MIND THE GAP

LOGLINE

Bjorn, a seasoned extra on movie sets, is thrown into a labyrinthic nightmare to find his soulmate.

INTENTION

By Anna Roller

MIND THE GAP tells the transgressive love story of two characters who otherwise tend to play in the background in films: Extras. They bring the film to life, they fill the story with colors and layers, make the fictional world believable and yet they are only silent staffage. Sometimes, while watching a film, I wonder what it would be like if the story took a turn and followed their life, instead of the main characters. What if the man, there in the background with a wife next to him is actually gay, but we will never see it. During my studies in film school, I often took over the extras staging for fellow students or larger projects as an AD. I know what it is like to have to come up with storylines for different characters in a matter of seconds on set. And often enough you are forced to stage the cliché. The gay couple would attract too much attention, the Black policeman would make the audience think about him. As an extra in a movie, you are supposed to portray the irrelevant background action, the “norm”. But should film not be ahead of the curve? Or at least reflect the diversity that already exists in our world?

What is it like to be trapped in outdated role models? What if we turned it around and even the privilege becomes the cage? With our episode we want to step into the shoes of an “Extra” and turn his experience into a horror trip. Björn, our hero, a 60-year-old white man, who is an extra, finds himself trapped in stereotypical roles of German films: he plays the Nazi, the policeman, the aristocrat... When Björn falls in love with a younger POC extra, Eliah, he begins to question his role and fights his own stage directions. Their attempt to get closer to each other turns into a battle against their own storyline, in which they are stuck.

To understand the logic of our character’s lives, think of the universe-jumps in Everything Everywhere All At Once (Daniels, 2022). With “Action” the character’s consciousness awakes in the middle of the scene. They have to fulfill the task, that was given to them until the scene ends with “Cut“. We experience several takes, but the characters never know what happened behind the scenes – they do not see the director, who gave the stage directions on the film set in the real world. The characters obsessively follow their instructions without questioning them. Any obstacle in their way is eliminated, any behavior out of character is suppressed. Imagine them like the servants from Get Out (Jordan Peele, 2017): their appearance is normal, but something about their behavior feels uncanny. When Björn falls in love with Eliah he slowly awakens from his torpidity. For the first time he sees how absurd the world around him really is. Everyone moves and talks as if they were remote controlled. They only use the lines that were given to them, they smile, but with emptiness in their eyes. Like beautiful zombies. We use this horror setting to metaphorically show that falling in love has the power to change your perspective. You need to put yourself in another person's shoes, to start questioning the existing structure. With our camera we are always close to Björn and experience everything from his perspective. As a result, the main events of the scene take place in the background. However, the viewers should be able to guess what is happening. For example, we hear the argument between the “main characters”, we pass them when they fight or kiss, while Björn is on his own mission to find Eliah. We aim to cast German actors with international reputation for some of these “Main Character Cameos”, like Lars Eidinger or Sandra Hüller. They have been in the foreground all their lives, now they are the ones just passing through the frame or dying in the background. The tone of the episode is absurd and eerie. The horror aspect is created mostly from the nightmarish repetitions, the feeling of being trapped and not having control over one's actions. The more desperately Björn and Eliah fight against their world, the darker it gets. The episode allows us to play with different styles throughout the film's history. The look and feel of the scenes adapt respectively to the genre.

I want to create a fun ride, an experience that makes the audience grin and wince and maybe watch films with a new eye. An ode to the extras, who make film the colorful world we live in.

SYNOPSIS

Black Screen. The camera starts rolling and we see BJÖRN’s (57) face. His clothes are torn, he is sweating and his hands are shaking. Anxiously he looks around. Next to him men and women cower on the floor, clinging to each other fearfully. He is sitting huddled in a tunnel that resembles a very run- down train station. The whole look and feel of the setting reminds us of an Apocalypse-Zombie Film (style see „The Last of Us”). From a distance, knocks and screams can be heard. Protectively, Björn presses the dog, that is sitting on his lap, against him. The beats are getting louder. Obviously, someone is trying to break down the door. A pregnant woman begins to whimper in panic. Then the wooden barricade breaks. Björn is startled, the dog barks and jumps up and down, out of control. Chaos erupts around the two of them. Everyone is looking at him. CUT. Black frame. Björn blinks. Again, he is sitting in the subway and the same scene unfolds. He looks down at himself, but this time there is no dog at the end of the leash he is holding. A little unsettled, he puts the leash in his pocket. What just happened? Was he sleeping?

The people around him still listen fearfully to the knocks against the door. Then the wood breaks. He is startled again, but this time the dog does not disturb the scene. One more blow and the barricade shatters. The terrified people snatch their few belongings and rush into the tunnel, while dark shapes pour in through the entrance. The figures make strange clicking sounds and seem to track people with their sense of smell like sniffer dogs. Björn stumbles through the darkness, one of the creatures close on his heels. It reaches out for him, trying to grab him and – suddenly stumbles. An unusually clumsy movement for a zombie. Björn hesitates. The creature lies on the ground, cursing and holding his joking knee. Now, up close, it's not nearly as creepy. It looks more like a young Black man in a bad Halloween disguise. Reluctantly, Björn crouches down. “Are you allri-...” CUT.

CUT. Now Björn is wearing a police uniform, he is shaved and looks much more self-confident in this role. Together with several other police officers, he has stormed a nightclub. We are in a completely new setting, look and light reveal that we are in a different movie. The policemen are arresting a group of young men, and we find ourselves in the middle of a drug raid in a crime movie (style see Seven). Björn walks of a Black man in handcuffs, dressed like a stripper underneath a leather coat. If you look closely, you will recognize the “zombie” from scene one. Björn leads him to the police car to take his personal data. When he looks into his face, Björn hesitates confused. "Do I know you?" The young man smiles. "I don't think so, but now you have my name and number". He introduces himself. ELIAH (38). The two strike up a conversation, and a few nice words develop into a flirtation, forgetting about the fact that one was about to arrest the other. Shyly Björn confesses to Eliah that he has a feeling that his life is going in circles. It is just a sensation he cannot really grasp, but something is off. Suddenly they are interrupted by a detective - the “main character” – who approaches the car, gets in and drives away together with Eliah. Björn is left alone, startled. CUT. The scene starts from the beginning. Björn grabs Eliah, takes him to the car and immediately puts him in the back seat, so they can talk undisturbed. The two get closer, joking. But when the detective arrives, he gruffly warns Björn to get out of the car. When Björn tries to refuse, the detective pulls him out of the car by his jacket. Björn casts a last desperate glance at Eliah, who grabs his hand and slips him something. CUT. This time Björn is roughly pushed out of the way, another policeman leads Eliah away past Björn. The two can only exchange looks. Someone seizes his arm and before he knows what is happening to him, Björn is part of a human chain. He is trying to break free but the policemen next to him keep him close with a firm grip. Like in trance Björn looks left and right. It is as if he is seeing the world around him with a clear eye for the first time and a shiver runs down his spine: the policemen move like robots with empty eyes. While Eliah is being put into the car, he can give Björn one last sign: he taps his pocket. Quickly Björn reaches into his own. He pulls out a thin golden chain, that Eliah was wearing earlier.

CUT. The gift twinkles around Björns neck. Slightly irritated he notices that he is wearing a curly wig. His complexion is painted in white, he is wearing a red velvet jacket. Apparently, he is an aristocrat at a coronation party in a costume movie (style see Ludwig by Visconti). The noblemen and women next to him at the table are talking with eccentric movements, but when Björn listens closer, it is only gibberish coming from their mouths. They are drinking tea from empty cups as if it was the most natural thing and laugh grimacing, but without making a sound. Björn turns to “his wife”, the elegant lady sitting next to him, trying to ask her what is going on, but she just stuffs cake in his mouth, smiling excessively. Björn feels a panic attack taking hold of him. Is he the only sane person in this room? It feels like knowing this is a nightmare, but you cannot wake up. He tries to get up, but his wife claws her fingernails into his skin and continues to obsessively stuff cake into his mouth. The newly crowned empress – the “main character - is led past him into the middle of the hall for the wedding dance and everyone claps mechanically like smiling marionettes. Suddenly a servant in livery leans over to Björn as if to pour him some tea. "I knew I'd find you here," Eliah whispers to him. Björn’s heart is pounding, but his wife already has a firm grip on him and pulls him onto the dance floor. His eyes only on Eliah, Björn is whirled across the dance floor. He can only just see Eliah disappearing down a side aisle, waving conspiratorially for him to follow. CUT. Björn barely takes a sip of his fake tea, then quickly apologizes to his wife and the aristocrats at the table and storms off to the side aisle. Eliah runs past him, holding the tray of tea he just served him from. Impatiently, Björn waits while the empress is led onto the dance floor. As the music starts and everyone dances, Eliah returns with his empty tray. He stumbles. Björn rushes over to help him. Finally, they are together. But the people around them are looking uncomfortably. A noble man talking to a servant does not fit into the picture. Eliah leads Björn to a hiding spot and tries to explain. They must not fall out of character, or the scene will be interrupted. But how can they be together if they are always characters, who are not allowed to interact? They promise each other to find a way out. The music stops, the dance is over, the scene is about to end. "Wait!" Björn calls. The gathered aristocracy turns around. Their smiles fade.

CUT. Björn is sprinting through a trench, wearing a uniform, heavy boots on his feet and a rifle in his hand - he is a German soldier in a WW I movie (Style see. 1917) running for his life. He makes his way through his fellow soldiers. Did anyone see a young Black man? "Attack!" The trench is under fire. Suddenly Björn notices Eliah on the horizon in an enemy squad, marching relentlessly toward the trench. Without hesitation, he climbs out. And although his comrades are trying to hold him back, he runs towards the enemy squad. He drops his rifle - it's only a few more yards before he reaches Eliah. CUT. Everyone is back in the trenches. Two comrades grab Björn, push him onto a stretcher and lash the straps so he can no longer move. A bloody bandage is tied around his head. Desperately he is trying to break free, screaming, begging to untie him, but the soldiers are not listening, and his voice is drowned under the cannon fire. "Attack!" Just a few feet away from him collapses the body of a Black soldier. Björn screams for Eliah. His face is covered in blood, but when Eliah hears the familiar voice he opens his eyes. With last strength he lifts his riffle and pulls the trigger. Suddenly, one of the comrades stumbles, Eliah’s shot stroke his leg and the stretcher hits the ground. With gritted teeth Björn crawls to the injured body. He is dead. Sobbing and exhausted, Björn lies next to him. He turns his head, to kiss him but - CUT.

CUT. A Technoclub, Neonlights. Björn is an “old drunk”, sitting in front of the door. You don’t know it yet, but we are in a modern Splatter film. Björn looks around and notices that the main action takes place inside the club. On the stage is Eliah, voguing with other dancers. Björn rushes towards the door, but the bouncer stops him. Without hesitation, Björn strips off his dirty sweater, randomly grabs a feather boa from the coat rack and pushes his way into the club. This time he wants to do it right. He has to blend in with the crowd to get to Eliah. Across the room over the heads of the dancing people Björn catches Eliah's eye. He begins to move, and as if dancing in slow motion, the two make their way toward each other. Eliah stops dancing, and smiles. They hold each other close and are about to kiss. A small girl in a nightgown steps onto the stage in the middle of the club.

She raises her hand and - Boom! - as if a burst of power were shot from her hand, the people around her are pushed back. And so is Eliah. CUT. Björn fights his way through the crowd. He just has to be faster and find Eliah before the main character casts the spell. There he is! Eliah and Björn run into each other's arms, holding onto each other. But something is pulling Eliah back. A stunt belt is strapped around his stomach. “No” Björn cries out. But Elias is thrown back. CUT. The scene starts all over again. "Noooo!" Full of desperation, Björn runs onto the stage to stop the course of the scene. He screams at the top of his lungs and knocks over the main character girl. "Stop!" Suddenly, the film reality seems to crumble: we are back in the subway tunnel from scene one but the zombies are wearing white powdered wigs. Strippers are dancing at the empress's wedding. Soldiers move in slow motion through the neon lights of a techno club. Also in slow motion, Björn moves through the genres. The sound level rises until suddenly all the light bulbs in the techno club burst.

Silence. It is dark. Björn sits up. Where is he? In the darkness, he reaches for the prop phone in his pocket and flicks on the flashlight function. The film world seems to have stopped in between takes! Time stands still. All extras and main characters are frozen in their positions in the darkness. Björn fights his way through the bodies, he shines the light in their faces looking for Eliah. Then he opens a door: a black room surrounded by the back of studio walls. And in the middle of the room is Eliah.

As they finally kiss, all worlds merge: The zombie kisses the victim, the stripper kisses the policeman, the servant the aristocrat, the American soldier the German... one by one, the lights come back on. Björn and Eliah smile at each other. The brighter it gets, the more characters awake, and we realize that we are back in the club. Suddenly Eliah's smile fades. A small red dot spreads across Björn's shirt. "What is that?" Björn stutters. "A blood capsule." Eliah rips open Björn's shirt. There is a small SFX construction on his chest. "No!" - but it's too late - the capsule explodes, blood splatters all over Björn's chest, and he dies in Eliah's arms.

CUT. For the first time, we find ourselves on the set behind the scenes. The team just wrapped, the extras are getting changed, returning their costumes, and getting a last bite at the catering cart. We follow an older man who looks visually like Björn. On the other end of the queue, he notices Eliah. He pauses ... does he recognize him? Do they even know about the secret life of their characters? Around his neck dangles the necklace we know from the beginning of the episode. Björn hesitates briefly, as if he had a feeling but can't place it. Then Eliah approaches him. "Do we know each other?" The two don’t seem to recognize each other. "Maybe from another set" Eliah laughs, introducing himself. As the two engage in conversation, the camera pulls back and leaves the studio.

The end.

DIRECTOR

Anna Roller was born in 1993 in Germany. In 2014 she started to study directing at the University of Television and Film in Munich. Her short films PAN and THE LAST CHILDREN IN PARADISE were screened at more than 60 international festivals such as Palm Springs or Camerimage, and won multiple awards. In 2022 her short BRAT won the German Short Film Award. During the lockdown in 2020 she created the IGTV Series CURFEW CALL together with Kalekone film. Anna Roller was part of the Future Frames program at the Karlovy Vary Festival, the Talent Village at Les Arc Festival and the Cutting Edge Talent Camp in Mannheim. Her debut DEAD GILRS DANCING is currently in postproduction (world sales: Totem Films).

Watch Pan | The Last Children in Paradise

PRODUCER

Lea Neu & Katharina Kolleczek have studied production and media management at the University of Television and Film Munich (HFF). Prior to the HFF, they each obtained a bachelor‘s degree, Lea in Business Informatics and Katharina in Communication Sciences. Since 2014, both had been employed in different positions in cinema and TV productions and met during their first internship on the set of a feature film. Their works have been successful at national as well as international festivals. In January 2019, they founded their production company Kalekone film with the goal to produce films & series that are diverse, young, dynamic and exciting. To achieve this, they work with a pool of creative minds that are bold, thoughtful, humorous, political, feminist and team-oriented.