At the time when I first listened to the song, I was coming up with ideas for my unfinished novel From Monochrome to Vibrancy in high school (also back when I used Wattpad a lot). I used to listen to this song on repeat. It would be either the musical version or the Owl City version (an artist I’ve liked since I was a kid).

I liked this song because it resonated with my main character’s feelings of loneliness and strong desire for connection. She was someone who suffered from being the “unfavorite” in her family. She was always stuck in the shadow of her siblings. This ruined her self-esteem and hampered her ability to form meaningful connections with others.

To this day I wish I had the talent and patience to make an animatic based on this song. Here’s how I would do it (Pardon if this is boring. I just want to share, the song is here if you want to listen while reading):

The intro of the song before the singer comes in is accompanied by my main character, Arcene, being drawn on a blank, grey background. When the singer begins, at first Arcene is making attempts to move around and do things on screen, but she constantly stops herself and goes back to her original position.

At “Give no reason to stare”, she tries to hide as staring eyes fill up the screen and into the shadows. She stays curled up in the shadows into the next verse, but as the sun shines on the other part of the image, she looks out longingly.

The scene then changes in a whirl to her sitting inside a room, looking out a window as the rest of the chorus is sung. The people outside are having fun talking and playing with each other. Some of them are other members of the cast. While they enjoy themselves, Arcene watches passively from the other side of the glass. The only attempt she makes at getting their attention is by placing her hand on the glass. When the lyrics ask if anyone is there and waving back, Arcene looks away from the window and doesn’t notice a member of the cast look in her direction curiously.

The next portion focuses on how Arcene got to where she is now. It shows her as a bright and happy little kid standing in the center of taller, darkened figures that represent her family. Her eyes are portrayed with light in them. But when the verse gets to “But every sun doesn’t rise” the figures loom over her maliciously and she shrinks from them. She slowly lowers her head and her eyes are colored flatly.

Once again, Arcene is whirled and into the isolated room. She once again takes her seat at the window where she watches everyone else enjoying life. Again, there are members of the main cast are among the people outside. This time, she does tap on the glass and try to get the attention of those outside, but once again, she seemingly goes unheard and turns away in disappointment. However, other members of the main cast notice her.

The scene changes to her standing in the middle of a forest. As the bridge asks the forest question, the camera revolves around Arcene, getting closer and closer as the question is asked. As this happens, Arcene expression and body language goes from neutral, to tense, to pained with each revolution. Eventually the questions are coming out of her own thoughts. Her eyes widen and she covers her mouth in realization as lyrics go “Did I ever make a sound?/It’s like I never made a sound”. Then the camera freezes on her face as she questions “Will I ever make a sound?”

Jump cut once again to the room with the window as the chorus is repeated with more power. A chair is thrown against the window but doesn’t break it. Arcene runs up and slams her fists against the window furiously screaming for someone to notice her, the camera focusing on her from the other side of the glass, but people continue to walk by. Eventually she gives up and walks away from the window. The camera switches to a wide shot of her in the room. She crumbles to the floor sobbing. The lyrics ask “Can anybody see, is anybody waving…” there’s the build-up of the background music before the beat comes in with a bench smashing the window from outside the room. Arcene looks up and we see members of the cast breaking more of the glass and coming in through the window from her perspective. The cast is assembled for a smiling group shot as the frontmost member, leans forward and offers Arcene a hand to join them. The music fades out.

Waving Though the Window by Owl City

So…yeah. Maybe one day I’ll actually continue writing From Monochrome to Vibrancy. By the time this post comes out, I might have already shared some of the chapters I’ve previously written for it, so feedback is very welcome. Thanks for reading.