#ANIMATIC – Aurelia NTU Blog

Prompt

When the call came in, I thought I was ready for it, but I never knew that it would turn out to be like this…

Story

Logline

Carrie never sees her father as an inspiration to be successful in life until he passed away.

Synopsis

Exposition:

A long time street hawker, Carrie’s father finds himself struggling financially, as his relationship with his family becomes increasing stressed. He runs a traditional snack stall that belonged to his family and now hopes that he is able to pass it down to his daughter, Carrie. Despite his respectable status, Carrie finds herself betraying his family’s business by providing unsatisfactory service out of spite.

With little help from his daughter, he had to stay until 12 midnight everyday in order to get more customers and earn money for the family. This tired him out and increased his risk of cancer, but chose to hide it from Carrie since she was in secondary school.

Rising Action

As Carrie is entering her first year of university, the relationship with her father continues to be strained. She even insulted him for being a complete failure in life and he was the reason the family was poor. This disappointed her father but Carrie was ignorant about his emotions. Carrie’s father started to drown his sorrows with cans of beers every day at a nearby coffee shop after work and was coming back late. His drinking habit became a hindrance to his cancer illness.

Four years later, Carrie became a successful lawyer and was spending less time with her father. She was clearly oblivious to her father’s deteriorating illness. Ironically, the building where she works is located near her father’s stall. Her colleagues, who were patrons of her father’s stall mentioned how the food has become of poor quality but the owner still wanted to remain open for business. He kept coughing and missing out orders. Carrie felt guilty after hearing what her colleagues said and wondered if it was her fault that made her father to become ill. After work, she decided to search for her father at the street market but later finds him at a coffee shop nearby. She was shocked to see her father lying on the table, crushed cans of beers surrounding him. She sighed and reluctantly helped her father up who cried out ” Why am I so useless? Why can’t I provide the best for my daughter? “. Carrie felt even more guilty as she never knew her thoughts would influence him to turn to alcoholism.

When Carrie brought her father home, her mother started to worry because she knew that her father had been drinking again. She told Carrie how her father had been drinking ever since she insulted him for being a complete failure in life. Because he keeps mumbling out the same sentences on how he was unable to provide the best for his daughter. Then, Carrie’s mother suggested she taking over the business. Carrie simply replied “no “.

Climax

Next morning, Carrie’s father’s illness got worse. His vision blurred and his hands were shaking more vigorously. Knowing his days were numbered, he went to Carrie’s room and asked if she could help him one last time. However, Carrie was in a rush and she lashed him off before leaving for work. Carrie’s father was disheartened as he turns to recipe and wonders who would be able to take over his family business. Suddenly, he started coughing heavily and was suffering chest pains as he tried to reach for his medicines but dropped them instead and ended coughing badly. His wife saw this and immediately called Carrie to tell how her father is coughing badly. Each time she called, Carrie would always think that was a minor cough and told her mother to give her the updates based on the doctor’s report. The big blow did not hit Carrie until the hospital called her saying that her father passed away. She started crying with tears full of regrets , failing to realise how she should have spent more time with him and being more aware of his illness.

When she reached the hospital, she cried again once she sees the sheet covering her father’s dead body. Then, her mother went over and passed Carrie the recipe which her father had been holding for years. She told Carrie her father had been holding this recipe until she reached the hospital because he wanted to pass it to her. Carrie’s mother also told Carrie the reason her father wanted her to take over the business was because he trusts her.

Falling Action

After listening to her mother, Carrie was reminded how she watched her father every night preparing for his business but she never helped. She came to realise how important the business is to him and decided to make it up to him by taking over his business. She decided to make it up to her father by learning the recipe every night and slowly found interest in making the tutu kueh.

Resolution

Months later after she took over the business, crowds of people started streaming in even during the non-peak hours. This may have exhausted Carrie out but nothing could make her happier than fulfilling her dad’s soul.

Original Storyboard