Film Proposal Essay
FILM PROPOSAL
CAMINO
‘Camino’ is a documentary about the life-changing journey to Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain. It is a 500-miles walk and it usually takes between 30 and 40 days. Thousands of people are doing this trip because they are searching for the answers about themselves: about their loves, jobs or the meaning of their existence. The main character is a young man who choose to travel alone from France to Santiago, which is the most popular and busiest Camino route, in searching of the purpose of his life. The film will provide the audience a knowledge about the pilgrim route and why it is also called The Spiritual Walk.
The screenplay is organized into 3-act structure. The first one is The Set Up where we will see the main character who is engaged to his lovely girlfriend but he just received an offer for a better paid job in the big city. He needs to stay alone for a while, somewhere out of the reality, to rearrange his priorities because the life he lived by now makes him feel miserable. One day he sees a group of tourists waiting next to the bus stop. They look very interesting to him and somehow very familiar to something he have already seen. After a short conversation with them he decides to fallow the group without telling any of his relatives and not even his fiancée about this. Then we see the main character on the airport waiting on the check-in desk for the flight to France.
The second act , called The Conflict, starts with the plain which is landing in France. There he continue the journey alone. He will meet a lot of people from different cultures with different stories and all of their personal stories and advices will help him to find his answers. The first ‘thing’ he sees in France is a homeless dog. The dog will follow him to Santiago where is the end of the Camino walk. The main character knows everything he needs to know about Camino ( from the tourists ) and the only rule he has to fallow is to keep walking. He is very interested to see what kind of people are travelling through these routes and how they spend their holidays. He will be in danger and the dog will help him. The dog will meet a female dog but it will stay with the main character. Some of the remarkable icons on the Camino route will appear on the background so this will be the part of the documentary which will make the story more reliable.
At third and the final act , The Resolution, the main character still do not know the answer of his question and he feels disappointed of himself but just before he get into the airport he sees the dog. The only creature that stayed with him during the whole journey. Then he realises that the answer was in front of him during all this time. He leaves the dog in Santiago but when he goes back at home , he stays with his girl because the meaning of the life is to find the other half and if you do not like the life we live , just change it. Make it the way you want it to be.
As I already said the main character is a young man who is engaged to the love of his life. He lives in a small town where the time stopped ages ago and the life there doesn’t suit his personality. He is courageous, a bit egotistical, a risk-taker, energetic, gregarious, very intelligent and also a very good listener but now he is on that period of his life when he is very stressed and confused with his thoughts and feelings. He combines all of the characteristics needed to be on this trip. He represents the people there. They are not crazy or idiots, they are just confused and they do something to reach the happiness.
The documentary will be black and white 2D animation. It is suitable for group of two or three. When it comes to the sound, the whole group will take the decision who will work on it : we as a filmmakers or we will meet students from the Music Department. I’ve made the character design and a rough version of the story board but I would like to discuss every aspect of the project with the group as they will be part of the project as well. I have made some backgrounds so the other part of the group will have a clear idea of how the visual design looks like.
For this project I was inspired by a web site, which I incidentally found on Internet. It is about people’s experience in Spain during their Camino walk. My documentary is about a personal story and how a man is struggling with his emotions and feelings. My film is will be combination of different stories and in purpose to attract the audience so that they will see what could happen on this trip and why it’s worth it. Internet is full of stories and tips good to know if you decide to go on this trip. I read a lot of articles and I watched films and personal video clips related to the matter of the documentary. They perfectly represents the idea of the walk.
As the film is target to a selected audience ( adults) the film will contains dynamic actions, personal stories, a love story, friendship. The story itself represents the meaning of the Camino de Santiago route.
Bibliography:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2159915/Walk-lifetime-Why-epic-Camino-trail-Spain-route-true-happiness.html
http://hostelgeeks.com/3-travel-stories-from-the-famous-camino-de-santiago/
http://www.theroadtosantiago.com/camino-stories.html
Filmography:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1441912/