Evans Blue | The Pursuit Begins
Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Evan’s Blue | The Pursuit Begins
Rejected May 7th, 2007. What we made instead… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azkGI6OFZJc
Concept
A lonely man builds himself a girlfriend out of vegetables.
Execution
Jim Henson-style filmmaking. Live action with puppeteering.
Summery
We open on a shot of an an old farm that has long since become abandoned and overgrown. It’s late afternoon. In the foreground, a cicada dangling from a branch breaks free from it’s shell and extends it’s wings. A shift in focus reveals Kevin Matisyn observing the cicada as it warms itself in the sun. Alongside him is wheel barrow filled to the brim with roots, dead shrubs and shrivelled vegetables. After a moment, the cicada flies off leaving it’s translucent shell behind.
Kevin returns to work. He pushes the wheel barrow through a large patch of yellowed, knee-high grass. In the centre of this area there appears be a much larger version of the cicada shell, except that this one seems to be in the shape of a young woman. She is frozen in a kneeling position, with her hands out in front of her and is resting on top of a pile of weathered barn wood. As with the cicada, the back of this woman’s shell seems to have been torn away. Her clothing still hangs limply from the shell.
Kevin dumps the wheel barrow at the foot of the woman’s shell and sets to work. He breaks the shell into separate pieces, which he then lays out evenly on the ground. He begins using the old roots and shrivelled vegetables to reassemble the girl’s body. He builds her face out pine cones, wheat seeds and gourds He strings her hair from a papery wasps nest and thorny stems from a rose bush.
As Kevin finishes work on the head. Suddenly, his creation comes to life and begins to talk to him.
Subtitles appear as she speaks.
The shell-girl tells Kevin how grateful she is for all he’s done for her. She dreams she could she could show her gratitude with a hug. Kevin begins busy constructing a torso and arms for the plant woman. Once finished, the woman warmly hugs him.
The woman dreams she had legs, so that her and Kevin could dance together. Kevin anxiously builds her a set of legs. He helps the woman to her feet.
She moves awkwardly as she takes her first steps.
Together the new couple begin to take laps around the work area. The shell-woman’s confidence and speed increases with each lap until the two are jogging side by side. The shell woman shots that she is happy to be alive and free as she runs. Soon Kevin begins to tire and fall behind. He kneels down panting.
As the shell-woman continues her laps around him, Kevin tugs at her roots and pleads her to slow down. She breaks into run and strides off into the distance. Kevin collapses humiliated.
Cut to black.
