Dancing Encounters

Science Fiction…almost !

My name is Alexandre Frager and this is my last year as a bachelor student in ECAL.

My diploma movie will be a fictional short (20 minutes) which will combine romantic comedy, social media trends and science fiction. This approach will allow me to question the relation between a human being and technology in a future that might be a lot closer than we think!

Pitch

The days of searching for your soulmate out in the wide wild world are over, this search can now be accomplished much more simply thanks to Dancing Encounters, a virtual reality dancing game combined with a dating application.

What would a blind date setup by this futuristic game look like? Jeremy and Marion, two young, geeky and solitary individuals are about find out. They’ll have to abandon the security of their bedroom, face the real world, and struggle with an unpredictable reality.

The origins of this project

• Human vs Technology

Most of the sci-fi movies I was watching as a kid should be occurring now days.

They depict two possible types of future: one where humans are destroyed by the same advanced robots they create, and another where humans become evil, using their technology to destroy everything.

In either scenario, innocence enslaved and brought down by its own inventions, or humanity as a cruel and destructive master of nature, the outcomes of these sci-fi movies are bleak and pessimistic in their view of our future. Things are seen in black or white, always seeking for the worst possible outcome in each situation.

With my movie, I would like to depict our technology as a simple tool. It’s up to us to learn how to integrate it in our lives, broader society and use it with great responsibility. My protagonists Jeremy and Marion will be given a technological tool which they’ll have to utilize to arrange for a first meeting. But past a certain point, they’ll have to leave it aside to face reality and get to truly discover and get to know each other.

• Futuristic sets in Lausanne.

Dancing Encounters is the story of Jeremy and Marion, two solitary individuals who will have to leave aside the tools technology has provided them, to confront the real world and truly meet each other.

While technology is eventually left behind by the main characters, its presence can always be felt in the background. The movie isn’t about getting along with a total absence of technology; rather it is about the need to learn to live with it.

That’s the reason why I chose futuristic sets in Lausanne with a lot of neon lights (Blade Runner style), to remind that technology is still there, whether the characters are using it directly or just walking through and inside of it.

Pictures

The team

• Anaëlle Morf
• Marine Dumas
• Lucile Mercier
• Cécilia Barroero
• Josua Hotz
• Miles Andre Wymann
• Julia Sangnakkara
• Pauline Deutsch
• Oskar Rosetti
• Maxime Descloux
• Léa Mothet
• Rafael Lopez, Maxine Reys
• Tiffany Noiset
• Audrey Bersier
• Patrick Luis

The comedians

Why do I need your help?

Thanks to Olivier Meylan, Miss Camping’s company director, and Thierry Wegmüller, D!Club’s director, we will have the chance to shoot in one of the best clubs in Lausanne for two days for free, also equipped with some silent party’s high tech head phones. We managed to save a considerable amount of money thanks to their generous offer, but still, the movie needs some financial help because it has zero production funds or support.

For now the small amount of money we have will allow us to buy some lunch for our team during the shooting, reimburse their travel fees and give a little salary to all. But we don’t have enough money to rent a professional camera for six days, allowing us to shoot at night, when the story takes places. This is the reason why I call for your help, so that we can make this movie happen and honour all those who generously got engaged on this project.