The Murder of a Murder
Sequential Design
_I created this story as a character design and development project based on a weak scarecrow and its sudden change in behavior.
Story: There was a scarecrow who stood up on a hill, constantly harassed by a murder of crows it was meant to scare off. It stayed still and quiet, with no complaints. One day, the scarecrow suddenly grabbed a crow by the neck, shocking the others and sending them into fight or flight. It grabbed and tortured the crows that had annoyed it for so long. Eventually, the scarecrow ate them up and all that remained on the field was nothing but the scarecrow, plump and full, with a pile of bones.
Style Frames
I wanted empathy in this project to flow in two directions—toward the tortured scarecrow as it spirals further into villainy and toward the crows, whose mistreatment ultimately leads to their demise. While it was challenging to map the story’s descent from bad to worse, it was an exciting exploration of how narratives can unravel even further.
Sketch and Development