Based on the Cupid & Psyche myth, my new Iridescent Heart project is really my first foray into structured narrative across a series. My previous work I treated more like vignettes; there was connective thematic and character tissue, but no plot through line.
Rather than create an entire narrative from scratch, I’m opting to use the original myth as a rough shot list. These are based on the version Lucius Apuleius’s has in Metamorphoses (AKA The Golden Ass).
I don’t normal show these sorts of notes; I use tracing paper (physical) or multiple layers (digital) to take notes on top of notes at this stage.
Shot List
1. Venus worshiped |
2. Venus abandoned1 |
3. Psyche worshiped |
4. Venus spying on Psyche in a rage |
5. Venus plotting with Cupid2 |
6. Cupid preparing his arrows3 |
7. Cupid seeing Psyche |
8. Cupid injuring himself |
9. Cupid falls in love |
10. Psyche alone in a crowd4 |
11. Psyche seeking advice |
12. Oracle’s prediction5 of Psyche’s monstrous husband6 |
13. Psyche’s death/marriage |
14. Psyche alone in paradise7 |
15. Cupid simultaneously present and absent |
16. Psyche’s sisters’ warnings8 |
17. Psyche’s anxiety |
18. Psyche illuminates/reveals9 her husband |
19. Cupid flees |
20. Psyche in grief10 |
21. Psyche wandering into Venus’s abandoned temple |
22. Psyche begging forgiveness and aid11 |
23. Cupid, heartbroken at his mother’s |
24. Venus giving Psyche a sorting task12 |
25. Psyche’s grief at being unable to fulfill the task |
26. Cupid’s secret aid to Psyche13 14 |
27. Venus’s shock at Psyche’s success |
28. Venus giving Psyche a collection task15 |
29. Psyche’s grief at being unable to fulfill the task |
30. Cupid’s secret aid to Psyche |
31. Psyche returning triumphant |
32. Venus sending Psyche to the underworld |
33. Psyche’s grief at being unable to fulfill the task |
34. Psyche entering the underworld |
35. Proserpina, queen of the dead16 |
36. The box17 of beauty that should be left closed |
37. Psyche’s curiosity |
38. Psyche asleep/dead |
39. Cupid revives Psyche |
40. Cupid shields Psyche from Venus |
41. Venus relenting |
42. Cupid & butterfly-winged18 Psyche married |
Location Notes
Venus’s temple/palace Iridescent water & greek columns |
Psyche’s mundane world Minimalist, neutral colors |
Cupid & Psyche’s home Cyberfuturist: full of autonomous machines that invisibly care for Psyche’s needs |
Game/challenge Hall A mashup of a 1980s arcade and Tron-esq virtual reality |
Underworld Glitched, filled with pop-up spam, and kind of broken. With skulls |
Between spaces Either a void space, or looking between two other settings. TV viewing? |