GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES
Prop: Light bulb
Location: Café
Colour: Blue
Line of dialogue: "You dropped your smile."
CREW
Directed by Eric Venis
Screenplay by Eric Venis
Produced by Britney Ngaw
Art Direction by Jenna Purther and Katya Lukin
Edited by Britney Ngaw
Cinematography by Britney Ngaw and Elena Tranze
Costume Design by Katya Lukin and Jenna Purther
CREW BIOGRAPHIES
Eric Venis is a grade 11 drama major currently attending the Claude Watson Arts Program. He is passionate about playwriting and screenwriting and served as a director for Earl Haig's One Acts. Café Delight is his directorial debut.
Britney Ngaw is a grade 11 student and film arts major in the Claude Watson Arts Program at Earl Haig Secondary School. Her works have been showcased worldwide at events such as the Access Code Short Film Festival, the Victoria Film Festival, and the Cineshift Festival, and broadcasted on national television. In addition to creating her own films, she is currently working on assisting the CBC with their "Canada in a Day" documentary. When not creating films, she is an avid viewer of Netflix and a fan of dark comedies.
Katya Lukin is a grade 11 film arts major at Earl Haig Secondary School.
Elena Tranze is a grade 11 student and film arts major at Earl Haig Secondary School. She has a passion for film and photography and is currently working on the "Eric Show" for HaigTV. She is interested in pursuing a career in the sciences as a marine biologist.
Jenna Purther is a grade 11 student in the film arts program at Earl Haig Secondary School. Not only is she involved in film, but she is heavily involved in dance as she makes an effort to practice nearly every day and perform across the country.
CASTING POTENTIAL
Susan
- Emily Blum
- Anna Beebe
- Samarra Prenick
- Anabelle Zaluski
Anthony
- Sam Shepherd
- Richard Webb
- Michael Harding
- Gilli Cohen
- Jeremy Bland
SYNOPSIS
Café Delight recounts a series of encounters between Susan, the Café's barista, and Anthony, the newly hired electrician. The film begins from their first encounter - when Susan first lays her eyes on Anthony and finds herself attracted to his couldn't care less personality (contrary to her own). Anthony on the other hand, seemingly does not care about Susan as much as she does about him, however it is later revealed through conversations in his conscience that he is actually more invested in their conversations at the Café than he lets off. In order to continue running into Anthony, Susan purposely breaks light bulbs and before each encounter, finds herself trying to change herself for Anthony. From researching about light filaments (a favourite topic of conversation for Anthony) to Googling "How to shut up", Susan is dying to catch Anthony's undivided attention.
CHARACTER PROFILES
Susan is a 22 year old who has worked at Café Delight for over a year. She often comes to the shop early, enjoying the silent mornings. She over-analyzes conversations and is extremely talkative, but is still terrible at small talk due to her tendencies to go off on tangents . These tangents typically lead to self-embarrassment - which she usually does not mind - except when she’s talking to the Café's electrician, Anthony.
Anthony is a 21 year old who has been recently hired by Café Delight as an electrician. He is very mellow and quiet, aloof even. His responses during most conversations consist of one word answers, said in a monotonous tone. Although he may come off as dull or unenthusiastic, the opposite is true - inside his mind, he constantly overreacts as a stereotypical 12 year old girl would.
VISUALS
-Title sequences created using latté art or cut paper animation
-Transitions between different conversations are fast cuts between close ups of Susan making coffee/various bakery items
-Reenactments of conversation topics (think Community Channel or Family Guy)
-Light/pale colour palette for Café scenes, darker colour palette with intense blue lighting for "conscience conversation" scenes
-Minimalistic shots using shallow depth of field and solid colours
-Leaning toward cursive/sans serif typography choices
SOUNDTRACK
Mostly instrumental/of the classical genre (Debussy mainly) - think Pixar films' soundtracks.
LOCATION SCOUTING
Cup & Cut - 4866 Yonge St. 2/F A, North York, ON M2N 5N2, (647) 349-7299
Forget Me Not Café - 506 Adelaide St W, Toronto, ON M5V 1T5, (416) 848-0057
Early Bird Espresso & Brew Bar - 613 Queen St W, Toronto, ON M5V 2B7, (647) 348-2473
The Green Grind - 567 College St, Toronto, ON M6G 1A9, (647) 293-2110
