Un Film de Dix Mots

Apr 15, 2010

We (Neha and I), submitted a short animated film as an entry to Les Caravane de Dis Mots, titled Un Film de Dix Mots (A Film of Ten Words).

Our teacher, Ms. Claire Chaize, introduced us to la caravane de dix mots, as a part of our French classes at IIT Bombay.

To particiapte in the Caravan of ten words, is “to go fishing beyond the meaning of the words,” beyond their own definition and in that to find and show the richness and diversity that every human being bears. An adventure across the world, which showcases the cultural diversity and gives voice to everyone.

The general idea is to use any or all of the given ten words (in French) and use them and their meanings (in any language) to create something - anything - a film, a speech, a dance, a skit, a quilt, a poem, a recipe.

The ten words for the year 2010 can be found here.

We entered our film into a competition organised by the Alliance Française de Bombay.

And guess what, we came in second !

Here is our film


And here is a short Making-of video

The words and their meaning that is closest to the way in which they are used the movie, are given below, in French and in English.

  1. Baladeur
    • Un baladeur est un appareil électronique portable destiné à l’écoute de audio
    • Walkman
  2. Mentor
    • Un mentor est un conseiller auquel on fait entière confiance
    • Mentor, counsellor, teacher, guide
  3. Cheval de Troie
    • Dans la mythologie grecque, l’épisode du cheval de Troie est l’un des plus fameux de la guerre de Troie
    • The Trojan Horse was a wooden horse gifted by the Greeks to the Trojans. It actually concealed soldiers. It modern usage it can be used to mean any object that appears harmless but is actually a bait to make one take their guard down so that they are left vulnerable to a unexpected attack initiated by something contained in object itself.
  4. Mobile
    • Quelque chose qui n’est pas fixe
    • Anything or person which/who is not fixed
  5. Crescendo
    • Est un mot indiquant qu’il faut augmenter graduellement l’intensité d’un son
    • It is a gradual building up of sound (say in a musical composition)
  6. Remue-Meninges
    • Le remue-méninges est une technique de résolution créative de problème sous la direction d’un animateur
    • Brain-storming
  7. Escagasser
    • donner la forme d’une cagasse, abîmer, embêter
    • to annoy
  8. Variante
    • Différentes suites de coup possibles à partir d’une position donnée.
    • Variant, another meaning or interpretation
      9.Galère
    • Un navire à voiles et rames
    • Harsh (like the conditions on a slave boat)
  9. Zapper
    • Changer les chaînes sur le télé
    • Change channels on a TV very fast using a remote control