in Assignment

4D [Elpis] Film Poster and Synopsis



Screen Shot 2015-10-06 at 9.42.06 am

 

Only Hope was left within her unbreakable house,
she remained under the lip of the jar, and did not
fly away. Before [she could], Pandora replaced the
lid of the jar. This was the will of aegis-bearing
Zeus the Cloudgatherer. – Hesiod, Works and Days.

Having witnessed the brutal rape and murder of both her parents, Elpis finds herself lost in the world, with nothing left to her name but an inheritance and a disturbed mind. For the past 7 months, she has been under the scrutiny of the asylum she has been sent to, under the account of repeated attempts of suicide and self harm.

After a security failure in the asylum, she escapes her padded cell and ventures out to the world freely for the first time, as she was a sheltered only child to begin with, for the last 19 years of her life. She escapes the city streets and finds herself in a park. Taking a seat on the park bench, she meets Professor Demet, old man sitting at the other end of it who offers her a handkerchief, and gives her a kind word about the world. Professor Demet continues on, explaining his ex-profession as a psychiatrist and researcher on the subject, that it was once the single and most important thing for him, to climb up the ranks and make his name known. He once fell from the grace of the leaders of the psychiatric world by attempting to carry out a dodgy unethical experiment, only having to scrap by now as a mentor in small clinics.

He asks Elpis what her single and most important thing is now, to which she stays silent. He smiles and tells her that nothing should be more important than hope. Elpis smiles at him. Before she leaves, he gives her his name card, pointing out the number and address of the psychiatrist’s office that he mentors at occasionally.

Religion, society, nature; these are the three struggles of man. These three conflicts are, at the same time, his three needs: it is necessary for him to believe, hence the temple; it is necessary for him to create, hence the city; it is necessary for him to live, hence the plow and the ship. But these three solutions contain three conflicts (…) Man has to deal with obstacles under the form of superstition, under the form of prejudice, and under the form of the elements. A triple ananke (necessity) weighs upon us, the ananke of dogmas, the ananke of laws, the ananke of things (…) With these three fatalities which envelop man is mingled the interior fatality, that supreme ananke, the human heart. -Victor Hugo, Toilers of the Sea, 1866

Elpis continues her walk out the park and along a reservoir, and notices a man sitting by the ledge of the barricade, as if contemplating suicide. She approaches him with the intention of joining him, only to realise that he wasn’t going to jump, and he comes by weekly to sit on the ledge. The man introduces himself as Anan, and treats Elpis to a meal. Over the meal, he explains his fear of death and that his weekly trips to the reservoir is not actually a series of failed suicide attempts, but rather him facing his mortality. Elpis, in exchange, tells him about her own experience witnessing the torture and murder of her parents, and her conclusion that a horrible world with such destructive people is not worth living. Anan points out that the world is a mixture of both good and bad, as well as everything in between, with extremes that Elpis would not have experienced before, that her reason for ending her life would be an ignorant act. Anan invites her to stay with him, on the account that it was a special fate between them, and since she has nowhere else to go, saying that she has nothing to lose either way and Elpis agrees.

Over the next few days, Elpis settles into her life with Anan, a cycle of having breakfast and dinner with him before and after his work, while she takes walks in between. She sees acts of bullying amongst the young kids, robbery of a elderly lady, public harassment of young women and by the end of the month, she confronts Anan about making no progress with her level of optimism in the world, only to be surprised when Anan flares up at her instead of his usual good natured self. He chases her out of his house and tells her to go ahead and kill herself. Shocked beyond words, Elpis tells him that she is now truly disappointed and she leaves.

She finds Prof Demet that night and after his convincing, she agrees to go through a therapy session with him where she recounts to him the events of the past month, ending with the same conclusion that nothing has changed her mind that the world is full of destruction and despair. She reluctantly tells him about Anan as well and asks him if there is anyway he can help Anan. Prof Demet points out that the fact that she chose to contact him, to talk to him and to even think about helping Anan, shows that despite her belief that there is bad in the world, she has been touched by the goodness that she has experienced by Anan and perhaps subconsciously by the walks she has taken.

Flashback to the robbery she has seen taken place, the elderly and the handicapped, she pieces together a more complete image with kind Samaritans helping them. She goes back to find Anan.

She reaches the doorstep to find Anan with swollen eyes, that he went out to look for Elpis the moment he chased her out. He explained that it was his family’s death anniversary, that hearing her wanting to throw her life away added onto the pain that he felt. He holds onto her and sobs, telling her repeatedly to not give up hope that things will get better, as if to remind his own self.

Elpis brings Anan to his bed and holds him to sleep, whispering to Anan that from here on, all the evils in the world cannot bring down hope.

  1. Whoa, i like the development of the character Elpis. I can imagine it clearly and your story is indeed very human, something that supposedly everyone can relate to. The fact the solution of her problem is found in both herself and others altogether really show the fact that humans can’t live alone.

    I think it would be feasible to be made for the last project as well.

    Maybe, if you add a little romance between Elpis and Anan, the story will be more spiced up? Hehe you know sometimes romance can boost the interests in the audience.

  2. I really like the part where she escaped from the asylum. I could easily portray the scene in my brain. And well done for shaping the character of Anan. For me he is a hero and a saviour to Elpis, I really like this kind of character. I believed everyone is hoping to meet the “Anan” in their lives, thus makes your story very appealing .

  3. Very inspiring story about hope! I like the protagonist, Elpis, who seems lost and just a little girl in this big world, yet through her experiences she is very compelling to the audience and emotionally wise a hero. The story is a slice of life and very relatable to us in real life.

  4. Yoz Yoooshh! Anw the story is very captivating to the audience as I can clearly see the character development of Elpis. Maybe like what feli said, include a little romance between them will be nice! Well done =)

  5. Hi Yooooosh! I agree with Feli about having a glimmer of clue about the possibility of Elpis and Anan having a romantic connection, if this was intended in the story already, it could be made clearer. I also like how you didn’t have Elpis to be a happy-go-lucky girl as we would associate someone who is hope to be, which adds on the the humanistic factor in the story and makes it believable.

    Thanks for sharing! & if can’t wait to catch the trailer if you decide to use this! 🙂

  6. I really liked how you portrayed Elpis. The story was very inspiring. The premise of the story was exciting and dramatic enough – it definitely captured my attention. I liked how you portrayed Elpis in the poster as well, she looks vulnerable but at the same time, she does not seem to be completely devoid of hope/emotions. She looks as if she’s still looking for salvation – just like the Elpis in your story!

  7. YOOOOOOOOOSH!
    I am really intrigued with the storyline. Looking at the poster initially I was kind of expecting a psychological thriller. I find myself really immersed in the plot and feeling really relieved that the conclusion has a feel-good feeling. I can picture myself leaving the theatre feeling good. I love the character development and I can picture the struggle of Elpis. Really awesome job!

  8. I really enjoyed your story and the way you built Elpis’ character. I think it’s interesting that Elpis, who is supposedly hope, started off as someone depressed and almost devoid of hope. It helps to make the story more captivating when we see her character developing, and how she ultimately becomes a beacon of hope to someone else. I also like that this story is a sort of reminder to appreciate the good around us instead of ignoring / not realising it.