First Two Meetings
On April. 22 and 23, our group held two meetings to discuss our project. The first major issue was that all of us needed to know our character, Meursault. The novel, “The Stranger”, is itself a complicated text to understand. I myself couldn’t understand it after my first read. Only recently, when I picked it up again and read relevant articles about it, I find myself more clear about the concept of “absurdity” and “authentic being” proposed by existentialists. Our character is an authentic being who accept the absurdity of life. He seems unmotivated and insensible, but he has a passion for the truth. As Camus himself has written in the afterword he wrote for this book:”Meursault, for me, is thus not a piece of social wreckage, but a man who is naked and poor, in love with the sun that leaves no shadows. Far from being empty of all feelings, he is inspired by a passion which is deep because it is stubborn, a passion for the absolute and for truth. “(Albert Camus, The Outsider, Reprinted by Penguin Classics, England, London, Year: 2000)
Decisions We Have Made
- The selection of the excerpt: the last paragraph in the book. We have found two English translations of the book and one Chinese copy to help us to fully understand the paragraph. For the English versions, one is translated by Joseph Laredo, the other is translated by Matthew Ward. We have chosen the latter translation after reading the article Robin has shown us. It was a difficult decision as we found parts that we liked in both versions. Still, perhaps we will change a little bit of the paragraph where we don’t like.
- Locations: dark interior and the lawn by beachside. (We have taken the advice from Paul.) Although we have decided the locations, we haven’t decided the exact approach we want for now. I think we really need a bit of time to develop our ideas for this scene: what we can add and what we do not want? Right now in addition to the ideas we had before, I have got this idea to discuss with the group at our next meeting: For this scene, we will cut it between the two locations. For the exterior – Add an element of a small flower when Meursault is thinking about his Maman. He will pick up the flower on the lawn and look at it. The wind will blow it away but he makes no move and continues to walk. For the interior – Create bar-like shadows on the character’s face.
Decision We Need to Make Before Next Week
- Find an actor/actress.
- Find a location for the interior.
- Decide the approach and the overall look of the scene.
- Book the lights.
- A clear production schedule.
