Unit 19: Proposal

 Title: Brown Mansion

 

Genre: 

Horror, psychedelic(?), psychological, supernatural. 

 

Logline:  

While over at his grandma’s mansion for a visit, a young boy accidentally rips his shirt, and now must go through the creepy mansion in search of his grandma’s sewing kit. 

 

Narrative Overview: 

Paintings, tears, and grandmas:  

Fannar is shown to be looking at weird paintings that are hung on the mansion walls. He then gets his shirt caught on a metal rod and tears it open. 

He asks his grandma to fix it for him. She sends him off to find the sewing kit. 

This is the inciting incident; it sets up the end goal, and it showcases Fannar’s unfamiliarity with the setting of the mansion. 

The grandma is never shown directly, only heard. 

 

Open doors closed shut: 

Fannar walks by an ominous open door. Screeches are heard inside. 

We build up tension here, inching him towards the door as if he’s gonna inspect it, then he closes it shut and goes off without a care. 

This showcases his uncaring reaction to these (cliché) horror scenarios, which subverts expectation, and makes later events and reactions have more impact.  

 

Horror stuff: 

Fannar gets lost in the mansion, as we start to introduce the abnormal paranormal horror elements. 

This will build up from small occurrences like vases falling and wood creaking into hallways fully contorting and twisting reality. 

It’s important to note that Fannar, though he may get confused or unsettled, never gets too scared, and never showcases it in his reactions. 

  

Basement: 

The ground swallows him, and he sinks into the wood like its quicksand. 

He ends up face to face with the Basement Dweller (Venus in Furs plays). 

He will show fear here.  

He manages to escape it. 

Turning around finding himself at the door of the room that has the sewing kit in it (a storage room). 

 

Buttermilk: 

He reaches the room clearly unsettled by what happened. He sees the box which is supposed to have the sewing kit inside, a buttermilk cookie box. 

He calms himself down and picks it up. 

He opens the box... only to find that it’s filled with actual buttermilk cookies instead of a sewing kit. 

Here we get his most clear reaction in horror, as he screams out loud and drops the box. 

Freeze frame. 

The end. 

This event scared him more than any other thing that he encountered on his journey. 

 

 

 

 

 

Characters: 

Fannar: Young, cold, half-vietnamese, and little grumpy. Hates the mansion and wants to find the sewing kit to fix his shirt. 

 

Grandma: Fannar’s grandma. Rich, old, and nice. Points Fannar towards his goal of finding the sewing kit. 

 

The basement dweller: An abomination of flesh hiding away in the basement. 

 

 

Film treatment: 

The film may be done as a 2d animation. A stylistic mix of “Over the garden wall” and “Fantastic Mr. fox”. 

Dark warm colors that move into colder hues as more horror is introduced into the story; dark browns and crimson velvets into dark blues. 

We use a 1.33:1 aspect ratio to have the audience focus on exactly what we want them to focus on. 

The scenes flow into each other, with no major cuts and time skips, some changes in camerawork (angles, shots) and more of a continuous feeling. 

Really subdued music, with a focus on drone and ambient noises (with maybe slight dark jazz elements), outside of specific scenes like the basement one, with the usage of licensed songs. 

The mansion feels big AND claustrophobic at the same time. This is done by showing wide backgrounds, but squeezing elements of the foreground up to the camera infront of the viewers. 

Little dialogue is used outside of the first scene with the grandma, and small off handed comments made by Fannar. 

We may also use text on screen that we integrate into the environment; using shadows on a wall to spell out sentences. 

The movie should give off a cozy but foreign feel; the mansion looks cozy, but it still feels unnerving. 

 

 

 

 

 

Film Purpose: 

Subverting the idea that buttermilk boxes are only used to store sewing kits. 

Fannar does get scared of the paranormal things he sees, but what scares him the most is the buttermilk box not having a sewing kit inside. 

We analyze the themes of fear through this movie; as what really scares the most isn’t stuff unknown to us, or new experiences. Those are scary, sure, but nothing can shake a human more than shattered expectations. His net of safety and comfort being stripped from them, as something they thought they could rely on subverts this comfort through unexpected change. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Target Audience: 

Late teens – Middle aged people. 16-40. 

All Genders. 

Middle Class – Working Class people. 

 

 

 

 

 

Regarding the Legal, and the Ethical: 

The usage of an altered version of the “In the aeroplane over the sea” album cover in the movie. 

Chris Bilheimer owns the rights for this artwork. 

Though the alterations may be enough to have it fall under parody. 

 

The usage of the song “Venus in furs” in the movie. 

The sound recording copyright owners are Republic Records, and UMG Recordings respectively. 

Alternatively, 

The usage of the song “Hellfire” in the movie. 

The sound recording copyright owners are black midi under exclusive license to Rough Trade Records Ltd. 

 

The usage of a “Royal dansk” buttermilk cookie box in the movie. 

The owners of the box design are Kelsen Group A/S. 

We could substitute the Royal Dansk box for a prop box we design, so that it doesn’t infringe on copyright.