SYNOPSIS
Cray Baby captures a fundamental moment of change for a young family of three and follows them grapple with sudden news - that they might become four. Immersed in the British countryside at the very beginning of a family camping trip, eight-year-old Suzi and her Dad gallivant down to the water’s edge, where they capture a cray fish - little baby Nigel. In these moments, Mum, at base, takes a pregnancy test which reveals itself as positive. When the family reconvenes, Suzi introduces Nigel to Mum, who is overcome with a nurturing desire for the creature.
Unbeknownst to the parents, Nigel begins interjecting conversations with his drunken, guttural fishing advice, which initially perplexes Suzi, but becomes the norm throughout the film. Mum privately divulges her news to Dad and then devises a tactful approach to raise the issue with Suzi. A family-meeting scenario becomes the crux of the film. She asks Suzi if she’d like a new playmate, and Suzi jumps to the conclusion that Nigel will become her faithful pet companion.
Mum carefully poses questions that raise issues of responsibility and sacrifice, and Suzi rises to the challenge each time, until it is evident to her that Nigel is not the true subject of this conversation. They are having a baby! Or, as Mum corrects her, they MIGHT be having a baby. After an obsolete vote on the issue, Mum confirms that decision lies with her, and her alone, and illustrates that the choice must be taken seriously, for all that it will change.
Nigel hiccups and splutters throughout the scene until a frustrated Dad slams his palm down on his portable radio - and Nigel stops talking. And with that, Suzi has entered the adult world, if only for a moment. She recognises that the conversation is centred around a real, potential human life, and to an extent, recognises the gravity of the decision at hand. Mum delivers her verdict - she wants the child, but she needs the family to know that they must be ready to step up to the task. The mood is light, Suzi is thrilled. Dad makes a crass joke about getting Nigel ready for dinner, something Suzi takes very literally. In an urgent reaction, she grabs the cray fish and runs all the way back to the water’s edge. Just a moment before release, Nigel thanks her. A deep, guttural, drunken thanks. Splash. Suzi, wide eyed, watches him disappear back into the water from where he was found.
TONE
Cray Baby is a tender and comedically absurd look at one brief moment in a family’s life. The film, in part, follows Suzi’s eight-year-old view of the world and the events that unfold, and while it is evident that the adults understand the circumstances on a different level, it is also clear that they are out of their depth and muddling through the experience as best as they can, together. The film presents a series of tender moments between the three family members, but its comedy comes through the juxtaposing perspectives, and the quiet reactions of the characters.
Nigel represents an absurdity which carries the film through - initially his voice is entirely surreal, before Dad brings him crashing back down to a realistic plane. Here he lies inert, unperturbed. In the very final moments of the film Suzi’s perspective brings him back into the magical, and he speaks directly to her. Whether it’s her perspective that creates this fiction, or whether it’s a magical reality of the film, it is up for the viewer to decide. The cray fish is a solid representation of the potential human baby in question, and each character relates to it differently. The mother has an (oddly comical) instinctual, maternal reaction to the animal. The dad continues to joke about eating it. Suzi brings it to life and personifies it, and eventually goes to lengths to protect it - just as her mother has asked, she takes responsibility. It will be crucial to represent these relationships to the cray fish through an established visual style.
When illustrating the family dynamic, the film will, in part, utilise a visual style that foregrounds certain relationships, but allows all characters to exist simultaneously within the frame. Differing perspectives will also be established, and it will be clear to the viewer through who’s eyes we are experiencing each moment. Nature will play an important part in the film, and both visual and audible elements of this will be privileged. The film is contemporary, though will be relatively timeless in its essence. Primary colours will play a key role, particularly yellow.
