INTRODUCTION

Érèbe is the second chapter of a trilogy of short films that revolve around the theme of Death and the Maiden. This Myth embodies the black romanticism present throughout Art History.

Melancholic Sabbat, written and directed by Lucile Littot in 2012 is the first film of the series. It was screened at the gallery Treize in Paris as well as The Besant Lodge in Los Angeles. Les Yeux Bleu Pâle, the third and final chapter is currently in development. Érèbe will be shot entirely in Los Angeles and in the California deserts. Erebe will be shot in the english language.

SYNOPSIS

2013, Los Angeles has become the land of imaginary and it’s inhabitants worship the goddess Aphrodite.

Demetrios, narcissistic and vain, is one of the most notorious sculptors in the city and is sought after by the most beautiful women in the city, Reine, Bacchis, and Athena, though he never gives them his heart.

He meets Chrysis, of whom he falls in love. She asks him to steal three objects for her. He commits these three crimes in hopes that his desire for her is quenched.

He then asks her to pose for him with the three objects and then poisons her before making a sculpture of her, offering her eternal life through her representation in stone.

Once Chrysis is canonized, the other characters are transformed and cross over to Hell. Aphrodite’s desecrated statue becomes Persephone, a young woman who has been initiated by the Fury and the Night, to the Kingdom of the Dead.

NOTE OF INTENTION

"Hell On Earth"

Hells Angels

In The Virgin of The Rose, painted by Raphael, Saint Jean-Baptiste gives baby Jesus a scroll on which is inscribed the prophetic words "ECCE AGNUS" (Here is the lamb) announcing the destiny of Christ who will be sacrificed as such. Ironic predestination. What I choose to convey through Érèbe would rather translate into "ECCE MUJILIER" (here is the woman).

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Written to the image of the Russian Doll, the idea of Woman is embodied by the theatrical setting of the three main female characters, each representing a state that provokes or procures love.

A Girl, a Young Woman and a Woman "Totem" caught up in webs of love.

Fine tuned beauties, somewhat franticly evoking a romantic fantasy where they seek the instinct of life through pain. The false note, impulsive and violent. Decibels flirting with madness; rhythmic "stab in the heart."

Érèbe, is divided into two acts: Day and Night; two chapters that focus on the symbolism represented by the physiology of the body as well as the effects of the sun and the moon.

The first part of Érèbe recounts "Chosen Pieces" from the novel Aphrodite by Pierre Louys.

The narration is voluntarily radical and incisive. The first act embodies the warrior, led by the chariots of Helios where Ancient Greece is replaced with cynical scene of Los Angeles,The city shaping the myth.

The desert becomes the vision of the erebus; transitioning between the dark and gloomy worlds of the living and the dead, before the palace of eternal night.

The timelessness of the story of Aphrodite permits me to inscribe Érèbe in the comtemporary world. The film is carried by the charisma and pitfalls of my "non-fiction" protagonists, "Made in LA".

Women Amazons: Chrysis, Bacchis and Reine confront and tear each other apart, losing themselves in the pursuit of the same object of desire.

The figure of the male: Demetrios a famous artists resembling the Hollywood celebrity cliches, nonchalantly living a life of privilege similar to the Greek God.

The notion of desire differs for each of his wives: to love him because she does not know him yet, to want to love and possess him for his glory or to wait for him because she is hopelessly in love.

The second act, lunar and more dreamlike, is a loose adaptation of the myth of Hades and Persephone in the Greek Underworld. It will be represented by a dark and deserted stage. The idea is to orchestrate a more pictorial and minimal scene, inspired by the visceral and dramatic compositional chiaroscuro paintings of Caravaggio and Rembrandt. Bloodthirsty colors palettes, dominated by burgundy reds, flesh, black and gold.

And so the actors are lost under this divine light and dark backdrops where the only echoes are the "Narcisse" voices of the de-possessed.

In this immense and schizophrenic darkness; a transcript of sort of the mental vacuum inside Demetrios' head, the true faces of the characters are revealed. The beautiful Amazons, broken dolls, fallen from grace; The Furies now populate the Palace of Night, personified by a ghostly Madam.

Demetrios becomes their prince. And it is here that the figure of Aphrodite and the myth of Persephone (her forced descent into hell after her abduction by Hades) come together in the second act. Persephone becomes a slave and witness to the sarcasm of Demetrios’ wives; she discovers the birth of desire.

A sort of Alice that falls prey to the Harpies that she eventually will model herself after. Ecce Electro (Here is the Chosen). It is the tragic fate of the young virgin, submerged too soon, or not, into the delectable rivers of passion.

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TEAM

Artists and Techicians involved in the project at his beginning:

Camille Vanoye:

Camera

Abigail Briley Bean ( http://www.abigailbrileybean.com):

First Assistant Director

Christopher Slater:

Light and Editing

Logan White( http://www.loganwhitephoto.com):

Photography

LUCILE LITTOT'S FILMOGRAPHY

Melancholic Sabbath Fiction 16 min France 2010

not viewable on internet

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Credits:

Camera: Camille Vanoye

Editing: Franck Littot

Mixing: Amaury Arboun

Soundtracks: Frank Williams

With: Tatiana Littot, Adrien Lamande, Frédéric Lopez et Ginou Lopez

ÉRÈBE