Temporary Matter

PITCH DECK

“You ever seen a catfish sit still? No, cause they always movin', always searchin' in that black water. Just like me. Like Him. The deep got a hunger, and it ain’t never full. It whisper, it call. Ain’t no man built to ignore it.”

— Fishmonger, Temporary Matter

  • The Story...

    We open to a desolate room, a frail woman stands scraping wallpaper off the borders of her unborn son’s bedroom. Lambs and hot air balloons mix with the glue and fall to the ground. ANGIE (30’s) and JAY (30’s) survey the aftermath of their life imploded by her recent miscarriage. They ignore what hangs in the air though the fractures in their relationship are palpable at a time when they should be drawing together they’re drifting apart. 

  • The film resides in the limbo between a dreamscape and the reality the couple seeks to run away from. 

  • Amidst the melting ice and fish guts of the local fish market, a strange FISHMONGER (60’s) sets into motion a prophecy. Upon summoning the ancient God Cthulhu, Angie’s womb is healed and gives life to an aquatic baby. The part octopus, part human, creature soothes Angie’s pain and is nearly the final cut which severs the ties of Angie and Jay’s relationship. Wading in the waters of a surrealism which ebbs and flows throughout the narrative we’re left in a state of hope that the couple may mend their bond and wake up from the nightmare of Cthulhu. 

  • The Setting...

    The troubled couple take refuge from their painful past beneath the fog of a dying seaside town. Littered with decaying buildings long since forgotten, there’s an eeriness settled deep into the earth of this place. 

  • The Dreamscape...

    When the dreamscape takes hold, the couple find themselves tending to an idyllic farm rather than their decrepit and tattered home. Their lambs graze peacefully while Angie nests in preparation for her new baby. 

Tone & Style

The film simultaneously balances a rational vision of life with one asserting the power of the unconscious and dreams. It unearths magic and bizarre beauty through the uncanny, the disregarded, and the unconventional. A tonal darkness looms over the dimly lit film with deep contrasts and a muted ocean pallet. In keeping with the narrative tone, the film utilizes visual extremes. Macro lenses capture the bizarre and grotesque while anamorphic extreme wides allow the audience to experience the dark beauty of the story's two worlds. Frame within frame visuals help to portray the layered messages contained by the film. 

  • Angie

    Embittered by the weight of her fertility journey, Angie leads with anger. Her bite is as bad as her bark and Jay is the typical recipient of such emotional snaps. 

  • Jay

    Depleted from doing his best to help Angie through their tragedy, his best is not nearly enough. 

  • Fishmonger

    An illusive figure with a particular ancient occult inclination, he sets forth the chaos of the dreamscape.