DEATHWORLD: Mise-en-scène

W

wheatgrinder

So just chatting here..

Lots of examples of the look and feel (Mise-en-scène) were given in the PDF all contradictory of course. Thought it be fun to toss out some discussion bones on what would this film could LOOK like.

Nuevo Noir ala Blade Runner?

I sorta turned on by the retro aspect. Instead of UPDATING all the tech to be modern, why not go with the data tapes and course computers that output a ticker tape.. Rocket shaped rocket ships? Al done 100% serious like, not comical or cheesy.

Id love the 1960's cover art paintings like this..
n21501.jpg


What are your thoughts?

EDIT: I dont think we can make Avatar jungle, so we need a DIFFERENT look or we will forever be compared to it.. (Iv read that Cameron may have been inspired in part by Pyrnn!)
 
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This is something I've been thinking quite a bit about. Everything in Avatar had a blue tinge... should we directly counter that and make everything red? Having a reddish color scheme and noir lighting could make the planet seem more fierce, which could work. Or maybe it should be full of bright colors, as the most poisonous animals on Earth are. It's definitely something that should be discussed.

As for tech, I'm not sure how you can make data tapes and retro tech not look cheesy. Even if it's taken 100% seriously I fear the audience wouldn't be able to accept it. That being said, I love the retro look and could definitely get behind doing it that way, I just hope it doesn't come at the cost of audience immersion.
 
yeah, good points.. so what IS it about tapes that could be modernized.. I guess its PHYSICAL media. The temptation is to have everything online, but think portable and contained. So maybe not a reel to reel data tape, but a clunky cartridge type object. Tough, functional etc. Instead of a big ship computer that just figures out a course, its a discrete device, hand held, clunky with a solid THUNK as it is DOCKED into the ship computer. Take this idea though all the tech and you have a design philosophy that can be applied to all aspects of the equipment. Ah.. so "media with data" look very much like magazines on guns!

Excuse the stream of consciousness..
 
wheatgrinder said:
So just chatting here..

Lots of examples of the look and feel (Mise-en-scène) were given in the PDF all contradictory of course. Thought it be fun to toss out some discussion bones on what would this film could LOOK like.

Nuevo Noir ala Blade Runner?

I sorta turned on by the retro aspect. Instead of UPDATING all the tech to be modern, why not go with the data tapes and course computers that output a ticker tape.. Rocket shaped rocket ships? Al done 100% serious like, not comical or cheesy.

Id love the 1960's cover art paintings like this..
n21501.jpg


What are your thoughts?

EDIT: I dont think we can make Avatar jungle, so we need a DIFFERENT look or we will forever be compared to it.. (Iv read that Cameron may have been inspired in part by Pyrnn!)
Click to expand...


That Bastard Cameron should be paying Harry royalty checks.

About the PDF artwork - didn't even think about this. The hand drawn pictures are by our concept artist Ignacio Bazan, and are authorized samples that we are permitted to use until we can hire him to contribute his contract for 24 Deathworld images.

They do not represent any specific design within the film, but they do show suits and mechs similar to what we might use. The other art is by me, and is just the first few rough conceptual sketches aimed at illustrating what different sections of pyrrus might look like. None of them looked good enough to me, but people liked them and I put them in the pdf to better show the creative scope of the project than text alone would.
 
I think Nate you misunderstood my comment.

I didnt think that the images in the PDF were indicative of the look you want in the film, rather you gave examples of similar movies (Blade Runner, etc) all of which have unique looks.

Your art and the other art is beautiful in the PDF.
 
SinEater said:
This is something I've been thinking quite a bit about. Everything in Avatar had a blue tinge... should we directly counter that and make everything red? Having a reddish color scheme and noir lighting could make the planet seem more fierce, which could work. Or maybe it should be full of bright colors, as the most poisonous animals on Earth are. It's definitely something that should be discussed.
Click to expand...

Why don't you make it change? Blue and red are both significant colours in space because celestial objects will take on a hue of blue when moving towards you and red when moving away in the same way that the doppler effect changes the pitch of sounds.
 
SinEater said:
This is something I've been thinking quite a bit about. Everything in Avatar had a blue tinge... should we directly counter that and make everything red? Having a reddish color scheme and noir lighting could make the planet seem more fierce, which could work. Or maybe it should be full of bright colors, as the most poisonous animals on Earth are. It's definitely something that should be discussed.

As for tech, I'm not sure how you can make data tapes and retro tech not look cheesy. Even if it's taken 100% seriously I fear the audience wouldn't be able to accept it. That being said, I love the retro look and could definitely get behind doing it that way, I just hope it doesn't come at the cost of audience immersion.
Click to expand...

I've been thinking about this kind of stuff for a long while now. Some of it I have figured out, some I've added in, and some I'm waiting to see the footage start to develop.

Stylistically, let's play it straight. It's a universe of the distant future, let's go beyond modernization and blaze a new trail. I would love to see this movie done retro, or 300 style, or I gave serious thought to doing this in the style of Scanner Darkly. But really playing out the film in my mind, I kept coming back to what we could do with a New style futuristic.

Style is something I intend to put a lot of work into. The thing that makes movies truly great is originality. It can't be either a copy or a response. Think about blade runner, nothing like it before or since.

If I had to nail a look down in terms of lighting and film grading, it would be a mixture between Blade runner and the star trek reboot, Neo Noir, mixed with bright futuristic.

I'll have a better answer later, I'm just completely fried right now trying to work out some pretty complex financials for the move in.
 
Pyrnn tech is either 300 years old or of "off world" origin right? The junkmen have been too busy fighting the planet to do any serious tech development, whereas the grubmen haven't had the resources.

The tech is all utilitarian and self maintainable. Everyone has tech manual and each Junkman must be able to repair his\her own equipment. Using real guns as an example, its an AK47 rather then an M16. The AK can be fixed with parts and tools in a bicycle repair shop, the M16 requires special tools and backing technology.

Though a Pyrnn might have access to the latest galactic tech, not one would risk his life on a new interesting weapon or tool. Better to be conservative, and use whats always worked.

I think this type of analysis helps to define the design principles that would dictate what a Pyrnn home or car, or gun might look like.
 
wheatgrinder said:
Pyrnn tech is either 300 years old or of "off world" origin right? The junkmen have been too busy fighting the planet to do any serious tech development, whereas the grubmen haven't had the resources.

The tech is all utilitarian and self maintainable. Everyone has tech manual and each Junkman must be able to repair his\her own equipment. Using real guns as an example, its an AK47 rather then an M16. The AK can be fixed with parts and tools in a bicycle repair shop, the M16 requires special tools and backing technology.

Though a Pyrnn might have access to the latest galactic tech, not one would risk his life on a new interesting weapon or tool. Better to be conservative, and use whats always worked.

I think this type of analysis helps to define the design principles that would dictate what a Pyrnn home or car, or gun might look like.
Click to expand...

Right on the money Wheat, I agree with what you're saying here. The design should come from analyzing elements of the fiction, rather than pasting a template on top of it. Lets be the original, and let others copy. About the more specific item by item questions, I'll get to that, and we can discuss it. I'm just really tied up right now securing the mansion for us.
 
hey, this is all just chit-chat, ground work for later. I enjoy it, it give my imagination something to chew on until I get some footage to comp.
 
wheatgrinder said:
hey, this is all just chit-chat, ground work for later. I enjoy it, it give my imagination something to chew on until I get some footage to comp.
Click to expand...

I like what you're doing wheat, have fun with it and discuss anything you like. I was calling about something else entirely. If I'm a bit terse the last few days, it's not because I don't like what's going on here, I do. I'm just under a lot of stress involving the logistics of putting together another 20 grand over the next 30 days.

Chew away man, you're opinions are valued. I'll respond to them all as soon as I can get a spare moment.
 
Great stuff here guys, I for one am re-reading the text for nuances in the original. We'll find Harry's vision. I think he deserves it. I've loved his work since I was a kid.
 
well, I finished it and the novel has some weekpoints from a film POV. There is abit too much "telling" and not "showing"

The ending for example.. dull to watch.. a group of people standing around while Jason lectures about the three possible futures. not good for film.

Id change that just to a "2 years latter" or similar flash forward where we can easily SEE the three paths working.. one simple scene, perhaps Jason and Meta are in the city picking up a load of recruits for the next Planet Taming adventure, they talk with Kerck about the progress of the city\jungle truce etc.. The last shot is Jason swinging up into the hatch, nods to Kerck and vanishes into the ship.. roll credits. over the lift off..
 
Speaking of Deathwrold script..
this old news..

"Contract negotioations are underway for Harry and Alex Cox to write the script for the Deathworld movie. Hopefully we’ll have more news on this one soon."

I checked Alex Cox's web site, no mention of Deathworld, though he did work with Harry on something else..
 
wheatgrinder said:
Speaking of Deathwrold script..
this old news..

"Contract negotioations are underway for Harry and Alex Cox to write the script for the Deathworld movie. Hopefully we’ll have more news on this one soon."

I checked Alex Cox's web site, no mention of Deathworld, though he did work with Harry on something else..
Click to expand...

They wrote it together 2 years ago, but just didn't discuss it on the web.
 
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