Let's write a movie script

reply to post by lellomackin


Well I certainly appreciate the fact that you believe in someone that says they're (clears throat) not a writer haha! Really, thank you for all the positive words and time you put into your reply. I'm gonna have to stick to my guns though. I started this thread because I wanted to bring an idea to the table and as a team we could talk it out, throw in some different ideas and maybe, as a team, we can achieve something great.

Alright, I'll bite.

So, when you talk about solipsism, as it relates to the character of the movie, is it a refusal to believe in the existence of a world outside his own, or is it a reality?

Meaning, in the context of the film, is he actually living in a world of his own or is it just his perception?

Keep in mind I am not talking about the initial impression that a viewer may have, but the intention that you have as the creator of this character.

At the end of the film, what do you want the audience to perceive?

he did live in a world of his own
he perceived that he lived in a world of his own
unable to tell (audience must decide)

I'll start there, as this is obviously a mentally complex concept and we should nail down your thoughts on the overall intention of the film.

Best,

Lello

I like the idea that no one at the end knows for sure whether the main is delusional, or perhaps even if anything they saw was real.

A journey into madness or out from it.

reply to post by lellomackin


This is a link to the wikipedia definition: en.wikipedia.org...

Well, after the character watches the movie The Solipsist, he walks away wondering if that could be possible. Given the definition of solipcism, he would begin to question the existence of everybody around him. Wondering how he could justify their thoughts. He can not justify their thoughts just as we can not justify the thoughts and existence of anybody around us. Here is another link to a physics forum. It's an interesting debate.

www.physicsforums.com...

And to answer your question about my idea as far as what I wanted the audience to walk away with...I wanted them to have the same questions as our character did after he watched The Solipsist. That's why I thought it would make it more interesting to have our character watch a movie in this movie. For a number of reasons. If the story is told correctly, the audience will connect with that story and the characters. Also, I think it's been in these past few years that audiences have been speculating whether or not TPTB were trying to convey hidden messages in the more recent movies. A few examples are: Independence Day, Star Wars, Matrix, The Divinci Code/Angels and Demons. A couple that haven't came out yet would be District 9, and Land of the Lost.

Not that I wanted to sneak any hidden messages in this film but I do want them to ask themselves "what if". Earlier in this thread a member asked how we would end this film and I gave a basic outline of one idea. I'm very flexible of coarse and open to anybodies ideas. This is our project.

So when you asked if he's living in a world of his own or is it just his perception...at first, according to what we've got so far, he just wonders if it's possible the movie was suggesting to him and only him, that he is alone. That nobody around him is real. It's just a thought at first. He doesn't actually believe that what he just watched was real. However, he is sure that he can not prove solipcism is real or just in his head.

reply to post by whatukno


You know, I was thinking the same thing. Here's a quick thought. What if we had him watch the flick and slowly have him begin to believe what he watched was real. Slowly start to disconnect from his girlfriend, family and friends and eventually become submerged in this "belief" of his. Then...we can throw him in an institution towards the end giving him no confirmation until we get to the point of realization at the very very end leading to a 2nd film. At the very end we could have him gain access to some form of supernatural abilities in his rubber room. Sounds whacky right? No but seriously...We could also leave it to where there is no confirmation of whether or not he was right but that makes me wonder if people would say "Oh come on, man! What kind of ending was that?!" Hahaha, I'm sorry I'm being analytical but people want to be shown things. It's easy to convey internal conflict in a novel but in a movie we have to show them the meaning of the film. In a film like this, I'm not sure if we could prove or show that the character was wrong about his belief. If you can come up with something, please let us know. Prove that the boy is crazy given the definition of solipsism. We're doing it guys! We're collaborating!

I'll check out your links when I get a chance. I think all your ideas that you listed sound interesting and are definitely viable options. Don't worry about getting too analytical, as I think it is important to define high concept ideas like this as much as possible. The people that would enjoy a movie like this will inevitably dissect the philosophy of it.

BTW, you probably have seen it, but if you haven't, I would suggest you go rent Jacob's Ladder. May even be worth watching again even if you have, as it is a great example of how to execute these kinds of ideas.

reply to post by lellomackin


Haha I like that Lello...dissect the philosophy. Yes, you're are right about that. I went to wikipedia and read about Jacob's Ladder and this story is different. It seemed that Jacob's delusions were all in his head. A result of a military drug experiment gone wrong. It also seemed like it would be a little complex in going back and forth from Jacob's "reality" and reality itself and eventually ending up with a twist at the end. I see why you used that movie as an example though. In this movie, the character would not be questioning his reality dismissing reality. To the character, reality is whatever he experiences. The problem is, he can't prove that reality exists for everybody else. He cannot prove that they are experiencing what he is. He believes they're not conscience...not aware. He doesn't know what they are or what purpose they serve. He does know that he loves them and that it seems like they love him. They seem like they're making conscience decisions and reasoning with each other but how can he prove it? He cannot prove anything.

reply to post by donutviper


I'm trying to think of a way the story can be presented to where - in a single film - a stage is set that everyone can identify with...

The initial setting is going to have to be one that appeals to everyone on some fundamental level.

Dang it. Still brainstorming here.

DonutViper~ just curious if you wanted to go for an earthy, small town kind of revelation, a hyperdynamic city environ where the bulk of the action takes place and then an etheral cosmic kind of ending?

"The Hero's Journey" kind of thing?

The small town is his initial starting point - young man, childhood, the point where we "feels the calling" towards finding the truth and decides to travel - the journey to the realizations - the battle with aspects of himself -and then the reward for his trials - followed by the redemption?

Originally posted by GENERAL EYES
reply to post by donutviper

 

I'm trying to think of a way the story can be presented to where - in a single film - a stage is set that everyone can identify with...

The initial setting is going to have to be one that appeals to everyone on some fundamental level.

Maybe initially, the audience will only be able to identify with his character traits and his personal goals (love interest). As far as identifying with the story itself, Albeit far fetched, haha, the audience is having a similar experience to the character by sitting there watching a movie about solipsism and having to digest that whole philosophy just as the character did. I know what I'm talking about is very basic. But I think that an odd story like this has to stay basic in order for the audience to be able to grasp the depth of it on their own. Also, Lello made a good point earlier...the fans will dissect the philosophy and may become disappointed when it gets outta hand. Oh GE...I'm starting to get the feeling that I missed the whole point of your question and I didn't answer it. I'm sorry if I did not.

DonutViper~ just curious if you wanted to go for an earthy, small town kind of revelation, a hyperdynamic city environ where the bulk of the action takes place and then an etheral cosmic kind of ending?

Well, when it comes to this type of destruction, I was thinking we could show a world wide battle between the forces of good and evil and...the struggle to survive man vs nature.(of coarse, the creator orchestrates the nature obstacle) From the observers POV, man is getting his a$$ kicked by visitors from other worlds, nature, and themselves. We could start the story off in a small town but once he escapes from the asylum, given the method he uses to escape, authorities will give chase and not just the local sheriff. Also, once he escapes, not only will the law be after him but the one that claims to be the creator will send his wrath and take matters into his own hands. We could go back and forth from quick death scenes taking place in diverse areas world wide and then going back to our central character trying to settle the same battles. Did I answer that one?

"The Hero's Journey" kind of thing?

The small town is his initial starting point - young man, childhood, the point where we "feels the calling" towards finding the truth and decides to travel - the journey to the realizations - the battle with aspects of himself -and then the reward for his trials - followed by the redemption?

Yes...the heroes journey...the monomyth. George Lucas is a big fan of this formula/format. I think every successful story follows this. It's not just a physical journey but an internal journey as well...which is what you kinda said already, huh?

Well GE, I appreciate you're participation in this project and Lello your help is also appreciated.

I'm sorry...I can't get those silly quotation marks to work right. I tried. Remember that I'm just a lowly iron worker

[edit on 4-6-2009 by donutviper]

We could go back and forth from quick death scenes taking place in diverse areas world wide and then going back to our central character trying to settle the same battles.

Quick Camera Movement:

Show people from all over fighting beings of a different types, the evil that has grown.

Three to seven scenes of fighting. Anywhere from 3-5 minutes total any longer is asking for too much.

Then have the camera suddenly appear on the main character in some Focal point. To represent his importance.

You could have battle scenes all around him, as the Camera circles him and what not. You could focus on his eyes and have his eyes be like mirrors allowing the viewer to see the fighting around him. That would be cool...

________________________________________________________

Also I think this would be cool:

Animals Fighting Humans

After all you did say the Creator would pull out everything and anything to destroy. And what better weapon then the animals..lol

Let me know what you think...

[edit on Jun 4th 2009 by TheMythLives]

reply to post by TheMythLives


Great idea about the animals, Myth! Maybe we can have the animals be the first threat...then earthquakes...asteroids...tsunamis...and eventually, human vs human...then we can send in the visitors to clean up the remaining. As far as the central characters POV, not sure yet.

I'm gonna paste something in here that a member and I were talking about over u2u. We were talking about how the initial story layout would flow. Here you go guys...tell me what you think: In regards to the love interest.

MEMBERS REPLY
I'm somehow seeing her making an appearance towards the end of the film....she's kind of like a "reward" for making the right choices.

Once he has gone through the act of "weeding out" the undesirable - (everyone who tries to tempt him with ideas and choices that our protagonist knows in his heart are wrong/not right)
he finds himself alone - he gets kind of lonely and wants someone to share his new reality with...

So, he and the creator team up and through the teaching of the creator, the man learns how to "create like the creator" does.

Because our hero is a decent man, the creator allows this - and voila - the love interest appears. She's beautiful, innocent, and loving.

The process then begins of the hero and the girl working together creating new things - new types of beauty.

They work together, and a new eden slowly is born.


* I'm overwhelmed with how this would work visually, and it needs a little finesse and fine tuning....for special effects and how to visually show how their love begins to manifest new things.



I'll drop another idea as they come to me...
END


MY REPLY:
Holy #!!! Wow...um...you should probably post things like that in the thread. It would lend to the creative inspiration floating around in there. You know, get the other members creative engine running. My god...ok listen...back in the thread me and another guy were talking about how maybe in the first film, we could throw him in an asylum and then at the end he would find out that he was right all along about solipsism. And then in the 2nd film we could demonstrate his initial contact with the creator and the eventual destruction of mankind blah blah blah...refer back to the first page of the thread for a refresher. Now...the love interest...also I want you to think about the definition of solipsism when you read this...in the 1st film, it's his belief that he's the only one that exists. We could make her as peculiar as he is in the 1st film. But...she would never ever confirm or deny that he has gone mad. She just stands by and watches him fall apart, so to speak. At the end of the 1st film, his beliefs are confirmed when he gains access to supernatural abilities which allow him to brake out of the asylum and run home to her to prove that he wasn't crazy. 2nd film...She remains unsurprised...and then he is contacted by the creator and given his choice...destroy mankind and become a deity or...fight for them...fight for her...and perish with them and the rest of the world. He fights for them with his new found abilities and passion for mankind and his love for her. During this process, she continues to remain as peculiar as always...quiet and cute...seemingly innocent...unsurprised...unworried...determined to maintain her heroes life for the sake of mankind, she gives her life for him. He fights with all his passion against the evils set upon the population by this so called evil god. Knowing full well the chances of survival for mankind and himself are 0, he fights. The battle is over. The population of mankind is gone. He lays there in all the earths destruction battered and bloodied...when the creator contacts him again with a tear in his eye...the so called evil God reveals his love to him...still alive and beautiful and innocent as ever...the truth is revealed. He was never alone. She existed with him as a guide of sorts. Knowing the destruction of mankind HAD to happen in order for the 2 of them to advance. They both demonstrated the ultimate sacrifice and unconditional love for mankind...advancing them to become Gods. Ok GE...now we're at a fork. Either we can make them Gods and co-create a civilization of their own (possible tag line for the film: This is how Gods are made) or they could be like how Adam and Eve were. Probably the first one, right? Seems to have a little more depth and it answers the age old question; who made God? Remember, nothing is set in stone and that I'm open to your thoughts.

Ok guys there you have it. I thought it was a great message so I had to show you guys. I hope this member doesn't get mad about this hahaha

Lets see how the camera angles can work and the visualization:

I'm somehow seeing her making an appearance towards the end of the film....she's kind of like a "reward" for making the right choices.

Once he has gone through the act of "weeding out" the undesirable - (everyone who tries to tempt him with ideas and choices that our protagonist knows in his heart are wrong/not right)
he finds himself alone - he gets kind of lonely and wants someone to share his new reality with...

So, he and the creator team up and through the teaching of the creator, the man learns how to "create like the creator" does.

Because our hero is a decent man, the creator allows this - and voila - the love interest appears. She's beautiful, innocent, and loving.

The process then begins of the hero and the girl working together creating new things - new types of beauty.

They work together, and a new eden slowly is born.


* I'm overwhelmed with how this would work visually, and it needs a little finesse and fine tuning....for special effects and how to visually show how their love begins to manifest new things.

Well if you were going to run with this specific idea. The final scenes could in essence be Visually stunning. Instead of a ton of camera movement have it as a visual thing, using colors to make up for the words (if you want the final moments in silence) or if you want words, have the Main Character speak say something like:

"And with this power, I give life to this person, a person who will be much like me and who will have the powers that I have. For we were "meant" for eachother and in Creation....made for each other."

Then fade to black slowly.

Things like that.

__________________________________________________________

I think it would be cool if you were to have mysteries in them. Have mysterious in the first film and the solve them in the second or third.

But moving along to your reply:

He lays there in all the earths destruction battered and bloodied...when the creator contacts him again with a tear in his eye...the so called evil God reveals his love to him...still alive and beautiful and innocent as ever

He lays there with a tear in his eye. I think it would be cool or more dramatic if you were to have this man. This tough guy to yell and curse and then tear up, which in turn brings the Creator to his presence.

Knowing the destruction of mankind HAD to happen in order for the 2 of them to advance. They both demonstrated the ultimate sacrifice and unconditional love for mankind...advancing them to become Gods. Ok GE...now we're at a fork. Either we can make them Gods and co-create a civilization of their own (possible tag line for the film: This is how Gods are made) or they could be like how Adam and Eve were. Probably the first one, right? Seems to have a little more depth and it answers the age old question; who made God? Remember, nothing is set in stone and that I'm open to your thoughts.

For the sake of the story. I think it would be best if you didn't make them god or adam and eve. Make them seperate entities altogether. After all they transcedended humanity and rose to god-like status, but in the end they were created human. So therefore, make this like a NEW AGE and NEW type of god.

Maybe this would be of interest to you.

reply to post by TheMythLives


I agree with you Myth! We're going with the visually stunning method always. We're going to have to put some serious thought into how we can communicate the meaning of this story through this god. I mean, how does a god speak? Loving and timid sounding like a father that's spooked by his spoiled brat daughter? Intimidating, noble and loving (Aslan from Narnia)? We cannot make him sound cliche. We cannot make him sound mechanical. We have to make the audience buy into this character and be able to communicate his messages at the same time. So here's a thought...what if he revealed himself in different forms...his nephew or niece...grandpa...little brother. It'll be fun watching him prove it. And, it leaves us an option of showing the actual appearance of the god at the ending...something the audience might be looking forward to BTW.

About the 2 people at the end. We don't have to show any transformation from human to god. We can show the world that they created and what they transformed into. Or...we can show them living with an already advanced civilization. You know Myth, you had another great idea. Keep the story mysterious and the questions about the mysteries can be answered in the following film. That would be awesome.

I'm sorry I didn't reply last night. I got here and started to reply and wasn't able to finish until today. I also told another member that I'm leaving for truck driver school on June 15th or the 22nd. You guys might have to finish without the iron worker/truck driver

reply to post by donutviper


Thats awesome and yet awful at the same time. Its fun being a truck driver, but that sucks your not going to be here that often.

As far as the God type of voice, I think it would be cool, to just use a voice like Alex's Jones..lol.. joking, I think it would be interesting to have the god, speak with a regular persons voice. That would throw me off in any movie. I would be like this god has a human voice? wtf, I have to see this. It would glue me to my seat, but then again, I am just one man....

Yes...I like how you summed that up...awesome yet awful hahaha. Yeah the schools 3 weeks straight and then 6 weeks of "on the road" mentoring.

Just a voice huh? A human voice? That's a great idea. Hmm...do you think...ok Myth...you're at the movies watching this flick and the whole movie the god has been a voice...how would you feel if he took on a form at the end? How would you feel if you never got to see what he looked like? It might make more sense if we never saw him. He is all power and/or all energy. But just for the fun of it...would it kill the movie if you, Myth, as an observer, watched this god take on a physical form? I think sometimes when people in the movie industry make a movie...they do not give the audience what they want. In other words, they put it together the way THEY think it should be done. Sometimes they just kill a movie by not adding what they think the audience might wanna see. I'm guessing, this is my opinion, I think we could make the god a voice. If we have 2 films, maybe we could get away with the god taking on a physical form. If we have 1 film, we might have to stick with the voice all the way through. You're good Myth. Keep on truckin

reply to post by donutviper


great points. I think it would be best to make him a MIX of Spirit and a Physical Form. Have the spirit like rippling away from his physical form as we walks or as he stand there. Mix it up and go with BIG visuals instead of Camera movement, would make much more sense.

I wouldn't be disappointed in seeing him, but NOT seeing him. I think I would be like why didn't they show him, what does he look like? You could make his appearance happen in the 2nd film. But to be safe have him appear in the first.

[edit on Jun 5th 2009 by TheMythLives]

Ok...if he can materialize into physical form, what shall we go with? If we give him a human voice then we might make him appear as a human being. In the second film we could make him big...real big. I'm sure you've seen some of the Hubble images. Biiiiiig!!! I'm not sure if this link will work.

hubblesite.org...

I'm not saying we should make him look like that blob of gas, dust, and ice hahaha, but I mean big like that. Beautiful like that.

You know another thing I was saying earlier on this thread is that...we don't have to make the hero the central character. We could make this god the central character. However, it might be difficult to make the audience relate to a god. In the Star Wars movies, it was irrelevant that Vader was the antagonist because people could relate to him and they loved him. Maybe we could make this god have human-like characteristics to make him more likable to the audience. Of coarse, he could only take on such characteristics in human form. I hope that link worked. I really want you to get an idea of the scale I'm talking about here...as big as a galaxy...light years across in all directions. I wonder if we can get away with that. Here's another thing Myth...please don't be fearful in telling me, "that's the dumbest thing I ever heard, scrap that." Haha, Remember on Office Space when that co worker gave a description of his "Jump to Conclusions" idea? Hahaha that was so funny when his buddies said "that's the stupidest idea I've ever heard of." But yeah man, let me know why you don't like something and I will try to defend the idea and eventually I'll see the light and drop it. But I know my place. I've never written anything before. I have absolutely 0 experience. But I can visualize things and I may not be able to paint a clear picture of what I'm talking about. I'm gonna post this and get to work on a run down of what we've got so far.

reply to post by donutviper


I kind of like that Hubble Image for the god actually, perhaps that can be his spirit form and his physical form could be something as great. I am not sure if you thought of that, but damn that Hubble Image is awesome and has god written all over it..lol..

I am contemplating, though, if you were to make the Creator the central character that would throw people off a bit. But then again in the "Psycho" movie they did this:

The Main Character killed by the killer

So I suppose it wouldn't be that big of a deal..lol.. Anyway, have you seen this pieced together Psycho one. I love the idea, imagination, and the Camera Work (and of course the combining of two movies):

Awesome work with Psyhco. The Old Film and the New Film. Combined...

Maybe some Camera work like that. perhaps show the creator and the main character doing something the exact same way, to have a connection between the two..? Just a thought..

[edit on Jun 5th 2009 by TheMythLives]

*Foreshadowing will be during the introduction of the characters. (The asylum's head doctor is sitting behind his desk. Sitting across from him is The head of a secret agency. Outside of this office sits the boys distraught Mother and her boyfriend. The purpose of this meeting is so the doctor can explain the history of an escaped mental patient that claimed that God told him that he was going to end the world via supernatural abilities given to him by this god. The agent wants details of this boy. When he was admitted...the history of his illness...and how in the hell did he escape?) The doctor and the agent will give the foreshadowing/set up for the story. Maybe the next time we see them will be after the boy escapes and brings us full circle to the meeting of the doctor and the agent...leading to our 2nd film and what happens after the escape. Does the secret agency catch up to the boy and befriend him given the information they'd just received on this boy?

*The notes below are different from the notes on page 1 of this thread. But they are similar.

* Additional foreshadowing/set up. Boys uppity Mother and her boyfriend arrive at the boys apartment. Mother helps him pay his rent almost every month. The Mother lectures him on doing something with his life and how he does nothing but watches movies and plays video games. Boyfriend casually lurks around the apartment. The boy exclaims that he has a job. The apartment has posters of movies in the background. Posters he feels are important to his destiny. She asks him sarcastically about his posters and if he thinks he's gonna be a super hero one day. The boy responds calmly with a "Yes Mother, I do." The Mother's boyfriend hangs his head and snickers. This scene also provides us with a little bit of back story for the boy.

*Boys girlfriend shows up to the apartment. All the posters had been torn off the wall by the boys Mother. The boy is sitting on a stool positioned in front of his TV. He is sad and quiet. Girlfriend notices this and without speaking a word, puts one of his posters back up. "Mom thinks I'm crazy", he tells her. With no response and acting as if she didn't hear a word he just said She offers with a half smile, to take him to go see their movie they've been waiting to see.


CATALYST: Boy watches a movie called The Solipsist and some questions are raised inside his mind, as usual, with most movies. This movie though, is a little different. To him, it's like the movie is suggesting that he's the only one that exists. This movie makes him uneasy. It causes more stress than he anticipated because it seems like it was speaking to him.

BIG EVENT: The Mother has the boy admitted to an asylum. The boys innocent looking girlfriend has tears in her eyes but the rest of her face remains expressionless.

PINCH:

CRISIS:

SHOWDOWN:The boy escapes using his new abilities.

REALIZATION: (We're back to the meeting between the doctor and the agent.) He finishes up telling the agent about the details of the escape, "I'm not sure if this boy is the threat you're used to. He may not be a threat to us at all. Before he escaped, he told me that he will not carry out this gods orders. If he can do those things then he might be telling the truth. If he's telling the truth, then you might need his help.

2nd films notes are below

CATALYST:

BIG EVENT:

PINCH:

CRISIS:

SHOWDOWN:

REALIZATION:

$&%#...my wife wants to watch The Hills on our PC. I'll finish the rest later

reply to post by donutviper


I am liking this. It seems that you have everything you want to happen already in order. When do you want to start writing it? or do you want to wait until you get the first and second one done before continuing.