Gone With the Lawn

Production Book

Jake CirksenaShayna Muller

Nate Raiche

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Original Outline………………………………………………………… p. 3

Original Script…………………………………………………………… p. 5

Google Document……………………………………………………… p. 10

Interview Transcript……………………………………………………. p. 12

Lookbook/Pintrest……………………………………………………… p. 21

Rough Cut Notes……………………………………………………… p. 21

Final Script…………………………………………………………… p. 22

Motion Graphics……………………………………………………… p. 28

Original Storyboard…………………………………………………… p. 34

Production Stills………………………………………………………. p. 36

Resources……………………………………………………………… p. 42

Archival Footage……………………………………………………… p. 43

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ORIGINAL OUTLINEI. Introduction

a. Introduce the idea of pristine lawns and how beautiful they are. Segue with “What caused lawns to become the social norm? Where did they come from?”

II. Section 1a. History of lawns

i. 17th century1. Sign of wealth in Europe2. And used to feed animals

ii. 19th century1. Invention of lawnmower increases ability to care for

lawnsiii. 20th century

1. Americans travel to Europe and see beautiful, expansive lawns and want to emulate them when they get home

2. Invent new combination of grasses and pesticides/herbicides/fertilizers

iv. 20th century (later)1. Age of lawn care

a. American Garden Clubi. Set the standard for lawn maintenance,

how tall grass should be, how green it is. Do whatever you can to keep it like that! Led to people using more and more chemicals to increase the longevity of their life

b. The club had a major effect on the American Dream,

III. Section 2 (Crazed neighbor)IV. Section 3 (Xeriscape/greenscape/ecolawns)V. Section 4 Lawns are bad m’kay

a. 2,650,000 lbs of fertilizer used annuallyb. Fertilizer runoff

i. Nutrients lead to algae buildup depleting the dissolved oxygen content which in turn reduces the amount of fish a water system can sustain

ii. Contaminate ground water, increasing levels of nitrate in drinking water to unhealthy levels, causing nervous system impairments, birth defects, cancer, and blue baby syndrome (oxygen content in infants’ blood falls dangerously low, turning them into blue babies, Violet Beauregard)

c. Pesticides

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i. Kill between 60 and 90% of earth worms (important for soil health)

ii. Tracked into homes where they can buildup in carpets and clothes which will cause chronic exposure to families and children

iii. Linked to solid tumors, Leukemia, nervous system, birth defect, fetal death, growth retardation

d. Energy Use/Wastei. Energy used transporting water can be more than energy used

to mow lawnsii. Standard 19 liter per minute sprinkler uses more water in an

hour than a combination 10 toilet flushes, two dishwasher loads, two 5 minute showers, and a full load of clothes

1. Why is this amount of water use bad?2. Why conserve water for lawns

a. Save energy, money, environmentiii. Process of refueling lawn equipment every summer

1. What would happen if the amount of oil from the Exxon Valdez oil spill were spilt every year?

a. Well it actually does2. 17 million gallons of gasoline are spilt every summer =

50% more than Exxon Valdez spillVI. Possible vox-pop interviews

a. What does the average American on the street really know about lawns?

b. Giving them alternativesVII. Final section

a. Ideally, you would either get rid of your lawn, xeriscape, greenscape, etc.

b. What can you do realistically?i. Compost

ii. Mow without bag on moweriii. Reasons to not mow as often

1. Bad for environment (emissions)2. Longer grass holds water better3. More likely to be fatally injured from mowing than if

you were a police officeriv. Let your grass grow longerv. Save money and the water supply by not buying fertilizers,

pesticides, herbicidesvi. Don’t water as often = less mowing and water conservation

vii. Celebrate lawn care month (April) by not adhering to your typical care-routine

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ORIGINAL SCRIPT:

Introduction

NARRATOR naps on a lawn, snaps awakeNARRATOR

I was just laying in my favorite thinking spot earlier when I was rudely awoken.

Sprinkler or hose sprays narrator. Narrator gets covered in grass clippings.Narrator spits grass clippings from his mouth.

NARRATOR (CONT'D)And I asked myself 'why do we, as Americans, take care of our lawns so much? What's the point?'

ACT 1NARRATOR

To gain a better understanding let's take a look at the history of lawns.

17th century classical music plays. (1812 Overture)NARRATOR (CONT'D)

Lawns in the conventional sense originated in 17th century Europe.

Sound effect as people pop up, that isn't the 'Whoosh' sound.NARRATOR (CONT'D)

The wealthy used lawns to show off their vast amount of fertile land.

Monty Python clip: "One day all of this can be yours. What the curtains?"

NARRATOR (CONT'D)To replace the sith--

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Cut to Star Wars reference/joke. Darth Vader rising up (perhaps have it "reel out" as the narrator corrects himself)

NARRATOR (CONT'D)I mean scythe.

Cut to image/video of scythe.NARRATOR (CONT'D)

In the 18th century, Edwin Budding invented the reel lawn mower, which made maintaining lawns easier and more affordable.

Americana lawns.NARRATOR (CONT'D)

Later, in America, because of the new affordability, the popularity of lawns was taking hold. Along the same lines, the agricultural industry exploded with many new inventions. Fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, gas mowers, trimmers, sprinklers, and hoses

Edward Scissorhands (Hedge shot, most clips)NARRATOR (CONT’D)

There are still some people who haven’t bought into the social norm of lawns.

NARRATOR (CONT’D)So, basically rainwater runs off our lawns and overflows our sewer system causing sewage to end up in our drinking water.

ACT 2 - AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT- OTHER LAWNQUESTIONS:What type of lawn do you have? Why did you make the switch?How does this type of lawn help the environment?How much money is needed to make the switch?How much time is needed to maintain the eco-lawn?If you use water, how much do you need to water it?

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Do you think eco-lawns should be required by law? Is that even possible?Was it easy to make the switch from a "normal" grass lawn to your eco-lawn?How does a "normal" lawn effect our environment?Do you know what a xeriscaped lawn is? Could you explain it?ACT 4 - THE DARK SIDE - STAY TUNED TO DAVID'S INTERVIEWHere we're planning to base what we include on the interview with our xeriscaping subject. But here's a list of some facts we found that are important.a. 2,650,000 lbs of fertilizer used annuallyb. Fertilizer runoff i. Nutrients lead to algae buildup depleting the dissolved oxygen content, which in turn reduces the amount of fish a water system can sustain ii. Contaminate ground water, increasing levels of nitrate in drinking water to unhealthy levels, causing nervous system impairments, birth defects, cancer, and blue baby syndrome (oxygen content in infants' blood falls dangerously low, turning them into blue babies, Violet Beauregard)c. Pesticides i. Kill between 60 and 90% of earthworms (important for soil health) ii. Tracked into homes where they can buildup in carpets and clothes which will cause chronic exposure to families and children iii. Linked to solid tumors, Leukemia, nervous system, birth defect, fetal death, growth retardationd. Energy Use/Waste i. Energy used transporting water can be more than energy used to mow lawns ii. Standard 19 liter per minute sprinkler uses more water in an hour than a combination 10 toilet flushes, two dishwasher loads, two 5-minute showers, and a full load of clothes <--We think this would make for more fun visuals! 1. Why is this amount of water use bad? 2. Why conserve water for lawns a. Save energy, money, and environment

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iii. Process of refueling lawn equipment every summer 1. What would happen if the amount of oil from the Exxon Valdez oil spill were spilled every year? a. Well it actually does 2. 17 million gallons of gasoline are spilled every summer = 50% more than Exxon Valdez spillACT 5 - WHAT WE CAN DO INSTEAD!

NARRATORSo what can we do? Ideally, we could all have eco-friendly lawns but not everyone has the time or money to do that. Here are some simple ways we can reduce our environmental impact with our green space.

NARRATOR (CONT'D)1. Allowing grass to grow longer which means more water intake by the grass, less time spent mowing, less pollution from the mower.

NARRATOR (CONT'D)2. Consider mowing alternatives like goats... In reality using more efficient mowers, low energy mowers, and reel mowers will greatly reduce the emissions released into the air.

NARRATOR (CONT'D)3. Using natural fertilizers (i.e. composting) and pesticides (certain plants that help keep away certain insects).

NARRATOR (CONT'D)4. Using native species of plant/grass that will need less maintenance.

NARRATOR (CONT'D)5. Water your lawn deeply or slowly and thoroughly, but less often. An example of this would be using a soaker hose to allow water to soak 6-8 inches into the ground. And only when grass begins to wilt.

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NARRATOR (CONT'D)Inherently lawns are not bad, but the types of lawns we have and the effects of maintaining them are the major causes of environmental problems.

GOOGLE DOCUMENT

AudienceGeneral population? Policy makers? A specific set of the population? A specific region?Born and raised in America, used to lawns, regular joe-schmo, someone who lives

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What are our intentions? To inform people who have lawns about why lawn maintenance is harmful to

the environment To use humor to get our points across Entertainment

General Ideas As Larry said at the end of class we should think about the history of lawns

and why they came about. o We could use the history of lawns and compare it to perceptions now

through pop interviews o An extension on the history would be looking into local policy on lawn

maintenance -- Weed Laws Incorporating all different types of lawns and yards and the various level of

upkeep (assuming we can find them around town) Jake you mentioned letting your lawn go as an experiment, if you were to do

that it would be cool if you could take a photo of it every day for ...lets say a month depending on due dates, then we can make a time-lapse video out of the photos (if it fits into the story).

o To make this work I’d have to figure out how to make it from the same angle each time...hmm I will mess around with some ideas :)

Major points/sections (Why are lawns good/bad?) Find a hook or something interesting to draw the audience in

What are alternatives to lawn maintenance? Why spend so much money on lawns? What’s the draw of lawns

Beginning of Film Ideas Daydreaming person looking up at the sky, gets grass

clippings in their face Lawn mower across a lawn

History of lawns (incorporate global view somehow?)o Flaunting wealth in 17th century Europeo Recreations/interviews of a couple people on the lawns from olden

times Someone who cares about their lawn a lot (In Jake’s neighborhood)

o Find out whyo What is the reasoning behind ito Do they have kids? Pets?

Someone who has an “enviroscape” (1x1 neighbor)o Why did he/she switch?o What are the benefitso Drawbacks? (Maybe it’s ugly)

Vox-Pop interviewso Around Jake’s neighborhood

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o Maybe in DC Georgetown

o What do everyday people think of lawns?o Do they like them?

Do they hate them?o What purpose do lawns have to everyday people?

RELATE IT TO WATERo Wasted water through sprinklers or hoses from watering lawns

Fertilizer runoffo What’s wrong with wasting water on lawns?o Do fertilizers affect our drinking water? Our ecosystems?o Carbon footprint

Fertilizers, lawn mowers, other lawn care equipmento Public Health

Relate it to this as wellClass 10/30 (handy notes to remember for filming and our project)

Define any terms we use The rationale etc. Why is our film important Think about intensity and “casting” non-human things (i.e. the lawns, grass,

not simply just shots of these things.o Characterize!

How much water is needed to live in this country? Comm 380 people (three assigned to every group for final projects) Make sound good!

o Over/under modulation are things of the pasto Use our ears

Light coming from the north is the best kind of lighto For painterso Just keep it in mindo Think about where the light is coming from

Inverse square lawo Lighting and sound

Move the light 2 times away it decreases light hitting the subject 4 times

1 foot to 4 feet when using a boom Not complicated clothing when we interview people Always pay attention to continuity when dealing with motion/actions

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INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

I: Just tell us who you are

D: I am David Cottingham. I live here in Washington- Upper Northwest Washington

DC.

I: What type of lawn do you have?

D: We've got a, we pulled out what grass we had. We've been in this house about 25

years. And Anne and I had never been ones to use pesticides or lawn care

companies, so we decided a few years back that we wanted to go into more of a rain

garden/natural landscape sort of yard. And so, two years ago, it's now November

2013, but in 2011, we worked with John Shore Landscaping to come up with rain

gardens and native vegetation in our front yard and so we've converted the front

yard to pretty much, uh, we've gotten rid of almost all the grass. There's a little bit

left and we've installed rain gardens. Our backyard, we're very fortunate that we

back up to a little portion of Rock Creek Park, called Little Creek Forest. And when

we moved into the house 25 years ago. It was already pretty much natural and we

have a lot of, if you were here in the spring we'd show you lots of Virginia Blue Bells

and Solomon seals, and wonderful natural wild flowers that are native to this area,

but you can't see those now. We do back up to the park, we've got a lot of native

vegetation there and it's been a wonderful way to have very little lawn to cut, grass

to cut. And it's really improved, but more importantly it's great for reducing storm

water run-off, which is one of the big issues in the Potomac River and Rock Creek.

I: What is your opinion on other people who take care of their lawns? (Paraphrasing

Shayna)

D: Well, I'm not one to criticize what people do with their lawns. There's no doubt

that the records will show that there are a lot of well manicured lawns that look

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perfect, are the result of having lots of pesticides. Either herbicides for the weeds, or

insecticides or fungicides. They have lots of nitrogen and phosphorous fertilizers on

them. And all those things wash off. We get episodic rain events here, so if you get

into a situation where you've just applied some of those pesticides or fertilizers a lot

of it will wash into the bay. There's a tremendous amount of, I don't know the exact

numbers, but a tremendous portion of the nitrogen and phosphorous that gets

washed into the bay comes from lawns and chicken manure on the eastern shore. So

that's why we have not used those.

I: You mentioned what you call your lawn...What do you call it exactly?

D: Well, we've got rain gardens. We've got rain gardens, which use native vegetation

and then we dug some holes in the front yard and fill them up with gravel. And then

we planted native vegetation that was/is the kind of vegetation that is similar to

what you would see along the creek. Because here in the summer we get

thunderstorms and that's when a large majority, a large portion of our rainfall

comes. And so the ground around those rain gardens stays moist and they're

suitable for plants that would grow in moist habitats. And we've got a lot of other

plants that you'll see in- that you'll see in the front yard.

I: We noticed as we walked around your house that you have a rain collection

system.

D: In addition to what we have in the front yard, because this is a brick colonial style

home in upper northwest Washington and it is what it is. And so we have gutters on

there and the gutters in the front of the house go into the rain gardens, or onto the

driveway, which has permeable pervious surface, but the backyard, we have- it was

-- the gutter system goes into a rain barrel and then we can use the rain barrel, the

water from the rain barrel, to spread it out- spread out the rain water, into the

garden, or into the little fish pond we have back here. So the whole idea is that we're

capturing the water from these episodic events, because when you have these high

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flows, where it rains an inch an hour. The first thing it does is it goes down the hill,

into the storm sewer system. The storm sewer system overflows and we are very

close to Rock Creek Park. That storm water goes down Broad Branch Road, and

Broad Branch. Those storm sewers leak into Broad Branch or into the combined

sewer overflows down near the zoo and so that dumps all sorts of bad stuff that we

don't want to think about into Rock Creek and the Potomac River, which of course

ends up in the Chesapeake Bay. So the more people can keep these, that episodic

storm event water on their property. And have it go off slowly or seep into the

ground, the better off that is for reducing the pollution load in Rock Creek and the

Potomac River, and the Bay.

I: So you don't water your lawn at all?

D: I don't have enough lawn to water. No, so we don't. We don't have enough lawn to

water; there were a couple of times this summer. Where some... So some of the

plants that we planted are only a year or two old so we did put the sprinkler out a

couple times, but it's pretty rare here. So we're not using much and that's the good

thing. Not only is the water not flowing off of our yard, but we don't have to use

much water to water the lawn. Because we don't lawn that we're trying to keep

looking like a golf course.

I: With your experience with your job you're doing and your schooling. What is that

and how does that attribute to what you're doing now?

D: Well, I have a long career as an environmental person, both in the government

and as an active member of several, many, local environmental groups and, so... As

an undergraduate biology major and worked as an aquatic ecologist for three or

four years, before deciding I wanted to do environmental policy. So as a career, I've

been a federal employee for 30 plus years, working at NOA or the National Refishery

Service or the Fish and Wildlife Service. These are all ‘and’ and not 'ors.' Doing

environmental policy work usually on endangered species and, but conservation. So

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I'm in touch with a lot of the environmental literature both at the scientific level and

at the laymen level. And, so, when you see reports of things like: Chesapeake Bay

pollution. I try, I'm not... I wouldn't say that I'm an expert on Chesapeake Bay

pollution, but I'm fairly knowledgeable about it. I also spend a fair amount of time in

the Potomac River, canoeing or kayaking and swimming in areas where I probably

shouldn't be from a safety point of view. But I'm an active white water and flat-

water canoe-er/kayaker. So, we get out and enjoy the rivers and bay here. And so,

it's good for use to try and do what we can to...and encourage our neighbors and

other homeowners to take those steps that they can in their yards and we wanted to

sort of, as much as we could, be almost a demonstration for that.

I: You say you're involved with the policy-making. Do you think it's possible to

enforce a law, somehow, that will get people to change their personal green spaces?

Their lawns?

D: Changing lawns and patterns and things like that are personal preference.

Everyone wants their home to look nice. And so, I don't think you can...It would be

very difficult to require people to do what we did. Not everybody, I'm sure some of

our neighbors think this is totally nuts, but we're fortunate that we don't live in a

neighborhood that has restrictive covenants that tell you to plant certain kinds of

grass. We have the flexibility to have the kind of yard that we have. If you tried to

mandate it, I don't think it would work very well. But EPA through their Chesapeake

Bay program, through the alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, through a lot of other

avenues, they've been trying to do this through public education. And in some cases,

what EPA will do to encourage the volunteerism. Well they will offer some financial

assistance to help people convert their... For instance our driveway was concrete.

We got a small grant to do some of the yard/landscaping work. Including removing

the concrete driveway from the District of Columbia. The department of the

environment. And through the watershed program. And then I think that was

federal money that actually came from EPA. So EPA has, and the Chesapeake Bay

program have realized that you can't just do this by cleaning up the sewage

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treatment plants or the chicken farms. Washington DC has a lot of impervious and

the surrounding areas have a lot of impervious surfaces and the degree to which we

can get people to have rain gardens and give them a little financial incentive... Ya

know, the DC government came in, I think that rain barrel that we have was about

30 dollars to get it installed. So they are doing that and making those sort of things,

Montgomery County is and I think other counties are too. To make these sort of low

impact developments available and so encourages people to do it.

I: So you talked about the grant money. How much does it actually cost to convert

your lawn and turn it into a rain garden? As opposed to just having grass.

D: Ya know. The cost of converting our front yard. We did it as a part of a much

larger project. I think pulling out the concrete in the drivew--- We had a lot of crew

over here. We had it done commercially. John Shore Landscaping is really been a

pioneer in this area in doing this. And they had a crew of four big guys out here

moving those rocks around. I mean when... You'll see the rocks in the front yard.

These are rocks, pavers, that are four inches thick and so they had a whole crew

over here. It was several thousand dollars. I don't remember exactly what it was.

The rain gardens were part of that. And I think we got about 12 or 15 hundred

dollars, back, reimbursed on that and that...we came... they came out and did a

calculation of the square footage of our roof so we figured out how much rain... If

you have that many square feet how much rain falls on that when there's a one-inch

rain event. And they had to have the capacity of the rain gardens to take, I think it

was one inch of rain in an hour or two hours. And so they figured out how many

gallons that was and made the rain gardens so they fit that size and then the with

the driveway. So I'm thinking it was about 10,000, of which we got about 1500 back,

but I'd have to go look at the numbers.

I: What can people do quickly and easily and more affordably to help with this issue?

What can viewers do to help conserve rainwater and to also help their environment

by polluting less?

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D: I think people who aren't, who may not be willing to go the steps that we did can

very easily think about taking their downspouts, instead of just running them out

into the street, which is what most of them do. And they of course go into the storm

water. You can pretty easily devise ways to get that storm water out onto your

garden. You can have rain barrels. Rain barrels are not that expensive. They're not

attractive, many of them. You may not want them in the front of your yard. But you

can dig some holes and put some Swales (SP??) in like that. And just changing the

vegetation. The grass is generally very hard. I mean, the soil under grass is very hard

and you can actually see, once you start looking at it, you can see, if you're on a hill

at all you can see the water just washing through the grass. So if you can slow that

down and get it to seep into the ground, those are very useful ways to do it. You

don't have to go whole hog like we did.

I: Why is rainwater going into the sewer system a bad thing?

D: Municipal areas, particularly on the east coast, have what are called combined

sewer overflows. That means that the sewer system, which is where all of your

sewer water goes; your dishwasher, your toilets, your washing machine. All of that

goes into a sewer system. It flows usually by gravity from... in Washington DC it

flows down to Blue Plains, which is right down across the Potomac River from the

airport. It's a huge state-of-the-art municipal sewage system. But the pipes that get

the water there are very old. In some cases 100 plus years old. And so, they weren't

built for the level of development that we have here. They're perfectly fine to carry

the capacity of sewage, but water from the rainwater, frequently goes into the sewer

systems. And when the rainwater, when we have one of these episodic rain events,

gets in there, it overflows the system. The pipes can... literally cannot handle it.

They're relief valves more or less. And those relief valves allow the water, and it's

now mixed. At that time it becomes mixed: it's rainwater with the sewage water. If

there's just so much fiber water it can't handle it. So it releases the water into the

streams and those are called combined sewer overflows. That's exactly what it is:

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combined sewage. So every now and then if you're down by, at the mouth of Rock

Creek, where it flows into the Potomac River, you'll see a red light flashing. And, it's

going off, and it's saying within the last 24 hours there's been a storm sewer

overflow event. And so it lets you know that the fecal coli form level is pretty darn

high and you really don't want to be in that water. I think, I stand to be corrected, I

think there's six or seven combined sewer overflows in Rock Creek. Along Rock

Creek, between roughly the zoo and the mouth, about a mile or mile and a half down

stream. So when we have those events, but if you think about how much of

Washington is paved. Not just paved, but is impervious. Impervious. That the

rainwater can't go into the ground, it's the rooftops, it's the sidewalks, and it’s the

pavement. Water can't go in there so all of it comes in, it collects, and *whoosh* it

really goes down in a hurry. So that's where you see that.

I: Do you know how those regulations affect people? Or what they are?

D: I really don't, but there are some communities, where. That have much more

restrictive covenants. They're sort of planned communities and you know, you can

only paint your house certain colors, all that. And you have to maintain lawns in

certain standard ways. That's not my deal. I don't know about that. I don't live in

one, so I don't know it.

I: You're the rebel in this area aren't you?

D: No, there are some other people doing it too.

I: Could you explain how you're neighbors have reacted your lawn change?

D: Most of the neighbors have really liked it and the ones that haven't liked it

probably haven't said anything. We are neighbors and look this is an urban area. Our

neighbors live 10/15 feet on either side of us. It is a pretty densely developed, it's

not downtown, but it's an urban neighborhood, and so it's uh... Some of our

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neighbors have very manicured lawns and that's fine. That's what they want to do.

And we decided to go our other way, but most of the people who comment on it say

it looks sort of different, but they like it. I'm sorry you guys aren't here in the spring

because, the wildflowers and things and when there are a lot of flowers that are

blooming you're going to take some video now and it is the end of November and

things have pretty well died back.

I: Did you have anything else that you wanted to say, that you didn't feel like was

said or anything else you want to explain. Explain more why you made the switch.

Leaf blower interruption again.

D: As we talked, this is the end of November here in Washington. We're very

fortunate that there are a lot of trees in this neighborhood and they're big trees, but

big trees are hardwood...Deciduous hardwood trees, and they produce a lot of leaves

and so Saturday morning in Chevy Chase people are out here blowing leaves. I mean,

we've blown some of ours and gotten rid of them and mulched some of the rest of

them and got them in the mulch pile in the backyard. But sorry for the noise here in

the background. It's usually pretty quiet on Saturday mornings.

I: What are your thoughts on the pollution that leaf blowers and mowers do on... Do

you know anything about that?

D: I don't know. I'm not gonna get into that. I'll address your other question, while it

was quiet. But let's talk a little bit about, really what people can do and how they

might do it. There's no doubt in my mind, that things like phosphorous, nitrogen

coming off of lawns is a huge problem. Pesticides going into the creeks. And when I

say pesticides I mean herbicides, insecticides, and all these, whole mix of chemicals.

So the degree to which we can contain those things is really helping the streams, the

tributary streams. They're helping the big rivers, like the Potomac and the

Susquehanna and the James. And of course that's going to the Bay. Because one of

my friends a Potomac River keeper always talks about "we're 98% water" and we

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get our water here from the Potomac River. And we've gotta be careful what we're

drinking and so it's pretty important, to me, this was a little step that we could do to

try to do what we can to help on our property. Our little one third or one-quarter

acre, whatever it is, here in the district. To do our portion to try to clean up the bay.

And not cause those impacts because we're one tiny little yard in the district, but

there are hundreds if not thousands of yards like ours and the degree to which more

people can take those efforts voluntarily, the better it will be for the Rock Creeks,

the river, the Potomac, as well as the Bay.

I: Do you happen to know how much pesticides, herbicides, insecticides effect

health?

D: On the human health issue, I don't know. I mean, there are whole studies on that,

about the pesticides and stuff and I think a lot of it is conflicting. So I wouldn't...It's

not my...I don't know it.

I: Final thoughts question.

D: I appreciate what you guys are doing because if this becomes public awareness

there are many organizations out here. The River Keeper organizations, the

Chesapeake Bay foundation, the alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, Rock Creek

conservancy. There are all these different groups working and the degree to which

young people like you are getting this message, it's really good and it's also that you

are producing these types of materials to get other people. To explain to other

people exactly what they can do in their yards, on their farms, or however they can

help to cut back on these things. Because it's gonna take all of us to do it.

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LOOKBOOK/PINTREST

http://www.pinterest.com/AUFILMGRAD/lawns-are-bad-m-kay/

ROUGH CUT NOTES

0:29 -Ramp jib movement-Remove “not let’s take a look…”

1:10 -But there are some people who have not bought into the social norm of

lawnsInterview

-Start with “the soil is really hard”-Looking for “Lawns not being much better then roads”-Add humor “apocalyptic water scene”-cartoon poop, “yuck!”-open up between explanation and what his solution (possibly add narration in between)-cut out we are 98% water quote

Tips -Start sound of leaves before cutting to Nate getting hit with them after David

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-Not “or natural”Facts about rain and lawns (in the middle of interview)

-average urban lawn has “X” amounts of water run-off -average amount of water saved by a water garden -average amount of rainfall in a year-weeds not flowers -effects of pollution

FINAL SCRIPT/TRANSCRIPT OF VIDEO

EXT. GRASSY FIELD DAYAn overcast sky covers the NARRATOR standing in an open field.

NARRATORWhy do we as American’s have such an infatuation with grass?

Clip from Half Baked.NARRATOR

Not that kind of grass.Camera pulls back and lifts up revealing the expansive field of grass.Narrator spreads his arms out.

NARRATOR (CONT’D)This kind.

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HISTORY OF LAWNS--MOTION GRAPHICS TIMELINE17th century classical music.

NARRATOR (CONT'D)Lawns in the conventional sense originated in 17th century Europe.

Sound effect as people pop up, that isn't the 'Whoosh' sound.NARRATOR (CONT'D)

The wealthy used lawns to show off their vast amount of fertile land.

Monty Python clip: "One day all of this can be yours. What the curtains?"

NARRATOR (CONT'D)To replace the sith--

Cut to Star Wars reference/joke.NARRATOR (CONT'D)

I mean scythe.Cut to image/video of scythe.

NARRATOR (CONT'D)In the 18th century, Edwin Budding invented the reel lawn mower, which made maintaining lawns easier and more affordable.

Americana lawns.NARRATOR (CONT'D)

Later, in America, because of the new affordability, the popularity of lawns was taking hold. Along the same lines, the agricultural industry exploded with many new inventions.

Edward Scissorhands (Hedge shot)NARRATOR (CONT’D)

However, there are still some people who haven’t bought into the social norm of lawns.

INT. DAVID COTTINGHAM’S HOUSE DAYDAVID COTTINGHAM sits in a chair with a tree and his brick wall behind him.

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DAVIDThe soil under grass is very hard and you can actually see, once you start looking at it you can see the, if you’re on a hill at all, you can see the water just washing through the grass.

Jumanji clip.DAVID (CONT’D)

Municipal areas particularly on the east coast have what are called combined sewer overflows.

Clip of spinning manhole cover.DAVID (CONT’D)

That means that the sewer system, which is where all of your sewer water goes, your dishwater, toilets, washing, machines. All of that goes into a sewer system, but the pipes that get the water there are very old. In some cases a hundred plus years old. And so, they weren’t built for the level of development we have here. They’re perfectly fine to carry the capacity of sewage, but water from the rainwater frequently goes into those sewer systems. And when the rainwater, when we have one of these episodic rain events, gets in there, it overflows the system. The pipes literally cannot handle it. They’re relief valves more or less. And those relief valves allow the water, and it’s now mixed. At that time it becomes mixed. It’s rainwater with the sewage water. There’s just so much water it can’t handle it. So it releases the water into the streams.

DAVID (CONT’D)The fecal coli form level is pretty darn high and you really don’t want to be in that water.

South Park clip.NARRATOR (CONT’D)

So, basically rainwater runs off our lawns and overflows our sewer system causing sewage to end up in our drinking water. So what are people doing to lessen this water runoff.

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DAVID (CONT’D)We’ve got rain gardens, which use the kind of vegetation that you would normally see along a creek. Because the ground around those rain gardens stays moist and they’re suitable for plants that would grow in moist habitats. That’s the good thing. Not only is the water not flowing off of our yard, but we don’t have to use much water to water the lawn.

NARRATORIt is estimated that rain gardens absorb 30 percent more water than an equally sized patch of lawn.

Motion graphic representing the fact appears on screen.DAVID

And the gutters in the front of the house go into the rain gardens, or onto the driveway, which has permeable- pervious surface. But in the backyard, the gutter system goes into a rain barrel and then we can use the water from the rain barrel to spread out the rain water into the garden or into the little fish pond we have back here.

NARRATORA single rain barrel can help homeowners save around 1300 gallons of water annually.

Motion graphic representing the fact appears on screen.DAVID

We’re one tiny little yard in the district, but there are hundreds if not thousands of yards like ours and the degree to which more people can take those efforts voluntarily, the better it will be for the Rock Creeks, the river, the Potomac, as well as the Bay.

EXT. LEAF COVERED GROUND DAYNARRATOR lies on the ground, relaxing.Leaves get kicked on top of him. He wakes up.

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NARRATORInherently, the lawns that we have are not that bad, however water runoff they produce and the pollution from maintaining them have very negative impacts on our environment. So here are some things you can do at home.

Leaves smack the narrator in the face, completely covering him.NARRATOR (CONT’D)

If you don’t have the time or money to create rain gardens in your own yard you can purchase a rain collection barrel from a home improvement store.

NARRATOR (CONT’D)If you hate mowing like I do, here’s my favorite tip: mow less. It’ll let your grass grow longer and prevent water runoff.

NARRATOR (CONT’D)Here’s another easy one: water less. You should only water when your grass starts to wilt. But when you do have to water make sure it soaks six to eight inches into the ground, allowing the roots to grow deeper and retain more moisture.

NARRATOR (CONT’D)Sometimes watering and mowing your grass just isn’t enough and you have to use chemicals to get the desired look. So when you do have to use your fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides make sure they are organic.

NARRATOR (CONT’D)For you homeowners and future homeowners: be mindful of your environment when taking care of your lawns. And take action.

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MOTION GRAPHICS:

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ORIGINAL STORYBOARDED IDEAS

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PRODUCTION STILLS

Jake and Shayna discuss filming and recording techniques.

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Jake gets creative with how he films.

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Shayna poses with sound equipment.

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Jake injured himself. Shayna watches as Nate laughs.

Nate sits up covered in leaves.

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Nate flips Jake off due to Jake’s injury on his middle finger.

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Shayna poses with Nate’s dirty backside.

Nate poses alone with his dirty backside.

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RESOURCES

http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/faqs.cfm?program_id=6 (storm water runoff fact)

http://www.cbtrust.org/site/c.miJPKXPCJnH/b.5458177/k.891D/

Rain_Gardens.htm (rain gardens)

http://www.epa.gov/Region3/p2/what-is-rainbarrel.pdf (rain barrel fact)

http://faculty.rwu.edu/lbyrne/papers/Byrne_Looks_laws_lawns.pdf

http://www.welovedc.com/2011/04/28/mow-your-lawn-dc-or-face-the-consequences/

http://www.epa.gov/greenacres/weedlaws/JMLR.html

Books:http://amzn.com/1560984066

http://amzn.com/0300086946

http://amzn.com/0393329305

http://www.amazon.com/American-Green-Obsessive-Quest-Perfect/dp/0393329305

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ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE

Half Baked

Monty Python: And the Holy Grail

Jumanji

Star Wars

South Park Season 2 Episode 9: Chef’s Chocolate Salty Balls

Edward Scissorhands

Weird Science: I Didn’t Know That: Sewers (from National Geographic)

Online videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce6-95fq7PQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uty6OTt9ysk

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/science/weird-science-sci/idkt-

sewers/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfXNMMDfcgU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrdYLISfW-w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqUUxtynay4

SOUND EFFECTS

http://www.freesound.org

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