Logline: A girl comes-of-age and bears the brunt of familial and social pressures. She wrestles with a mind that is jaded, and a heart that yearns to hold on to youth and innocence.

Her emotions and thoughts manifest themselves into her surroundings; ideally represented by a surreal and playful visual landscape.

Preliminary Plot:

The shot opens with a birthday cake crashing into the ground. It is someone’s 21st birthday party. It is a lavish set-up. But a shrill scream cuts through the air and drama erupts upon this mishap. The protagonist sits in the foreground, indifferent to the cacophony. 

Protagonist V.O. “I don’t get what’s the big fuss with turning 21.”

Shot of smeared icing on the floor; “2” and “1” candles smothered.

Cut to, shot of vibrantly coloured icing being piped onto cupcake. Protagonist works part-time at a bakery.

Protagonist V.O. “When you grow up, deceptions come to surface. It’s like life’s icing on the cake… Rainbow flavoured cupcakes? It’s just food colouring.”

Shot of protagonist sinking into the bathtub. The water is cloudy like milk, and multicoloured froot-loops float around her as she submerges.

Match cut to froot-loops in a bowl. Protagonist has her breakfast.

“Just like my rainbow froot loops”

“Rainbows are just reflections anyway.”

Shot of protagonist submerged in a pool.

“A pool always looks shallow from the surface. Till you’re in deep.”

Shot of a pool, tile lines undulating from water’s surface.

 

While in the car, protagonist looks out of the window and sees the teletubbies.

On a second glance, it was actually construction workers in coloured overalls.

Chinese restaurant. Big round tables covered in white and a large lazy susan. It is a family lunch and the protagonist herself is turning 21. Many family members approach the protagonist and probe her with existential questions. (‘What are your plans for the future’ .. ‘When are you going to get a real job?’) The camera’s focus is on the protagonist (blank stare), and these voices are heard off-screen.

Waiters in the restaurant enter. ‘Happy Birthday’ music is played in the background, as the waiters break-out into a rehearsed formation/dance. 

Cake reads: existential crisis 

On a second glance, the cake merely reads: happy birthday

 

Protagonist walks through a public park in her working uniform. She passed by a group of elderly Uncles and Aunties practicing Tai chee. They move in a rehearsed and unified manner, and repeat after each other, existential chinese phrases or sayings (spoken in english). 

 

Progression of plot: tbc 

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Notes: Here’s me just throwing out a very rough plot! I’ve stowed up in my mind a couple of eccentric visuals that I feel could be quite experimental and that could bear metaphorical meanings… So, this was an attempt to string some of them together.

I’m interested in theatrical/comical satires and a surrealistic art direction, and hope to go boldly in that direction. I’m influenced by and really admire films like The Taste of Tea and Mon Uncle. I’m also very impressed by short series ‘Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared” – the production design for that is boggling and the storyline irreverent yet attractive. I don’t mind revising and heading in a simpler and shorter direction like such, and I hope everyone will be open to me heading in a very different direction like such!