Lionheart Brothers ~ Hero Anthem

Rejected 5/25/2008

Summary

For Hero Anthem I would like to chronicle an epic feats-of-strength triathlon between a mad-Victorian boxer and his identical twin. The footage for this will be grainy and have a limited colour pallet similar to 70’s cinema. The action in the piece will be dark and mad-cap, similar to the feel of the old Pop-eye cartoons. http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ox5mzTtYfK0&feature=related

Technical Summary

We will be using double exposure photography and digital compositing to create the evil twins from one actor. Postproduction computer effects will be used to squash and stretch the characters as they compete, as if they were cartoons. The actors in the shoot will be wearing anime-style cartoon eyes as part of their costumes.

Scene list

Round 1 | We open with a shot of the rival brothers seated at a picnic table in a rustic area. Each of them hold a giant beer stein; each has fire in their eyes. A young woman, dressed in burlesque-style clothes (also with cartoon eyes) dumps a pitcher-worth of beer in each man’s stien. Immediately the pair drain their glasses, slobbering beer foam everywhere. The two drink 3 more rounds before the second stage of the race.

Round 2 | Our burlesque ring-card girl fires a pistol into the air. Both men take off for a footrace through rolling hills and meadows. We cut to an animation of dandelions spelling out round “2”. The brothers arrive at a beachhead. They stand in the silhouette of a giant sea serpent with a bright red and white target around it’s neck. Near-by, two large circles are drawn in white chalk with a harp oon lodged in the center of each. The rivals grab their harpoons and heave them at the beast. Both miss the target completely and hit the creature in it’s fleshy eye-balls. They lob two more harpoons in unison; our camera follows the harpoons as they travel down the monster’s throat and into it’s heart. The beast keels over and the brothers turn their harpoon’s on each other.

We cut to the ring-card girl. The flowers spell-out round “3”

Round 3 | Mounting bicycles and still holding their spears, the brothers begin to ride at each other like a medieval joust. They crash horrifically but are unharmed and undeterred. Both men then leap to their feet and square off in an old school bare-knuckle boxing match. The two are of equal strength and vulnerability. Each punch landed is more devastating then the last and makes the receiver’s head distort horrifically. After several hits by both brothers, the fight descends into a wrestling match on the floor. In the end, we leave the twins hemorrhaging on the ground biting one another’s ankles.

In final sequence we cut between the twisted bikes and the slaughtered sea serpent, before ending on the ring-card girl. She’s napping in sunshine, sipping a giant beer with an extra long straw.