Logline

A dancer learns to be more self-confident in his art, after meeting and clashing with another dancer. The main characters anxiety is represented through a delay in the mirrors reflection of him.

Synopsis

Over 3 studio sessions, a dancer overcomes his inner doubt and regains his self-confidence. This is achieved by another character pushing him to get out of his comfort zone leading to a conflict of beliefs. His anxiety is visually represented through the delay in his reflection in the dance studio mirror. This concludes with a dance sequence where the reflection in the mirror is ahead of time, representing his newfound confidence in his abilities.

Moodboard

This is a miniature mood board to get a visual understanding of the project before reading it.

The idea and themes were influenced by films about obsession to achieve a dream, most notably ‘Whiplash’ and ‘Black Swan’. ‘La La Land’ is also a considerable influence, lending to a large dance finale that we want to include within The Mirror Dancer, to conclude the establishment of the characters' newfound friendship. This is where The Mirror Dancer would differ from its influences, by examining whether there is a more fulfilling and less destructive path to the artist’s journey.

The despair of a comedian bombing on stage, a magician unable to deliver an experience, and a dancer unable to wow. This story originates from the personal struggle that creatives go through when exhibiting the art they create, and the fear of how people will respond to the performance they have practised, in isolation, for hours on end.

Plot

Characters

SAM is a man who has always had some sort of self-doubt about himself. He uses dance as a creative outlet and as a unique way to keep fit and has been doing it for a couple of years now. His eye for detail and dedication to doing things “properly”, means that he is further ahead in skill level than someone who has been dancing casually for 2 years. He is quite shy and keeps to himself.

CATHY is a woman who has been involved in dance since a young age. She has successfully participated in competitions for a long time. This led to a mindset of having to be the best, pushing herself to what could be viewed as obsession. Ultimately, this played back on her and led to her losing her love of the sport and art form. These experiences left Cathy with no room to express herself, struggling with who she really was.

Style Notes

The level of anxiety Sam is feeling will be represented through the mirror delaying his reflection; the more delayed the reflection, the more anxious he is, and vice versa. The metaphor is that he is out-of-sync with himself, over the course of the film, his mind and body become synchronised; as the narrative/visual conclusion, the reflection will happen ahead of time, signifying that he is now able to flow because of becoming more comfortable in his own skin.

The only music we hear in the entire film is the music that Sam will hear. For example, if Sam has headphones on, or the music is on speakers, it will be loud and clear, if Cathy has headphones on and Sam doesn't, it shall be muffled and slightly distant.

Throughout the entire film, the mirror will always behave delayed/in-time/ahead-of-time only for Sam's reflection based on how he is feeling.

ACT 1

We get introduced to the dance studio and see the title, subtly showing the mirror acting normally and establishing the location. We see Sam waiting outside while he is watching the dance move he wants to practice in slow motion whilst trying to do the movements with his body. As the session ends and everybody leaves, he stops, looks embarrassed and avoids eye contact.

He enters the empty dance studio, prepares his music, and starts dancing.

He is fine for a moment but then starts making mistakes and gets self-conscious, we see the mirror in which he is practising show a delayed reflection. We see him notice this and inspect it, try to shake it off and start dancing again. The reflection again is delayed and it is throwing him off, and he tries to push through it, but he gets frustrated and tries to take deep breaths and focus.

We see Cathy distinctly in the door frame, unaware of how long she has been standing there. She can see that he is frustrated with his practising. She asks him if it’s okay that she uses the studio as well, however she says this while subtly walking into the room, not giving him a choice.

He is intimidated by her confidence and would prefer to practice by himself, however, it would be too awkward to say no to her at this point.

She ready's up, puts her headphones on and starts dancing. Both the audience and Sam are entranced by her dancing. She is a highly skilled dancer and Sam is further intimidated by her because of this.

Sam nervously gathers his belongings and leaves, we see both characters in the frame as well as the reflection, and the reflection is the most delayed we have seen it. Cathy notices him leave and wonders what happened.

ACT 2

The next week, we see the group leave and Sam waiting outside like in the beginning, however, when Sam enters the studio, we see Cathy sitting there, just taking a break. She greets him with a smile and an inviting 'Hey'.

Sam gets a little shy and uncomfortable by her being there and asks whether he should come back later, trying to see if she is going to leave sometime soon. She tells him that she is just resting between her group session and her solo session. He goes to leave, as he would like to practice alone, but Cathy gently insists on him staying. After a moment, Cathy sees Sam more at ease and ready to dance, she flirtatiously asks him to show her some moves.

We see his anxiety increase by this pressure placed on him to impress, especially after he has already placed her on such a pedestal.

He performs a few simple moves, the mirror is slowly getting delayed as he performs. He tries to perform the move he was trying to practice the previous session and fails. He feels embarrassed, avoids looking back and Cathy and tries again. The mirror is very delayed now, but he keeps on attempting the move, trying to brute force his way through it; it is not productive.

Cathy sees this and interrupts his self-torture and introduces herself. She points out the dance move he's practising, and Sam is impressed by her knowledge as it is a niche move. She continues to get him to lower his guard and get more comfortable.

She demonstrates the move herself, executing it perfectly, with good flow.

She gives him tips and tricks on the move as she teaches him how to perform the move.

They bond and have some banter while they exchange dance moves and tricks. Cathy comes to learn that Sam hasn't been dancing for a long time, but she is very impressed by the amount of progress he has made.

She asks him if he has something that he has choreographed himself. He hasn't and get's slightly embarrassed about that. She tells him to not stress about it and shows him that it isn't too difficult to create your own choreography. She explains that the choreography doesn't have to be amazing and blow people away, but you want to make sure you are having fun dancing, and not torturing yourself all the time creating new moves.

While she is showing him different moves and techniques she makes some mistakes, but she does not frustrate herself over them as Sam does, and he notices that. It is comforting to him to see someone at such a high skill level make mistakes but get over them.

A week later, Sam enters the studio after everyone leaves and is slightly bummed out that Cathy is not there.

He starts practising, the mirror is only slightly delayed, but we can see that whilst he is performing the move nearly correctly, still a little clunky.

Cathy enters, and Sam initiates the introduction and conversation. She asks to see his progress in his practice. She sees him do it well and then make a small mistake, which ends up making him self-conscious.

Cathy tells Sam that he is a brilliant dancer, one of the best she's seen for the length of time he has been practising, but you will not become the dancer you want to become if you do not get out of your own head and stop caring what others will think about what you'll do. Do something with full confidence and don't worry about whether people will love it or not. People can see the genuine passion in any art form, without that, it is forgettable, regardless of how clinically perfect it may be.

Sam is a little taken aback by that, as he realises that it is true, and he knows it; he just hasn't realised it until now.

ACT 3

Sam finally gets out of his own head. Eyes closed, takes a deep breath, standing in front of the mirror. We hear the music on the speakers slowly start, the lighting in the room darkens and a spotlight focuses on Sam. He begins to dance, we see that the reflection is finally synchronised with himself.

A light turns on on Cathy, she is happy to see him dancing this well without a hitch, and smiles, she joins in the dance. The music is slowly rising and getting complex, and so is the dancing. They are both dancing with great chemistry.

Sam's reflection in the mirror is now reflecting ahead of time (actions happen in the mirror before real life), showing that he is now able to ebb and flow and express himself with his dance. He is now creatively liberated from the shackles of his own mind.

The dance sequence will end in a strong musical climax. We see them smile at each other.