This still is from the beginning of the movie. Doctor Fredrick Theves is at the circus outside of the "freak" show. The sign reads: "The Fruit of the Original Sin" referring to the people inside.
This is when Theves first sees John Merrick. He is in shock and he sympathises with him. The contrast helps to bring out the emotion in this scene.
Theves is seen here taking John Merrick into the hospital. His face is covered to not startle anyone that may see them.
When they arrive at the hospital, Theves begins to ask John questions to get to know more about him. Here, he finds that John does understand him.
This is John Merrick in his hospital room. This room with a bed is more than he has had for much of his life. The emotions in the acting really help to draw emotion from viewers as well. John Merrick is so grateful for his "rescue" that he often is dawn to tears.
At this point, Fredrick already knows that John understands him. In this scene, Theves pushes deeper to get to know John better. He explains that he is trying to help John, and that he should talk to him and trust him. John, who was too scared to speak before, gains trust in the doctor and the doctor begins to realize how educated he is.
Here, Theves is trying to prove to the director of the hospital that John is educated and deserves to stay there. After hearing him recite a psalm and then speaking on his education, the director feels sympathetic for John, and allows him to stay for the time being.
As John exposes to those around him that he is an educated, ordinary man under his deformity, his life begins to change. Word spreads of his case, and he gains popularity, friends, and relationships like never before.Here he is pictured with a walking stick gifted to him. He is in his room roleplaying a "normal" member of society going out with his walking stick and introducing himself.
At one point, John is kidnapped by his former "boss" from the hospital and taken back to the circus. He is placed in a monkey cage as he is blamed and beaten for what has happened to him thus far. Here, he is being freed by the other members of the circus "freak" show, for they have gained empathy and want to rescue John as well.
This is a model cathedral made by John. He began its work towards the beginning of his stay in the hospital. He was unable to finish at first , because he was working from what he saw. He never left his room so he only saw partial view from his window. This still is from towards the end of the movie. The cathedral is now finished because by the end of the movie, John had gained confidence and had ventured outside enough to finish.
The Elephant Man is a true story about a man named John Merrick who was born with a severe deformity that was unlike anything of his time. The film begins at a circus. Doctor Fredrick Theves makes an entrance in to the circus “freak” show where John is being displayed for a small income (his only available income due to his appearance and public reaction). Theves takes interest in John and later goes to visit John where is currently living only to discover that he is being severely abused and mistreated by his “boss” who claims to own him. Theves then takes him to a hospital where he begins to learn more about John. At the hospital, Theves discovers that John can speak, that he is kind, refined, can read and is very educated. They form a bond, and Theves tries to rescue John from his past life of abuse. The doctor tries to let him stay at the hospital with good care, while also trying to expose to those around him the educated, refined man that John really is. They run into trouble, however, as several people try to remove John from the hospital and or make money off of him, including his old ‘boss’.
The film begins with eerie, slow, almost sad music (classical instruments) that sets the mood and is present throughout the movie. It is in black and white, which creates high contrast between the dark and light. It is almost as if this was filmed in the 30s rather than the 80s due to the lack of color, soundtrack, and camera quality. The costume and settings are all evident of the late 19 century. It’s as if the style of filming was meant to make the viewer feel as though they are back in time. The soundtrack, lighting, and contrast all come together with the storyline to create a meloncholy, emotional, and dramatic picture.
Words: classic, melancholy, empathy, fear, liberation
John Merrick was an educated, kind man hidden behind a severe deformity that led to a life of fear, abuse, and isolation as a circus sideshow. After being discovered by the empathetic doctor Fredrick Theves, he is exposed in a new light as they begin to show the world the man behind the deformity.
Oliver: I think sideshow related esthetics and graphic elements (stripes!) could be one way to tackle this. The title sequence being a prologue to the film. For Elephant Man this would be JM living as a part of a sideshow act.
scene begins with zoomed structure showing stripes. ***All distorted type in the storyboard begins as normal type then changes to the abstract version, except "the elephant man", which is distorted from its first appearance***
moves to the left, revealing more titles
moves further to the left to show "producers"
scene moves up to show more of the structure and the names of the producers
scene moves to the right to the center of the structure (looking almost like a stage with curtains)
scene moves down to only show the 'curtains'.. Eventually shows "director"
curtains zoom out and move further downward. "director" moves out of scene and david lynch is revealed
the stripes split to resemble opening curtains
stripes open up to a black scene. a spotlight shines on "starring" (this looks like a stage)
the spotlight moves around to reveal the main actors/ actresses
eventually the spotlight stops on "john hurt" who plays the main subject of the film
curtains begin to close while spotlight still shining on his name
they close all the way showing nothing but the stripes
the darker stripes fade to black to transform into what resembles a cage. "john hurt" is still in the same position as he was when the curtains closed (he's now in the cage)
The stripes move to the left and "john hurt" goes out of scene. The stripes begin to continually move. "as" shows and stays idle while stripes are moving behind it.
"as" moves out of scene and "the elephant man" appears
the view moves into the cage and the stripes move towards the viewer as if the viewer was going into the cage
eventually the viewer is in the cage and the view is moving closer to "the elephant man"
this is the full size final title