Writer's notes Every line in our story has a clearly defined purpose. Please super ninja kick the text to view our notes for that line.	The Mutation Scene An excerpt from the Dawn of the Ninja synopsis
In our movie, we wanted to come up with a realistic way that a rat can learn the ancient art of ninja. A brain can remember just about any piece of information, even if it can't make sense of it. For the time that Splinter has spent in a cage as Yoshi's pet, his mind was unable to comprehend everything he saw. However, when Splinter begins to mutate, it is not only his body that changes, but his mind as well. In the process of his mental transformation, his brain begins to process all the things it has learned over the years. The scene begins soon after Hamato Yoshi and Tang Shen are murdered. With "AWESOMENESS" in mind, we decided to have the mutation take place beneath a game of street basketball because we wanted to create an atmosphere that feels like it could happen just down the street from you. This environment provides a greater oppertunity for awesomeness, transforming a simple thing into an exciting moment. Everyone knows the turtles will mutate, but how do you make that cool? It's not cool when it just happens, it becomes cool when there is somebody there to react to it happening. The mutation experienced needed to be just that, an "experience"! By making the transformation process painful and unpredictable, it feels more realistic. Mutation is not natural, and if an animal were to undergo that type of change in a relatively short amount of time, it is only logical to assume there would be a violent reaction to the process. There was a discovery channel story that was about a boy getting injected with growth hormones. At night the boy was screaming because he would be growing an inch or two. Imagine growing several feet in a matter of hours! This was a cool way to set the tone that the turtles are more than a person in a costume. Consider this, a turtle has very bad hearing and is nearly deaf by human standards. Imagine a life without sound, and BAM, suddenly everything down to a pindrop is crystal clear. We feel this will help the terrifying nature of their transformation resonate with the audience in a powerfully unique way. The turtles are in for a rough ride from the very beginning. This scene sets the tone for our movie and illustrates the power of their mutation. We wanted to demonstrate that despite Murphy's Law, the turtles can and will prevail. We believe it is important to say as much as possible with as few words as possible. This scene tells volumes about what is happening. Killing two birds with one shuriken, we wanted to show... As a rat, Splinter is frightened by what is happening to him Splinter gains "self awareness" Explain how a rat is capable of learning ninja First and foremost, we want to demonstrate that Splinter is a ninja. We wanted Splinter to be more than just the wise old mentor who sits around and gives advice. We needed to have a splinter who can "talk the talk and walk the walk". As a rat, all that Splinter knew was Yoshi's home. In his frightened state, he subconsciously runs home. Once he arrives, he realizes where he has gone and understands the significance of what has occurred. When watching the show, we always wondered "where did Splinter get all that Japanese stuff?". We felt this was a question that deserved an answer. What do you think is in the box?	A rat is wandering the sewers scavenging for food near a sewage drop when suddenly the canister of ooze falls and breaks near the rat covering him with the ooze. Moments later, the four turtles are washed up over the drop and fall into the ooze as well. One of the turtle's shells are broken severely due to the fall. Directly above them on the street, there is a group of kids playing basketball. Back in the sewer, the rat watches the turtles curiously as the turtle's broken shell is mended, and the turtles begin to mutate. Due to the rapid nature of the mutation, the skin is continuously tearing and the bones are repeatedly broken while healing at the same time causing the turtles much pain. The rat is also experiencing much pain as his body begins to change. The turtles are screaming in pain, though faint at first, it grows louder as they become larger. Finally the screaming becomes loud enough for one of the boys playing basketball to hear. One of the boys stops playing and walks toward the sound, stopping above the sewer grate where the noise is coming from.From the perspective of the turtles, the sound of a basketball bouncing is becoming louder and louder indicating their heightened sense of hearing. The screaming has become so loud that all the boys but one have stopped playing basketball and are hovering around the sewer grate in the street. One of the boys mocks the others and urges them to ignore the sound and play basketball. He continues to bounce the ball. One of the still un-developed turtles jumps into the air when he can no longer withstand the noise and pain, striking his shell against the sewer ceiling. The concrete at the boys' feet cracks with a loud sound bowing upward. The boys are all frightened and run away. By now, the rat has become significantly larger. After witnessing the mutation of the turtles, he becomes frightened and starts running away. The rat continues to mutate while running. The mutations are not perfectly synchronized causing either an arm or a leg to mutate faster than the other. This hinders the rat's movements through the sewers as he is entering the subway tunnels. As the rat mutates, he begins to have momentary flashbacks of his life and everything he has learned from his master Yoshi. Without realizing it, he performs a movement only a skilled ninja can perform in order to avoid being hit by an oncoming train. The rat ends up at the home of Yoshi, which has been cordoned off by the police. He realizes where he has gone and begins to salvage whatever he can of Yoshi's belongings. He finds a box in a closet with Japanese writing on the outside. He opens the box and a glimmer of light reflects off the objects in the box and onto his smiling face.

Writer's notes

Every line in our story has a clearly defined purpose. Please super ninja kick the text to view our notes for that line.

The Mutation Scene

An excerpt from the Dawn of the Ninja synopsis

In our movie, we wanted to come up with a realistic way that a rat can learn the ancient art of ninja.

A brain can remember just about any piece of information, even if it can't make sense of it. For the time that Splinter has spent in a cage as Yoshi's pet, his mind was unable to comprehend everything he saw. However, when Splinter begins to mutate, it is not only his body that changes, but his mind as well. In the process of his mental transformation, his brain begins to process all the things it has learned over the years.

The scene begins soon after Hamato Yoshi and Tang Shen are murdered.

With "AWESOMENESS" in mind, we decided to have the mutation take place beneath a game of street basketball because we wanted to create an atmosphere that feels like it could happen just down the street from you.

This environment provides a greater oppertunity for awesomeness, transforming a simple thing into an exciting moment. Everyone knows the turtles will mutate, but how do you make that cool? It's not cool when it just happens, it becomes cool when there is somebody there to react to it happening.

The mutation experienced needed to be just that, an "experience"! By making the transformation process painful and unpredictable, it feels more realistic. Mutation is not natural, and if an animal were to undergo that type of change in a relatively short amount of time, it is only logical to assume there would be a violent reaction to the process.

There was a discovery channel story that was about a boy getting injected with growth hormones. At night the boy was screaming because he would be growing an inch or two. Imagine growing several feet in a matter of hours!

This was a cool way to set the tone that the turtles are more than a person in a costume. Consider this, a turtle has very bad hearing and is nearly deaf by human standards. Imagine a life without sound, and BAM, suddenly everything down to a pindrop is crystal clear. We feel this will help the terrifying nature of their transformation resonate with the audience in a powerfully unique way.

The turtles are in for a rough ride from the very beginning. This scene sets the tone for our movie and illustrates the power of their mutation. We wanted to demonstrate that despite Murphy's Law, the turtles can and will prevail.

We believe it is important to say as much as possible with as few words as possible. This scene tells volumes about what is happening.

Killing two birds with one shuriken, we wanted to show...

As a rat, Splinter is frightened by what is happening to him
Splinter gains "self awareness"
Explain how a rat is capable of learning ninja

First and foremost, we want to demonstrate that Splinter is a ninja. We wanted Splinter to be more than just the wise old mentor who sits around and gives advice. We needed to have a splinter who can "talk the talk and walk the walk".

As a rat, all that Splinter knew was Yoshi's home. In his frightened state, he subconsciously runs home. Once he arrives, he realizes where he has gone and understands the significance of what has occurred. When watching the show, we always wondered "where did Splinter get all that Japanese stuff?". We felt this was a question that deserved an answer.

What do you think is in the box?

A rat is wandering the sewers scavenging for food near a sewage drop when suddenly the canister of ooze falls and breaks near the rat covering him with the ooze. Moments later, the four turtles are washed up over the drop and fall into the ooze as well. One of the turtle's shells are broken severely due to the fall. Directly above them on the street, there is a group of kids playing basketball. Back in the sewer, the rat watches the turtles curiously as the turtle's broken shell is mended, and the turtles begin to mutate. Due to the rapid nature of the mutation, the skin is continuously tearing and the bones are repeatedly broken while healing at the same time causing the turtles much pain. The rat is also experiencing much pain as his body begins to change. The turtles are screaming in pain, though faint at first, it grows louder as they become larger. Finally the screaming becomes loud enough for one of the boys playing basketball to hear. One of the boys stops playing and walks toward the sound, stopping above the sewer grate where the noise is coming from.From the perspective of the turtles, the sound of a basketball bouncing is becoming louder and louder indicating their heightened sense of hearing. The screaming has become so loud that all the boys but one have stopped playing basketball and are hovering around the sewer grate in the street. One of the boys mocks the others and urges them to ignore the sound and play basketball. He continues to bounce the ball. One of the still un-developed turtles jumps into the air when he can no longer withstand the noise and pain, striking his shell against the sewer ceiling. The concrete at the boys' feet cracks with a loud sound bowing upward. The boys are all frightened and run away.

By now, the rat has become significantly larger. After witnessing the mutation of the turtles, he becomes frightened and starts running away. The rat continues to mutate while running. The mutations are not perfectly synchronized causing either an arm or a leg to mutate faster than the other. This hinders the rat's movements through the sewers as he is entering the subway tunnels. As the rat mutates, he begins to have momentary flashbacks of his life and everything he has learned from his master Yoshi. Without realizing it, he performs a movement only a skilled ninja can perform in order to avoid being hit by an oncoming train.

The rat ends up at the home of Yoshi, which has been cordoned off by the police. He realizes where he has gone and begins to salvage whatever he can of Yoshi's belongings. He finds a box in a closet with Japanese writing on the outside. He opens the box and a glimmer of light reflects off the objects in the box and onto his smiling face.