TOM & JANINE
Film #1, scene by scene.
director’s treatment by
F A B I O R E I T A N O
M O O D
& T O N E
This film is about the friendship between Tom and his beloved Janine. Together they have been through a lot and despite being very different, they understand each other on the fly. Tom is exuberant, dynamic, brilliant and he’s always present in happy moments as in the most melancholy ones. Janine is more calm, thoughtful and sensitive, but when she smiles she lights up the room.
Reading these lines it wouldn’t seem that this story is about a dog and its owner. The very challenge of the film is to not reveal the identity of the narrator, until the end.
Infact, Tom’s inner voice will guide us into the life in Mudon by hiding its real nature behind funny behaviours and situations.
Balancing images and words here will be gamechanging for the success of the film. As I said I will avoid the dog’s POV, choosing the fast push-in/pull-out techniques to get very close to each person/object/detail in the scene and represent its curious perspective, keeping in mind that Tom is a force of nature, but he definitely has some trouble in staying focused on one thing at a time.
I would suggest reviewing together some of the voiceover lines to make sure that we won't spoil the character identity too early. In the following frames, I’ll make a few examples about that.
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Scene #1
description
Tilt-up on a house with bike wheels and legs jogging that cross the scene. We approach the garden with a push-in. Birds are singing, people jogging in the street.
vo
Days around here get very busy… -
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Scene #2
description
After the overview of a cozy and silent living room, the camera lingers in the sofa area. There’s a warm sunset light filtering from the windows. Here and there we can see some traces of the people that live in the house: a laptop on the table, a book on the sofa.
The camera focuses on the objects named by the voice with a sequence shot.vo
And it’s kind of my job to keep an eye on everything… like that TV, that window… and that door in case Janine comes earlier. -
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Scene #3
description
We hear the sound of the door lock. The camera gets close to the door while it’s opening. Janine gets in, leaves distractedly her purse and keys, and talks to Tom without eye contact.
vo
Oh, she’s here!
dialog
Tom: Hi Janine, how was your day? Tell me everything!
Janine: Hi Tom! I really need to stretch… what about a walk?
Tom: Yes, walk! I’m always up for a walk! -
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Scene #4
description
The camera exits in the garden towards the street. So we start exploring the neighborhood during a sunset walk. Alongside a wide-angle perspective, I’ll use camera push-in on interesting actions and amenities. Like the first one: Tom sees a boy on a skateboard jumping in a play area.
vo
The best thing about our community is the obstacles… -
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Scene #5
description
The walk leads them to the ornamental garden. We see a woman that plays with her daughter using a flower: the girl tries to grab it and smell it.
vo
Then sniffing some flowers… -
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Scene #6
description
We arrive at the meditation area. Music gets slow and everything seems to slow down.
People are doing yoga poses quietly. Two kids run into the scene laughing a bit too loudly. With a long and fast push we arrive on the face of a woman in tree pose that opens only an eye, acting a bit annoyed but also amused.
vo
Lie down on the grass… freestyle. -
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Scene #7
description
Here I’d like to showcase some interesting activities and amenities like sports scenes and the swimming pool. I would like to include some action and underwater shots to the film: people playing basket and drinking water; a man diving into the pool.vo
And stay fresh! -
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Scene #8
description
The pace slows down, and a wide shot reveals a beautiful sunset by the park, with rays from trees and buildings in the distance. The camera pulls back, rotates and we finally see Tom sitting and enjoying the sunset. Behind him Janine's silhouette is out of focus. We hear Janine’s voice.
Janine: Tom! Ball! -
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Scene #9
description
Tom barks and runs away from his close-up shot. We move to a wide aerial shot of Tom running after the ball in the beautiful landscape of Mudon. This is the final shot with Mudon’s logo.
