1935 Film Project- "Cantilevered Lies"

Plot: Our two main characters live a high profile life in futuristic London, England, and the husband (Val) works as an architect. His new boss (one of Val’s old professor’s during his final year in design school,) comes in after an unexpected death of the former boss. This is the quiet reserved Feodor Chaliapin. An otherwise low stress, successful work ethic of Val is disrupted by the new boss, Mr. Kafkes (Feodor) when he begins sabotaging his business and personal life. These evil sentiments are based upon the fact that 20 years ago when he was brand new to the industry Val secretly stole one of Kafkes' designs. It is sinister and uncalled for, but it is the movie. Kafkes seduces Val’s wife, and screws up his work as an architect, creating chaos...

Days later we find Kafkes dead on the ground floor of Val’s most famous building, the one he stole from Kafkes, after part of the building’s structure collapses onto him.  This reveals to Val, but no one else, that it was Kafkes’s own design flaw that caused his own death.  Since Val has taken credit for this building, the design flaw ruins his career as an architect.  Val debates whether to tell the general public that the building was not, in fact, his, which would clear his name but also be admitting to stealing the plans, ruining his career. Either choice ruins his career; Val is trapped. The movie ends with Kafkes' funeral, with a monologue from Val describing the irony of the situation.  By dying, Kafkes finally got what he wanted.

The message is simple; don't cheat in life, because it will come back and haunt you.

This will work well for an audience of 1935 because it is a bit unlike the normal movie of 1935. It is more involved, and could be the set up for the Film Noir genre coming in the 40s, because the protagonist, the 'hero', Val, is flawed, much like Humphrey Bogart's character in Maltese Falcon. He cheated his professor out of his original plans, using them to become a rich and famous architect.

This is also appealing to audiences of 1935 due to the many genres that fit our film. It is a drama, romance, and maybe even a psychological thriller, due to the moral dilemma at the end. The Hays Code made films a little more boring during the 30s, so our film provides a refreshing new perspective, especially since it is filmed in Europe. The main actors and actresses are also the key to this successful film. Both Laurence Olivier and Vivian Leigh are English, and Feodor Chaliapin is Russian. These people bring an exotic aspect to the film, appealing to many average joe's and the critics alike. Olivier and Leigh have such amazing chemistry on set, I wouldn't be surprised if they end up getting married!

The studio we chose is special. United Artists is such an amazing place for more avant-garde, artistic films, and we thought that they would be perfect for this film. But, we needed a bigger budget since we are shooting out of the country, so we are in conjuncture with 20th Century. 20th Century has been great, too. They are only being supportive, leaving United Artists to their work. 

I've already discussed the cast, so onto the crew:

Our director will be James Whale because of his English roots as well as his eye for horror. He was very successful with Frankenstein in 1931, and we think his expertise in the horror department will give a creepy, semi-deranged feeling, perfect for a stark contrast with the clean, sleek feel of the architect lifestyle in Cantilevered Lies.

Our cinematographer will be Gregg Toland. We've seen some of his smaller work among his creative and innovative ideas, and we think that this film will be the perfect debut to showcase his skills as a cinematographer.

To appease the Hays Code we will not show any sex scenes, simply the before and after. Kafkes' death will also be implied; we won't show the violence of it, only the aftermath.

We will be using new technology for the deep focus techniques and lighting. Toland explains that to achieve this, he will be closing down the aperture coupled with more powerful lighting and clearer lens, allowing for better light transmission.

I honestly would not do anything different. The people I've been working with have been great. They have contributed really good ideas, and we haven't disagreed on anything. I am happy with the product. (The only thing I would do would be to touch up the poster a bit. It was my first time using Paint and I could've cut out the heads better.)