In April of 2018, Winston Stemler and Aslan Dalgic walked outside of the USC Village Square to grab coffee. Beyond discussing the minutiae of their respective weeks and the homework assignments that remained undone, a singular question rang out in the night:
"I want to make a horror film this summer, you in?"
And with nothing more than the mental snapshot of a bloodied violin, a red dress, and a closet with endless doors, Cernunnos emerged.
A violinist's devouring insecurity of her musical greatness ravages her body and soul as she begrudgingly calls to the Horned God that behooves her.
Cernunnos is meant to convey the inescapable feeling that not only are you bound to a previous mistake, but you are now forced to confront the principal reason why the mistake was ever made: your own insecurity.
In the spirit of intrigue, we are reluctant to say any more about the narrative of our short film. What we can say is that this is a contemporary Myth of Sisyphus: The Soloist's ambition to transcend her own limitations as a musician only illuminates her inadequacy, not her accomplishment. Her shortcomings paradoxically propel her to revel in her constant dejection because she knows she is not yet above reproach...
She is still human.
The Music
The unifying icon of Cernunnos is the violin. An instrument of grace and history, we listened to a swathe of violin compositions from all periods to hone in the vision of the film. We drew inspiration as much from classical composers as Paganini and Bach as we did from contemporary composers as Nicholas Britell or Howard Shore. Because the score of Cernunnos simultaneously acts as a plot device and a soundtrack, the majority of the music was written before the film in order to augment the cinematography and blocking. Cernunnos is special in that it features only a single line of dialogue in its 15 minute run-time... and not even in English!
The cryptic "Horned God", Cernunnos was often associated with male animals such as the stag and ram in Celtic mythology. In some Celtiberian cultures, he was seen as the keeper of the underworld's treasures, an idol that would take the time to comfort the dead by singing to them on their way to the spirit world. Yet in other cultures, he was seen as the benevolent Lord of the Animals and signaled the seasonal rebirth of flora and fauna. His Janus-like associations as a god throughout history were crucial in engendering the ambiguity of the narrative. As filmmakers, we strove to leave his symbolic representation up to the interpretation of viewers while still crafting an undeniably frightening and visceral experience.
This film has already been shot and we have achieved picture-lock!!!
We are currently in the process of adding VFX and conducting the sound design for the film. Once these two processes are completed, we will conduct color grading and be ready to premiere our final product. We are expecting to have the film ready by the end of this crowdfunding deadline (late December).
The Creative Team
Winston Stemler
Director, Screenwriter, Producer
A junior pursuing a Cinema and Media Studies degree at the University of Southern California (USC), Winston has focused his undergraduate career on enveloping himself in the horror genre. With experience at Blumhouse and Atomic Monster Productions, the two most innovative horror production companies in Hollywood, he has immersed himself in every opportunity to study the psychology behind the uncanny in film and literature. A guitarist since six years old, his love of performing music has strongly influenced his approach towards film-making and his interest in exploring the intersection of the two mediums.
Aslan Dalgic
Producer, Cinematographer
A sophomore studying both Film & Television Production and Philosophy at USC, Aslan Dalgic's unparalleled work ethic is matched only by his international worldview. In addition to his Turkish origins, his childhood was spent in a variety of countries, including Switzerland, Pakistan, Vietnam and Hong Kong. His time abroad strongly influenced his filmic interests in surrealism and cinematic experimentation. A prolific writer to boot, his work has been screened at numerous festivals around the world including the Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival, Adelaide International Youth Film Festival, Ozark Shorts, Laguna Film Festival and Qabila Film Festival.
Rory Chenoweth
Composer
Rory Chenoweth, a graduate from the Adelaide Conservatory of Music, and the Australian Film Television and Radio School, offers over 10 years experience in composing music of all genres. He has had concert works performed by the Menagerie Ensemble, the Lumina Vocal Ensemble, and the Australian String Quartet and regularly records his film scores with instrumentalists from the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He is a guest composer with the sound and music company Uncanny Valley,where he has composed music for TV shows such as ‘House Rules’, Kebab Kings, and ‘My France with Manu’, as well as the launch and one year anniversary of new fox channel BBC First.
(How) Your Donation Helps
In the face of college and the intrinsic costs of adulthood, our team undertook a hefty financial commitment to see this project come to life. We now ask for your investment to help provide this film with the audience that it deserves because we are so close. We are immensely grateful for any and every donation, no matter how small or large.
So where would the funds go?
You can likewise support us by sharing this crowdfunding page as much as possible. Any amount we reach in excess of our limit will be reserved for our next film project in the spring.
We appreciate you for taking the time to peruse our crowdfunding page. Our film is almost completed, we just need your support to take us all the way there. Thank you.
"Find what you love and let it kill you"