Lupus – Short Film

Lupus is a two-hander thriller broaching the issues of power and expectation in the meeting of two strangers brought together by an ominous conspiracy.

 

Two men –David and James- meet in a hotel room. They don’t know each other, much less trust one another. They are conspirators, shady figures who use the hotel room to carry out some sort of transaction.

There is just one problem which soon turns out to be fatal for both of them: neither do they know for sure what the transaction is about, nor are they able to find out about the respective other’s thoughts about it. Thus, they are left with their imagination. What does he think? What might he think that I think?

They start to imagine what the other person may think about what they themselves think; they get caught up in a spiral of suspicion and mistrust. In the end the situation escalates and crucial decisions have to been made.

Our goal with this 7 minutes short film is to investigate and visualize how communication happens between two people who don’t know each other. We want to show how difficult it is to communicate in the absence of norms as a stable ground, how easy one can get trapped in the vicious circle of ‘what is it what he thinks that I think that he thinks,…’ – and how dangerous the consequences may be.

Excerpt from the script: The Other-David

 

The film tries to achieve this by combining a thriller-oriented plot with strong surreal elements. We want to visually show what one person thinks that the other person thinks through the use of quasi-doppelgangers which we create through editing two parts of a shot together (also see our video). Thus the thoughts will be alive and visible in the room together with their 'real' counterparts and actions.

Moodboard: David and the Other-David

 

We are currently in the state of pre-production, the relevant crew positions positions (Operator, Assistant Director, Editor) are set, the script is ready and we have a confirmed shooting location in a hotel in London. The shooting will take place on three consecutive days from the 12th of September until the 14th. So as you can see we are almost ready to roll. What we need now is your support to finalize the budget!

Script with Shot List

 

What Do We Want to Achieve?

• A gripping short-film thriller which appeals through its tight, breathless conspiracy story but also leaves more than enough space for own – and more philosophical – interpretations.
• An aesthetically coherent and pleasing film. Through the use of editing and in-camera effects we want to create an intriguing canvas for the subconscious.
• Submit the film to at least 5 film festivals, like the London Independent Festival or the Rome Independent Festival.

 

Who We Are?

Norbert Strehle (Writer/Director)

Norbert is a sociologist by trade. After finishing his Masters in Edinburgh he started to pursue the one thing he loves even more than social philosophy: filmmaking. His passion for films has always been sparked most by the thoughts, feelings and potentials which are present but remain unseen, by the elements which are outside the frame. He therefore loves to dive into worlds which are bigger than and start to live beyond the films which create them. His favorite films include '2001: Space Odyssey', Fellini's 'Roma' and Jarmush's 'The Limits of Control', all films which are centered on the giant and mysterious worlds they bring to live.

He currently studies at the London Film School where he has gained experience as a cinematographer and producer. As a director he loves to experiment with unusual stories and techniques. To view an example of his work, see https://vimeo.com/80679644.

Sin Yuen (Director of Photography/Producer)

Sin decided to pursue filmmaking after receiving her bachelor degree in English. The strong, unusual and graphic cinematography of  films like ‘The Man Who Wasn't There’, ‘Fallen Angel’ and ‘Black Hawk Down’ has drawn her interest to the craft of composing pictures. Thus, visual composition is her preferred means to create particular emotional moods, to depict the inner lives of characters and finally to tell a story. Sin loves to use drawings to experiment with composition and the balance of light and shadow.

Sin also studies at the London Film School where she particularly develops her skills in cinematography, her main field of cinematic interest. Besides, her studies and the film projects she works at let her also gain insights in directing and editing.

 

What We Need the Money for:

Producing a short film -even on a small scale- is an tremendously expensive thing. Although we are trying to create and pay as much as possible by ourselves our resources are limited. Here is our budget calculation:

Thus we need your support particularly to pay the expenses for the actors, the remaining costs for the room and props. Although we are not able to pay our actors, we feel obliged to pay for their journeys as well as a warm lunch.

 

The Rewards: 

To say a big THANK YOU for your kind support we created a couple of rewards we hope you will enjoy:

• 5 Pounds: Get a digital version of our film, plus a behind-the-scenes short. Both can be downloaded from a password protected page after we will be done with the postproduction on our film, which we estimate will be in mid-October. A Thank-You mention in the credits and our hearts!

• 12 Pounds: Get a DVD of Lupus, with a printed concept-art image as a cover, plus the behind the scenes short as well as a digital version. Outside EU please add 3 Pounds for postage. A Thank-You mention in the credits and our hearts!

• 25 Pounds: A high quality print of one of our concept-art images, together with everything else. Outside EU please add 3 Pounds for postage. Of course we Thank-You literally and symbolically!

• 50 Pounds: You always wanted to visit the beautiful London but never had the opportunity to? Or is your last visit way too long ago? Send us your picture (or even better more pictures with different moods) and we will put it on a cardboard-cutout and go on a tour through London. We will document this in a ca. 5 minutes short film, where you will be visiting some of the open and secret highlights of London! Your friends will envy you! Plus a digital version of our film and a special mention in the credits section!
• 75 Pounds: Do you have a special occasion on which you want to be filmed, an application video or do you just want a video for yourself? We offer you our skills and our camera to film and edit whatever you want. We offer one meeting to discuss your idea, and another day to shoot the whole thing. Please note that this offer only applies to London based supporters, and we can't guarantee to be available on every potential day, only most of them! Plus, you get everything before -except the 50 Pounds level- and a special mention in the credits section!

 

Other Ways You Can Help:

• Share this site with all of your friends on your networks. 
• Follow us on Twitter (@NorbertStrehle, @Andarielbat) or Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004575257752). 
• Ask your friends to follow us, too!

 

Please support our project! Thank You!