DVXuser.com Feature Film - Writers wanted

The visual effect shot can be done. I was able to work on a blast wave for a nuke going off in a short I did. They didn't need the cloud, so I just did the blast wave. On an alpha channel...the composite wasn't amazing. But the blast wave took me 30minutes to make, and 8 hours to render out. A meteor would require the blast wave, can be adapted from the basic template I have. A City modeled, and then blown apart using blastcode drop the blast wave in, add the meteor and you have everything you need for the shot. Maybe a week of straight work to get it functional.

A virus could spread fast, especially if it was un-controlled. One flight and it's international. Tada.
 
My preliminary ideas, compiled from my own thoughts and what others have posted;

I like the idea of the story being one international event like a virus.
When I say virus I mean something that makes people sick and causes them to act irrationally something like mike suggested here.
I don't want zombies- those are far to over done and if you ask me cliché! I think that if these people get infected by the virus it should make them turn into vicious murders but I don't think it should give them super powers- you know what I mean? They are still human, they must sleep, eat and drink, they can't run faster then the average human they can't lift cars they are just like us except a virus has turned them into killers.

I think there should be a safe haven- or several known safe havens that people are journeying to. There has to be some idea of safety and hope that motivates these people to make a journey. In the case of the virus it could be a check point where they give out vaccines and have shelter from those who are infected. Along the corse of the movie maybe one or two different stories will connect lets say a small family is making there way to a Check Point in Nevada, they come across a wounded man from another story line and help him in some way.

I think the stories need a little overlap; it should not drive the story but I think we should have some overlap just keep the stories connected a bit.
 
Mattykins said:
The visual effect shot can be done. I was able to work on a blast wave for a nuke going off in a short I did. They didn't need the cloud, so I just did the blast wave. On an alpha channel...the composite wasn't amazing. But the blast wave took me 30minutes to make, and 8 hours to render out. A meteor would require the blast wave, can be adapted from the basic template I have. A City modeled, and then blown apart using blastcode drop the blast wave in, add the meteor and you have everything you need for the shot. Maybe a week of straight work to get it functional.

A virus could spread fast, especially if it was un-controlled. One flight and it's international. Tada.
Click to expand...
I agree. I just threw out an idea. It's up to the writers to make it work. :happy:
j/k


I think if each story was done well that it could work.

One storyline could be about a survivor, one who is not killed by the infected. A true hero who comes to the aid of others.

Another could be a storyline that actually follows one of the infected. Don't forget, these guys are not zombies. This could work with some creative writing. I would like a stab at that one.

Another could be someone within a family unit who sees his loved ones turn against him. His struggles to survive but also has a battle within because he doesn't want to cause them any harm.

The last storyline could be that of the initial release of the virus from the meteor. It could explain all the details of how it works which would help clear up all the unanswered questions.

I'm game for anything though, guys.

I'm just throwing stuff out there.

Mike
 
BTW, the stories could overlap in a way if we cut back and forth between them as it all comes down. We can't just show one in its entirety and move on to the next. We would have to edit in such a fashion as to move from cliffhanger to the next.

Think the Davinci Code novel structure.
 
Mike, I think this is the closet we have come so far! I like the idea of focusing on ONE character in each section, that clears up the audience connection issue I think. This way, too, they each act almost like separate films but are weaved together by the virus and hopefully a little more if we can work it in.

There is some dispute in the other thread about money right now, so it will probably take a little while to resolve that, and once it's finished and things are worked out we can start with what we accumulate. I am game for this idea if we flesh it out a bit more, and I think we should pick one and start super brainstorming (after the approval of Dustin and the others of course).

What do you all think?
 
ConspiracyPenguin said:
Mike, I think this is the closet we have come so far! I like the idea of focusing on ONE character in each section, that clears up the audience connection issue I think. This way, too, they each act almost like separate films but are weaved together by the virus and hopefully a little more if we can work it in.

There is some dispute in the other thread about money right now, so it will probably take a little while to resolve that, and once it's finished and things are worked out we can start with what we accumulate. I am game for this idea if we flesh it out a bit more, and I think we should pick one and start super brainstorming (after the approval of Dustin and the others of course).

What do you all think?
Click to expand...
Sounds good. I look at the money part this way. If we keep receipts and can get our cost covered if this takes off... great.
Anything beyond that... charity is fine with me.

Personally, I would just love to be a part of something like this and see it pulled off. It might look good on the CV. :thumbsup:
 
What about the beginning of the world? :)

Or a new beginning of a new world after the end of an old one(ours)?

The fourth world war - fought with stones and sticks. :)

...

Still, I think that unless the production has enough money and\or a big source of reliable people, willing to work for low\no pay - the end of the world's gonna be tough.
 
The problem I have with this idea is the same problem I had with Babel -- I ultimately didn't really care what happened to ANY of those people. Every time I started really getting into what was going on with one group of people, BAM -- I'm halfway around the world trying to remember what had been going on with another group. There was no cohesiveness to it, and I wound up not getting fully involved with ANY of them.

On the other hand, a story can be done where characters are spread out all over the world, but they know each other and communicate with each other and try to help each other out -- and they work together to defeat whatever their common foe is. That is much more cohesive to me.

But like I said, I'm 'old school' -- not from the MTV Generation. :)
 
chapelgrovefilms said:
The problem I have with this idea is the same problem I had with Babel -- I ultimately didn't really care what happened to ANY of those people. Every time I started really getting into what was going on with one group of people, BAM -- I'm halfway around the world trying to remember what had been going on with another group. There was no cohesiveness to it, and I wound up not getting fully involved with ANY of them.

On the other hand, a story can be done where characters are spread out all over the world, but they know each other and communicate with each other and try to help each other out -- and they work together to defeat whatever their common foe is. That is much more cohesive to me.

But like I said, I'm 'old school' -- not from the MTV Generation. :)
Click to expand...
I'm a little old school as well but I don't really think that everyone needs to interact directly with each other in order for us to connect with them. Good writing could achieve this easily.

Just allow us to connect with them before leaving to move on to someone else. It can be done. BTW, true old school is leaving people hanging on a cliffhanger and making them wait in order to see the outcome. :thumbsup:
 
Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
I'm a little old school as well but I don't really think that everyone needs to interact directly with each other in order for us to connect with them. Good writing could achieve this easily.

Just allow us to connect with them before leaving to move on to someone else. It can be done. BTW, true old school is leaving people hanging on a cliffhanger and making them wait in order to see the outcome. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Fair enough.

So let me ask -- what successful movie has been done this way? Babel is, by our standards, successful -- but would it have been if it had been cast completely with no-name actors? I saw it once, on DVD, but wouldn't see it again, nor even recommend it to anyone.

There may be good examples I'm not thinking of, which is why I'm asking you folks. And even if there aren't that doesn't necessarily mean it can't be done. But I think the sheer logistical challenges of shooting this thing will be enough of a hurdle. We should try for a script that is relatively simple and straightforward, in my opinion.

And again, it's ONLY my opinion. :)
 
chapelgrovefilms said:
Fair enough.

So let me ask -- what successful movie has been done this way? Babel is, by our standards, successful -- but would it have been if it had been cast completely with no-name actors? I saw it once, on DVD, but wouldn't see it again, nor even recommend it to anyone.

There may be good examples I'm not thinking of, which is why I'm asking you folks. And even if there aren't that doesn't necessarily mean it can't be done. But I think the sheer logistical challenges of shooting this thing will be enough of a hurdle. We should try for a script that is relatively simple and straightforward, in my opinion.

And again, it's ONLY my opinion. :)
Click to expand...
Well, if you want to base success by trying to be like every other movie then I think we're going to drift apart here.

It shouldn't be "What successful movie has been done this way?"

It should be "Why not try this!"

At least that's how I like to look at things. :)

No problem at all though, take this idea or leave it. I really don't mind.

I do think it can be done on a very low budget as long as the writers keep this in mind. Television broadcasts can make a movie seem large if need be. Especially when we see people in different areas of the world watching them.
In different cities and sometimes in different languages.

That can give it a grand big budget feeling.

Mike
 
Well,

In the final scenes of Independence Day, there were strike teams all over the world that worked together with limited contact, albeit morse code. That isn't hard to achieve at all. Different languages, and everything.

For what it's worth I though Babel was a terrible film...I didn't get it. And will never watch it again.

And we have to think tactically as well. If we were under attack by infected. The first thing to go is communications and power. Then we are back in the stone age. Although, it can work with YouTube being the ideal source to transmit information akin to Diary of the Dead.

Not that I am trying to say, lets emulate this film, but just that these ideas are out there.

Matt
 
I'm curious as to why Babel is being mentioned so much? I don't think this movie would be anything like it?

Independence Day was probably a more accurate comparison. Especially in the early going.



Mattykins said:
Well,

In the final scenes of Independence Day, there were strike teams all over the world that worked together with limited contact, albeit morse code. That isn't hard to achieve at all. Different languages, and everything.

For what it's worth I though Babel was a terrible film...I didn't get it. And will never watch it again.

And we have to think tactically as well. If we were under attack by infected. The first thing to go is communications and power. Then we are back in the stone age. Although, it can work with YouTube being the ideal source to transmit information akin to Diary of the Dead.

Not that I am trying to say, lets emulate this film, but just that these ideas are out there.

Matt
Click to expand...
 
You have two choices.... You either emulate successful films, or you try for something bold and new and pray to God that it finds an audience.

Investors quite often like to back films they are comfortable and familiar with. So it might be easier to find investors for a more traditional-type story, done in this unorthodox way.

But that doesn't mean investors couldn't be found for something completely different.
 
In Independence Day, you had a core group of people who came together and fought against the enemy.

In Babel, you had four (I think) groups of people who were thousands of miles apart and had basically never heard of each other. Each was involved in their own little story.

If none of our sets of characters is going to have any communication with or knowledge of any of the others, then this will be more like Babel in that respect.
 
chapelgrovefilms said:
You have two choices.... You either emulate successful films, or you try for something bold and new and pray to God that it finds an audience.

Investors quite often like to back films they are comfortable and familiar with. So it might be easier to find investors for a more traditional-type story, done in this unorthodox way.

But that doesn't mean investors couldn't be found for something completely different.
Click to expand...
It's not like we're betting the farm on this right? I say be creative and different.
 
chapelgrovefilms said:
In Independence Day, you had a core group of people who came together and fought against the enemy.

In Babel, you had four (I think) groups of people who were thousands of miles apart and had basically never heard of each other. Each was involved in their own little story.

If none of our sets of characters is going to have any communication with or knowledge of any of the others, then this will be more like Babel in that respect.
Click to expand...
Independence Day was an action film where people were cut off from one another and trying to survive. That's where the similarity truly lies.

Really, if most of the people you know are trying to kill you are you going to attempt to contact someone on the other side of the globe? No.

You'll check on those closest to you and move on.

Mike
 
If someone or something is attacking globally, you're going to check on your friends and family. If all your friends come from the Internet, then that's who you're going to check on.

The people in Independence Day started off separate, but they all wound up in the same place fighting together to stop the aliens. Our story, as near as I can tell, will have the people separate from start to finish.

Of course, it doesn't have to be that way. They can start out as strangers, separated by great distances, and come together to fight the evil.
 
Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
It's not like we're betting the farm on this right? I say be creative and different.
Click to expand...

We may not be betting the farm, but we're investing a good chunk of the next 2 years or so of our lives. We want the best possible shot at a success here, don't we?

If we can come up with a great story, a great script, that's also creative and different -- but something we all get EXCITED about -- then I'm all for it. But I wouldn't denegrate the idea of sticking to the tried and true formulas either.
 
If most of the people I'm living with try to attack me and I get away... I'm going to my nearest relatives house to see what's going on. Or maybe a very close friend. Probably whoever I can get to first.

I think it is rare that ALL of your friends are on the Internet. Most people wouldn't be able to relate to that at all.

Just my opinion.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top