Lepidopteran
lep·i·dop·ter·an
noun
a butterfly or moth (Greek for winged creature or scale wing)
I decided on the title for the episode while researching butterflies. I liked the sound of the word and its meaning (winged creature ). It was a perfect title as it relates to much of the imagery in part one.
Director’s note:The music in this scene is “The Caterpillar” by The Cure. I found it fitting especially the lines “You hold me hypnotized, I’m mesmerized” and “You flicker and you’re beautiful, you glow inside my head.” This song is one of many sources of inspiration for this series.
The scene opens to a beautiful spring afternoon. Butterflies fly about as water trickles in a fountain. Gage enters a gallery to the sound of Monica’s voice echoing throughout the space:
“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.
It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion
is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe,
is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.”
As Monica’s presentation ends, the scene cuts to a close up of Gage
with his eyes closed. He is startled by the sound of Monica’s voice.
“Gage, I’d like you to meet someone, Anna, this is Gage Stewart.”
He turns and is instantly taken by Anna’s beauty, particularly her blue
eyes. “Anna was striking, with the most amazing blue eyes I had
ever seen.” He is instantly inspired by her and hires her to be
a model for his newest series of paintings.
Director’s note: This opening sequence was not part of the original script. However, as I began diving deeper into who these characters were I felt the need to open the series showing how Gage met Anna and I wanted Monica to be the character to introduce them. I had also stumbled across the quote by Albert Einstein and felt it was a great way to set the stage for what was to come.
Butterflies fly against a black background, the camera pans across a dark wall lined with canvases. Anna is talking quietly, “Oh I was saying that last night I had this rather strange dream. I dreamt I was floating above my body. And then all of the sudden…Bam! It was like I was being pulled back in. It felt so real. What’s the strangest dream you’ve ever had?” Gage replies that all of his dreams are on canvas. “Do you find any of them strange?” Anna looks around and says, “No. They are all quite beautiful actually."
Director’s note: Anna’s dream is probably one that many have experienced. It is that feeling of flying freely, but as soon as you become aware that you are flying you are sent crashing back to earth, to your body, to consciousness. Anna has labeled this dream as “strange”. Gage, on the other hand, finds inspiration in dreams, placing each one on a canvas. Anna is surprised by this connection, Gage's dreams to his art, she seems surprised by the beauty of his dreams.
Anna is sitting in front of a large window that faces a beautiful landscape of flowering trees, hills, and a fountain. She tells Gage that it reminds her of a time she was sitting on the porch with her mother “Out of the blue she said ‘Anna, in my next life, I want to come back as a tree.’…Up until that point, I hadn’t thought about a next life…Do you think there is a next life?”
Director’s note: This story is very personal to me as it is an actual conversation I shared with my mother. I felt so close to her when she shared this with me. It was what made me aware of her mortality ( as children I think we tend to believe our parents will live forever) and this was the first time I began to think about my own.
Gage is becoming increasingly irritated with Anna. “I just need you to sit there and continue to inspire me.” Anna sits in silence for a moment but can’t resist “…if you were given a choice of how you would return, in your next life, if there is one…what would you be?” Reluctantly, Gage reveals, “A butterfly.” Anna is amused by this and asks Gage to explain. “When I was a child, my favorite pastime was…catching butterflies. I’d find a quiet spot and watch them for hours, I loved the way the light hit their wings. Butterflies are so beautiful, so…gentle and free. I used to study them with earnest, sketching them on my note pad; I’d carefully label each part. I guess part of the reason I became an artist was to capture that quiet beauty. I’d often wish that I’d wake up with…with wings.”
Director’s note: Gage’s story is one that I visualized from the very start of my planning stages. I’d originally thought to have this be the opening scene with a narrator. I then thought about using the story later in one of his journal entries, but it just felt so right to include it in this scene. His story is the idea of how as children we can find beauty and magic in the smallest things and how we chase that feeling throughout our lives.
Gage then asks,” How about you? What would you want to be if you could choose?” Anna walks to the window and says, “A dream. I’d come back as a dream.” The scene cuts to Gage, his head drops. He begins to fall asleep. In a mirror, we can see the reflection of Anna as wings appear on her back and she fades away.
Director’s note: Just a few notes about the studio set. I chose to use black walls and floors to convey the space in one’s mind that one may go to when creating. It is that place one reaches where everything fades into the background and it is just the artist and the art. I wanted the set to also be representative of a memory or a dream where some details are clear while others are not.
A shot of a jar filled with butterflies. The jar is opened and the butterflies are released. An empty jar is tipped over. Butterflies fly frantically across the screen. A creature with large blue wings flashes on the screen and then a flash and a loud crack of thunder.
Director’s note: This dream originally was meant to appear at the beginning of this series right after the story about Gage’s childhood pastime. The dream had several scenes that I decided to leave on the cutting room floor, at least for now. The parts that were edited out would not have made sense at this point in the story. I’ll leave the interpretation of Gage’s dream up to the viewer.
Director’s note: This scene is pretty straight forward so we’ll just jump right in to the director’s notes. This scene was originally scripted to be much longer. The entry went into detail about Monica and her relationship to Gage, how they met, his fears, and how he arrived at the point he is at now. After rereading the script, I decided to trim the scene down to its bare bones. This was an opportunity to reveal Gage’s dilemma without having to go into great detail, everything else could be revealed over time.
Director’s note: From the moment I heard "Mystery Song” by Lisa DeBenedictis I knew it would be a perfect compliment to Metamorphosis. It sounded almost otherworldly to me, and I knew it would be perfect for my otherworldly creatures that I had planned to introduce to the story. The song really helped write this scene. As I listened to this song on repeat, the images appeared plain as day in my head. I knew from start to finish exactly how the scene would unfold, and I am about 98% satisfied with how it translated to sim film.
Gage is standing in front of his building, cigarette in hand. Rain
begins to fall and a large flash of lightning strikes. Gage raises his
arms to cover his face. The light is blinding. Gage catches a glimpse
of someone or something across the street. He sees a figure with large
blue wings holding what appears to be a toddler. Gage watches in amazement
as the being interacts with the toddler. The winged being gently places
the toddler on the ground and begins to walk away. A car speeds by.
Gage is almost hit but manages to jump out of the way and falls. As
he pulls himself up, the being is no where in sight. Gage looks around,
panicked. The rain is falling steadily and the thunder is loud. Gage
hears the baby’s cries. Gage walks over to the baby and stares at it
a bit before picking it up. The scene transitions into Gage placing
the child on the studio floor. Gage sits on the sofa, in shock at what
has just taken place. The baby falls asleep. “The most beautiful
thing we can experience is the mysterious…” echoes in his head.