Films with only 2 characters/films with 1 location or both

J

JJ Alexander

Active member
Can you all please name any movie with only 2 chars. for most or all of the movie? Also movies primarily with 1 location or both?

I am writing a script with only 2 characters in one indoor location (4 to 5 different areas inside that location). I know this is too few characters in not enough locations as far as producers are concerned etc. BUT...

Before I explore 'opening up' the story with more chars. and locations, I want to be true to my original vision and get it written.

I want to screen as many film with these limitations.

I have thought of:

'HARD CANDY' a low budget film with mostly 2 chars. for 99% of the story and mostly in 1 location (the guys house)
'LIFEBOAT' by Hitchcock all characters in 1 lifeboat.
CASTAWAY mostly 1 char. and 1 location ( the beach)
AFTER SUNSET and BEFORE SUNRISE 2 chars. mostly walking on the Paris streets

I heard 'CUBE' is just 1 location but haven't seen it yet and also a low budget film with Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke and one other actor in a only one hotel room but I don"t know the title.

Thanks a ton for any ideas and help!

JJ
 
One of the "Warlock" movies was at one location, a house, I forget which sequel though. Bunch of friends go to visit a house one of them inherited, then all hell breaks lose. I think that plot ploy has been done with quite a few horror movies, taken from the classic old flick "Ten Little Indians".

Also, "The Dead Calm" took place pretty much all on a small sailboat, just 3 actors almost the entire movie. Scary psychological horror, great movie. A few scenes on a second boat, but other than that just 2-3 actors and a sailboat and well done. Imagine the simplicity in terms of not needing filming permits if filming out on the ocean!

EDIT: Also look at "The Dark" with Sean Bean and Maria Bello, most of the movie is just a few characters, all filmed at a little cliffside cottage.
 
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I think NOTHING might fit your profile. Most of the movie is two characters and most of the movie takes place in essentially one location if I recall. Also directed by the director of CUBE.



On another thought should not these two cross-posted threads be merged???
 
'GERRY' only has two characters. And the only location is pretty much the desert. Though different parts of the desert.

And from what I understand, in "SECRET HONOR" Philip Baker Hall was the only character, playing Richard Nixon.
 
Thank you all for these suggestions! I will look at every one. I know movies pretty well but many here I haven't seen.

I you think of any more please keep them comming.

Thanks,

JJ
 
Continuing Hitchcock--- Rear Window, if you think about it, has very few actors and one location (apartments with courtyard). One of the best films ever made. And then of course, if not mentioned yet, Hitchcock's film Rope which is entirely filmed in an apartment with a small group of people. I do not recall if Twelve Angry Men has been mentioned yet, but that is basically a jury in a jury room arguing over guilty or not guilty, again a classic.
~randall

blckhawk542 said:
Alfred Hitchcock's Pyscho...most of it is at the motel.
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Reservoir Dogs is mostly in the warehouse with the exception of flashbacks.

"The Delicate Art of the Rifle" is mostly two characters on a roof top. One of whom is shooting people with a rifle, much like the Texas University sniper. Caught that film on IFC one time, it's very interesting.
 
I can not think of the title, but i saw an indie film a couple of years ago, starred the woman who was in Solaris. Two teens squeegee her windshield at a stoplight, then jump in her car and kidnap her to a remote cabin on a lake, tie her up. 99% of the movie is the 3 actors at the lakeside cabin. Psychological terror, dialog, etc.
 
Yet another (that I just rented and will watch today as it is snowing heavy, good day for a movie)-- To Gillian on her 37th Birthday, as I recall filmed almost entirely at a vacation home on a beach. All star cast, drama. Great example of a KISS film.
 
"To Gillian on her 37th Birthday"

This was a play first and I think you will find that many plays translate well to low budget film productions.
 
Interesting. "Bug" is another recent film that I know was a stage play first. Ashley Judd et al starred in it, very small cast. Filmed 99.9% at at cheap roadside motel, in one motel room. Moves a bit slow the first half, then takes off. But talk about a low budget formula, hell you could rent the whole roadside motel for cast and crew, film it all in the one motel room! There was only one other location as I recall, in Bug, and that was a minute or two at a local bar.

Chris Messineo said:
"To Gillian on her 37th Birthday"; This was a play first and I think you will find that many plays translate well to low budget film productions.
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"Doubt" is another one, the priest and 2 nuns, various places around a church. A few scenes with the boy, one w/his mother.

"Night of the Iguana" in a house in the tropics, a few scenes on a road at beginning.

Yes-- look at stage plays, "Death of a Salesman," etc. Great stories here.

When Welles had no budget, he did Shakespeare. :beer:
 
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