My project, Yung Men, is a 17 minute family drama about Carl Yung coming home for Christmas with his new boyfriend to find his younger brother, Adam, who is also gay resenting him tremendously for leaving him to take care of their aging parents.

The story was inspired by my dad being rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery to prevent a stroke at Christmas.  I was living in Vancouver and wasnt able to drop my personal commitments to come home for the holidays.  My siblings were the ones who took care of my father, and that experience led me to this story.  

In Yung Men, Carl Yung lives across the country from the rest of his family.  He has been wrapped up for several years in his own personal life after being dumped by his long-term partner. He returns home for Christmas unannounced with a new boyfriend, and isnt welcomed as warmly as he expected. Carl is caught off guard to see his dad partially paralyzed after a stroke.  The youngest brother, Adam, who lives the closest has to give up his social life to care of the parents.  Adam grew up thinking of Carl as a role model and is angry with his brother for leaving him with all the responsibility. Tensions between the brothers come to a breaking point, but once the resentments are finally out in the open, the entire family can begin to heal. 

Short Treatment

I want the fluidity of movement to take hold of the visuals. The camera should be responsive to the actions of the family members rather than predictive, knowing where they will move or look to. This will contribute to the vibrancy of the scene and add truth to the moments. Jonathan Demmes camera work in Rachel Getting Married (2008) exhibited this vibrancy beautifully.

The acoustic design of Yung Men will be full and naturalistic, but designed so that, like the camera work, certain moments and feelings can be plucked out of the background, to hone in on the sounds and the feeling of the moment. Music will be used sparingly but effectively, to accentuate moments. It will remain understated and minimalist similar in tone to A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965). The music I do use will be composed for the film and will be in same vein as classic Christmas tunes.

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