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All extra money would be put straight into the art department to create a more detai...
EINSTEIN'S BRAIN - Short Film
Bristol, Bristol City, United Kingdom
Aim
We're a group of filmmakers who want to bring light on this fascinating true story about the journey of Einsteins's brain, after his death.
STORY
'After stealing Einstein’s brain, a disgraced pathologist runs to the American midwest in search of intellectual grandeur, only to battle his own internal diatribe in the form of Einstein’s voice.'
This film is a 12 minute psychological biopic focusing on the true actions of Dr Thomas Harvey during the years after Einstein's death.
STRUCTURE & THEMES
Introduction.
Brain developing inside EINSTEIN’S skull. Lights flash across the brain as neurons fire and muffled moments can be heard from Einstein’s life outside the skull. Einstein’s life is the normal world (colour), until HARVEY removes the brain (b&w), desecrating his will, body and faith. Harvey treasures it.
Inciting incident.
Harvey is fired and his wife leaves him. Runs away to American Midwest to experiment on the brain. His goal is to learn what made Einstein so intelligent, wishing to achieve a similar level of intellectual grandeur.
Harvey’s new life begins. A life of loneliness and solitude. His only motivation is to discover the secrets of Einstein’s Brain. He begins to narrate his journey through diary entries.
Pinch Point 1.
Harvey preps dissection of the brain. A faint word from Einstein emanates from the brain but is cut short as he cuts it in two. Harvey is no neurologist and slips, cutting a delicate part of the cerebrum. He submerges it in formaldehyde.
Midpoint.
Harvey’s experiments are leading him nowhere - increasingly irate at his failings, he hears Einstein’s voice leering and laughing from the basement.
Pinch point 2.
Harvey has lost all faith in his intellect and stops documenting. He engages with the voice of Einstein arguing with the brain about intelligence, family and desecration of Einstein’s corpse.
Climax.
Due to formaldehyde poisoning and a need to understandEinstein, he consumes a sliver of the brain and collapses. He hallucinates moments of Einstein’s life and sees a family that could have been. When he stirs, he is confronted by the angelic silhouette of Einstein standing at the top of the stairs. He cries.
TECHNICAL POINTS
DIRECTORS STATEMENT
'I have researched this fascinating topic surrounding one of the greatest intellectuals of all time’s fate for over a year. The more I learnt the more amazed at how thematically rich this story is and surprised that no one has made a film about it yet. I have watched the Kenji Sugimoto documentary tracking the brain across America, the Genius Einstein National Geographic show and read Einstein by Walter Isaacson, amongst any source I could find on the internet about Harvey. I have attempted to understand these two characters left and right and have boiled down key emotions and themes from their stories. I see themes of intellectual inadequacy, family, obsession, and desecration running through both these characters. Both Harvey and Einstein share unique family drama and strife, both have prioritised their work over their relationships. Both have a desire to be the smartest, one succeeded where the other failed. And ultimately, they were forever intertwined when Harvey desecrated Einstein’s will, body and judaic faith. I believe this level of understanding of the two characters will lead to an interesting discourse and believable motivation for their arguments.' - Felix
MEET THE TEAM
Felix Hodgson, Writer & Director
Instagram: @felixirisfilm
Jake Corner, Producer
Instagram: @jake._corner
Max Chatfield, Producer
Instagram: @_maxchatfield
Ben Murphy, Director of Photography
Instagram: @benmurphyfilm
Max Gilbert, 1st Assistant Camera & Gaffer
Instagram: @maxg_films
Honour Hewett, Sound Recordist & Sound Designer
Instagram: @honourhewitt
Christopher Leeuwen, Production Designer
Instagram: @couchcretin
Lex Maraldo, 1st Assistant Director & Assistant Production Designer
Instagram: @lexs_backdoor
Danny Hammond, Picture Editor
Instagram: @dannyhammondfilm
BUDGET
This simplified budget provides a rough idea of where our funding will be spent. As the film is set in 1950s America, we require a large portion of the budget to go towards the Art Department, focusing on collecting the correct props and costumes for the period.
There will be 6 shoot days which means the cost of actors and catering for cast and crew is multiplied significantly.
We will also require money to film on location and getting a cast and crew to travel to these locations with equipment can often end up costing more than you originally think.
Finally, we really believe that this story will be a success, so we're putting aside a chunk of the budget to market the film. We plan to submit this project to film festivals with the hopes of being commissioned to create a feature length piece on this story in the future.
THANK YOU
Please consider donating or sharing this page on social media, it would be greatly appreciated!
This project successfully funded on 29th March 2023