The Stretchy Banana Narrative

I first started by brainstorming an idea for my stretchy banana short film. I wanted to capture the ways in which the banana has been used as a satirical icon within the art world and tell a story about the banana's own journey of self-discovery.

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Title: "The Stretchy Banana"

Act 1: Introduction

Setting: The scene opens to introduce an ordinary bunch of Bananas in a fruit bowl, which includes the stretchy banana, shaped as a normal banana.

First Glimpse: A human walks past, playing a YouTube video that shows bananas in art galleries and quirky shops. Banana is captivated and inspired by these images and starts to 'wake up'.

Characterization: We see representations of Banana's dreams. They wish to become like the bananas they see in these artworks, taking new and exciting shapes and forms.

Act 2: The Imaginative Journey

Inspiration: Fuelled by its newfound inspiration, Banana decides to embark on a journey to transform itself into the banana of its dreams and promptly stretches out of the fruit bowl and the front door.

Transformation Attempts: Banana tries to recreate the various forms it has seen - dancing (peanut butter jelly time), playing instruments (Andy Warhol's Nico album cover?), painting, going into a mouth, etc. Each attempt is humorous but may fall short of capturing the essence of the art, and ultimately lead to a few near-misses.

Self-Doubt: Banana finds The Comedian art installation and reflects on their own bunch back in the fruit bowl. They try to recreate the art but David Datuna tries to eat him.

We see a flashback montage of them growing up on the plantation and travelling to get to their home in the fruit bowl. Banana stretches away in the nick of time and decides to travel back home.

Act 3: Acceptance and Embrace

Realization: On returning home, Banana notices the other bananas are starting to turn brown and bruise. They make the decision to wake The Bunch and the YouTube video is shown to the other bananas. Emotional reunion Banana party ensues.

Embracing Individuality: Banana begins to appreciate its stretchy abilities and starts to create its own unique art, dancing and morphing using its stretchy form.

Community Recognition: The Bunch recognizes Banana's unique creations and celebrate by finding their own originiality and voice through shape shifting. Banana finds its happiness not by fitting in but by standing out.

Conclusion: Banana learns that while it's fun to admire and be inspired by art, true fulfillment comes from embracing one's own unique qualities. Banana discovers its own artistic voice and inspires others to embrace their individuality.

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I am travelling to London next week, and will be visiting some art galleries with the aim to photograph the banana trying to recreate banana-themed artworks.