Personal Chasm Concept Ideas

Here are some rough ideas that I made for BYU's film Chasm before I realized that most of it was already finalized.  The commentary I made assumed the decisions were still up in the air.  Be aware that some facts about the film are incorrect.

Sorry everything is in a rough sketch, I'm new to Photoshop painting and still need to learn how to use it before I post something.

First I did silhouettes of the building.  I understand that in addition to the cannon, Addison has a workshop, bedroom, and maybe kitchen.  I used a lot of shape repetition in these designs to make them more interesting.  My favorite is the multi cannon flat.  The text at the bottom reads as follows:

"Cannon should be able to move up and down; can whole building swivel to move left and right?

In order to cause an effect that would take up the most area on the 2D plane that Addison sees, she would probably use a mortar style cannon (low power, high trajectory)

An accident causes her to discover the other side - her angle is too low, and a shot explodes on the opposite edge of the chasm."

Next I did some cannon detail.  I like the idea of having two cannons, but I think they shouldn't be covered by the building like they are in the silhouette.  The cannons would be mounted and rotated about the circle in the middle.  We should be able to see the parts that hold it together.  My favorite of these is the top right bombard style cannon, a design which is reflected in the lower gun howitzer style cannon (second from right on bottom).  It maintains the same shape language as my favorite building as well as a semi-functional appearance.  Both cannons would be aimed up as to launch something in the sky that would burst several feet above the chasm and flow down into its depths.  The text reads as follows:

"While previous ideas considered cannon effects powered by electricity, pyrotechnics should be used as they are more flexible to manipulate into the "effect," they would be easier to "fire" from a cannon, and they would be more likely to be found in a post apocalyptic 40s mining environment."

I honestly didn't like the silhouette of most of the cannons already posted - perhaps because some of the barrels are too big or the because the housing doesn't reflect what the cannon would fire.  Also, most of the cannons are aimed arbitrarily at the chasm at a 0º-45º angle which would yield less than spectacular events when that cannon is fired.  I realize I am being hypocritically critical as I have no beautiful paintings of my own to showcase, but I believe it is a legitimate concern.

Lastly, I have a rough storyboard for the discovery of the other side.  This was drawn before I realized the cannon should be in a mortar style, so it is aimed directly opposite of Addison with a flat angle.  I mainly wanted to convey Addison's emotions as being bored of the same effects, then angry (causing her to max out the power in the cannon), then inquisitive about the discovery, then curious as to max out the power even further to get a better view of the other side.

I imagine Addison wearing a ponytail, tank top, baggy pants, and heavy boots.  Her hair would be styled like Chloe Frazer from Uncharted 2, and she would have a personality reminiscent of Trudy Chacon from Avatar.