Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Episode 3: Burning Documents


SUMMARY OF SCENE

Great, now my hair is a real mess. I need a hair dresser fast. I think I have a card somewhere in my bag. I push aside the receipts and knick-knacks I've collected. It's no good. I can't find anything in here.

I pour out the contents of my purse onto the counter, papers goes everywhere. A business card floats right onto the scented candle. The lit scented candle. Oh bother. What if it gets burned? I think I have some chemicals in my purse that I can use to read what was written on the card! But I'll need to save it in time...

MY HYPOTHESIS

I didn't really have one this time. I just had the two scenarios I was interested in learning about. I suppose I thought the paper would just burn right up and you couldn't save anything really. But I really did want the Sherlock Holmes stuff (salvaging an already burned paper) to work.

ACTUAL OUTCOME

Yeah, I was wrong on both counts.

CONCLUSION OF SCENE

The burned paper disintegrated in my hand. There was no recovering it. At least it was just a small corner. I can easily read the card. Phew. Now to just get out of here.

DETAILS

The first thing I tried was throwing the paper in the fire to see if I could leap in and save it in time. I could. Only the corner was burned. That could make an interesting scene if that corner had the final location of the treasure or the name of the heir to the fortune! Otherwise, it won't cause much trouble.

I also threw a stack into the pile and left it. The pages burned from the bottom up. The ones that got left for a long time were burned on the top and bottom, but the middle pages were just burned on the edges. They were still quite readable.

As for the super sleuth attempts? Well I burned the edge of the paper and left it to burn. That was the how they did it in the last Super Sleuth movie I saw. It just burned out quickly when I set it down. When I held it up to let it burn, it crinkled in a lovely way. I'm a pyromaniac like that I suppose.

As for saving what was on the paper? It's highly unlikely to happen as the pages are so delicate they fall apart when touched or moved too quickly. A very trained specialist might be able to salvage what was on there, but he would have to be careful. Just be aware of that in your scenes.

Final detail: the ashes would blow away or rise up in the smoke, so don't expect to find much left over if the papers were left in the fire.

Thanks as always for reading. Sorry to be a little late this week. Youtube was being silly about uploading the video.

P.S. The video was edited by my assistant/husband "The Drudge," which is why the style is so different this time. He's so talented.

12 comments:

Precy Larkins said...

Tracy, just wanna say you're cool for doing this. ;)

Charlie N. Holmberg said...

Um, I loved how (I assume the husband) it just pouring fuel on the fire-pit while you're talking and then lights it up in flames... great work.

Tracy N. Jorgensen said...

He wants to be known as "The Drudge." He loves that scene too.

Leigh Ann said...

Love love love love LOVE this blog. All of it.

Tracy N. Jorgensen said...

Aww, thank you. I hope I can continue to please my wonderful audience. (and hopefully you all will keep growing in number! I love that.)

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

Duuuuude. That is awesome. I love the concept of this blog. I want to send you questions now and let you experiment! Hehe. So cool!

Eisley Jacobs said...

That was awesome!! :)

Tracy N. Jorgensen said...

Please, please do send me your questions. If it's not enough for a full episode, I also do Sunday Shorts. I am always open and looking for new ideas. Provided they aren't illegal or beyond a PG rating (trying to keep this family friendly).

Riley Redgate said...

No R-rated material? Damn... =P

Oh, how I love this blog and you.

Actually, I do have a question for you! YAY

How long does it take to set something on fire if you leave it on top of a live lightbulb?

I'm thinking of a few different things - a sketchpad (with a thick cardboard back), a stack of looseleaf paper, and a shirt. I've got a specific time frame in mind, and I need to know which would smolder long enough before actually setting on fire. Muahaha, being evil to my characters!

I hope you can answer - it's a weirdly specific question; googling has not been very successful.

Tracy N. Jorgensen said...

Do you want a film or just a sunday short blurb on it?

Riley Redgate said...

Eek, I get to choose? My inner pyromaniac wants to see crap going up in flames, but I leave the choice to you. Your show, after all. :P

Halalcohol said...

You never fail to entertain me: I love your blog. And props to The Drudge for the editing. It was very nicely done.