Background of Creation
I had a discussion with a friend about why lawyers defend for miscreants and whether these lawyers will feel guilty. Later on, I realized that whether the discussion itself is valid or not depends on how we define “miscreant”. Hence, it provoked thinking about justice.
Justice is divided into moral justice and jural justice :
Emotionally people are inclined to support the weak, but the biggest problem for moral justice is uncertainty. It is difficult to discern the truth, so people can only resort to emotion. Finally it becomes emotional release. However, the jural justice can just guarantee the procedural rightness. What we can do is to apply all kinds of means to look for evidence and then infer the objective facts. The result may consist with the facts or may not.
Therefore, the truth remains in the past forever, and it can not be known completely by anyone.
Rationally, justice should not be established on morality. But when the moral justice contradicts the jural justice, I can’t help asking myself whether the person who makes fair judgment will vacillate or not?
That’s why I wrote this story.
Character (relation) & Scene
Lawyer ［Z］
defensen attorney
A vigorous young man. Let justice be done is his creed as a lawyer. Rich experience gives him enough confidence to win the lawsuit for his clients. Like wearing British style tall hats and dark windbreaker.
The old man ［Y］
accuser
A haggard old man, aged 65-75, hunchbacked and crippled, simply but neatly dressed.
Lawyer［X］
prosecution attorney , the old man entrusts him as his legal representative.
A strapping person with seemingly hostile expressions. Defend aggressively in the court.
Presiding Judge［W］
Scene A > outside of the court
Scene B > in the court
Scene C > Phoenix tree path
Plot
Story Outline
It was a fine late autumn morning, melodious bird’s singing broke the surrounding silence and flew to the hand of the Goddess of Justice, a statue at the gate of the court which was filled with solemnity and repression. They jumped up and down, chased between the scale which stands for equity just like they were bantering with each other. Inside the court, the atmosphere was totally different. At the moment, a heated debate was carried out. Back-and-forth, fierce battle of tongue between lawyers of both sides made the present audience amazed. As the presiding judge put down the gavel, this stage of the lawsuit came to an end.
On the road that he passes everyday on his way home, lawyer Z thought that although it was tough, he would win the case. It is a path where you seldom meet others. As autumn came, the leaves of phoenix trees on both sides of the road began to fall one after another. It seems that the road was paved with golden carpet. “so beautiful” Z thought. As he followed the bird’s singing, he found that there was a man, putting his face behind the newspaper at the corner. The man was so concentrative that he just saw the bird on his shoulder. Then he packed up the newspaper and raised his head and saw Z who was in front of him. They looked at each other, shocked at first. Then, the man nodded his head out of courtesy, Z took off his hat and nodded his head in salute. Z disappeared at the end of the corner. Looking at the newspaper in hand, the old man sighed. A sudden gust of wind blowed off the last few leaves.
It was getting colder and colder and winter was coming. Seen from a distance, the court in cold wind looked even colder, which made the august building more inaccessible. At this very moment, lawyers however were sweating. The tense atmosphere from last court trial continued. Both sides had no intention to make a concession. ［who on earth is justice?－The court would choose a day to pronounce judgment］The old man was sitting on a bench and looking at the big character in the newspaper with empty eyes. Noticing the front shaking, the old man looked up and saw Mr.Z who took off his hat to him. So the old man smiled to him. The old man put down his hands and watched Z disappearing at the end of the road.
The wall clock turned from 10 to 14 o’clock. Everyone in the court were holding their breaths, waiting for the presiding judge to put an end to the prolonged case. With the decisive drop of the gavel, the case was closed. Lawyer Z opened the door and walked out of the court with a face of victor. While he was enjoying the achievement and glory brought by spotlight, surrounded by reporters, he heard an unusual voice. He turned his head and saw lawyer X bowing to apologize to the other side. In court, X is commanding and aggressive. But here he was making a 90-degree-bow which made him pitiful to some extent. While Z was wondering who is X bowing to, he saw the man in front of X. The man was hiding his face crying and his shoulder is trembling. Z recognized him as the man sitting on the bench and reading the newspaper at the corner of the phoenix tree path.
Supplement
As for the 2 lawyers, the leading lawyer Z is set as a righteous image——although he is the defense attorney. While the prosecution attorney X looks like a “villain”. Therefore, when they are defending for their clients, people tend to have emotional tendency to regard Z as a representative of justice.
Maybe it is because of the presupposed standpoint, I hope to depict the old man as the pitiful weak side through his appearance. The old man has some contacts with Z.［Scene C］
At the end of the story, lawyer X meeting the old man implies that the seemingly hostile X is actually the old man’s attorney.
From then, lawyer Z begins to vacillate.
The recurrent bird stands for vague “justice”
The first appearance: at the beginning of the story, lingering and playing on the scale of Lady Justice.
The second appearance: Lawyer Z meets the old man for the first time . The bird is on the old man’s shoulder.
The third appearance: after winning the lawsuit, Z walks out of the court and attracts the media’s attention. The bird stays on Z’s finger like it is here to congratulate Z.
The newspaper that the old man reads has follow-up report on the whole lawsuit.
Lack of understanding about specific judiciary and the judicial background is set as mainland law system. If there is any problem, please feel free to correct them.
Narration
Style
The arranged plot is complicated (such as twice meeting of Lawyer Z and the old man Y, the heated debate in the court given by lawyers in both sides, and the judge announce the adjourned). But I’m not intend to copy entirely, therefore I made some arrangement in details. Because it involves the knowledge and terminology in the field of animation that I do not know, my expression is clumsy and vague, but the process of writing is also a process of learning, self correcting and accumulating experience. It is my goal to be able to express the psychology of characters through the pictures and render the atmosphere of the story.
I’m good at cute image and female characters. So actually the image of the elderly and the lawyer is not what I am proficiency in. But I understand that a good animator have to get over with our own limitation. It is a challenge for me to express the characteristics of roles by their appearance. In order to avoid the sketch looks too much “soft”, I tried to make the lines more “rough”, added up with some silhouette of skills, it is more likely to be closer to the “rational” characteristics.
Characters
Lawyer Z
square box glasses in black (actually 0 degree without any myopia, just for appearance looks more mature)
Black suit
Deep Khaki windbreaker
white shirt Dark color / striped tie
Black short hair looks fresh
Lean
Full of sense of justice, proud of his career. Very serious to his work, full of confidence in the court and manage each of his sentence just right. During his spare time he has no impression of “Competent”, instead, he seems kind and easy to get along with.
the Old Man Y
Clean and tidy clothes in plain color
Gray hair
Face is full of wrinkles
seems concerned with something in mind, but in general, he looks like a polite old gentleman.
he’ll wear scarf when weather is cold
In matter of fact, the identity of the old man is revealed only through the last hint of animation, so it is quite difficult to show the right performance in the very final scene, that is, through the expression of action or face looking what made by the elderly, which is not easy at all
the Lawyer X
there’s a little stubble left
strong eyebrow
Height 185+
looks like a tough guy but actually is a polite person with manners. glib, has obvious ability of defense as a lawyer
The last scene remind audience with the expression of “tough and tender”. The last scene imply the fact that lawyer X is the defense counsel of the old man Y. The idea is to showing the disharmony and sense of contradiction by his action of bowing down to seriously apologize.
Presiding Judge W
Always has a poker face. Enforce the law impartially. Believe in the supremacy of regulation.
Storyboards
