Story Beats and Treatment
Story Beats
- A farmer tends to his scarecrows
- The farmer barks at surrounding crows before walking back to the farmhouse
- Crows approach Lump
- Lump scares them off
- Crows fly off immediately
- Crows approach Maurice
- Crows loiter and “talk” to Maurice
- Lump scolds Maurice
- Maurice mocks Lump
- Lump returns to his chair
- Crops start to disappear overtime
- Farmer notices missing crops
- Lump tries again to discipline Maurice
- Maurice, surrounded by crows, mocks back again
- Crows swarm Lump
- Rifle shots are heard
- A crow falls to the ground
- Maurice is devastated
- Lump hears a rustle in the crops
- A rat is nibbling at crops
- A crow scares rat away before Lump
- Crow flies away
- A conflicted Lump looks at Maurice
- Lump gets an idea
- Lump sticks hand of hay in broken watermelon
- Later the two are at regular posts
- A crow is on Maurice again
- Farmer walks by
- Lump hits Maurice over the head
- Reveal scary face on the other side
- Crow flies away and farmer passes
- Maurice spins head back around to a smile
- Lump smiles back
Treatment
On an old farm in the middle of nowhere, an even older farmer adjusts the posture of his weathered scarecrows: Lump and Maurice. Before walking back to his farmhouse, the farmer barks at the surrounding crows. The crows attempt perching atop of Lump, but quickly retreat after Lump intimidates them with a scare. Lastly, the crows make their way to Maurice, who is happy to receive some company. The crows “talk” to Maurice as he nods in affirmation. The crows fly away after speaking their mind and Maurice welcomes the next. Disgruntled with Maurice’s tolerance, Lump scolds him. Maurice brushes it off by mocking his grouchy counterpart, who then returns to his irritated position.
Time passes and the farmer notices that his crops are disappearing. Lump watches in fear as his farmer walks away dissatisfied. Hoping to find some equal concern, he turns to Maurice. Instead Maurice is blissfully unaware and surrounded by a murder of crows. Furious, Lump tries again to discipline the reckless scarecrow. This time however, the reckless scarecrow is backed by a dozen birds. As Maurice mocks an anxious Lump once more, the crows join in. The murder starts to swarm Lump and the sounds of cawing become louder and louder. Suddenly, the chaos is interrupted by shots from a rifle. A mess of black feathers fill the air as the crows depart, but not before one falls to the ground, right in front of Maurice.
Maurice’s head hangs low, staring at what used to be living. He is devastated, but does not move. Lump is also stationary and silent, feeling sorry that Maurice had to learn a lesson in such a harsh way… but Lump’s thought is disturbed by a rustle in the field. He decides to investigate and finds a rat feasting on the crops, but before he can scare away the rodent, a crow does instead. The rat flees and the crow and Lump share a brief glance before the crow escapes as well. Lump is conflicted and looks back to see the back of Maurice’s head, who hasn’t moved - but that’s when Lump gets an idea. He sticks his hand in the shattered watermelon, gaining the attention of a curious Maurice.
Later, we see the two scarecrows back at their posts. A crow is even perched upon Maurice’s arm once again, but this time Lump doesn't seem to mind. The farmer walks by and Lump quickly knocks Maurice over the head. The impact causes the jug to spin around, revealing a terrifying face painted by Lump on the other side. The crow flies away quickly. Once the farmer passes, Maurice spins his face back to the approachable side and the two scarecrows share a smile.