“ I Like For You to be Still” — Final Project Proposal

Project Name: “I Like for You to be Still”

Team Members: Stella Lin & Carrot (Xinyu Liu)

Concept | Storyline

       1) The piece for the narrative voice-over

           We are going to narrate the poem “ I Like For You to be Still” by Pablo Neruda. The human voice is presented by Glenn Close. 

       2) The story 

        In the poem, Pablo Neruda expresses his passionate love for a silent girl. The girl’s silence and stillness create an illusion of perpetuation. What’s more, the distance and absence of the girl’s presence also enhance her beauty and mystery, making her a  dreamlike fantasy. The girl exists as an ideal figure for the author, which may be disrupted by words and actions. The stillness and distance guarantee the girl’s imperishable perfection, which can never be achieved in a realistic, moving world.

       3) The part of the story we are going to focus on 

           We will focus on the metaphors in the poem as well as the concept of an imagined, perfect girl. By combining the metaphors and the footage of a silent girl, we try to convey Pablo’s special expression and understanding of love. We also want to present the contrast between the glowing passionate love of the author and the still silent illusion of the girl.

       4) The style/aesthetics we are going to pursue

           We will use a faded, peaceful, yet beautiful tone. We will create the feeling of illusion by using blurry, transparent, and grainy visual effects with multiple layerings and adjustments of opacity. The color will be a combination of warm tone and cold tone so that the contrast between the passionate love and the still illusion can be presented.

Execution Plan 

       1) Equipment we are going to use when shooting the movie

           For this movie, we will use a DSLR camera for most of the filming, a stabilizer and tripod to help capture clearer scenes and steady movements, and a sound recorder for the audio. We may also use a light board if necessary. 

       2) Which locations will it be shot at? When is it? Day time/night/unknown? Why?

           Some of the locations we decide on are parks, old streets in Shanghai, Century Avenue, and indoor spaces such as dorms and a studio. For outdoor spaces, we will film during both daytime and nighttime to present the girl in fantasy is always around and he is thinking of her wherever he goes. We will shoot some of the scenes in the park to present the wild, vibrant, and yet silent feeling of the poem. Some scenes will be filmed indoors as we want to portray the idea of fantasy and dream, as well as the silence of the girl. A studio set may also be necessary for some close-up shots of the girl. These scenes will be conducted during the daytime. 

       3) Some challenges we might encounter and how we will prepare

           The first challenge we may encounter is the schedule conflicts between group members. As we have different classes and plans, it may be hard to find a time that works for everyone to finish filming. We will take this part into consideration when we look for outside assistants for our project. We will also start looking for the leading actors this weekend to get a better schedule for us.

           The second challenge is to portray and convey the larger meanings and feelings instead of the simple representation of the words. I think we will read some analysis first and then discuss our own interpretations and feelings of the poem. Then, we will decide how we will use visual metaphors and editing to present those feelings. 

           One challenge is that some of the scenes portrayed in the poem(starry night)may not be accessible for us to shoot at the moment. Our solution to this is to use still images or find another accessible scene that presents the same feeling to convey the idea. 

       4) How will you collaborate? How will you divide work?

Gantt Chart

Task	Owner	Start Date	Due Date	Duration	PCT of Task Complete
Filming	Carrot Stella	12.3	12.7	5	0
Editing (Part 1 Sketching)	Carrot	12.7	12.9	3	0
Editing (Part2)	Stella	12.7	12.9	3	0
Recruiting crew	Stella	11.28	12.1	4	0
Equipment	Carrot	12.3	12.4	2	0

  Storyboard Draft