A Trellis for the Unruly Vine
Forced to work together on a float for the annual BayFest, two boys from different sides of the neighborhood's social hierarchy—the son of a fisherman and the son of a wealthy doctor—discover a surprising and inconvenient attraction.
# A Trellis for the Unruly Vine
**Format:** Short Film / Anthology Episode | **Est. Length:** 10-12 minutes
## Logline
Forced to build a parade float together, a pragmatic fisherman's son and an affluent artist must bridge their class and creative divides, only to discover a surprising and unspoken connection that challenges their preconceived notions of each other.
## Themes
* **Tradition vs. Aspiration:** The tension between inherited family expectations and the pursuit of a personal, authentic path.
* **Art vs. Pragmatism:** The conflict between abstract, conceptual art and functional, grounded craftsmanship, and the search for a middle ground where both have value.
* **Bridging Social Divides:** How shared vulnerability and genuine human connection can dismantle barriers of class, prejudice, and social status.
* **Nascent Attraction:** The exploration of a sudden, unexpected spark of attraction between two individuals who believed they had nothing in common.
## Stakes
At stake is their ability to overcome their ingrained prejudices and parental pressures to find common ground, not only to complete the project but to acknowledge the burgeoning, unspoken connection between them.
## Synopsis
DIMA, a working-class fisherman's son, is resentfully spending his last weeks of summer building a community parade float. His frustration deepens with the arrival of his assigned partner, SERGEI, the privileged, "golden boy" son of a cardiologist, who is bound for a prestigious design school. Their worlds immediately clash. Sergei presents a complex, abstract blueprint for the float, while Dima argues for a simple, practical design like a fishing boat with a mermaid. Their conflicting visions—art versus utility, ambition versus pragmatism—lead to a hostile impasse.
They work for hours in simmering silence. Dima builds a crude wooden frame while Sergei sketches moodily, their mutual disdain creating a palpable tension. As dusk falls and the community center empties, the silence shifts from angry to empty. Hunger breaks the standoff when Sergei offers to share the food his mother packed.
Over a meal of blini, the wall between them begins to crumble. They confess a shared burden: the immense pressure from their fathers to follow predetermined paths—Dima to take over the family fishing boat, Sergei to become a doctor. This shared vulnerability transforms them from class archetypes into two boys trapped by expectation.
Seeing a new side to Dima, Sergei shares his private sketchbook. Instead of abstract designs, it's filled with stunningly realistic charcoal portraits of people from their neighborhood, including a fisherman who looks just like Dima's father. Dima is awestruck by Sergei’s true talent and his deep, observant connection to the very community Dima felt he didn't understand. As Sergei leans over to point out a detail in a drawing, his arm brushes against Dima’s. The accidental touch sends an electric jolt between them, creating a sudden, breathless silence filled with a new, dawning awareness.
## Character Breakdown
* **DIMA (17):** Pragmatic, grounded, with a cynical exterior that masks his uncertainty about his future. He is skilled with his hands but resents the assumption that his life path is already paved for him on the deck of a fishing boat. He sees the world in terms of what works and what doesn't, initially dismissing Sergei's artistry as frivolous and out of touch.
* **Psychological Arc:** Dima begins as guarded, resentful, and dismissive, viewing Sergei through a lens of class prejudice and artistic cynicism. Through their shared vulnerability, he ends with his defenses lowered, seeing Sergei not as a rival but as a fellow individual under pressure, and is forced to confront a surprising and confusing attraction he feels towards him.
* **SERGEI (17):** Polished, intelligent, and artistically ambitious. He initially appears arrogant and disdainful of Dima's "pedestrian" ideas. Beneath his confident facade is a deep-seated insecurity about his artistic pursuits, which his successful parents view as a mere phase. His true art is not abstract but deeply empathetic and observant of the world around him.
## Scene Beats
1. **INTRODUCTION:** Dima works resentfully on the float's bare frame in a community workshop, his hands stained with grease.
2. **THE ANTAGONIST:** Sergei arrives, clean and composed, carrying professional art supplies. The class and personality divide is immediately clear.
3. **THE CONFLICT:** Sergei unveils his complex, artistic blueprint. Dima scoffs and proposes a simple fishing boat. They argue, establishing their core philosophical differences.
4. **THE STALEMATE:** They work in hostile silence on opposite sides of the workshop. Dima saws two-by-fours; Sergei sketches furiously.
5. **THE TRUCE:** Hours later, alone in the workshop, Dima's stomach growls loudly. Sergei quietly offers to share his food.
6. **THE CONFESSION:** While eating, they tentatively open up about the pressures from their fathers—the fisherman and the doctor—and their own uncertain desires.
7. **THE REVEAL:** Sergei shares his private sketchbook. Dima is stunned to see it's filled with beautiful, realistic portraits of their community members.
8. **THE CONNECTION:** Dima expresses genuine admiration for Sergei's talent. He sees that Sergei's art is deeply connected to their shared world.
9. **THE SPARK:** As Sergei points to a detail, his arm brushes against Dima's. The touch is electric. They freeze, looking at each other with a sudden, charged awareness as the scene cuts to black.
## Visual Style & Tone
The visual style will rely on contrasts. The gritty, tactile world of Dima (raw wood, grease, calloused hands) will be juxtaposed with the clean, precise aesthetic of Sergei (sharp pencils, clean paper, expensive clothes). The setting of the workshop, with its fluorescent hum and half-finished projects, acts as a neutral space where these two worlds are forced to merge. Cinematography will utilize close-ups on hands—working, drawing, and finally, touching—to emphasize the unspoken narrative.
The tone begins with simmering tension and antagonistic friction, gradually softening into quiet vulnerability and shared intimacy. The final moments shift into a charged, breathless silence. The film's tone aligns with the character-driven intimacy of films like *Call Me By Your Name* in its depiction of nascent attraction, combined with the class-based friction and discovery of hidden talent found in *Good Will Hunting*.
**Format:** Short Film / Anthology Episode | **Est. Length:** 10-12 minutes
## Logline
Forced to build a parade float together, a pragmatic fisherman's son and an affluent artist must bridge their class and creative divides, only to discover a surprising and unspoken connection that challenges their preconceived notions of each other.
## Themes
* **Tradition vs. Aspiration:** The tension between inherited family expectations and the pursuit of a personal, authentic path.
* **Art vs. Pragmatism:** The conflict between abstract, conceptual art and functional, grounded craftsmanship, and the search for a middle ground where both have value.
* **Bridging Social Divides:** How shared vulnerability and genuine human connection can dismantle barriers of class, prejudice, and social status.
* **Nascent Attraction:** The exploration of a sudden, unexpected spark of attraction between two individuals who believed they had nothing in common.
## Stakes
At stake is their ability to overcome their ingrained prejudices and parental pressures to find common ground, not only to complete the project but to acknowledge the burgeoning, unspoken connection between them.
## Synopsis
DIMA, a working-class fisherman's son, is resentfully spending his last weeks of summer building a community parade float. His frustration deepens with the arrival of his assigned partner, SERGEI, the privileged, "golden boy" son of a cardiologist, who is bound for a prestigious design school. Their worlds immediately clash. Sergei presents a complex, abstract blueprint for the float, while Dima argues for a simple, practical design like a fishing boat with a mermaid. Their conflicting visions—art versus utility, ambition versus pragmatism—lead to a hostile impasse.
They work for hours in simmering silence. Dima builds a crude wooden frame while Sergei sketches moodily, their mutual disdain creating a palpable tension. As dusk falls and the community center empties, the silence shifts from angry to empty. Hunger breaks the standoff when Sergei offers to share the food his mother packed.
Over a meal of blini, the wall between them begins to crumble. They confess a shared burden: the immense pressure from their fathers to follow predetermined paths—Dima to take over the family fishing boat, Sergei to become a doctor. This shared vulnerability transforms them from class archetypes into two boys trapped by expectation.
Seeing a new side to Dima, Sergei shares his private sketchbook. Instead of abstract designs, it's filled with stunningly realistic charcoal portraits of people from their neighborhood, including a fisherman who looks just like Dima's father. Dima is awestruck by Sergei’s true talent and his deep, observant connection to the very community Dima felt he didn't understand. As Sergei leans over to point out a detail in a drawing, his arm brushes against Dima’s. The accidental touch sends an electric jolt between them, creating a sudden, breathless silence filled with a new, dawning awareness.
## Character Breakdown
* **DIMA (17):** Pragmatic, grounded, with a cynical exterior that masks his uncertainty about his future. He is skilled with his hands but resents the assumption that his life path is already paved for him on the deck of a fishing boat. He sees the world in terms of what works and what doesn't, initially dismissing Sergei's artistry as frivolous and out of touch.
* **Psychological Arc:** Dima begins as guarded, resentful, and dismissive, viewing Sergei through a lens of class prejudice and artistic cynicism. Through their shared vulnerability, he ends with his defenses lowered, seeing Sergei not as a rival but as a fellow individual under pressure, and is forced to confront a surprising and confusing attraction he feels towards him.
* **SERGEI (17):** Polished, intelligent, and artistically ambitious. He initially appears arrogant and disdainful of Dima's "pedestrian" ideas. Beneath his confident facade is a deep-seated insecurity about his artistic pursuits, which his successful parents view as a mere phase. His true art is not abstract but deeply empathetic and observant of the world around him.
## Scene Beats
1. **INTRODUCTION:** Dima works resentfully on the float's bare frame in a community workshop, his hands stained with grease.
2. **THE ANTAGONIST:** Sergei arrives, clean and composed, carrying professional art supplies. The class and personality divide is immediately clear.
3. **THE CONFLICT:** Sergei unveils his complex, artistic blueprint. Dima scoffs and proposes a simple fishing boat. They argue, establishing their core philosophical differences.
4. **THE STALEMATE:** They work in hostile silence on opposite sides of the workshop. Dima saws two-by-fours; Sergei sketches furiously.
5. **THE TRUCE:** Hours later, alone in the workshop, Dima's stomach growls loudly. Sergei quietly offers to share his food.
6. **THE CONFESSION:** While eating, they tentatively open up about the pressures from their fathers—the fisherman and the doctor—and their own uncertain desires.
7. **THE REVEAL:** Sergei shares his private sketchbook. Dima is stunned to see it's filled with beautiful, realistic portraits of their community members.
8. **THE CONNECTION:** Dima expresses genuine admiration for Sergei's talent. He sees that Sergei's art is deeply connected to their shared world.
9. **THE SPARK:** As Sergei points to a detail, his arm brushes against Dima's. The touch is electric. They freeze, looking at each other with a sudden, charged awareness as the scene cuts to black.
## Visual Style & Tone
The visual style will rely on contrasts. The gritty, tactile world of Dima (raw wood, grease, calloused hands) will be juxtaposed with the clean, precise aesthetic of Sergei (sharp pencils, clean paper, expensive clothes). The setting of the workshop, with its fluorescent hum and half-finished projects, acts as a neutral space where these two worlds are forced to merge. Cinematography will utilize close-ups on hands—working, drawing, and finally, touching—to emphasize the unspoken narrative.
The tone begins with simmering tension and antagonistic friction, gradually softening into quiet vulnerability and shared intimacy. The final moments shift into a charged, breathless silence. The film's tone aligns with the character-driven intimacy of films like *Call Me By Your Name* in its depiction of nascent attraction, combined with the class-based friction and discovery of hidden talent found in *Good Will Hunting*.