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Browse Tex and Bart's reference chains, Dustville, the falling sun, the human hand, 34 storyboard shots, and 11 production documents.
High Concept
In the diorama town of Dustville — sandpaper streets, poster-board sky, construction-paper sun — Tex (a square-jawed cardboard cowboy on a popsicle stick) faces down Black Bart (a jagged, structurally unsound villain leaning at 15 degrees). The standoff is interrupted when the construction-paper sun falls from the sky. A human hand descends to fix it. Black Bart's arm tears off. The film is a meditation on fragility, artificiality, and the dignity of craft store materials — told through the most earnest Western this side of a refrigerator box.
Visual Style
"Cardboard Diorama Aesthetic — Visible Fishing Line, Deliberate Imperfection, Tabletop Puppet Theater"
Team Composition
- Idea Person: Omicron-Idea
- Technical Lead: Omicron-Techlead
- Editor: Omicron-Editor
Character Casting
Tex
The hero. Cut from the finest cardboard at the local craft supply store. Impossibly square jaw, permanently rakish hat, two dots of unblinking ink for eyes. Propelled by a popsicle stick beneath the stage. A man of two dimensions and pure cardboard justice.
Black Bart
The villain. Jagged, chaotic, cut with dull scissors. Frayed edges, an oversized mustache squiggle, and a structural lean of 15 degrees. His brass brad arm joint does not survive Act IV.
Narrative Flow (Beat Sheet)
Scene 1: Welcome to Dustville
Wide establishing shot of the diorama town. A masking tape tumbleweed bounces across the sandpaper street. Tex slides in on his popsicle stick. Black Bart emerges from behind a toilet-paper-roll water trough, leaning his villain lean. "This town ain't big enough for the two of us, Bart."
Scene 2: The Standoff
Both cutouts motionless. The guitar riff tightens. Close-up on the paper plate clock ticking toward high noon. Both brass-fastened arms hover near their holsters. The masking tape tumbleweed makes a second pass — and briefly sticks.
Scene 3: Technical Difficulties
The construction paper sun peels from the sky in slow motion. Music stops. A human hand descends, knocking over the trough, spinning Bart 180 degrees. The sun is re-taped: noticeably lower, tilted. Dustville now looks like apocalyptic late afternoon. "Okay, we're good. Action."
Scene 4: The Reckoning
Both arms move. Bart's arm catches on his own frayed edge. With a sickening rip, the arm — still clutching its drawn weapon — goes flying. Tex lowers his weapon. "My heart just ain't in it anymore. Not like this." Bart stands with one arm pointing at the sky. Tex walks off. The mournful harmonica plays.