One of the films that my teacher, Ms. Stoklosa, suggested for me to watch was What Dreams May Come, directed by Vincent Ward. This film, released in 1998, is about Chris's experience with the afterlife after he dies in a car crash, and is separated from his soulmate Annie, whom he wants to reunite with. The scene to the right is after Chris, played by Robin Williams, finally accepts his death and goes into his own form of heaven. The excerpt, specifically 1:00-1:50, shows really aesthetically pleasing art direction, which inspired me to think that maybe for my opening, the painter will get so into the painting that she will let go of the brush and start painting with her bare hands, creating an illusion just like the one seen in the scene.
Moreover, this fragment from the film 'If I Stay', directed by R.J. Cutler, shows the fervor and passion which I want my protagonist to build up throughout the opening scene. Just like Mia with her cello, my protagonist's painting will be an extension of herself, serving as an expression of her soul.
Also, while watching different scenes that could help me develop my story further, I came across a scene from the film 'Big Eyes'. This film, released in 2014, takes place in the late 1960's, when Walter Keane achieves success with portraits of big-eyed people. What no one realizes is that his wife Margaret is the real painter, but is too shocked and meek to protest her rights. Although I haven't watched the movie, the New York Times analyzed a scene from it. In this scene, which you can watch on the right, Tim Burton (director), narrates a sequence where Walter Keane takes credit for his wife's iconic artwork. Burton then highlights Amy's performance, which conveys so much emotion with not much dialogue. This is important to me personally because I don't plan to have dialogue in the opening scene, rather have the actions portray the emotion.
Since the scene helped me so much, I decided to watch the trailer as well, which you can see to the left of this text. One of the lines that really hit me was Walter's reason for taking credit, which was that "Sadly, people don't buy lady art." It's things like this that leave no doubt in my mind that my protagonist has to be a girl. However, I know that I don't want to make my film a 'feminist' movie. In contrary, my film is going to convey how a human being deals with her anguish and pain through the artistic medium. Not to say that I don't want her facing discrimination because of her sex, since that needs to be included in order to portray an accurate version of reality, but also I want my film to deal with more than that. It's not only going to be about the gender gap in the art industry, but her family's struggle and how that affects her personally.
"What Dreams May Come - Meeting Katie:-)." YouTube. YouTube, 30 Aug. 2011. Web.
"Chloë Moretz Playing Cello (If I Stay)." YouTube.
YouTube, 10 Nov. 2014. Web.
" 'Big Eyes' | Anatomy of a Scene W/ Director Tim Burton | The New York Times." YouTube. N.p., 03 Jan. 2015. Web.
"Big Eyes Official Trailer #1 (2014) - Tim Burton, Amy Adams Movie HD." YouTube. 19 Sept. 2014. Web. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xD9uTlh5hI>.
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