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BIOS:
Tall Man – a simple native of Ireland; is dressed in a style similar to that seen in the reference
photo, with long, well-kept hair, and a long (and even better-kept) beard.
Short Man and Beardless Man – also simple natives of Ireland; they are dressed similarly to Tall
Man.
Monk #1 – a Catholic monk; he wears the traditional monk robe, with a cloak over it. His head
is shaved in the traditional ‘bathtub ring’ style, and sports a full beard.
Monk #2 – another Catholic monk, only younger; he is dressed the same, and has his hair
styled the same as the other monk, but he has no beard.
STORY
In 1472, the Annals of the Four Masters records that the King of England sent to the country of
Ireland the gift of an exotic animal – a giraffe.
The story starts with the giraffe arriving on the shore near Waterford, to the amazement of the
three natives who come across it. They then spend the rest of the story trying to figure out what
the creature is, and what it can do, by putting it through a series of ‘tests’ that it has no way of
passing.
Finally, giving up on what use it could serve, the three leave the giraffe at the door of a nearby
abbey, and in the hands of two monks, who ask each other what they should do with it.
LETTERING NOTES
Because the characters will be speaking Gaelic and Latin, it would be best if the dialogue were
presented in the style that they were written in at that time (BlamBot has a really great font in
this style, it’s called ‘Ale & Wenches’).
In the late 1400s, Ireland had been by and large left alone by England, to the point where
people had gone back to speaking Gaelic (or, if outside of Ireland, Latin) and had enacted laws
aimed at curbing the rights of anyone from England still in Ireland. The Catholic Church, due to
the cults of Saints Patrick and Brigid, had a strong presence there, but was still encountering
heavy resistance from the Druids.
AN SIORÁF– © 2010; Kevin Byrne (917) 693-7408; byrne.kevin@gmail.com
Panel One
A ship is sailing towards a shoreline; this is the the coast of Ireland.
The CAPTION BOX should look like it was actually part of a piece of parchment, to reflect
the history behind the words (just a thought).
CAPTION 1: “IN 1472, THE ANNALS OF THE FOUR MASTERS RECORDS THAT
THE KING OF ENGLAND SENT UNTO IRELAND A MOST EXOTIC
GIFT.”
Panel Two
The ship is now sailing away from shore, and it is being chased by a volley of arrows.
Panel Three
On the shore now; there’s some broken wood laying about. There’s some writing on
some of the wood pieces – one piece has ‘CAMELOP’ written on it – the remains of a
wooden crate. A number of human footprints can be seen moving around the wood.
Panel One
Medium shot of a giraffe; it’s as if we’re in front of it, looking up at the animal. It, in turn,
is looking at us.
Panel Two
Three men are standing there; we’re looking at them from the POV of the giraffe.
Panel Three
The Short Man – the one on the right – speaks.
Panel One
The Tall Man – standing in the center – has turned and is looking at the Short Man; he
has an exasperated look on his face, as if he wants to throw up his hands and say,
“Really?”
Panel Two
The Tall Man speaks.
Panel Three
The man on the left – the Beardless Man – has stepped forward, still staring up at the
giraffe.
Panel One
A wide shot of the three men and the giraffe. The giraffe has sort of been outfitted much
like a warhorse from that time – covered with heavy trapping and such. You can see that
it’s a bit of a strain from the position of its knees.
Panel Two
The Beardless Man is trying to jump onto the back of the giraffe while the other two
watch.
Panel Three
The giraffe has collapsed into a rather messy heap, with the man’s legs sticking out from
the pile. The Tall Man is talking.
Panel One
The three men are sitting near the giraffe’s feet. The Short Man is talking.
Panel Two
The Short Man is climbing up the neck of the giraffe.
Panel Three
The giraffe has bent its neck down all the way; the man is now barely hanging on, face to
face with the giraffe. The Beardless Man is speaking to him from off-panel.
Panel One
The giraffe has started eating leaves; all we can see is from the mid-neck to the head.
Panel Two
Tall Man and Beardless Man are talking, while the Short Man starts walking off-panel
(towards US), carrying what looks like a crude metal pail. Tall Man is talking to the Short
Man.
Panel Three
Same shot; Short Man is talking.
Panel One
Short Man has gone off-panel, leaving the other two standing there, their heads at an odd
angle as they watch what’s happening off-panel.
Panel Two
Still in the same pose, the two now have surprised (and a bit shocked and bug-eyed)
looks on their faces, as Short Man calls out from off-panel.
Panel Three
Short Man is back in-panel, running away into the background, the pail now on his head.
Panel One
Wide shot of where the three men and the giraffe are; from here, we can see that the sun
is on the left side of the sky.
MAN 1: NO.
Panel Two
Same wide shot as before, only now, the sun is near the high noon mark, and the men
and the giraffe are in a different part of the field.
MAN 2: NO.
Panel Three
Finally, the same scene, with the sun low on the right as dusk settles in. Again, the men
and the giraffe are in a different part of the field.
MAN 3: AHH!
MAN 4: NO.
AN SIORÁF– © 2010; Kevin Byrne (917) 693-7408; byrne.kevin@gmail.com
Panel One
The three men are sitting on top of a small hill, where they can see the giraffe nearby.
Behind all of them is a bit of forest.
Panel Two
In the background, from the forest, we can see a slight column of smoke rise. The
Beardless Man is pointing at it.
Panel Three
The three are looking at each other, smiling.
AN SIORÁF– © 2010; Kevin Byrne (917) 693-7408; byrne.kevin@gmail.com
Panel One
Cut to a roughly-made wooden door. One of the men is standing in front of it, knocking.
SFX 1: knockknockknock
Panel Two
The man has run away from the door, leaving nothing but a small cloud of dust and a
sound effect.
SFX 2: ziiiip
Panel Three
The door has opened, and a young monk is standing in the doorway.
Panel One
The monk and the giraffe look at each other.
Panel Two
Another monk calls from inside.
Panel Three
The monk answers back without taking his eyes off of the giraffe.
Panel One
Close in on the monk, still looking up at the giraffe, as the head of an older monk appears
from out of the doorway, and is also looking up at the giraffe.
Panel Two
The older monk speaks.
Panel Three
The same shot as previous.
OLD MONK 2: …DO YOU THINK WE COULD USE IT AGAINST THE DRUIDS?
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