Case Debrief

Take out your notepads detective, let's get into the case.

Tales of the Witnesses is a 5x5 episodic narrative entangling six characters. The scene: a dinner party in the private-owned mansion of the Darwin family. The crime: the tragic murder of the host - Warren Darwin. We have reasons to believe the killer was hiding in plain sight in the first investigation.

So, ask yourself detectives, what secrets can you find uncovering their tapes? And who was the dirty little liar who tried to outsmarted the law?

​

​The story of each episode follows the same narrative arc, starting with the set-up where we are introduce to all the characters, then the inciting event that triggers the conflicts that drives all the characters' motivation. The conflicts will reach its conclusion at the climax of the episode and the following falling action is when the characters have to deal with the consequences of the conflicts. The grand finale is the resolution, when the body is discovered after everything, and where the mystery begins.

Some of you might be new detectives, so here are a few things to keep in mind while you watch our tapes. 

​

Each interview lasts five minutes in which they will be taking you through to the chain of events leading up to the discovery of mister Warren Darwin's body. They were all asked the same set of questions: self- introduction, their relationship with the deceased, what happened that night, and where were they when it happened. Pay close attention from the moment they walk in, each little details can reveal if their account lined up with the truth or not.

​

Now remember, sometimes people lie because they are guilty, but sometimes they just do to get off the pressure of the moment's conviction. So no matter what you think of them, make sure to review all the recordings before forming your judgement. We expect you can find some sort of leads from this. Good luck detective.

The recordings we have here are taken in the 1920s, so you might find the suspects bearing resemblances to the UPA, Mid-Century modern cartoon style, with some Art Deco inspirational sparks in their physique and outfit. Each person would even had their own separated monochrome palettes that speaks of their personality. Don't be flabbergasted, that was the detectives work to make sure they show the truest of their color during the interview. 

Just to remind you:

• Our victim - Mr. Warren Darwin (white) was an accomplished scientist with an unquenchable drive for scientific greatness.

• Mr. Warren Darwin was married to Grace Darwin (gold). A a young flapper with glitter in her eyes that also blinds her from the darker truths in life.

• Mr. Darwin had an older brother, Richmond Darwin (red) a writer with a detrimental coping mechanism to his ongoing failure.

• Richmond Darwin's wife, Bertha Darwin (blue), a promising but retired actress doing her best as a housewife to forget the  biggest misfortune of her life.

• Another possible murderer at the party was Peyton Franzblau (purple). Ms. Franzblau and Darwin fell apart because Ms. Franzblau got her hands dirty trying to regain her family's wealth and was caught. Even though it seems like she managed to rekindle with Mr. Darwin somehow, we can't rule out that she didn't have a scheme in mind coming to that faithful party.

• Last but not least, we have Mr. Geovani Columbo (green). He's an old mobster stumbling his way to living up to his family's infamous reputation. He was invited to the party via Ms. Franzblau, which put him in the pool of suspect under our radar as well.

Since all of our possible perpetrator had a reason to kill the victim, this investigation's main focus is on the fragility of lies. Your involvement in solving this case would help shine a light on how the truth takes time and takes all the pieces to be accepted.

To support the investigation, we did research on the 1920s cultural expectations and norms across categories like: outward appearance, behavioral pattern, relationships, political situation and some economical researches. In addition to looking into the past, we also applied contemporary studies into the building of the world using certain theories like color understanding and interpretation and psychology analysis. Upon doing research, we did notice some creative liberty taken in the making of these tapes that helps our modern detectives engage with its development and related to the interviewees better.

We mentioned this in the Character Concept part of the debrief, but the crowd we are looking at are inspired by the UPA, Mid-Century modern cartoon style. That's why you'll also be seeing their movement be displayed as swiftly, exaggerated, and flimsy as such.

The interviews will be shown in a 2D frame to frame traditional animation style, taking inspiration from our references such as the UPA animated works.

The Advantages
This technique of animation allows more opportunities to play around with and exaggerate the characters' different ways of moving and acting, and through that imbuing them with more feelings and personality.
Additionally, this style of animation brings about the nostalgia of old animation classics, which is also the intended aesthetics of this production.

The Disadvantages
Traditional 2D animation is notorious for being super time-consuming and work-intensive, and this problem will be something our production will have to find solutions for.

​

Examples

Though it is no longer the preferred technique for feature length animated movies, 2D animation is seeing a rise in popularity with series on other platforms, such Netflix and YouTube. Shows such as The Cuphead Show, Rick and Morty, Hazbin Hotel, Adventure Time,... has proven that 2D animation is still very much beloved by audience, from young kids to adults alike.

The department has decided to release this investigation in full, all of our tapes, five minutes each, onto YouTube. We are hoping this could increase the case's exposure to the public, and by having the tapes published on YouTube, plausible theories and discussions can be drawn in the comments.

We need as many eyes as possible to look into this crime, making sure it'll never go cold like the first time. When we can catch the person who committed this, with the help of the public, those who deserves the truth will receive the truth as a token of our gratitude for their contribution.

Let's be real, a case like this going cold, there must have been more than just money involved to keep the truth quiet.

​

We need all the help we can get. That's why we're releasing our tapes on YouTube. We need to find those who enjoys watching true crime, investigative and detective content, and/or solving puzzles and mysteries in other contexts. We need to find, among them, at the top, the potential detectives who can vocalize their speculations and discuss the case with the others. 

​

The search for the right one starts wide at the base, with anyone in the age range of 16+, live in modern/suburban areas, fluent in English and like consuming English content, have access to the internet and find entertainment in YouTube and online content.

They might also be interested in ARG content, and play/enjoy games and boardgames that requires a lot of analyzing, recalling and speculating on clues and evidence to arrive at a solution.

​

Additionally, if they enjoy studying about color theories and using color to analyze human emotions, this case could be of great interest.

Our behavior mood board consists of the following movies and shows that share plenty of commonalities in the story-telling method to our content.
Firstly, we looked at movies with unreliable narrator and the Rashomon effect. Another genre that we took inspiration from is the detective movies that showcase a crime case with all the evidence and statement from the witness, and the viewer follows along as the detective or investigator is working on the case.
Additionally, we also took inspiration from anthologies, with different segments of the full story from the different characters' points of view, and see how the paths intersect,
And finally, we took inspiration from movies and TV shows set in the 1920s to build a setup for our series. Read our detailed explanation below.