Final-timed Writing

0418059
Jason Wu
June 21, 2007
Timed Writing Three

Directions: If you were to create a filmed advertisement for a movie based on The Grass-Eaters, which scene would you select? Why? Discuss ways in which you might film the scene. (100%)

If I were the director of this trailer, I would like to pick the very last scene of The Grass-Eaters where one-leg-and-one-ear Ajit Babu holds his wife on their roof, barely covered with clothes, chewing a mouthful of grass, looking down at the noisy streets and then they smile. The reasons why I choose this scene go as follows:

The first reason is that this scene best matches the theme of the film and contains most key elements of The Grass-Eaters. Therefore, it can give the audience an overall idea about the film outline. Coming first is the environment where the film is set. It covers the roof where Ajit Babu and his wife live their unusual life and the bigger environment of poor and massy India. Following the environment are the heroes of the film, Ajit Babu and his wife. The scene describes both the physical appearances and the mental status of the characters – what their living conditions are and what their attitude towards life is. And they are eating grass, which answer why the film is named “The Grass-Eaters”.

Besides the theme factor, this particular scene leaves a bunch of doubts and suspicions to the viewers. Questions like “how did the hero Ajit Babu lose one of his legs and one of his ears?”, “why do they barely wear things?”, “how can they be happy about their current life?” and of course “why do they eat grass?” would keep appearing in the audiences’ heads, and these doubts will attract them to watch the movie to find out the answers by themselves.

The third factor why I select the last scene is for aesthetical reasons. In this very last scene, there are a lot of sharp contrasts and seemingly disharmonies, but they actually make the scene beautiful. It is the contrasts like the heroes’ poor living conditions and their happy attitude and the massy streets downstairs and the peaceful harmony of the couple on the roof that finally brings all good and evil thins together to form this beautiful last scene.

As for the ways to film this scene, I prefer to start from Ajit Babu’s leg with dirt all over. Then it moves up, and shows the full settings of their home – the roof, the poor furniture, and the decorations. In the middle of the picture are the two heroes, Ajit Babu and his wife, holding each other, covering their bodies with their arms. After that, the camera moves to the window and focus on the streets downstairs where people fighting each others on the massy ground. Finally, the camera turns back to the two heroes: Ajit’s wife mildly kisses him on his missing ear and they smile.

30.5.07 17:45