Title: Mitch Mandel: Man vs. Wild or Wild vs. Man? OR The Cliff Climber.
“Ain’t no mountain high enough”, definitely rings true for Mitchel Mandel. If there’s a mountain with an intimidating looking cliff, he will climb up it and across it! This film will document the transformative identity of Mitchel, from reserved piano-playing always-studying freshmen to rugged cliff-climbing always exploring senior and uncover if the wild was always in him, or if it somehow developed slowly over the years.
Shots to get:
- Delaware Water Gap
- Perspective; from his point of view looking down and looking up
- From the ground looking at him climbing up
- From the top of the mountain looking down at him climbing up
- Lafayette Indoor Gym
- Shots hooking up other people; teaching other people to gym?
- Fade in/fade out on LOST sticker
- Fade in/ fade out on pictures of his past climbs on his walls
- Interview out in nature @DWG or on Arts Trail with water swooshing
- B roll of nature/mountains/ challenging terrains
- B-roll of chemical lab
- If possible, have test tubes, science things, and then knock them down in slow motion
- Inspiration: Errol Morris, Thin Blue Line with the milkshake falling down
- If possible, have test tubes, science things, and then knock them down in slow motion
- Long shots of Mitch just looking out, off the mountain; kind of cliché, but powerful
- Go Pro him on the climb
Sounds
- Silence
- Birds chirping
- More silence, with just wind rustling
Interview Questions
- Why do you climb?
- Where have you gone?
- What would you tell previous Mitch? How are you different from freshmen year?
- You just decided to not apply to medical school. Why?
- You met your girlfriend climbing, do you think that anyone who is going to stay in your life for quite some time needs to also want to climb?
- What is a climbing gym?
- Are you ever afraid?
- So your abroad experience involved meeting a lot of strangers along the way. Tell me about some of those interactions. What was it like trusting people? Language barriers?