Cinematographers: Digital Story

 

    Having a blast is an understatement of what my film crew and I experienced in the curation of this piece. The abilities my group member possessed astonished me. As we were approaching the holiday season, we came up with the idea for the title, "A Chilling Christmas Experience."

The use of Google Docs to collaborate on the creation of the story was, in my opinion, an engaging experience, as it allowed me to observe the various approaches to writing utilized by the members of my group. The plot came together so quickly that we didn't even realize we were writing too much until it was too late. I volunteered to be the story's narrator because I enjoy telling stories, particularly scary ones. Here is a YouTube link to the digital story we created:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPmPiUWK0dk

A Chilling Christmas Experience 

It was a snowy Christmas night and Amaiyah was over the moon excited as she was making grand plans to spend Christmas with her best friend Sarah. Amaiyah exercised her organizational skills every day for two weeks, as both Sarah’s and Amaiyah's parents agreed to the visit. When Amaiyah mom dropped her off in the morning, she hurriedly walked up the path despite her mother's warnings to take her time as the ground was wet and slippery from the snow. With her hand balled into a fist, she was about to rap on the front door when Sarah swung it open and welcomed her with a big hug. Entering the warm, vanilla-scented home, Amaiyah greeted Sarah’s parents and her little sister Diana. The girls shrieked with excitement while Sarah lead the way to her room, which was already decorated with blankets and fluffy pillows for the evening in. Amaiyah had a list of things planned out for that day in her journal and so did Sarah. They began sharing their ideas and decided that the first activity they were going to tackle was playing outside in the snow. Sarah quickly went downstairs and asked her mom if they could play outside. Thankfully, her mother said yes, under the agreement that they dressed warmly.  

  

With their puffer jackets buttoned, and their gloves tucked between each finger, the girls made their way outside. Sarah bellowed a war cry, signaling the start of a snowball fight.
As the crystallized spheres sailed through the air, the girls jumped and dodged them as if their lives depended on it. In the end, Sarah stomped and performed her victory dance, letting everyone and everything in close proximity, know that she had won the war. Amaiyah was adamant that they build a snowman. Unfortunately, she missed the last three Christmas sleepovers due to being ill. The girls frantically gathered their supplies as they intended to complete their sculpture before nightfall. Three buttons were placed on the belly of the snowman, as Amaiyah described him as a studious gentleman. Sarah managed to confiscate her dad’s old fishing hat and a scarf that magically disappeared from her mother’s closet two months ago. The eyes and crooked smile were made using pebbles out of the tomato garden which was now covered with snow. Sarah and Amaiyah managed to drag broken tree branches from the neighbor's yard and a carrot that was snatched from the hands of a friendly neighborhood rabbit. The girls stood back and admired their masterpiece.

Oliver, the coldest, most dapper snowman ever built in the neighborhood of Riverdale. The girls began jumping up and down, unknowing to them, reciting a chant from a movie they saw years ago. To their surprise, Oliver began moving and making strange, gargling sounds. The girls screamed in fright and to their dismay, they were stuck to the ground, with no way of running away. Oliver began to speak, in the deepest tone either of the girls had ever heard. It almost sounded like a low growl, “Thank you for awakening me, little girls. I have waited many years for this moment!”. Riddled with fear, the girls were unable to speak. Sarah began to think back on the chant they recited that caused Oliver to come to life. The girls had no idea that they would be the ones responsible for bringing evil into their realm. The body of Oliver ended up being the ideal vessel for a malevolent ghost that had been lying latent beneath Sarah's house. The snowman stood there and observed while the girls began struggling to move their legs.
There was a loud slam in the distance, which meant one of Sarah's parents was approaching the backyard. The girls gleamed with relief as they were unable to cry for help.
“Girls, it's time for dinner!” Sarah's father yelled as he continued to walk towards them.
The girls watched in dismay as Oliver's pebbled smile and bitten nose returned to their original state. Both girls were suddenly able to move as if they had been paralyzed or in a trance for the past five minutes They took off running towards the house, faster than the speed of light, trying to put as much distance between them and Oliver. How will they explain this chilling Christmas experience to their parents?