On Bresson

Looking through Bresson's thoughts, I could not choose just one lone aphorism, but found rather three which struck me most. However, in essence, these three passages are different ways of saying the same thing, or expansions on one another. They are:

"Who said: 'A singe look let's loose a passion, a murder, a war?'"

"The ejaculatory force of the eye"

"Expressive face of the actor on which the slightest crease, controlled by him and magnified by the lens, suggests the exaggerations of the kabuki."

These struck me in particular because I've recently made the transition in the past few years from stage acting to film acting, which aren't only different ballparks but rather entirely different games. From many of the other aphorisms, it seems that Bresson is not a fan of theatre (or is at least strongly divided on the matter) and doesn't give a lot of credit to his film actors, referring to them often as 'models'. However, these three passages show another side, which is his vast appreciation for both good actors and the power of good cinematography.
Having been a stage actor most of my life, I come from a place where big, bold gestures are essential; how are the people in the back row going to see your emotion unless you don't? But it makes for a strange transition to film, of which I had difficulty at first because I was acting for the stage still and not the camera. Unlike the audience member in the back row, the camera picks up every little nuance. Some of the most powerful performances in film are not performances at all, but rather presences. This is what I've learned over the past few years, perfectly entwined in the act of shaping an identity as I move into adulthood. I've always been an actor, on stage and often in real life; we all act certain ways according to norms and mores and wanting people to like us and accept us. But here's the rub I've simultaneously come across in film acting: the more I rehearse for film acting, the less authentic it appears to the camera. The camera doesn't lie. So, I've had to shape myself to simply be in the moment, to actually be involved in the thought process simultaneously with the character, to listen instead of waiting to deliver a line. When you exist in a moment, the camera sees it, sees every little furrow of the brow and twitch of the mouth and the audience therefore will believe it. And it translates perfectly to real life, to simply be in the moment instead of worrying if someone like you or accept  you.
Knowing this, I know exactly the power Bresson is referring to with subtle performances. All three of these aphorisms did not strike me in the mind but rather in the gut, because I understand perfectly. There are moments in a movie, such subtle and simple moments that strike in the gut the sort of emotion that would make a man capable of murder, of war. There is a raw, guttural quality to the notion the way an eye can cause an ejaculatory response, can make you squirm or laugh or cry, but strike you in the gut. It is the way that kabuki theatre, or any theatre for that matter, must exaggerate actions and emotions for the person in the back row, but a cinema screen, projecting a face that is 40 feet high will allow any viewer to literally see a sparkle in an eye without moving a muscle on a face. This is the sort of power Bresson views in cinematography and I can't say I disagree.

Proposal

We start from black as we hear an alarm sound, absolutely stereotypical of a student film. As we come up and the alarm is pushed, we notice that the hand is dirty and bloody. Short montage shots show us a dark figure moving slowly and eerily through an apartment: grabbing a battered suitcase, putting on a bloody shirt and tie, brushing disgusting teeth. Little by little we are revealed to our main character ZOMBIE MALE. We then see him leave his apartment, full reveal. He goes to stand at the bus stop with other zombies going to work. He goes to work and makes copies of bloodied paperwork and gets grunted at by his boss. Then one day he meets ZOMBIE FEMALE. They instantly fall in love. There is montage of them skipping through a field, chasing human prey. They devour a human in an alley and eat his entrails from either end, eventually coming together in a "lady and the tramp" moment. Another human is backed into a corner and screams "why, WHY?!" The zombie males looks contemplative and then begins singing "Beeeecause we're zombies, we're going to eat your brains. We're zombies, we're not playing any games!" etc. A small chorus line joins. This is how we end.

The visual style, at least for the beginning scenes in the apartment, will likely be color corrected to have more of a stylized 'zombie movie feel'. The following clip is from a film I made in high school, which was very silly, but I like the color correction.