OUGD503 - Studio Brief 1 - Noughts and Crosses (4 Days) - Initial Ideas Mind Map

Initial Ideas / Concepts Mindmap 

After reading the book, the plot line and key quotes were picked out from the story to provide a basis for concepts. From these, key themes and plot points were taken and explored in a mindmap. Key themes and plot points were explored further by linking quotes to help provide visualisations of the themes, helping to explore the theme further.

These included :

Callum joining Heathcroft School

'Four noughts, including Callum, were starting at my school' pg 40 - could show this using noughts in a classroom layout, compare the nought population with the cross population within the scool

''I've got to go to Heathcroft now and nothing, not even dynamite, is going to get me out again' pg 48 - foretells what will happen later in the book 

' when you're floating up and up in your bubble,  that bubbles have a habit of bursting. The higher you climb, the further you have to fall.' pg 151 - show bubbles floating upwards which reflect the noughts, then daggers popping them, this could also be reflected by a cross zeroing in on the bubble like its about to shoot it down. This will suggest how the crosses will try and bring the noughts down or that the noughts can't be more successful than the crosses. 

Views about each other 

'He never called them Crosses. They were always daggers.'' pg 33 - crosses can alternatively be visualised as daggers. A link could be made to how a dagger is used to cut Sephy 

'Blank , white faces with not a hint of colour in them. Blank minds which can't hold a single original thought. Blank, blank, blank' pg 85 - rather than having a nought a blank or see through space could be used to reflect how a nought is seen as nothing

'I'm not a blanker. I may be a nought but i'm worth more than nothing. I'm not a blanker. A waste of time and space. A zero.' pg 57

People act differently around each other

'All our lives criss - crossing but never really touching.' pg 116 - lines could go over one another another to reflect noughts and crosses. These could stop and start showing how noughts and crosses avoid one another.

Nought relaxed around each other in a way they rarely did around Crosses. And Crosses were constantly on their guard around noughts' pg 116 

'God only knew that being around Crosses was like walking on egg shells' pg 10 - photograph egg shells around a cross, show how noughts have to be careful around them

Train incident with the ID Card shows the distrust between noughts and crosses. The police man wanted to check every detail of the ID card because he didn't trust what Callum was saying. - the ID could be rewritten to reflect Callums thoughts about what the police officer might be thinking. A magnifying glass could be shown over his hand and ID card to reflect how Callum thought he wanted to compare both.

Society says Noughts and Crosses can't mix

''We don't need to mix with them'

'What's wrong with mixing?'' pg 35 - similar to oil and water which don't mix becuase they seperate when in contact with one another. Shapes of noughts and crosses could 'congeal' to form groups, with noughts joining together and crosses doing the same. Could also be visualised with only oil, colour these in black and white to represent the different groups.

'Being in and being accepted are two different things' pg 22

Notes from the author: She highlights the artificial divides that are between ourselves and others. - Use a noughts and crosses board, zoom in so only a nought, cross and line between is shown reflecting the divide between the two. 

''But your just like everyone else. 'Crosses and noughts shouldn't be seen together. Crosses and noughts shouldn't be friends. Crosses and noughts shouldn't even be on the same planet together'''. pg 81 - an eye could be shown with both Sephy and Callum within it showing how they are eventually seen together.

Sephy had to sit next to Callum or sit on the floor - reflect with the layout of a classroom showing the different options that she had. Mark with a cross to show the locations.

Sephy sitting on the same table as the noughts - show they layout of the cafeteria 

Noughts and Crosses can't mix - blend the two colours together to create a new shade. This would also reflect the baby.

One of the McGregor's was a cross - the family tree could be edited to include earlier family showing the cross that was within their family and how noughts and crosses do mix. This could be erased on the family tree to show how they want to forget that a cross was in the family. 

Sephy and Callum are friends despite being a nought and cross

'Callum and I were two sides of the same coin' pg 231 - use an image or outline of a coin on both the front an back of the book to reflect the two sides. Leaving the coin blank will remove the labels that they both have. Photographing coins could reflect the quote. One coin could be different from the rest with all the other coins two different types of coins reflecting the noughts and crosses. 

Family Tree Visuals within the book - could show the relationship between Sephy and Callum. This could just show how they were together but also could show how Callum is deceased, adding the baby could also be done, however this may give away the plot line within the book. 

Crosses more powerful than the noughts - could be reflected through a game of noughts and crosses with the noughts losing. However this could be turned on its head and could show how the noughts striked back with dynamite.

Sephy leaving 

'...if I'd managed to reach her car before it sped away from me. I might've been very much alive, instead of ice - cold inside' pg 378

Sephy writing the letter to Callum who doesn't see it in time - a letter could be written using the same words within the book then photographed on the ground to reflect how Calllum would have been in a rush to get to Sephy.