I Who Have Never Known Men Title Sequence
Title Sequence
Style Frames
Typography
I Who Have Never Known Men is a 1995 novel by Jacqueline Harpman that tells the story of group of women who were imprisoned for unknown reasons. They are able to escape the confinements of their metal bars, but soon begin to realize that outside world is not the freedom they had hoped for.
Final Sequence
The final sequence show the juxtaposition of the women's two environments. However, as they look closer and move through their new world, they realize the barren land doesn't have much more to offer them. The pale grey sky and dark green grass are only a facade for another prison.
Style Frames
The landscape and jail reflect into each other just as the environment is meant to act as a mirror in the novel. When there is no modern world to distract us, what are our shared experiences and what does it mean to be human?
Photos of rolling hills with sparse vegetation and vast, empty skies were prioritized as they seem the most serene, but the more you look at them, the more you realize how empty the images feel. The jail cell was constructed in Cinema4D.
Process
The landscapes were originally going to be rendered as well, but photographs were chosen for a more realistic style.
Moodboard
Similar to the novel, it was important that landscape felt like it could go on forever. The monotony that comes with repeating hills with little change is what drives much of the book's visual language and reinforces its themes. There is helplessness, but there is also freedom.
Additional Credits
Cast and Crew list from Learned Squared
Skeleton model by cgteamorg
Style Frame 2 photography by Дмитрий Рощупкин
Style Frame 4 photography by Jesse Zheng
Title Card photography photography by Ronalds