The poet, the lunatic and the
devil
Genera: surreal comedy
Synopsis: Devil (Mack) while doing standup tells the crowd how he got stabbed in the
neck. Emile (med student) needs to replace a body that he messed up while doing practice
surgery , he enlists the help of his friend William(writer) who secretly wants to harm
him for writing him a bad review and breaking his lucky pen . A professional knife
thrower wants to kill his assistant, during rehearsal he tries throwing knives at her but
keeps missing . These character meet at a very unfortunate time.
PLOT OUTLINE
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Mack while doing his standup act tells/shows the crowd how he got a knife stuck
in his neck
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In the graveyard two identical twins, THE GOONS, are standing at a grave
waiting for a third party , when suddenly they get struck by lightning and turn to
dust
We see the two main characters Emile(med student) and
Williams(writer/cemetery caretaker/grave robber) , both are lying on their
stomachs, spying on The Goons. Emile had a bet with William regarding the
lightning phenomena, William wins while Emile tries to make sense of what he
just witnessed.
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Their conversation is interrupted by Cindy ( the girl that is buried alive , and is
still alive ) Emile gets a bad cough William gives him some medicine(poison ),
he passes out(looks dead) , but regains consciousness after a few mins –[Emile
had broken Williams lucky pen and wrote him a bad review, which is why
William wants to harm him]
They get back to work. Emile is here looking for a replacement body for a surgery
he messed up , He needs the body to resemble the one he messed up. He shows a
photograph to William. William tells him he buried some one just like him in the
forest . They head towards that location.
They reach their destination. William begins to dig , while Emile takes out a knife
to hurt his friend , but fails every time he tries. William still in the dark , gives
him the gun he was carrying “to keep a look out”
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William throws the knife away it hits a tree, where Mack is standing (spying ).
William tries to shoot his friend in the back , but cant get the gun to work
Mack, who is spying , interrupts the two grave robbers . He catches William red
handed, pointing the gun at William but doesn’t say anything.
As he has caught the two digging up a body and Williams attempt at shooting
Emile , He indirectly blackmails both of them calling it a business proposition
regarding “their situation”.
Mack happens to look just like Emile’s photograph . Emile convinces William
that they should just take him instead , since he looks exactly like the photo.
William agrees as he doesn’t want to be found out .
Cuts back to the theater , where Mack narrates the rest of the storyAs the three are going to Mack’s grandma’s house to talk “business” they run into
a knife thrower, who is practicing his craft in the isolated woods . The knife
thrower misses and the knife stabs Mack in the neck
Cut back to the theater , Mack wraps up his story , says goodbye to the crowd and
disappears in a puff of smoke leavening behind and empty spotlight with the mic
stand on fire
Notes
Finish the full script
And film 10 pages
Establishing shots for the beginning of each scene. Idea to set up like a stage and then
move forward with the story .
Each location needs to have its own look . Since the story is told through Mack’s POV
The theater scenes are going to be in color. The graveyard and forest scenes are going to
be shot Black/white but will have a very yellow green color over top .
Example:
Visual
THEATER SCENE
LOCATION- round house theater/ emily carr / looking for a raised stage
CAMERA- Mark 5D / in color
Establishing shot –for scene openings
Notes : strong spot light , use of colored gels to light character
from Mack ) , Crowd noise (laugter ,applause etc
, vfx smoke(emanating
GRAVE YARD SCENE
LOCATION : mountain view cemetery
CAMERA : bolex16m
ESTABLISHING SHOT
Lightening strikes the goons
notes: the goons look identical, there is a puff of smoke surrounding the one on
the right . vfx -lightning strike
Emile and William spying ( ash tray on the ground , crow on tombstone )
NOTES : cloud , crow , inscription on grave(after effects) , lightning , cigarette
smoke
FOREST SCENE 1
LOCATION : Robert Burnaby park /Stanley park
CAMERA : bolex 16mm
EXAMPLE SHOTS :
ESTABLISHING SHOTS
NOTES : they don’t actually dig (just try to dig) , Props: finger , shovel , gun , knife,
(a double take for one when the knife hits the tree )
FOREST SCENE 2 (KNIFETHROWER)
LOCATION : Robert Burnaby park /Stanley park
CAMERA : lomography camera (lomokino 35mm) b/w
ESTABLISHING SHOTS
NOTES : in this scene ( Mack ,William and Emile are in a very dense part of the forest
, unaware of the knife thrower, the knife misses the target+ tree and hits Mack in the
neck)
lomokino 35mm camera (because it shoots like stop motion ) , no sound required
(voice over) , a very quick scene (under 40 secs)
Characters
Face details
notes for make up: the make is inspired by German expression
films , but it has to be subtle
Prop Design sheet
Note : all the props have been bought , except for costumes(excluding
hats)
William
Bio: - 28 ,tall lanky looking character with dark eyes , heavy smoker
-drops out of med school to be a writer
- works at the graveyard (cremating ,burying , stealing etc)
- He agrees to help his friend, Emile only to get revenge for what he did ( bad
review , broke lucky pen)
General mood: lethargic, bored
Costume : white turtle neck , suit jacket pants black + gloves , white handkerchief
Props: small bottle with skull and cross bones , knife (small, plastic looking )
Sketched out version :
EMILE
Bio : - 29 medical student
goes to graveyard looking for a replacement body with a similar face to the one he
messed up
recently broke his friend williams lucky pen as a joke , and wrote a very negative review
of his book
wears a helmet (suffers from vertigo from time to time )
Costume : helmet , red british military jacket with medals , white shirt, black pants shoes
Props : shovel , old gun
General mood: cheerful optamistic
Reference pics for costume
Sketched out version
MACKHIE(mack)
Bio: 45 , the devil , who does stand up comedy
Costume : white sports jacket , rose colored glasses , rings . long black coat
Props : a leather bound book
General mood : happy ,
Reference pics for costume
Sketched out version
THE GOONS
Bio : twin brothers 35 ,waiting at the graveyard , to exchange top secret information
with the cia ,but get struck by lightning
Costume : identical coats+hats
Props :cigar and a cloud hovering over one twin
General mood: impatient
Reference pics for costume
Sketched out version
CINDY
Bio: 45year old lady , who was buried alive .
Costume - voice over
Props General moodReference pics for costume Sketched out version -
Mr +Mrs sharpknife
late30s married for 10years .
work at the circus , mr sharpknife is a professional knife
thrower and the Mrs. is his manger/ assistant . Mr Sharpknife takes
the Mrs. into the isolated forest to practice his knife throwing act ,
with the intent of actually hitting her ,but fails
bio :
costume : Mr S prison strips outfit
mrs S is wearing a shirt with a target printed on it + skirt and tights
props : knives , rope
general mood: mrS is nervous Mrs S is indifferent
reference pic :
SOUND+MUSIC
THEATER : Crowd applause, laugh (intense+ lethargic) , burning , fire
Graveyard: crow , wind , rain , thunder, voice over of cindy , burning sound
Forest : walking , shovel hitting the ground, knife hitting the tree, gun click ,
smoke/burning
Music :
will carter Montana slim – don’t cry over me ( public domain )
Tommy Doresey-clowie 1946 (public domain)
Casy jones1912 (public domain )
NOTE: These songs are public domain from archive.org
SPECIAL EFFECTS
Smoke
Lightning
Cloud+ rain
Eliminating background buildings
Adding letters on one tombstone
Crow sitting on a tombstone
WORK FLOW
PRIMERE
AFTER EFFECTS
PHOTOSHOP
MAYA
PROTOOL
CAMERA- Mark 5D / in color
Bolex 16m b/w
Lomokino -35m b/w
Production schedule
Location mountain view cemetery,
Robert Burnaby park / Stanley park
roundhouse theater/ emily carr studio
Dates of shooting
Jan6-15 ( 4days in total )
Auditions
All the parts are cast except for Mack and William
Updated Crew
Camera – Ayesha asad and Leonardo Harim
Sound – Amber Davey/ Goldie Why
Ad – Bita jourdaki
Lights – fernada guiterez
Pa/transport- Nick Rashdi
Post special effects - kate grub
Editing – Ayesha A
producer: amber davey
PROJECT INFORMATION
I haven't filmed anything yet.
My script took longer than i expected but now that i have a cinematographer , we
have between
jan6-15 to shoot (4 days of shooting time is needed)
Project details
ACTORS
All the actors have been cast except for Mack and William
Charlotte Borlton (ubc theatre) is helping me cast those two, will be finalized by
January 1st
PROPS COSTUME
All the props have been bought, except for costumes but they will be purchased
from Vancouver prop house (jan1-5)
Locations
All the locations have been locked.
We will be shooting the theatre scene in Emily carr, unless we find something
better (maybe ubc if we get permission)
the rest is mountain view cemetery , Stanley park and Robert Burnaby park
FORMAT
we are going to have 3 different formats of filming
digital
16mm bolex
35mm lomokino
Mainly because it will help separate the story into 3 different parts
- Mack tells the story , his part will be digital and in color.
-When he recollects what happened to him that bit will be shot in 16mm
- At the end 35mm lomokino , for the scene with the knife thrower as it is the
unexpected twist at the end. This camera shoots like stop motion which is the
look am going for , for the twist ending .
NOTES ON PROJECT+ CHANGES
My project is going to be slightly altered as i don't want to just film. I am very
much interested in the design + writing aspect of the film and want that to be a
part of my portfolio . (Originally i wasn't aware that you could just submit a full
script or i would have done that . ) so apart from filming I will be creating a
concept art book for the story and completing the script(75 pages - right now i
have 35)
Here are more details
WRITING
Completing the story (75 pages - (length of graphic novel)
the ending is essentially the same , but in the complete version we get to spend
time with Emile +Williams , Mr+Mrs Knifethrower , Cindy , The Goons , and we
get to see Mack backstage before he goes on .
These different story lines while pursuing their goals (and failing miserably ) end
up in the forest and have an unfortunate meeting , that ends with Mack having a
knife stuck in his neck
DESIGN
i will be making a concept art book for this script
(it will be illustrated by me )
the book will explore in detail , the characters and the world that the absurd
world that they inhabit , their strange goals obsessions etc
and at least 6 illustrated scenes
FILM
As originally planned i will be filming the script as well .
I gave you 23 pages , i am going to be filming all of it . But for the final
edit(10min version) , the story will start from the lightning strike and end at with
three character (Mack, emile , William) as the leave the forest together .
REASON
The reason i want to finish the script and create a concept art book , is because
once I'm done i will be using this material as a pitch for a graphic novel .
I am going to new york as a part of an illustration class where we get to meet
editors at marvel+ DC and they critique our work , this is the story i want to
present to them for a critique .
MORE INFO
also point out that i got an email from academic advisor stating that i am missing
a few classes , so i will not be graduating next year but a semester later . which
gives me more time to complete this project .