"Barking Up the Wrong Tree" Story Development

Elevator Pitch

A humorous short about a dog that barks viciously and enthusiastically at a tree in attempt to catch a cat that has run up the tree, only to find he is barking at the wrong tree.

Look & Feel

Dark Mood

As though this is how menacing the dog imagines he is.

Claustrophobic, close cameras, harsh lighting, sharp light falloff, limited color palette, angular forms. 

Sunny Mood

Bright, diffuse, morning look. Colors are closer to "realistic".

Summary

Open with title card.

Fade, show only black for several seconds.

Suddenly, close up of dog barking

Close shots of "menacing" features: teeth, scowl, posture, etc. 

Perhaps a bark in pitched-down slow-motion.

Continue for roughly half of the short (15s)

Cue (perhaps audio?)

Dog stops abruptly, perks ears. Turns sideways, so you can see his face over his shoulder

He looks almost derpy, tongue lolling. His head darts, "searching".

Dog's POV shot of cat in a different tree

Same As shot of dog, blank stare

Wide shot showing mostly the scene, both trees in frame, separated by the sidewalk up the center of the lawn, animals looking at each other.

Linux Commands

Some fundamental linux commands (not specific to the pipeline)

gnome-open .  # or xdg-open
alias 
env
grep --color --line-number --with-filename -r "keyword" .
env | grep HOME
which scriptname
pwd
ls
source
man

Idioms Brainstorming

Barking Up The Wrong Tree

A determined dog enters frame, barking voraciously and jumping/growling/pointing at a tree. This carries on for a lengthy amount of time. A cat is revealed to be perched in a different tree a few meters away. The dog realizes (perhaps through an audio cue) that he has been "barking up the wrong tree"; he pauses, panting, and then runs towards the "correct" tree, still barking.

Steal Someone's Thunder

One character holds a jar. It contains two dark, ominous clouds, that crash against each other, producing light. The character sets the jar down on a shelf/trophy case/table, and it shakes slightly each time the clouds collide. The character leaves. A second character enters and takes the jar. Admiring it, he opens the lid ever so slightly. The jar erupts and the thunder cracks in his face.

Get your goat

Two characters interact. One begins annoying/angering/agitating the other. The agitated one communicates/says/subtitles that the other "got his goat". A small, wide-eyed goat stands up and shuffles across the table.

OR

The goat is used as a weapon. The agitated character holds it under his arm, cocks it like a shotgun, and it fires a laser from its mouth.

OR

Something equally ridiculous.