A VISUAL STRATEGY

INTRODUCTION

The following proposes a possible visual strategy for the film. It is a simple idea, yet counterintuitive. But I believe it strongly conveys the themes of the film, Musa's point of view and his emotions as he gets closer to his son. 

I've gathered together images and videos as a way of building a 'proof of concept' of the idea. I've tried to stay brief, but it might still be a bit dense and require a second reading - so bear with me. 

Because my idea is counterintuitive, it might be helpful to start with the basics of the script, how each of the physical spaces of the film are described, and how Musa is meant to feel in each. Then we can talk about the specifics of how to realize these ideas cinematically. 

We have two major landscapes in the film. Even though these landscapes are grand and iconic in real life (e.g. the sprawling metropolis of Cairo and the vast Sinai desert) the story is actually not epic in scale, but rather myopic. We are concerned at all times with the point of view and experience of Musa. All the information we receive we receive with him; we experience his frustrations, confusion, paranoia, with no advanced knowledge. That sense of myopia, that sense that we experience the story through his eyes, his intimate memories, hear his thoughts, suggests to me that we aren’t trying to depict the real, historically accurate 1980s Cairo or 1950s Sinai, but rather Musa’s Cairo and Sinai - the way he experiences those surroundings.

Let’s look at each landscape in detail, examine it’s visual elements and how Musa feels in each space during the course of the film. I've written in bold the ideas that will be important for later:

‘THE METROPOLIS’

If we focus on the Cairo portions of the film for a moment, we see there are three distinct phases of Musa’s Cairo in the script:

1. 50s CAIRO: over a brief sequence we see a younger Musa with his family. A warm home full of loved ones. Soft sunlight coming in. In a way, this is Musa’s ‘golden era’ when life was great - he has a family, a career, he’s proud of his son, etc. 
2. 80s CAIRO: very quickly over the credit sequence we see that same home crumble rather dramatically in a time lapse fashion. The home falls apart, reflecting the family falling apart. A cold laboratory is put in it’s place. The drapes closed. Musa surrounded by his books, tools. In this portion of the film there is an emphasis on claustrophobic and crumbling interiors. There is a dependence on harsh artificial light sources instead of soft sunlight. In the brief moments he spends outside in the streets, we get the sense the city too is inhospitable and cold - a continued sense of confinement.  
3. LATER-80s CAIRO: by the end of the film, after all of the changes Ben makes, but especially the change of Fatima coming back in Musa’s life, we return to something that has some semblance to 50s Cairo: the curtains are open again, warm sunlight coming in, his apartment is a home again. A sense of a woman’s presence in the furnishings. There is less emphasis on crumbling interiors. The outside feels less cold, less alien, as he walks down it streets with his ex-wife.

These three phases suggest Musa's Cairo is alive and changing during the course of the film. By the end of the film, Musa experiences a kind of cycle, as if Ben’s actions have turned back time for Musa, not literally of course, but some of the things Musa lost have been returned to him (e.g. Fatima, his career, etc.). So the way that we depict the Metropolis must be flexible enough to convey that dramatic sense of change from warm home to prison to warm home again.

‘THE DESERT’

When Musa is first introduced to the Desert, this place feels so foreign to him, as if he is on the surface of the moon. Part of that feeling of foreignness is the fact that he has awoken in someone else’s body (and identity). 

During the course of the film, instead of showing the Sinai War in its full glory - with tanks, battles, soldiers - we have him on a predominately solitary journey. He is a lone figure surrounded by an infinite canvas of sand. And when he does find something, it tends to be something surreal like the carnage of war or Ben’s ghost.

This journey feels infinite, there are no clear markers or milestones to suggest he is getting any closer to his goal. It is emotionally and physically difficult in this harsh, surreal place. As he spends more time here, in the body of another man, he feels he is losing his mind and identity. 

So while the desert is a real place, his journey through it is less concerned with the outer 'plot action’ of a war film and more concerned with his experience.

METROPOLIS VS. DESERT

Musa bounces back and forth between these worlds, these landscapes that are visually opposite one another. This juxtaposition of contrasts, between the organic desert and manmade city I find quite exciting and can be represented graphically like so:

Let's summarize the visual elements and differences between these two that we've discussed so far. As Musa spends most of his time in Cairo in the 'prison-phase', let's compare that version of the Metropolis versus the Desert like so:

desert

curves, no frames

feeling of infinity

natural light 

non-repetitious forms

empty, solitary

MUSA'S' MEMORY

Musa’s memories of holding his son in the ocean is a kind of break in his journey between the Metropolis and Desert. Rather than a flashback, it is a memory that Musa has made too perfect and that maybe we can’t trust completely. He has idealized that moment with his son. He even makes mention of this difference between the actual ocean and the ocean in his mind when he and Fatima go back to Alexandria later on in the film (“it’s not how I remember it”). 

This is his emotional anchor. This moment is what he is after. But, because he has idealized it, processed it into a too perfect place, it is a place that he will never be able to get back to.

We recognize this as his goal, by the thing he is haunted by, because of the number of times we experience it with him and because of what he says to Fatima at the graveyard about the memory-dream and wanting to hold Yusuf again. In the last scene of the film, when we see the older-Musa in the ocean for the first time with young-Yusuf, even though we don’t know explicitly ‘where’ we are (e.g. is this heaven?), there is a sense of a resolution; that even though Musa has failed his mission - saving Yusuf from dying in the war - he has reached his dream, holding his little son again.

BEN'S MEMORY

Ben’s memories communicate to Musa that Ben lost someone too. And Ben’s memory has a similarity with Musa’s in that it is repetitious, always of the same place, always of the same person. Even though it is not explicitly stated in the script, there is a feeling that this memory is Ben’s emotional anchor as well, the place that he ‘dreams’ of returning to. And that maybe he too, through the process of reminiscing and nostalgia, has made too perfect. The connection between Ben and Musa is this idea that they've both lost a precious person, in a precious time and place.

MOVING TO SPECIFICS

To recap, I believe the landscapes of the film have the potential to be like mirrors to Musa’s inner state. What visual elements of those landscapes we choose to emphasize in each, and when, can convey the range of his changing emotions - his nostalgia, confusion, happiness, etc - as he gets closer to a final resolution over Yusuf’s death.

In coming up with a visual strategy, I asked myself a couple of questions. Was there a way to manipulate these landscapes to emphasis certain features in accordance to how Musa feels in that space? Could we more cinematically convey his feelings in each? Could we allow the audience to participate more intimately in his point of view and experience in those spaces? Could we increate the contrast between the Metropolis and Desert?

So the following visual strategy for the film is an attempt to answer those questions. My strange idea is this: that the Metropolis and Desert sequences be presented in black and white, while the memories are presented in color. 

Again, it is a rather radical and counterintuitive idea for many reasons - an idea that I didn’t arrive at easily. But if you’ll be patient, I’ll go through the rationale and this specific film experience I imagine in my mind’s eye.

I’ve done some research to better understand how monochromatic images work, and how they can sometimes reveal things not present in their color original. Very briefly, what I found was how powerful the medium is, if used in unison with exposure, light, composition. By stripping away color, one is able to highlight the remaining elements of a frame: the direction of light, shapes, line quality, repetition, shadows. If that image is well-designed, and not taken by accident, this effect can be quite compelling and revelatory. 

Of course black and white has been used in films to convey a period or a flashback moment. But in my research I was interested in modern and classic films that seemed to use the choice of black and white rather as a compositional tool, to emphasize a tone, mood and elements of the frame, and ultimately the themes of the film. In rewatching some of those films, I was amazed at how this seemingly 'restrictive' medium is actually quite flexible and can express a range of emotions and landscapes.

I believe the choice of black and white can graphically emphasize the visual elements and differences of each of Musa's landscapes, and in turn reflect Musa’s mood in each space, and proximity to his goal. 

I've put together a 'preview' of those spaces, in order to get a better sense of how these landscapes would look, what elements could be emphasized in each, what effect the contrast of color and grays would have on the overall film. These images are pieced together from different sources, some that aren't 'geographically-accurate' or 'story-relevant' to our film but with my notes you'll hopefully get the point I'm trying to make with each:

THE METROPOLIS (in black and white)

‘golden-age 50s Cairo’:

‘prison-80S Cairo’:

later-80s Cairo - under Ben’s influence:

THE DESERT (in black and white)

MUSA'S / BEN'S MEMORIES (in color)

We’ve spoken about Musa’s memories of his son and the ocean being idealized. A moment that he has replayed and that relative to his waking life is full of passion. Full of color. In this visual strategy, that idea becomes literal. 

I also believe the idea that Musa’s memory of holding his son in the ocean as his emotional compass or goal becomes even more heightened. I think by seeing the world the way he sees it, alternating between the grays of the Metropolis and Desert and the color of his memory-dreams, we experience the film more subjectively through his point of view and emotions. We realize this moment as his 'treasure', as his 'empire'.

Simultaneously, in my proposal Ben’s memories (or rather the memories Musa experiences as Ben) would also be in color. Why? We discussed the idea that Ben’s memories of Sara is also an idealized moment - a moment Ben probably wishes he could go back to but can’t. This is Ben’s emotional anchor - this moment would be full of passion, full of color, relative to his present life. Therefore, it would only make sense that Musa, in the body of Ben, experience them this way.

By having both memories in color is there a danger that the audience would get confused about these memories and lose track of whose memory belongs to who? I don’t think so - the landscapes are radically different (ocean versus family room) and Musa through his dialogue makes clear ‘he dreams of the ocean’ while the memory of Sara is foreign to him and belongs to Ben. 

But, by having them both in color, we would imply a relationship between them. Not necessarily one of geography, or period, but again, about emotion. By the end of the script, we realize that Ben has lost someone as well, and that this maybe is how these two very different men are similar. In this color scheme, this idea that they are at least emotionally connected through loss would be heightened. Again, this is one of the ideas or themes of the script that we are making more cinematically apparent.

SUMMARY OF VISUAL STRATEGY

We’ve covered a lot of ground, let me summarize the important points of my proposal:

1. What happens in real-time, whether Musa is in the 80s or 50s, in Cairo or the Sinai, is in black and white.
2. The choice of black and white is used to emphasis pre-existing visual elements of each landscape - shape, line, lighting, repetition, value - elements that communicate something of how Musa’s feels in this space and where he is in his journey to find his son.
3. Obviously, the other elements of a composition (e.g. lighting, frame size, etc) would be chosen accordingly to work in tandem in creating that mood and Musa’s inner state. 
4. By portraying the memories in color, we place a spotlight on them, give the audience a stronger sense of how important those memories are to Musa, that emotion he is trying to get back to. And draw an emotional connection between Musa and Ben's memories.
5. In the finality of the film, there would be maybe a clearer sense Musa (as the older professor) has ‘crossed over’ into the memory. He has reached his destination. Is this a real place (e.g. heaven) or something imaginary? We leave that up to the audience to decide. 
6. Finally, I’ve explained the rationale for why in this strategy one place would be in color and another would be in black and white - but I don’t think this is a strategy the audience would necessarily ‘get’ by the film's end. It is simply a framework that is meant to work on the audience subconsciously or emotionally the way a monochromatic image can work on a viewer without the viewer realizing its design.

As a kind of preview of the monochromatic-color rhythm I'm envisioning I've pasted together images from the Metropolis ('prison phase'), the Desert, and the Memories in the following order:

METROPOLIS - DESERT - MEMORY OF OCEAN - METROPOLIS - DESERT - MEMORY OF SARA - METROPOLIS - DESERT:

CONCLUSION

But . . . what do we lose with this visual strategy? I believe the natural colors of the city and desert are beautiful. The colors of each are so distinctive. It does seem like a shame to lose that. Without color, these worlds become in a way an abstraction, something different from how we would experience them in real life if we visited them. But again the underlying rationale that motivated this strategy was the idea of seeing these worlds the way Musa feels about them, and not necessarily how they actually are. And emphasizing structural elements in those spaces that would help convey how Musa feels at each particular point in his journey. 

But I do have my own personal hesitations:

1. While I’ve tried to argue my points in a persuasive way, I do have some questions about this strategy and 'proof-of-concept'. I think some of those questions could be answered with some experiments as we get closer to having an actual location, with stand-ins, to get a better sense of what is gained and what is lost in this visual strategy. I think this is such a specific strategy, and one that is a little counter-intuitive, that I would want to put together original images and videos of my own to confirm my hypotheses.
2. I know there are consequences for the strategy I’m proposing on the distribution / financing side. If I’m not mistaken, the film 'The White Ribbon', had to be filmed in color even though the filmmakers planned to release it in black and white because they had received some German television financing that required a color version be delivered. In the end, the television station accepted the black and white version, but I imagine in any film this is something to consider. 
3. A limited, monochromatic color scheme for each world might have the same compositional effect as black and white. For example the palette for the Metropolis could be a set of browns, grays and blacks - while the desert could be depicted in whites and golds. These limited palettes for each world would create a strong contrast between them, and still highlight some of the visual elements we've discussed for each landscape. It would also allow us the opportunity to introduce foreign colors to those landscape-palettes as a way to suggest change or a disturbance (e.g. Ben's new clothes in Musa's closet). I need to consider this limited-palette approach a bit more, but it is something I'd like to try to make a 'proof of concept' for as well. 
4. A great deal of what I’ve discussed about the power of black and white to emphasis certain compositional elements and moods is also achievable in color by other means. Because we’re working in moving pictures and sound, we have several other tools that can communicate some of the emotions I’ve described (e.g. the alienness of the desert can be communicated through a synesthesizer-inspired score).

Any thoughts?