Story

SCRAP is set in the near future after an apocalyptic global nuclear event. It is based on the daily routine of an old man, Malakai living in a wasteland. He is living a lonely boring life, completing his daily routines until one day he finds something which changes his life; An old abandoned robot head. He takes it home and builds him a body beginning a friendship which defines both Malakai and his new metal friend.

Concept

SCRAP, is the final year project for Alan Coughlan, Joe Griffin and Chris O Halloran who are Multimedia graduates from Corks institute of technology.

The original idea for the animation came from the theory of technological singularity. This is the idea that technology is advancing at an exponential rate and will eventually develop cognitive abilities and possibly take over humanity. Obviously there are extremes to this theory but this is what excited us and caused us to explore the idea further. Popular theorists include Ray kurzweil, Dr. Michio Kaku and Vernor Vinge.

We wanted to highlight the positive aspects of advancments in technology instead of the potential for war and violence.We wanted a simple story with a strong human character in order to entice an emotional conection with the audience, and above all make him cute and lovable.

Characters

Malakai

Malakai is a 75 year old farmer and a very lonely and sad individual.He was an engineer before he took early retirement. He retired because his developing osteoporosis was causing him to develop a hunch. He regularly scavenges the land including a nearby abandoned scrap yard for material to use for his house. Shortly after burying his wife Gretna from radiation poisioning he moved away from their suburban house to the hut where he used go on holidays when he was small. The woodland has long since disappeared and turned into a baron wasteland.

He finds that tending to his crops gives him comfort and consoles him somewhat. Tomatoes were his wives favourite vegetable to grow and it was the only crop he knew how to properly tend to. Farming reminds him of Gretna every time he tends to his crops and it is almost like she is still with him.

Scrap

Scrap, originally called Persi, was a helper robot to a family years ago but was sold to a junk dealer when they couldn’t afford to repair him. He was then sold to a logging company who used him to help clear the woodlands around the old mans hut. After the nuclear disaster a major recession hit and the logging company closed down. He was dismantled and left in a makeshift scrapyard with old machinery. Years passed until the other robots shut down and eventually it was only his head left among to rubble. To conserve his last remaining power he shuts himself down and only reboots every couple of weeks in the hope of finding help.

The Talent

Alan Coughlan

Alan Coughlan is a 22 year old graphic and web designer. He was responsible for the website and development stages of the project. Born and raised in Rochestown, he has lived in Cork all his life. He is a staunch supporter of S.S. Lazio and loves football. He loves blues and hard rock occasionally drifing into metal but quickly back out again. Favourite bands include; Led Zeppelin, Rory Gallagher, John Lee Hooker, Cream, Hendrix, Tool, Black Keys, QOTSA and Clutch. Alans favourite animations are UP and craterface.

Chris O Halloran

Chris is a freelance illustrator living in Cork and was responsible for the design aspects of the animation. His interests include animation, web design and drawing comics. He has spent the last four years completing his BA in Multimedia at CIT and having a blast. He recently won the "Most Awesome Person in the Group' award at the Scrap awards show, with a massive 33% of the vote. Chris' favorite animation is Toy Story 3.

Joe Griffin

Joe is a native of Clonakilty, West Cork. He was mainly responsible for the character animation in the film. He's always been a geek for cartoons and animation so when the opportunity came to make an animation for his final year project as part of his studies in CIT, he jumped at the chance. Some of Joes' favourite animations are Tarboy by James Lee and also Samurai Jack. Other interests include web development and sports.

Brendan O Connor

Brendan O'Connor is 22 year old musician. Having studied in the Cork School of Music for 4 years, he has learnt a number of musicianship skills and developed a strong interest in the areas of composition, performance, orchestration and music technology. Brendan was subsequently snapped up to participate in Scrap, acting as composer for the soundtrack. Brendan also teaches classical guitar and performs in the extremely successful cover band 'Red Effect'. His compositions have been performed by Cork School of Music ensembles as well as the Cork School of Music Symphony Orchestra. There has been recent worldwide interest in a project himself and two friends got involved in titled 'Flight of the Bumblebee on 101 bottles'.