Transcending to new heights of BEAUTY

BEAUTY press photo.

The trailer is evocative and languorous with haunting close-ups of everyday objects and a soundtrack, simultaneously atmospheric and energetic, that gives everything a dream-like quality. It operates under the maxim ‘less is more’ and you don’t quite know what’s going on. But it draws you in nonetheless.

BEAUTY press photo.

So what is going on? Concordia alumni and director Colin L. Racicot is giving you a peek into his new science fiction film (or, as he explains it, metaphysical short film) BEAUTY, centered on the transcendental metamorphosis of protagonist Michael after his encounter with an alien presence billed as “the world’s most beautiful thing.”

It’s the germination of a long-dormant idea finally being given form.

“The original concept of the story has been haunting me for years, but it only took shape a few months ago, as I started writing a script,” said Racicot. “Ten billion drafts later I had a script so I sent it to my friend Simon Allard, with whom I studied at Concordia in film production. Days later, he was the producer of the film.”

Evoking influences of science fiction gods like Ridley Scott (Blade Runner), Andrei Tarkovsky (Solaris), and Chris Nolan (Inception and Memento), among others, should give you a fair idea of what this movie will be like.

“I don’t want to stick too much to reality. Reality is there every day in our lives. I want to lift the audience in a world that isn’t ours, but that could be ours, as if it was a nightmare, a lucid dream,” said Racicot. “These filmmakers knew how to portray an idea poetically, while taking advantage of the infinite possibilities of the cinematic medium.”

Racicot further explains saying, “the audience will be lifted into this intense ride, move from an extremely boring representation of reality to a surreal and overdosing crystalline world.” Interested?

Racicot hopes you are, because successfully creating BEAUTY will cost a pretty penny, and it goes without saying that providing for everything – rentals, sets, equipment and supplies, vehicles, distribution and production, etc. – takes money.

To pull off this feat, Racicot has engaged the services of Kickstarter for the crowdsourcing of his film. By soliciting help from anonymous and the not-so-anonymous alike he hopes to raise the $7,500 budget within the next four weeks. As anybody who’s had to pitch knows, selling an idea is hard.

“Perhaps what is most challenging about the kickstarter phase of the project, and what is really the challenge for any crowdsourced project, is convincing regular consumers that your product is worth investing into. You have to sell the dream before the dream exists,” said Racicot.

And he certainly has ambitious dreams.

“BEAUTY could be the beginning of a big adventure. I don’t see this film as a single short; we could easily develop this into a mini-series or even a feature film. I’ve always been kind of reluctant to the TV-series format, but after watching Breaking Bad… what can I say… I feel like the possibilities are endless.”

So, Concordia, check it out and give a former Concordian’s vibrant creativity the support of your eyes. It may be the prettiest thing you’ve seen all day.

If you’d like to view Colin L. Racicot’s BEAUTY, the teaser is now on Kickstarter. Pledgers, depending on the donated amount, will receive exclusive material and other perks in appreciation.

For more info, please visit:

kickstarter.com/projects/cinesthetique/beauty-a-metaphysical-short-film

 

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