The Silo
In the shadow of a dying mill town, three teenagers discover an impossible mural that forces them to confront the suffocation of their own creativity. As the northern spring thaws the ground, it reveals secrets that were better left buried.
# The Silo
**Format:** Short Film / Anthology Episode | **Est. Length:** 10-12 minutes
## Logline
In a decaying industrial town, three teenagers discover a mysterious, impossibly placed mural on an abandoned silo, leading them to uncover a dark town secret about a missing artist and the powerful forces determined to erase his memory.
## Themes
* **Art as Rebellion:** The mural is a defiant scream against the oppressive practicality and slow decay of a forgotten town, asserting individual existence against industrial anonymity.
* **Memory vs. Erasure:** The central conflict is the fight to preserve a hidden history—the mural and its creator—against an establishment that actively seeks to whitewash the past for its own convenience and security.
* **The Weight of Place:** The story explores the suffocating feeling of being trapped in a post-industrial landscape, and the desperate, conflicting urges to either escape it or leave an indelible mark upon it.
* **Hidden Histories:** Beneath the quiet, mundane surface of the small town lies a darker, covered-up truth that the teens accidentally begin to excavate.
## Stakes
The teens risk their safety to uncover the truth behind the art, putting them in the crosshairs of the same powerful forces who silenced the original artist and now want the past to stay buried.
## Synopsis
In the bleak, semi-frozen landscape of Northwestern Ontario, three disaffected teenagers—LENNY, an insecure artist; SAM, a cynical grunge musician; and JULIAN, a quiet observer—break into an abandoned railyard. Their goal is to see a rumored piece of graffiti on a massive, two-hundred-foot grain silo. What they find is not graffiti, but a breathtaking, professional mural of a screaming woman's face, impossibly high on the concrete cylinder with no visible means of access.
Shaken and inspired, they retreat to a 24-hour diner. Their exhilaration is cut short when a mill worker reveals that the authorities are cordoning off the area, claiming "structural issues," and plan to sandblast the mural at dawn. Realizing the art is in danger, the teens become determined to understand its origin.
The next day, Julian develops photos he took, and a high-resolution print reveals a hidden detail: a small raven symbol and the date "1992" scratched into the paint. Julian recognizes the raven as the signature of his older brother, who vanished without a trace four years prior. The teens realize the mural isn't new; it has been there for years, hidden under grime, and was only recently *uncovered*.
Their investigation leads them to a derelict shed at an old quarry, a known hangout of Julian's brother. Inside, they find his faded raven tags and a preliminary sketch for the silo mural, confirming he was the artist. More chillingly, Lenny discovers fresh boot prints and a recently used can of paint thinner, proving someone else was there just before them—the person who revealed the art. A sound outside sends them fleeing, and they glimpse a menacing figure in a security vest watching them from a ridge.
They race back towards town, only to see that the cover-up is already in motion. Scaffolding is being erected around the silo, with tarps ready to hide the mural before its destruction. The teens are left with the heavy, dangerous knowledge of a town secret, the ghost of a lost artist, and the chilling realization that they have been seen by the very people who want that secret kept.
## Character Breakdown
* **LENNY (17):** The protagonist. An introverted, frustrated artist who sketches secretly in his bedroom. He is overwhelmed by the town's oppressive practicality and his own self-doubt, seeing his artistic impulses as a useless liability.
* **Psychological Arc:**
* **State at Start:** A passive, insecure artist who feels small and useless, questioning the point of creating art in his bleak, unappreciative environment.
* **State at End:** Awakened and galvanized. He understands that art is not a luxury but a vital, necessary act of memory and defiance. He is now burdened with a dangerous truth and the responsibility that comes with it.
* **SAM (17):** The pragmatist. A grunge bassist with a tough, cynical exterior that protects a deep-seated need for expression. She is the group's anchor to reality, but the mural cracks her hardened shell, reminding her why she makes noise in a town that demands silence.
* **JULIAN (17):** The observer. Quiet, methodical, and technically-minded, he is the group’s documentarian. His personal connection to the mystery through his missing brother transforms him from a passive recorder of events into an active investigator driven by a need for answers.
## Scene Beats
1. **THE FENCE:** At night, Lenny, Sam, and Julian break into the derelict West Yard, the air thick with industrial decay and nervous energy.
2. **THE REVEAL:** They round the massive grain silo. Moonlight hits the concrete, revealing a stunning, 20-foot mural of a screaming woman, impossibly high up. They are awestruck and unnerved.
3. **THE DINER:** Huddled in a booth, they debate the mural's origin. A mill worker enters and announces the silo is being cordoned off for "structural issues" and the "vandalism" will be sandblasted at dawn.
4. **THE DARKROOM:** The next day, Julian develops his film. A print reveals a hidden raven symbol and the date "1992." Julian recognizes it as his long-lost brother's signature.
5. **THE DISCOVERY:** The teens realize the mural isn't new; it was recently *uncovered*. They race to an abandoned shed at the quarry, his brother's old haunt.
6. **THE SHED:** Inside the rotting structure, they find faded raven tags and a preliminary sketch of the silo face, confirming Julian's brother as the artist.
7. **THE EVIDENCE:** Lenny discovers fresh boot prints and a can of paint thinner—proof that someone else was just there, the person who deliberately revealed the mural.
8. **THE WATCHER:** A twig snaps outside. They flee, catching a glimpse of a figure in a security vest watching them from the quarry ridge.
9. **THE ERASURE:** Driving back, they see it: scaffolding and tarps are being erected around the silo. The cover-up is happening in real-time.
10. **THE BURDEN:** The teens are left with the chilling knowledge of the town's secret and the understanding that they are now part of it. Lenny grips his sketchbook, the weight of this dangerous memory now his to carry.
## Visual Style & Tone
The visual style is grounded and gritty, employing a desaturated color palette that emphasizes the cold blues, greys, and rust-browns of the Northwestern Ontario landscape. The aesthetic will contrast the raw, vast beauty of nature (granite, pine, water) with the decaying, monolithic structures of industry. Camerawork will be largely handheld and intimate, creating a sense of immediacy and conspiratorial closeness with the teens. The mural itself will be the single most vibrant and emotionally raw image, a stark slash of humanity on an inhuman surface.
The tone is a blend of coming-of-age mystery and a quiet, creeping neo-noir thriller. It is melancholic and tense, capturing the quiet desperation and simmering rebellion of youth in a forgotten town. **Tonal comparisons:** The atmospheric dread and thematic weight of an early *Black Mirror* episode, the exploration of memory and erasure in *Fahrenheit 451*, and the oppressive small-town secrets of *Winter's Bone*.
**Format:** Short Film / Anthology Episode | **Est. Length:** 10-12 minutes
## Logline
In a decaying industrial town, three teenagers discover a mysterious, impossibly placed mural on an abandoned silo, leading them to uncover a dark town secret about a missing artist and the powerful forces determined to erase his memory.
## Themes
* **Art as Rebellion:** The mural is a defiant scream against the oppressive practicality and slow decay of a forgotten town, asserting individual existence against industrial anonymity.
* **Memory vs. Erasure:** The central conflict is the fight to preserve a hidden history—the mural and its creator—against an establishment that actively seeks to whitewash the past for its own convenience and security.
* **The Weight of Place:** The story explores the suffocating feeling of being trapped in a post-industrial landscape, and the desperate, conflicting urges to either escape it or leave an indelible mark upon it.
* **Hidden Histories:** Beneath the quiet, mundane surface of the small town lies a darker, covered-up truth that the teens accidentally begin to excavate.
## Stakes
The teens risk their safety to uncover the truth behind the art, putting them in the crosshairs of the same powerful forces who silenced the original artist and now want the past to stay buried.
## Synopsis
In the bleak, semi-frozen landscape of Northwestern Ontario, three disaffected teenagers—LENNY, an insecure artist; SAM, a cynical grunge musician; and JULIAN, a quiet observer—break into an abandoned railyard. Their goal is to see a rumored piece of graffiti on a massive, two-hundred-foot grain silo. What they find is not graffiti, but a breathtaking, professional mural of a screaming woman's face, impossibly high on the concrete cylinder with no visible means of access.
Shaken and inspired, they retreat to a 24-hour diner. Their exhilaration is cut short when a mill worker reveals that the authorities are cordoning off the area, claiming "structural issues," and plan to sandblast the mural at dawn. Realizing the art is in danger, the teens become determined to understand its origin.
The next day, Julian develops photos he took, and a high-resolution print reveals a hidden detail: a small raven symbol and the date "1992" scratched into the paint. Julian recognizes the raven as the signature of his older brother, who vanished without a trace four years prior. The teens realize the mural isn't new; it has been there for years, hidden under grime, and was only recently *uncovered*.
Their investigation leads them to a derelict shed at an old quarry, a known hangout of Julian's brother. Inside, they find his faded raven tags and a preliminary sketch for the silo mural, confirming he was the artist. More chillingly, Lenny discovers fresh boot prints and a recently used can of paint thinner, proving someone else was there just before them—the person who revealed the art. A sound outside sends them fleeing, and they glimpse a menacing figure in a security vest watching them from a ridge.
They race back towards town, only to see that the cover-up is already in motion. Scaffolding is being erected around the silo, with tarps ready to hide the mural before its destruction. The teens are left with the heavy, dangerous knowledge of a town secret, the ghost of a lost artist, and the chilling realization that they have been seen by the very people who want that secret kept.
## Character Breakdown
* **LENNY (17):** The protagonist. An introverted, frustrated artist who sketches secretly in his bedroom. He is overwhelmed by the town's oppressive practicality and his own self-doubt, seeing his artistic impulses as a useless liability.
* **Psychological Arc:**
* **State at Start:** A passive, insecure artist who feels small and useless, questioning the point of creating art in his bleak, unappreciative environment.
* **State at End:** Awakened and galvanized. He understands that art is not a luxury but a vital, necessary act of memory and defiance. He is now burdened with a dangerous truth and the responsibility that comes with it.
* **SAM (17):** The pragmatist. A grunge bassist with a tough, cynical exterior that protects a deep-seated need for expression. She is the group's anchor to reality, but the mural cracks her hardened shell, reminding her why she makes noise in a town that demands silence.
* **JULIAN (17):** The observer. Quiet, methodical, and technically-minded, he is the group’s documentarian. His personal connection to the mystery through his missing brother transforms him from a passive recorder of events into an active investigator driven by a need for answers.
## Scene Beats
1. **THE FENCE:** At night, Lenny, Sam, and Julian break into the derelict West Yard, the air thick with industrial decay and nervous energy.
2. **THE REVEAL:** They round the massive grain silo. Moonlight hits the concrete, revealing a stunning, 20-foot mural of a screaming woman, impossibly high up. They are awestruck and unnerved.
3. **THE DINER:** Huddled in a booth, they debate the mural's origin. A mill worker enters and announces the silo is being cordoned off for "structural issues" and the "vandalism" will be sandblasted at dawn.
4. **THE DARKROOM:** The next day, Julian develops his film. A print reveals a hidden raven symbol and the date "1992." Julian recognizes it as his long-lost brother's signature.
5. **THE DISCOVERY:** The teens realize the mural isn't new; it was recently *uncovered*. They race to an abandoned shed at the quarry, his brother's old haunt.
6. **THE SHED:** Inside the rotting structure, they find faded raven tags and a preliminary sketch of the silo face, confirming Julian's brother as the artist.
7. **THE EVIDENCE:** Lenny discovers fresh boot prints and a can of paint thinner—proof that someone else was just there, the person who deliberately revealed the mural.
8. **THE WATCHER:** A twig snaps outside. They flee, catching a glimpse of a figure in a security vest watching them from the quarry ridge.
9. **THE ERASURE:** Driving back, they see it: scaffolding and tarps are being erected around the silo. The cover-up is happening in real-time.
10. **THE BURDEN:** The teens are left with the chilling knowledge of the town's secret and the understanding that they are now part of it. Lenny grips his sketchbook, the weight of this dangerous memory now his to carry.
## Visual Style & Tone
The visual style is grounded and gritty, employing a desaturated color palette that emphasizes the cold blues, greys, and rust-browns of the Northwestern Ontario landscape. The aesthetic will contrast the raw, vast beauty of nature (granite, pine, water) with the decaying, monolithic structures of industry. Camerawork will be largely handheld and intimate, creating a sense of immediacy and conspiratorial closeness with the teens. The mural itself will be the single most vibrant and emotionally raw image, a stark slash of humanity on an inhuman surface.
The tone is a blend of coming-of-age mystery and a quiet, creeping neo-noir thriller. It is melancholic and tense, capturing the quiet desperation and simmering rebellion of youth in a forgotten town. **Tonal comparisons:** The atmospheric dread and thematic weight of an early *Black Mirror* episode, the exploration of memory and erasure in *Fahrenheit 451*, and the oppressive small-town secrets of *Winter's Bone*.