She is not
their master, nor does she consider herself superior to them. They are her equals and she treats them that
way. If she “communicates” with an
elephant, asking it to move a log for example, the elephant may or may not do
what she asks. Most of the time it
will. But if it doesn’t want to, that’s
just the way it is and Sheena has to find another way to accomplish her
goal. More about this later when we
talk about her Special Abilities.
Sheena is very upfront with her emotions. The Law of the Jungle makes no allowances
for emotional politics. The things that
are hardest to lose are those parts of her humanity that civilization has
imprinted in our genes, such as anger.
Animals don’t feel anger; only humans and Rogues feel that emotion (more on Rogues later). As rogues are her only natural enemies, she
would hate to think of herself as one.
It’s a part of her she wants to fight; it’s an area that Kali has
already defeated in herself. The Law of
the Jungle also doesn’t allow for anger.
It’s a dangerous path to tread.
Sheena’s fight with the outside world is also a test of herself.
Kali is a shamaness, a teacher, and a holy
one. Her goal is not so much to teach
Sheena as it is to guide her. Much like
Mr. Miyagi (of Karate Kid), she shows her the signposts, but allows her to
choose her own path. Kali has taught
Sheena how to refine her communication with animals. She has also taught her how to shape-shift into animals under
certain conditions. It is assumed that
Kali also has this power, but doesn’t use it.
The truth is, she is above it.
And she also knows the danger involved with doing it. In fact, the tragedy that destroyed her
tribe was a direct result of this ability.
However, just as handing the car keys to your son or daughter for the
first time is dangerous, the necessity of doing it is mandatory. So it is with the shape shifting. Sheena has to learn how to do it to reach
her next level, whatever that might be.
But it has dangers.
Kali
has a very dry sense of humor. She
knows how to turn a phrase to give it a double meaning. This drives Cutter crazy. He thinks she is playing mind games with
him. And, in a sense, she is. Kali has the ability to see beyond and
beneath people. Cutter, as we will see,
is a very private person as far as his inner feelings are concerned. But Kali knows that Cutter wants desperately
to care for something and she tries to bring that out. He fights it every step of the way. Their relationship is almost parent child,
even more so than Sheena’s relationship with Kali. Kali will be involved in several of our stories, but not
necessarily all of them. It should
never be forgotten that she is a realist as well as a spiritualist. Even within the encroaching civilization,
she adapts and survives, something her people were not able to do.
MATT CUTTER
Closing in on thirty, Matt Cutter is an
expatriate American with a shady past.
Roguishly handsome (and he knows it), he is a cross between Michael
Douglas (Romancing the Stone) and Han Solo, with a touch of Maverick thrown
in. Cutter grew up in a military
family, where his father stressed accomplishment over substance. In and out of trouble as a young man, his
father got him interested in athletics.
This was an area that Cutter excelled in and was soon focused and on the
straight and narrow path to success.
Eventually, he was offered a football scholarship to Florida State University
as a top quarterback. His father was
proud of him and their relationship flowered.
But his first year on the squad resulted in a twisted knee and the end
of his career. The disappointment from
his father was too much to take, football being the only glue that bonded
them. He was offered a chance to
continue his scholarship in another field, but couldn’t make anything
work. He rejected school and his family
and dropped out to join the US Army.
Soon, he was involved in Special Forces, gaining several medals and
awards for his abilities. He eventually
received a Discharge Without Comment after a failed night operation in Central
America. He doesn’t talk about what
happened, but he did realize one important thing about himself; He didn’t care. He’d been involved in all sorts of covert
activities in all parts of the world, trying to believe in something. But it all turned out the same. So he “retired” to Africa three years ago
and began Cutter Enterprises.
What is Cutter Enterprises? Well, what do you want it to be? More importantly, how much money do you have
to employ Cutter? Cutter’s main
industry is Cutter. He transports
people across national lines, no questions asked. Cargo delivery is a favorite of his, though he never bothers to
ask what it is he is delivering. Cutter
has made a good living at this. Never
rich, it’s still good enough to have a small place of business near Uhura, the
capital of Maltaka. Cutter spends most
of his time at this outback office, where he maintains a pontoon plane, US
Military riverboat, and a garage of sorts.
He drives an old Land Rover 110 Defender and has one employee,
MENDEHLSON. Mendehlson comes and goes
as he pleases, but is usually around when Cutter needs him to repair equipment.
Cutter is a cynic in denial. He considers himself someone who goes with
the flow and adapts to the changing situations. In fact, he has a list of things to change “if’n I was god…” But he’s not and the best he can do is
endure. But there are so many things
that Cutter denies, what’s with a little delusion as well? As far as Cutter is concerned, he only has
two real vices. One is his hatred for
crocodiles. “Suitcases with teeth” as
far as he’s concerned. He goes out of
his way to make life as miserable for the reptiles as he feels they have made
life for him. The other vice is even
more intense. College football. Whether he admits it or not, his entire life
hinged on the moment that his knee buckled on that scrimmage line. The die was cast with the snap of a
cartilage. College football is his only
link to a life that could have been and, more importantly, to a relationship
with his father that he almost had. He
follows it religiously. Of course, the
fact that he doesn’t get the games on tape for weeks after they happen doesn’t
diminish his enthusiasm for it.
Obviously this isn’t something that is to be a major story line with
Cutter; it’s subtext. After all, it
isn’t about football. It’s about who he
is.
When Cutter meets Sheena, his life makes a drastic
change. Cutter, the man who cares for
nothing, has met a woman who cares intensely.
This jars something inside of him that he hasn’t felt for years. Cutter still has that part deep inside that
wants to care for something. He’s just
managed to bury it for so long that it barely exists. Sheena reactivates that feeling in himself. And it’s not just a caring for people or the
environment. It’s also for this
strange, powerful woman. Simply put,
she affects him and he can’t explain it.
He, of course, rationalizes it as lust and his conquering spirit, and,
to a certain extent, that’s true. He
tells himself that his attraction to her is a response to the challenge that
she poses to him. His smooth lines and
rustic charm doesn’t seem to work. No
matter. He’ll just wear her down. And, then, he’ll be done with her. That’s what he tells himself.
MENDEHLSON
Mendehlson is Cutter’s sometime mechanic. An older, craggy, bent weasel of a man, he
speaks with a slight Slavic accent.
Mendehlson is not his real name, but it works for Cutter. It’s a little unclear how Cutter made his
acquaintance, but it’s implied that they met during one of Cutter’s shady
missions. Mendehlson can work wonders
with anything mechanical, but his relationships are more than enigmatic. He tends to speak in half sentences that
Cutter seems to understand. Sometimes,
he goes off on strange rants that seem to have little to do with the crisis at
hand. He has been married four times or
five; he loses count from time to time.
But he is the first one to give his strange slant of romantic advice for
Cutter. Mendehlson is a built in source
of humor for our series without being slapstick. Unlike sidekicks in other shows, though, Mendehlson truly has no
love for Cutter. Mendehlson would not
run into a burning plane to pull Cutter to safety. In fact, Mendehlson won’t even butt into a hot conversation on
Cutter’s behalf. The underlying subtext
is that Mendehlson is a bit autistic where the rest of the world is
concerned. To Sheena, though, he
represents what Cutter could become.
Someone who can’t care about anything.
A former
Ukayho warrior, Rashid is now a National Ranger. Strikingly handsome, he now works for the government to protect
the animals and resources of his country.
A bit of an outcast from his tribe because he took on a government job,
he is still devoted to his people.
Rashid is an example of all that is right in Africa. He gets no special treatment and is free of
corruption. He knows Cutter and would
never admit to liking him, even though he does. He is our connection with the part of the legal system that
still works in this land. His green
land rover is a welcome sight to almost everyone, including Sheena. In the
midst of civilization, Sheena respects this man. Again, a character we will see now and then, but not in every
episode.
His full
name is Honorable President For Life For All Lands and Territories, N’Gama Al
Nep Thiem. And he wears all the ribbons
and medals to prove it. N’Gama is the
leader of this country. He came to
power during the civil war, which followed independence from Britain. Despised and respected, no one can argue his
commitment to drag his country into the Twenty First century. He has made huge reforms and has no problem
reminding his people of it. Statues of
N’Gama line the streets. More than just
self-centered, he truly believes what he is doing is good. His administration is corrupt from top to
bottom, but as long as it’s his corruption, it’s okay. N’Gama will be an infrequent visitor to our
series, but his presence will be felt at all times. It’s his country, after all.
His name is on everything and is a constant reminder of the outside
world. His personal agendas and
corruption has left this land open to exploitation.
The other
leader in the country. Hamman is the
Chieftain of the Ukayho tribe. This
tribe was a mighty nation at one time, so mighty that Britain chose to
negotiate rather than conquer it.
However, those days of glory are long since past. The members of the tribe who are still loyal
to the old ways are loyal to Hamman. He
is a political force as well as a military force. Technically under the rule of N’Gama, Hamman knows he has the
power to create another civil war.
N’Gama knows it as well and, like the British, chooses to negotiate with
Hamman. Hamman would only be considered
good because he opposes N’Gama. But
Hamman has his own interests at heart as well.
Again, disguised as the betterment of his people. He has no time for outsiders (Cutter) or
betrayers (Rashid). When he finally
meets Sheena, he doesn’t quite know what to make of her. But she is not Ukayho and that makes her an
enemy. Only his respect for Kali prevents him from doing something foolish to
challenge Sheena.
SHABETHA
If we had
anything close to a semi-regular animal in the series, it would be Shabetha,
the lion cub Sheena found when she was a child. Sheena considers her her sister.
Shabetha comes and goes as she pleases.
However, she is old and, within the course of our first season, will
probably pass on. This will be a major
change for our character and one that will elaborate the relationship between
Sheena and Cutter.
THE
SHEENA/CUTTER RELATIONSHIP
This is the
crux of our series on a character level.
Sheena and Cutter are inseparable, but the question will be asked
“why”? We’ve already answered the
question as to why Cutter might want to hang around Sheena, but what is it that
makes Sheena want Cutter around? Much
like Kali, Sheena has an ability to see inside people to their core. She isn’t aware of this ability yet, but it
makes itself known to her as a feeling or intuition about someone. And, in Cutter, she has seen someone who is
strong, charismatic, gentle when need be, and with just a bit of an edge to
handle anything. If it sounds familiar,
it is. It’s her image of her
father. But more importantly than this,
it’s what she admires in a man. And,
more than this, she sees Cutter’s need to care. Though the shell is a little misleading, the inner part of Cutter
warms her and makes her feel at home.
She has a hard time explaining it.
But Kali knows. It was the way
she felt when with her husband. She
felt complete. Sheena, of course,
rejects this assessment and decides it’s because she knows Cutter can be useful
in her struggle, not thinking that being with Cutter, as he is, might be a
struggle in itself.
Sexual
tension? There has to be. But the question is will they ever sleep
together. Perhaps. Perhaps not. Cutter’s early attempts are foiled by Sheena’s demeanor. Then, perhaps, later attempts are tempered
by the knowledge that this is someone you might go to sleep with, but not be
the same creature when you wake up.
That’s more than enough of an incentive for abstinence in his book.
Still, even with that barrier, he wants to be around her. Mockingly, he says they make a great team,
though he’s not sure which side he’s playing for. Besides, she’s the closest thing he’s had to a family in a long
time. And there’s The Legend. Keeping that secret is yet another cross for
him to bear. But he does it for
her. He doesn’t know why, but he does.
We will
start each story with a pitch, then a written three-paragraph form explaining
the set up, middle and resolution of the story. Following that will be an outline, no more than ten pages, with
bulleted scenes and brief explanations of the story. Each Sheena script will be approximately 40-45 pages. The structure of each script will comprise
of a separate TEASE, ACT ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR and TAG.
The writing
for each episode has to move. That
doesn’t just mean action; it means the characterizations have to be upbeat and
forward. The plots need to be engaging. We don’t have a lot of time to tell our
stories, so the quicker we get to the meat of an episode and exploit it, the
better. Sheena is and can only be a
Character series. We have a limited
amount of action that we can do per episode, so we have to lean the balance
more toward the characters. It’s one
thing to see explosions outside a cavern while our heroes are stuck
inside. But it can be much more
interesting (and cost effective) to stay with the characters on the inside
listening to the explosions against rock.
We can’t deny the eye-candy appeal of action for our series, but the
creative use of our action is what will gain us points with the audience and
save us money in the long run. In
general, each episode will have two set piece action sequences. One near the end of Act One or beginning of
Act Two, the other comprising Act Four.
Obviously this can vary, but for the most part it is a rule we will keep
to.
Sheena can
shape shift into animals, but we have to do this sparingly as it means more CGI
effects and more time working with animals, both costly options. In addition, we want to make sure that the
audience isn’t waiting the entire hour just to see her change. She might change in the Teaser, then not
change again. She might change
twice. It will never be according to
formula and we don’t want the stories to be dependent on it.
Ideally, a
strong “A” story with a “B” story that intertwines and resolves with the “A”
story is desired. The stories
themselves can be borrowed from any area as long as we can believe that the
story could be something Sheena would get involved with. These stories have to touch our characters
directly, even if the episode is a light one.
The stories, for the most part, will be centered in Africa, near the
LaMistas. There may be an occasionally
trip into Uhura or another urban area, but these will be rare.
Sheena is not a serialized drama, even though
there will be basic arcs followed each season.
With most studies showing that loyal viewers watch no more than six
episodes a season, we have to guarantee that the audience will be able to
understand the stories without having to review what happened the last three
episodes. For that reasons, the stories
are to be simple and quickly explained.
Because of
our limited budget, we are always looking for cost effective shows. “Clip” shows and “bottle” shows. The difference is that we want to be as
creative as possible when coming up with these. We want to start thinking of doing these shows right from the
beginning so that we can plan them instead of rushing to do them later because
we have to. We’d like to produce at
least two cost effective shows per season, shooting on a five-day schedule.
When writing
the Sheena character, keep the model of the Spaghetti Western hero in
mind. Quick, to the point dialogue that
sums up situations without debate.
Which is not to say that people can’t debate what Sheena says. She just says what she has to say without
wasting a lot of words. Sheena has an
ability to put things in a different light, to turn someone’s words around in
order to reveal hypocrisy, even the small ones. In classical terms, she would be considered a jungle Sophist.
Kali is calm
and gentle with her words. Instead of
Sheena’s technique, she always has a slight smile when she hears the
hypocrisies. It can drive people
crazy. And it does, most notably in
Matt Cutter.
If Sheena
has an economy of words, Cutter more than makes up for it. He goes out of his way to express one
concept in as many ways possible.
Cutter feels that the moment you stop talking in a discussion is the
moment you have to start fighting.
Although he never says, “you know?” or “see?” you can hear them in
between each sentence, almost as if he’s waiting for the other person to pick
up the slack. With Sheena, it doesn’t
happen. So he finds himself talking
more than his seductive style tells him he should.
ON DIRECTING SHEENA
Sheena
should have its own distinctive visual style.
One that is not distracting but definitely one that becomes a signature
to the series. We don’t want to do the
“unsteady” cam, but do want the camera to have a freedom. Perhaps on sticks for a few beats, then
moving fluidly throughout a scene. If
there are three obvious ways to shoot a scene, we prefer that the Director go
with the fourth choice. Since we will
be matching this up with authentic African footage, we want to look to have the
grand scope of a movie shot in Africa.
Just as with the writing, though, we want to episodes to move quickly in
pace. And the direction should reflect
this.
Because we
will be using morphing techniques, the use of green screen and shooting plates
is unavoidable. The key to this, again,
is to make it as creative as possible.
Just locking off a camera, shooting three plates, then doing a
point-to-point morph is simple; most shows do it. But we want to push the boundaries and see things that aren’t
expected. The audience has become
pretty savvy where special effects are concerned, so we want to challenge
them. Of course, we want to do it
without exceeding our budget. Again,
creative thinking is required. Any way
to create this style by manipulating the three perceived dimensions is our
preference.
Aside from
Special Effects, we will also have a certain amount of action. Again, creative thinking. A few notes, though,
about the Sheena Character and fights.
Sheena is a child of the jungle.
She fights like an animal at all times.
She never does martial arts. She
doesn’t need to. Example; when she
attacks, she might clench her fist on an opponent’s throat and choke them the
way a lion brings down its prey. She
moves like an animal. Example; when she
darts through the underbrush, she barely touches the foliage. Her footsteps are light. When she swings on a vine, she doesn’t do it
Tarzan style. She wraps her arm around
the vine for a better grip, leaving her other hand free. And, by the way, swinging on vines is not
her normal mode of transportation. She
can run through the trees, limb to limb, almost as well as she runs on the
ground. As a result of this, we will be
using wire rigs from time to time.
PERMANENT SETS (all pending final
location and budgetary decisions)
EXTERIORS:
CUTTER’S
OFFICE
Located in
the backcountry outside of the capital city of Uhura, Cutter’s office looks
like a roadside bar that has been converted into a garage. Off the beaten track and located next to a
river, Cutter has made the best of this run down business location. A sign next to the road entrance declare
this is “Field Office, Cutter East, a division of Cutter Enterprises” and, in
smaller letters, “offices in London, New York, Buenos Aires, Tokyo”. A large half Quonset hut serves as his
garage. Inside this garage can be seen
Cutter’s dirty Zebra Black/White 110 Land Rover. Over near the river can be found a wire link fence leaning toward
the water; a crocodile fence. Just
above the fence, on the safe side, is a hammock strung between trees. The “Croc taunter”, as Cutter calls it. Beyond that, we find a dock with a single
engine pontoon plane and a military style river recon boat, both kept in top
mechanical shape by Mendehlson.
LAGOON
Quite
simply, this is a fairly small lagoon off the LaMista river. Clear and pure water runs over a cliff at
one end forming the crystal sheets of a waterfall. The water’s edge has overhanging trees and brush. One bank has a “slide”, which is a muddy
area that animals use to approach and enter the water. Behind the falls is Sheena’s Lair. Entering requires swimming underwater or
dropping in from a hidden entrance above the rocks.
JUNGLE
SET
The Jungle
Set will be a standing, moveable greenery set that we can redress to look like
various areas of the jungle. Two sides
will be masked with berms so that we can dress them with enough foliage to
cover the background. Shooting in this area
will restrict our movement, but will afford the maximum amount of visual effect
as we can make it look like an infinite number of locations. Ideally this area would be located very near
our soundstage so that we can move the mobile greenery inside to shoot night
scenes in the jungle.
KALI’S
VILLAGE
A small
village, it consists of rectangular huts, maybe only five or six, laid out in
square. The huts are made of a
combination of grass and mud with doors made of hanging skins. A main “road” runs down the middle. Goats and cattle wander the streets. The area is kept clean, though. Each hut has small items hanging outside on
the walls. Some have skins being dried,
others have good luck charms that Kali gave them. As with the Jungle Set, we can redress and move the huts to look
like any village that we need.
INTERIORS:
CUTTER’S
OFFICE
Cutter’s
Office is best described as in a perpetual state of optimistic disarray. A small one-time bar, the office has a
counter running along one side of the room.
Behind that are filing cabinets filled with who knows what. A western saloon style bawdy painting sits
on the wall behind the bar, a leftover from better days. Another poster shows a rendition of the
infamous “Golden One”, the savage beast of the LaMistas. The poster has the image of a cross between
Big Foot and the Abominable Snowman, glowing red eyes in a darkened face, blood
splattering ground, sharp claws wrapped around a severed arm.
Various
decorations and awards are on the walls, some he won in battle, some he won on
the card table, a couple that he stole.
Prominently displayed on the bar itself is a beautifully framed picture
of a gorgeous woman he’s named Amanda.
This, he tells everyone, is the girl he left behind. The one who was too
demanding, who tried to take away his liberty.
She is example enough to anyone of Cutter’s adventurous and freedom
seeking nature. Unfortunately, none of
it is true, the picture came with the frame.
In fact, there is precious little of the real Cutter here to be
seen. Except, of course, for the
college football memorabilia that line the walls. A game football is encased in plastic and sits high atop a
cabinet, away from anyone’s touch. This
happens to be the ball that was in Cutter’s hands when he sustained that career
ending (or career beginning) injury.
What you
can’t see in his office are the weapons.
Hidden about the office are guns and knives, necessary tools in the line
of work he pursues. Also under the bar
is a bunk. Instant bedroom when he
needs it.
A small
cavern behind a waterfall, Sheena has made it her home. Here she has stored the few artifacts of her
parents and the small things that she calls her own. A small hammock bed is near one wall as well as a stone basin that
catches water from the river above. A
broken mirror is against one wall and a small grass bed is on the floor, once
occupied by Shabetha. Behind this Lair
is a series of caverns that stretch off into the darkness. In one huge room is an ancient city of a
long dead civilization. Sheena had
explored it as a child and takes little interest in it now. She respects the spirits of those who lived
there, but has no use for the diamonds that line the walls. Having been to the West, she knows their
value. But she also knows what greed
does to people, so she isn’t likely to reveal this place to anyone. Except, perhaps, Cutter, who will stumble
onto it by accident. His decision to
keep its location a secret is less because he is worried about Sheena’s wrath
and more because he respects her wishes.
He knows what men are like where wealth is concerned. After all, he is one of those men.
KALI’S
HUT
Kali’s hut
looks more like a colorful museum piece than an African hut. It is small and unassuming, but brightened
by the color of her art. Shamanistic
icons of all sort hang from the supports in the hut. Beads, herbs, totems, all placed in such a way to imply spiritual
power. There is a woven grass mat in
the middle of the floor, just in front of a small cushion. It is from this cushion that the Shamaness
Kali meets with the villagers. Overall,
though, her hut is the African version of Feng Shui. Everything is where it is supposed to be to maximize the personal
energy of the individual.
THE STRANGE WORLD OF SHEENA
Sheena has
two abilities of note. One is the
ability to communicate with animals. It
should be stressed that this is not like telepathy and has little to do with
the way we communicate with each other.
It is not Doctor Doolittle. It
is more like the way we communicate with our pets but on a much higher
level. It is a look, a gesture, a
nod. Sheena is able to convey her
meaning with little effort. Of course,
that’s only half the effort. If the
other animal isn’t willing, it means nothing.
The other ability is her being able to shape
shift into an animal. Now without
getting into the scientific explanation of how this is done (we have one, if
need be known) it is only done under very strict circumstances and has many
inherent dangers. It isn’t an easy fix
to a dilemma. Sheena has to be in the
line of sight of the animal she wants to change into. She has to make eye contact for it to happen. And when she morphs into the animal, she
takes on the characteristics of that animal.
Understand, she does not replace the source animal, that animal may just
wander away. She is a brand new animal
of the same species. As mentioned,
though, there are certain dangers. For
one, the longer she stays as a particular animal, the more she carries traits
of that animal back when she returns to human form. For example, if she is a leopard to long and changes back, you do
not want to get near her for fear of your life. If she is a rhinoceros too long, she is nearsighted for a while
when she changes back. There is also
the risk that if she stays too long, she might not be able to return to human
form. Or that she might be caught in
between, a she-creature (which only adds to the Golden One Legend).
Sheena cannot shape shift into reptiles,
insects or fish. She is restricted to
warm blooded animals. Birds and mammals
are okay. She also cannot shape shift
into any creature that knows hatred.
Therefore Rogues and other human beings are outside her abilities.
You might ask why do her clothes morph with
her? Mostly because we don’t want to
spend half the episode wondering how she got her clothes back after she morphed
out of a situation. As long as her
clothes are organic, that is made from animal skins, they have the ability to morph
with her. However, put her in a
synthetic gown and when she morphs, the clothes don’t. And, as a further note, these clothes are
made from the skins of animals she has had to kill. Wearing the skins is a way of honoring the animal.
To repeat, this ability is not an easy fix for
a dangerous situation. If she is
falling off a cliff and she can’t find a bird to fix on, she has a
problem. She has to find other ways to
save herself. The moment the audience
thinks that her shape shifting will solve a problem, we should make her
inability to do just that part of the problem itself. Perhaps the animal near her is not what the audience would
expect, but we find a creative way that particular animal can solve the problem. All of these rules will come out during the
course of the series as needed.
As mentioned before, most animals are at ease
with Sheena. However, just as there are
good people and bad people, there are good animals and bad. Some animals just don’t like Sheena at
all. They will not be of any help at
all. But worse than these are the Rogues.
Rogue
animals know anger and hatred. They are
the only enemies that Sheena truly has among the animals. Examples of Rogues would be the Man-eaters
of Tsavo, popularized in the movie “The Ghost and the Darkness”. They can range from lions to gorillas and
are all individuals. The basic rule is
that these animals know hatred, therefore they hate. The extreme subtext to this has to do with Kali’s people and what
happened to them. As stated, the legend
told of a great calamity. Kali’s people
were all shape shifters. They all had
the ability to change their shape into that of an animal, just as Kali has
taught Sheena. The problem is that they
eventually made the choice to change and remain as animals. In their mind, it was their way of
finalizing their communion with nature.
But the danger wasn’t in what they changed into, it was in what they
took with them. Certain human qualities such as intelligence, cunning and, of
course, hatred. These rogues do not
have the intelligence of humans anymore, we can’t communicate with them as we
do with each other. They are animals in
every respect except that they kill for the sake of killing.
A strange land in the middle area of
Africa. One of the last areas to be
explored, it has more legends and mysticism than most countries. An area that has tall mountains, low-lying
jungles and vast open areas, it is ripe for the picking by the civilized
world. Only its inaccessibility has
protected it so far. That protection is
quickly being eroded. The LaMistas is
also the legendary home of the Golden One.
To the outside world, the Golden One is this vicious half beast creature
that feeds on the living hearts of her victims. Obviously another reason to avoid the area. Sheena knows her reputation and does nothing
to correct it. Basically, the LaMistas
is a strange, mythical land that can be whatever we want it to be. It can be the home of a lost civilization,
as well as the ancient Elephant Burial grounds. It is an area that is so vast, that even Sheena has not seen it
all. But as she finds her way into the
deeper regions, she discovers more adventure.
To ensure
our success, we have to accomplish two basic things. One is to stop that remote control as it flicks over the
stations. In our teasers and trailers,
we have to give the audience the kind of quick eye-candy that will bring them
to our show for a sampling. Humor and
action will do that. In the fifteen to
thirty seconds that they are likely to focus on us, we have to convince them
that there is a wild ride in store for them.
Secondly, we then have to guarantee that they will return next
week. That will be done with engaging
stories and characters.
Every
episode of Sheena should be an adventure.
We want to audience to be left wanting more and setting their VCR’s in
order to catch the next episode.
Putting an emphasis on character and action, the series will have its
own sense of humor, about the situations and about itself. You are just as likely to hear Cutter
comment on the comparisons of Sheena and Tarzan as you are to hear him tell any
other joke. We can’t try to take
ourselves too seriously. We are telling
fanciful tales about fantasy people.
There is a high level of B.S. factor to contend with. The best way to defuse it is to address it. The moment the audience is likely to lose
their suspension of disbelief is when we should hit it right on the head. If a situation seems like it is
unbelievable, one of our characters should reflect that idea. There should always be a wink and a nod
toward the audience. It will add to the
fun of the series.
There will be adventure stories, dramas and
humorous stories. We don’t want to tie
ourselves down to one arena. At the
same time, we certainly don’t want to give our audience the idea that they are
seeing three different series. With a
certain deftness, all three areas will be addressed in each episode.
Obviously, as this is a series with a heavy
fantasy aspect, we should always be careful to follow the rules we set up for
our universe. We don’t want to
complicate things with lengthy explanations and, at the same time, we want to
audience to trust that we won’t violate our own world. The audience doesn’t need or want to work at
enjoying Sheena.
Additionally, though the obvious lean of the
series is toward conservation and animals, we can not become a platform to
lecture these points. They are a natural
part of the series and are a given. But
while all our stories should have moral points, they should not be morality
tales. We aren’t Western Union, our
purpose is not to deliver messages. The
moment the audience senses a lecture is the moment we lose them to the
Discovery Channel.
The bottom line is that series should be
written and directed with its own particular style. We want Sheena to be unlike any other TV Series. It will be compared to Xena and Beastmaster,
that’s a given. But it has to stand
alone in its style. With original
thinking and creativity, it will.